Start Making Choices: How to Keep the Weight Off

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Simple ideas for living healthier on a budget.

Starting at around age 40, the average American woman gains about a pound a year. At first glance, the cause is simple arithmetic: Eat more than you expend and eventually your pants will be tight. But other factors can complicate the equation. Knowing more about the four most common changes will help you stay slimmer—and save you from needing new pants.

Problem 1: You Start Losing Muscle

Starting in your late 30s, you begin to lose muscle tissue, the body's chief calorie burner, and it's replaced by fat. Muscle burns about three times as many calories as fat, even at rest. And, with age, muscle tissue doesn't work as efficiently so you're not able to exercise as hard.

Solution: Pump Iron

Few things fight the loss of muscle mass better than strength training with hand weights, resistance bands, or your own body weight. It increases muscle tissue and strengthens bones, which helps you stay active longer and work out harder.

Problem 2: Your Hormones Fluctuate

Over the decades, women's bodies produce less of certain hormones like estrogen, which typically starts ebbing in the 40s. Since estrogen has appetite-regulating properties, many women are hungrier as their hormone levels drop. Estrogen also affects how body fat is distributed, migrating it from the hips and the thighs to the waist, where it's harder to shed. Also, starting in their 40s, women (and men) experience a drop in human growth hormone, which breaks down fat, preventing its storage around the belly. Belly fat also accumulates in response to stress: Cortisol, a fight-or-flight hormone, channels fat to the midsection and intensifies cravings for high-fat foods.

Solution: Eat Well and Reduce Stress

A sensible diet and an exercise regimen can minimize the spread, as can reducing stress by getting enough sleep.

Problem 3: You're Eating More

Studies have shown that marriage tends to lead to weight gain, possibly because women dish out portions equal to their husbands'. And one study found that women in households with kids consume more fat and calories. Making matters worse: In your 20s, you burn about 2,000 calories a day. By your 50s, you burn only about 1,600 calories.

Solutions:

Step on a Scale. People who weigh themselves every day are, on average, seven to eight pounds lighter than those who don't. Tracking your weight helps you cut back on meals or step up activity.
See the Big in Small Changes. Try eating a portion-controlled frozen meal for lunch or starting meals with a filling plate of leafy greens, which helps curb your appetite.
Eat Mindfully. Buy smaller plates and skinny glasses. Repackage that barrel of pretzels into snack bags. Little adjustments may pare 100 to 200 calories from your daily diet, and, in a year, can translate to 10 to 20 pounds.

Problem 4: You're Moving Less

Only about a third of middle-aged women get the 30 minutes a day of exercise recommended by the U.S. Surgeon General. A recent study followed more than 9,000 people for 10 years and found that the least active people were seven times more likely to gain weight.

Solution: Become More Active

Experts suggest doing 50 to 60 minutes of exercise, five days a week. Try yoga: A four-year study found that the yogis were less likely to gain weight than nonyogis. Those yogis who started out overweight lost five pounds, while the nonyogis gained 13 1/2 pounds.