to think fat isnt inevitable as you get older

[wilsonq2]

I've always been a health freak. Constantly people say this will all change as you get older, as if it is part of live becoming overweight.

Even my DM say this, but she was never into exercise or eating natural.

Aibu to think this is just an excuse ?

I've been referred to an NHS healthy living / eating / exercise program because I'm quite, quite overweight. I have every excuse in the book for my size - medication, menopause, quit smoking, buggered up my knee and could barely move for several months, etc etc. However they are all excuses!

Eat less, move more.

The dietitian at the prgram (it is really good) told us that if you eat 100 calories more a day (e.g. a rich tea or digestive biscuit) by the end of the year you will have gained ONE STONE.

Well your metabolism does slow down as you age, which you can counter with exercise. Muscle mass declines naturally too, again weight bearing exercise can help with that. Hormone levels change which also impact your metabolism, all these things happen to everyone and you can make efforts to counter it but how much is up to you. I have older relatives who stayed slim but i must say, they definitely don't eat as much as they used to.

I do think the current crop of ops will live longer than the baby boomers and the following generations as they had lean times that most of us have never had

That would be 200 calories for a whole stone, hearts.

100 calories a day for a year is 36,500 extra calories. They say 3500 for each pound so yeah 100 calories every day for a year would be about a stone.

The other side of the coin is that you can suffer from 'Flat Arse' when you get older. As in 'no obvious bottom', a friend kindly alerted me to this recently so I had no qualms scoffing an entire tub of B&J last night.

I told myself it was to protect my arse.

On the flip side a little bit of fat makes you look younger. The really skinnies don't in general age well.

I assumed gaining a stone a decade was normal, until an attractive, slim and completely sensible older colleague told me she did the 5 2 diet. I read up and started last year. I'm now a stone lighter and so is DH and we both feel loads better. I still love it a year on. Ps I started my menopause last year.

I was working on 5000 calories per pound, which equates to 7.2 lb.

ouryve I'm in an ex mining village too.

It must be the access to high quality chocolate that makes everyone so uniformly fat in the rest of the northeast, Freakin

On the flip side a little bit of fat makes you look younger. The really skinnies don't in general age well.

What a load of rubbish. People often think I'm 10 years younger and in my 20s.

What doesn't look good is very fat people loosing weight theyve had for decades, like fry and Chris Moyles.

Not true at all- you just have to watch your diet and take plenty of exercise.

I have always been slim but not particularly active. It is down to eating sensibly. However I eat whatever I like, just not big portions. On that thread about what have you eaten today, I am amazed at how much some people have eaten.

your body changes shape though even if you stay the same weight (thick waist, flat arse, flabby knees.)

It is hardest on those who were naturally slim with no effort - it will pile on unless they eat less and exercise more. You can't get away with eating what you like, with little exercise, for ever.

On the flip side a little bit of fat makes you look younger. The really skinnies don't in general age well.

Wrong. Skinny people who haveneve been overweight can still look young as they age.
It's the overweight people (that have been overweight for so long that their facial skin has stretched to accomodate the extra weight in the face) who will AGE as they lose weight -
Because there will be too much loose skin/folds, which will give the appearance of wrinkles.

So, don't get fat in the first place.

On the flip side a little bit of fat makes you look younger. The really skinnies don't in general age well.

Wrong.
Slim people who have never been overweight can still look young as they age, because the skin on their faces hasn't been s t r e t c h e d.
It's the overweight people (that have been overweight for so long that their facial skin has stretched to accomodate the extra weight in the face) who will AGE as they lose weight -
Because once that extra weight has left the face, the loose skin/folds will have less to cover - which will give the appearance of wrinkles.

So, ideally you should try not to get fat in the first place - because you will have to stay fat.
Or diet and have a face lift.

manic If you read my post properly yo will have read that it activates your abs. (I can feel them) and when your muscles are activated they burn calories efficiently.

BTW one of the reasons that some old people are slim is that they use their legs for walking (I know that's is a difficult concept for some younger people to take on board).

^One good thing about being fatter as you get older is that your wrinkles don't look so bad. grin
My sister lost quite a bit of weight, which was great - but she looks about 10 years older!^

Yes you are right - If you are fat to start with and then lose weight - the wrinkles will come.
But, if you have a slim build and face, then you won't necessarily have many wrinkles as you get older.

This is what shocks me at the hordes of young people that are overweight.
They probably think - ''sod it - I'lll lose the weight when I'm older''
But, by that time - the skin on their faces will have already streatched to such an extent, that by the time they lose the weight, they will be left with loose folds and WRINKLES.

That in itself shhould deter younger people from piling on the pounds.

Well I live in the north east, spend a lot of time in London and I do see where the op is coming from. A lot of people up here (myself included) are overweight and obese.

Well getting early wrinkles and brown stained moustaches doesn't stop a lot of younger smokers does it? notascientist. I know some think that it keeps them slim but when you see obese smokers it's obvious it doesn't work .

Why bring smokers into it?

I'm talking about people that have looked after their weight all their lives, to an extent that they have remained at a stable weight. Because of that, their skin hasn't been stretched.
So therefore - these people tend not to get wrinkly as they get older (ok maybe a few).

So it's untrue that slim people age more - which is what a lot of overweight people like to through out there.

Yes, if you're fat, then you lose weight - you will more than likely get wrinkles, because the skin is losing some of it's support system (of fat).

throw.

I mentioned smokers because it seems that overeating rubbish is very difficult to cut down on, IMO like smoking, it's an addiction.

I'm kind of hoping for a bit of gain now I'm in my 40s, nothing happened in the curves department in puberty, or after having 4 babies, but according to my Mum, menopause will finally bring the boobs, hips and bum. I'm not too convinced as my body type is more like my maternal grandmother who stayed the same until the day she died.