Why Is Weight Loss Harder After 50?

It’s not your imagination. As you get older, it’s harder to lose weight. What’s worse, it’s easier to gain weight.

Your body naturally changes as you get older, changes that boost fat storage and block weight loss. Whatever your challenges, our Premiere Medical Center team can help with specialized weight loss programs and prescription medications like semaglutide.

Here, we explain the top four reasons it’s hard to lose weight after 50.

1. Hormones decline

Even if you’re healthy and in good shape, the production of certain hormones naturally declines as you age. These hormonal changes lead to weight gain and make it more difficult to lose the extra pounds.

The hormones most likely to sabotage your weight loss include:

Estrogen

On average, menopause begins around age 52. The dramatic loss of estrogen has a major impact on many aspects of women’s health, including their weight. Two in 10 women gain 10 pounds or more during the menopausal transition.

Estrogen helps regulate metabolism and muscle growth. When the ovaries stop producing this hormone, a woman’s metabolism slows, and she stores more fat, loses muscle mass, and gains weight.

Testosterone

Men produce less testosterone as they age, with levels declining by up to 2% every year after 30. When it comes to weight problems, testosterone has a similar effect on men as estrogen does on women.

Without enough testosterone, men lose muscle mass and strength and have a higher risk of weight gain. Low testosterone also slows metabolism and reduces energy, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight.

Growth hormone

After 30, growth hormone naturally declines by about 15% every 10 years. Throughout your adult life, this hormone is essential for strong muscles and regulating fat storage and bone density.

Low growth hormone levels cause weight gain and muscle loss. You also have less tolerance for exercise and find it harder to lose weight.

Thyroid hormones

Thyroid hormones tend to decrease less than the first three hormones, but their levels can decline in men and women as they get older. Low thyroid hormones slow your metabolism, cause muscle weakness, and lead to weight gain.

2. Age-related muscle loss

Your muscles also naturally change with age, a condition called sarcopenia. Sarcopenia causes the gradual loss of muscle mass, strength, and function (muscle atrophy).

Sarcopenia is partly caused by hormonal changes and partly because your body doesn’t produce enough of the proteins muscles need to grow and stay strong.

Other factors contributing to sarcopenia include physical inactivity, mobility loss, inflammatory conditions, and chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, kidney disease, and cancer.

Muscles have a vital role in your metabolism. The less lean muscle you have, the fewer calories you burn, meaning it’s easier to gain weight and more challenging to lose it.

3. Physical inactivity

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 3 in 10 adults 50 and older don’t engage in physical activity outside work.

Lack of exercise reduces aerobic health, weakens muscles, lowers metabolism, and makes it challenging to lose weight and keep it off.

Beyond helping you lose weight, regular exercise also prevents and improves chronic health conditions, boosts your mood, keeps your bones strong, and increases your energy.

4. Metabolism tapers down

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns to keep you alive while resting. Your BMR, for example, includes the energy needed to breathe, digest food, and keep your brain and heart working.

Your BMR accounts for 50%-70% of the total calories you burn. That means a sluggish metabolism may significantly impact your ability to lose weight.

Your metabolism may slow down for many reasons, including those we already mentioned (hormone loss, muscle atrophy, and physical inactivity). However, age-related changes in cellular function and energy production also cause a sluggish metabolism.

Weight loss solutions

If you’re struggling to lose weight, we offer safe, effective solutions. We create customized weight loss programs and prescribe today’s advanced medication, semaglutide.

Call Premiere Medical Center today or book your weight loss appointment online to overcome the age-related roadblock to achieving a healthy weight.