3 Tips to Prevent and Reverse Metabolic Slowdown

But first… why and when does age-related metabolic slowdown happen? 

This is a nuanced question, because lifestyle plays an outsized role! 

Why and When Does Metabolic Slowdown Happen? 

• Metabolism tends to slow down at two life junctures: around the age of 20, and around the age of 60 (and after 60, it only slows by about 0.7% per year) 
• If you are sedentary, you might start to experience a slow-down in your 30’s because sarcopenia (muscle loss) can start during this phase of life, and muscle is a giant driver of metabolic rate 
• The food we eat can impact our metabolic output – foods that have a higher “thermic effect” (i.e., they’re harder for your body to digest) also slightly increase total daily energy expenditure 
• Eating enough calories helps to keep metabolic rate higher 
• Perhaps the most crucial (and controllable) part of metabolic output at any age is physical activity 
• Men’s and women’s metabolisms are more similar than many people think – but because men are generally bigger and have more muscle at any age, they tend to burn more total calories than women do 

The Science vs. Lived Experience

This doesn’t exactly correspond with most people’s personal experiences of metabolic rate. Most of us are familiar with the feeling that it becomes progressively easier to gain weight (and harder to lose it) as we we leave our 20’s behind. Most women also know the disproportionate difficulty that they have losing weight during unique times of life, like the postpartum period or perimenopause.

It’s important to keep in mind that there’s the science, and then there’s the practical experience that we have in everyday life. Most of us don’t live in a lab – we live with our families, our jobs, our projects, our travel, our illnesses, and all our ups and downs. So when we talk about metabolism, it’s important to quantify the mindsets and actions that we can actually control. 

In that spirit, here are 3 practical tips I encourage my coaching clients to focus on to prevent and reverse age-related metabolic slowdown: 

Tip #1 – Be mindful about life transitions 

Sarcopenia (muscle loss) and declines in activity often happen under the radar when you’re experiencing a life transition – moving, starting a new job, having a baby, or retiring, for example. It’s easy to miss the fact that your total weekly exercise time went from 7 hours to 3 hours if you’re distracted by learning your role at a new workplace. Moving to a new neighborhood could decrease your step count by 5,000 a day if you stop walking your kid to nursery school. A 2-week-long break from the gym for a summer trip can quickly turn into a 2-month-long break. 

Anytime you have a life transition, it can be really smart to increase, not decrease, your focus on your health. You can do things like track your calories, journal your workouts, or count your steps to check in with your health metrics while you adjust to a new environment or schedule. Lean in, not out, at these times. 

Tip #2 – Keep exercise consistent and center stage, even when nutrition falters 

I often find that when people think “metabolism” and “calories,” they automatically think of nutrition, not exercise. But I would encourage people to flip the script and keep workouts in sharp focus. Being physically active and doing resistance training are the main habits that you can do to prevent sarcopenia and improve your metabolic rate – not to mention protect against diabetes, heart disease, and stress. 

Even at times when your nutrition gets a little “off” (maybe you’re eating out a little more, or thrown off your routine by a stressful season of life), it’s smart to continue to prioritize exercise, since it has an outsized effect on maintaining metabolic function. 

Tip #3 – After 60, focus more on function, performance, and health than on size or weight 

A newer metabolism study shows that around age 60 is a metabolic turning point – it’s not all in your head. And although exercise and nutrition play a powerful role in delaying and moderating metabolic change, we do age and many people (especially women) find that they are a few pounds heavier in their 60’s than they were even in their 50’s, and that this weight is incredibly stubborn. 

But I encourage clients to keep weight in perspective at this point in life, and to focus more on health metrics than on maintaining an ultra-low weight or pant size. Instead of trying to be the same weight they were at 40, I advise opening the mind to other measurements like…

• Waist/hip ratio (less than 0.8)
• Total waist circumference (under 31.5 inches)
• Waist/height ratio (0.4-0.49)
• Body fat percentage estimated with measurements (under 31%)
• Also make sure to have regular check-ups and blood work to check on blood pressure, blood sugar, and lipids. 

Even with aging, however, exercise continues to play a tremendous role in improving all of these measurements and health metrics, even if you’re a few pounds heavier than you want to be. But it also does a lot more than that – it also helps to prevent frailty, boost cognition, and improve quality of life. 

Short-term diets are fine, but don’t get stuck in low-calorie mode, since this isn’t good for metabolism either. Focus on exercise (especially resistance training), eating more protein and fiber, having an active lifestyle, and keeping a sharp eye out for sneaky life transitions that change your schedule/environment. 

References

Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

Can we prevent muscle loss as we age? 

Harvard Health Publishing: What is considered a healthy body fat percentage as you age?