How many times have you been told that middle age spread—the
weight gain that comes with hitting 40 and beyond—is unavoidable? Well,
next time someone starts going on about the inevitable metabolic
slowdown, know this: You can turn the ship around. It's not even that
hard.
Metabolic slowdown is a real thing. It's due to your muscle mass
declining—by up to 8% each decade after age 30 and up to 10% after the
big 5-0. "You lose about a half pound of lean muscle every year in your
30s and 40s, and once you hit your 50s, you lose roughly a pound a
year," says Wayne Westcott, an exercise physiologist at Quincy College
in Boston. Although researchers aren't exactly sure how this