A weighty problem

I was reading over some old nutrition and fitness books and came across a term that I had forgotten about. Back in the mid-1960s a Tufts University professor, Dr. Jean Mayer, coined a phrase he called 'creeping overweight.' The research he had done with nutrition and weight control demonstrated that as a person aged they tend to gain weight.

I was talking with another fitness instructor a few weeks ago and the topic of weight gain was mentioned from the point that a good number of his clients started a fitness program in later life to lose weight. That was when I recalled Mayer’s creeping overweight term. It seems that for over 60 years of information about the value of good nutrition and exercise for weight control is still around as a problem today.

Meyer also did a study on children in physical education classes and problems with overweight at a young age. It turns out that active children ate more than the overweight children but in physical education classes they moved much more. The overweight children ate less, but in physical education class they moved even less, which resulted in more calories eaten then were burned off in activity. And a creeping overweight problem began at a young age.

Research has shown that as a person ages their metabolism slows down, they don’t absorb as many nutrients from food as they did when they were younger, and their activity level becomes less. Some of the latest information estimate that as a general population approximately 75% of the people are overweight or obese. The one change is that obesity is now the larger percentage of that 75%. And along with most of the population being heavier the problems with health has also increased. Diseases such as heart attacks and diabetes are increasing as well. Lung capacity also drops with extra pounds.

Most people know that they have gained a few pounds and also know that good nutrition and being active can go a long way in preventing creeping overweight.

The difference between knowing what to do and actually doing what it takes is the problem. At a younger age and a higher metabolism and activity level it was easy to lose a few pounds. As a person gets older and more than a few pounds overweight that effort to lose those pounds is much more difficult. As an example, a 150-pound runner burns 13.5 calories at an 8 minute pace. A walker only burns 6 calories a minute at a 15-minute per mile pace. To put those figures in perspective a 12-ounce soda is about 150 calories. The runner has to run for 11 minutes to burn off that one soda. A walker has to walk 25 minutes to burn those calories. To lose weight as you get older becomes a little discouraging when so much effort results in so little loss of weight. This is a little misleading because when you exercise your metabolism is revved up and stays revved up for some time after you quit exercising. That is good news to a person trying to lose weight.

The example of time it takes to burn off the calories of one soda is amplified when a person has to add any food items from meals to those minutes needed to burn off calories. Those minutes now add up to hours of moving and exercise in an already busy schedule. The good thing is that any extra activity a person can add to their day will result in a gradual weight loss. Some forms of exercise just takes longer than others to lose weight. Resistance exercise such as lifting weights has been shown to have that increase in metabolism for a longer period of time than an aerobic exercise.

Another factor in trying to lose weight is that the American diet has changed over the years. Back in the 1950s and before there was no 'fast food' such as McDonalds and Whataburger. Most meals were from food items bought at the store or farmers market and ate at home with the family. It seems that manufacturers are trying to make it easier for people to eat without any effort. I notice that one of the latest additions to the food chain is that you can now buy many “health” products in 'gummies.' Eating a couple of sweet tasting gum drops for your vitamins is much easier than trying to swallow a pill. One health food employee said it is just another way to increase your sugar content.

I can relate too much of the information in this article as I have weighed as little as 155 pounds running marathons to 198 pounds doing power lifting. Then that age factor is also present.

For me to lose weight now is harder. Those pounds just seem to come off so much slower now than years ago.