Health and Exercise

As one gets older, the metabolism seems to slow down, and as a result, extra pounds appear on the body. One may be eating the same amount of calories as when one was younger, but the body just isn’t using them up fast enough – so they become fat.

To get rid of the fat, the simple answer is to burn up more calories than you take in. Three things can help to burn those extra calories and take the weight off:

1. With age the body’s glands produce fewer hormones. Replacing them burns up more fat by increasing metabolism.

2. Move that body around – exercise!

3. A sensible and healthful diet of proper foods and nutritional supplements.

Although each individual is different, and the hormones each body needs can vary, fundamentally the thyroid gland, which produces a hormone that directly affects metabolism, starts to dwindle as we get older. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can provide a body with replacement hormones, so the body has the same level of hormones as when we were young.

It is also important to restore levels of estrogen and testosterone to a youthful level where those hormones are lacking. And Human Growth Hormone has been shown to affect metabolism. An important point of HRT is that the hormones used for replacement must be bioidentical hormones – that is to say, they must duplicate the hormones the body produces naturally, not synthetic. HRT is prescribed and administered by a medical doctor after tests are done to determine how much and which hormones are needed.

Next, one should consider exercise as a vital part of weight loss. Exercise keeps the body working and burns up calories by speeding up metabolism. Once the calories from food are used up through exercise, the body starts burning fat, which is what is needed to lose those pounds.

The third point of the program is appropriate diet. A good nutritionist is necessary to determine what constitutes a proper diet for each individual. Even if you take in plenty of calories, they are not necessarily the right kind of calories, and in addition a body may be starved for essential vitamins and minerals.

The ideal would be a medical office that would help people tailor a plan which includes all three points above to each person’s individual needs. Such a program results not only in weight loss, but dramatic improvement in mood and energy level and a renewed outlook on life.