Avoid getting fatter as you age, eat like the experts! Save the basal metabolic rate and avoid middle-aged obesity

Are you also troubled by middle-aged weight gain? As you get older, your body becomes wider. Every time you look in the mirror after taking a shower, the fat belly always makes you sigh that your youth is gone? Nutrition experts say that as long as you eat the right foods and keep a few tips in mind for your daily health, you can rescue your declining basal metabolic rate and avoid getting fatter as you age. It is not difficult to gain weight in middle age!

Getting fatter as you get older? Decreased basal metabolic rate is the culprit for middle-aged obesity

Why do many people tend to gain weight after entering middle age? Professor Wang Jinkun from the Department of Nutrition at Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences said that this is actually related to the fact that the human body's basal metabolic rate gradually decreases with age after the age of 25 or 30, which is a very natural phenomenon.

Although everyone's physical constitution is different, generally speaking, when people are over 40 or 50 years old, their basal metabolic rate decreases and their body energy consumption will gradually decrease. Moreover, as the basal metabolic rate declines, people are more likely to experience problems such as cold hands and feet, fatigue, and lack of energy, which in turn leads to a decrease in exercise and activity levels.

In this case, once the excess calories eaten cannot be effectively consumed and utilized by the body, they will be stored in the body in the form of fat. This can easily lead people into the dilemma of not eating much but still seeing their body size grow sideways.

Generally speaking, the recommended daily protein intake for normal adults is "per kilogram of body weight x 1 gram of protein", which means that for a person weighing 60 kilograms, the recommended daily protein intake is 60 grams.

To avoid a sharp drop in basal metabolic rate, developing exercise habits and learning how to divide your meals into different portions are key.

As for what to do specifically? Professor Wang Jinkun mentioned that we should first develop regular physical activities. For middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s, it doesn’t have to be very intense to develop exercise habits. In fact, as long as you develop the habit of walking for 30 minutes every day until you sweat slightly, it is a good way to effectively help activate cells and maintain or increase the metabolic rate.

In addition to increasing physical activity, it is crucial to learn to eat smartly and avoid junk food that is difficult to digest, rich in refined sugars, fried, and easily converted into fat storage. Eating the right nutrients is even more important. Professor Wang Jinkun mentioned that the reason why modern people are prone to gaining weight is mainly because people have a busy pace of life and often ignore the importance of breakfast and skip it. At noon, because they are busy with work and have a short lunch break, they eat casually and eat less. At night, in order to make up for a whole day's hard work, they eat a lot of refined foods such as big fish, big meat, and fried food as a big meal. In the case of lack of exercise and unbalanced diet for the three meals a day, it is natural to gain weight easily.

To avoid the above situation, what should people do? Professor Wang Jinkun shared his principles for allocating portions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the years for your reference:

Breakfast: Eat until 80% full. Eating a full and good breakfast can provide the body with enough energy and nutrients to cope with the day's activities.

Lunch: Eat until 60% to 70% full. Eating 70% full for lunch can help avoid feeling drowsy in the afternoon due to a spike in blood sugar.

Dinner: 40% to 50% full. In addition to giving the stomach and intestines enough time to rest, it can also prevent the calories eaten from being converted into fat due to lack of consumption at night.

If you want to avoid a sharp drop in your basal metabolic rate, you should first develop regular physical activities. Developing a habit of walking for 30 minutes every day until you sweat slightly is a good way to effectively help activate cells and maintain or increase your metabolic rate.

To burn fat, you need to increase muscle mass and supplement protein in a 1:1:1 ratio for better absorption in the morning, afternoon and evening

Professor Wang Jinkun also mentioned that for people who are entering middle age, increasing body muscle mass is the key to helping the body burn more fat. Therefore, it is also important to perform moderate strength training and supplement protein correctly!

Generally speaking, the recommended daily protein intake for normal adults is "per kilogram of body weight x 1 gram of protein", which means that for a person weighing 60 kilograms, the recommended daily protein intake is 60 grams. However, since the amount of protein that the human kidneys can absorb and utilize each time is very limited (protein in one meal should not exceed 25 grams), these 60 grams of protein cannot be consumed in one meal.

Therefore, Professor Wang Jinkun recommends that if people want to effectively supplement protein and maximize the benefits of muscle gain and fat loss. For a 60 kg adult, the recommended daily protein intake is 60 grams, which should be distributed in a 1:1:1 ratio, with 20 grams each for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast: 1 cup of milk or soy milk (about 7 grams of protein) + 1 egg (about 7 grams of protein) + 1 piece of palm-sized meat (about 7 grams of protein).

Lunch: 1 slice of fried salmon (about 8 grams of protein) + 1 piece of braised tofu (about 8 grams of protein).

Dinner: 1 piece of chicken breast (about 8 grams of protein) + 1 bowl of clam soup (about 8 grams of protein).

【Expert Tips】:

Professor Wang Jinkun once again reminded that we should eat more fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables in our daily diet, and avoid consuming junk food that is rich in refined sugar, fried or highly processed, which are difficult for the stomach and intestines to digest and use, and easily converted into fat and stored in the human body. This is the golden rule to avoid horizontal body growth.