STEROID
01-05-2012, 01:14 AM
FIT AT 50 & BEYOND
By Chris Busch
Ok, so you're over fifty, you've got a slow metabolism and a fast-paced career schedule (long hours, travel, inconsistent meals and exercise). Are you destined to be fat and tired, or can you have a successful career and vitality too? The latter is possible as long as you apply sound nutrition and exercise principles to the reality of your life style.
Avoiding body fat deposition (or losing it) is primarily a matter of ingesting fewer calories than you use. As you grow older, your metabolism slows down and, for most of us, your activity level declines as well. Thus, we typically are burning fewer calories at rest at a time in our lives when we are "at rest" more of the time. The challenge for a "Fifty and Fit" diet and supplement plan, then, is to not only provide the right level of calories, but also the nutrients that will stimulate the older metabolism to operate at an optimum level, promoting energy and vigor along with a slim appearance.
There is no substitute for a balanced diet. Powders, liquids or pills cannot substitute for solid food and yield permanent, healthful results (if God had meant us to live on supplements, we would have been born with a blender in our mouths instead of teeth). A balanced diet should consist of 2500 to 3000 calories a day (more depending on athletic activities) split up into proper proportions of protein (23 to 30%), fat (20 to 25%) and carbohydrates (45 to 55%). Note, that while the "zone" diet, recommending 30% protein, 30% fat and 40% carbohydrate, is currently getting a lot of publicity, that level of fat is probably not appropriate for the over 50 metabolism. These nutrients should come from a variety of foods spread throughout the day. In fact, it is important to eat often to spur your metabolism. If possible, five small meals a day (compared with two or three) would result in both decreased transit time (going to the bathroom more often) and increased metabolism (burning calories more quickly since your body knows it will be fed again soon). By eating often, we process food faster and more efficiently. When you eat once or twice a day, the body slows down and stores as many calories as possible in fat.
Too busy to eat three meals a day, let alone four or five? This is where recognizing the logistics of your life style comes in and planning to compensate for it. Cut up carrot sticks, celery sticks and apple slices and bring them with you in Tupperware containers for between meal snacking. Similarly, carry the 3 1/2 ounce, easy opening cans of Albacore tuna with you, available at most grocery stores; or keep a blender at work and utilize a good quality protein powder between meals. If it is difficult for you to find the time for breakfast in the morning (easily the most important meal of the day, since it is preceded by an eight hour fast), cook up a large batch of oatmeal (not instant) once a week and heat up a small portion in the microwave every morning (add yogurt or a protein shake if you don't have time for eggs as a protein source).
In addition to eating often, it is even more important to drink water often to keep your metabolism up. In fact, this is the single most important (and least expensive) diet aid available. Frequent hydration promotes elimination, allows optimum absorption of nutrients and maintains a feeling of fullness (thus suppressing appetite). Here again, a busy lifestyle may make it difficult to take in enough water. You need at least half a gallon a day (more if exposed to heat and exercise - professional bodybuilder's typically down three gallons a day). Don't count on yourself to visit the drinking fountain for your "8 glasses a day". Instead, carry those 1 1/2 liter bottles of water, found in all grocery stores, with you wherever you go (in the car, at work, on the plane); make sure you down at least two of them a day (you can always refill them if you are concerned about expense).
By Chris Busch
Ok, so you're over fifty, you've got a slow metabolism and a fast-paced career schedule (long hours, travel, inconsistent meals and exercise). Are you destined to be fat and tired, or can you have a successful career and vitality too? The latter is possible as long as you apply sound nutrition and exercise principles to the reality of your life style.
Avoiding body fat deposition (or losing it) is primarily a matter of ingesting fewer calories than you use. As you grow older, your metabolism slows down and, for most of us, your activity level declines as well. Thus, we typically are burning fewer calories at rest at a time in our lives when we are "at rest" more of the time. The challenge for a "Fifty and Fit" diet and supplement plan, then, is to not only provide the right level of calories, but also the nutrients that will stimulate the older metabolism to operate at an optimum level, promoting energy and vigor along with a slim appearance.
There is no substitute for a balanced diet. Powders, liquids or pills cannot substitute for solid food and yield permanent, healthful results (if God had meant us to live on supplements, we would have been born with a blender in our mouths instead of teeth). A balanced diet should consist of 2500 to 3000 calories a day (more depending on athletic activities) split up into proper proportions of protein (23 to 30%), fat (20 to 25%) and carbohydrates (45 to 55%). Note, that while the "zone" diet, recommending 30% protein, 30% fat and 40% carbohydrate, is currently getting a lot of publicity, that level of fat is probably not appropriate for the over 50 metabolism. These nutrients should come from a variety of foods spread throughout the day. In fact, it is important to eat often to spur your metabolism. If possible, five small meals a day (compared with two or three) would result in both decreased transit time (going to the bathroom more often) and increased metabolism (burning calories more quickly since your body knows it will be fed again soon). By eating often, we process food faster and more efficiently. When you eat once or twice a day, the body slows down and stores as many calories as possible in fat.
Too busy to eat three meals a day, let alone four or five? This is where recognizing the logistics of your life style comes in and planning to compensate for it. Cut up carrot sticks, celery sticks and apple slices and bring them with you in Tupperware containers for between meal snacking. Similarly, carry the 3 1/2 ounce, easy opening cans of Albacore tuna with you, available at most grocery stores; or keep a blender at work and utilize a good quality protein powder between meals. If it is difficult for you to find the time for breakfast in the morning (easily the most important meal of the day, since it is preceded by an eight hour fast), cook up a large batch of oatmeal (not instant) once a week and heat up a small portion in the microwave every morning (add yogurt or a protein shake if you don't have time for eggs as a protein source).
In addition to eating often, it is even more important to drink water often to keep your metabolism up. In fact, this is the single most important (and least expensive) diet aid available. Frequent hydration promotes elimination, allows optimum absorption of nutrients and maintains a feeling of fullness (thus suppressing appetite). Here again, a busy lifestyle may make it difficult to take in enough water. You need at least half a gallon a day (more if exposed to heat and exercise - professional bodybuilder's typically down three gallons a day). Don't count on yourself to visit the drinking fountain for your "8 glasses a day". Instead, carry those 1 1/2 liter bottles of water, found in all grocery stores, with you wherever you go (in the car, at work, on the plane); make sure you down at least two of them a day (you can always refill them if you are concerned about expense).