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The body metabolism rates starts to slow typically in the 20s, but picks up pace in slowing in the 30s and each decade thereafter. Women especially see a progression in their loss of metabolic rates as they hit menopause. Men see a more steady decline as their testosterone rates typically decline from decade to decade.

Weight loss gets harder as someone ages for several reasons. One of the first things is the hormone changes that starts to take place. Weight can get more difficult as early as in your 20s, but it seems to particularly pickup in your 30s and as we get older. Men in particular seem to have that kind of fade-off as they hit their mid 50s, but women continue to typically gain weight until they are about 65 and then they tapper off. But as women lose estrogen and men lose testosterone, their metabolism rates change, they find that what they used to be able to do and not gain weight, suddenly they start to add on a few pounds. The loss of this lean muscle mass burns fewer calories also impacting their metabolic rates. So, it becomes a common problem in primary care that people come in complaining that I am not doing anything different than I have for years and yet I seem to just keep gaining weight, there must be something wrong.

Females and males do tend to gain weight differently. Men on the whole tend to gain weight more on the mid section or in the stomach. Women on the other hand tend to gain weight more on their hips, their butts and their thighs. That’s generally speaking you get the apple habitus in females which again tends to be more hips and thighs and men tend to be more apple core which is more upper body and belly fat.