Brought To You By Your 30's: Part 1

Everyone loves a good fun fact - Did you know your body burns 12 fewer calories per day for each year after you turn 30? No big deal, right? Wrong.

Combine those extra 4,320 calories a year with a desk job and increased cortisol levels (thanks to all this grown-up stress), and you could easily put on an extra two pounds a year. Let’s not even get into when, at 35, that number means you have an extra 7+ pounds of calories a year you need to figure out what to do with. Here are some simple things you can do:

ONE:

Don’t slack on your exercise (even though it hurts more now.) It’s so easy to push this time aside now that life seems more full of responsibility than fun. For many guys, their workout time is the only alone time they get. Take advantage of that AND burn the extra calories your body now refuses to. Even sticking to a moderate workout twice a week is more than enough to account for this metabolic slowing and maybe even a couple midnight beer floats along the way.

TWO:

Slow down with that fork. It actually takes a good while for your stomach to tell your brain it’s full, some studies showing up to 20 minutes.(1) That’s enough time to grab an entire second helping before you realize you don’t need it. Start by dishing up less food to start - after all, your body is burning less now because it requires less. If you eat a bit slower, you will likely find you are full faster than you think.


THREE:

Stop clearing your plate. Research has shown that leaving just a few bites of food on your plate will trick your brain into not craving second helpings or snacks later. Feed it to the compost (or your fat dog) and move on to your next task.  Also, don’t assume the server will request your man-card if you ask for a to-go box. 96% of U.S. chain restaurants are serving you about double what you need to be eating at a meal.* Admit it, you love opening the fridge at 8:00am and realizing you have leftovers to pack for lunch.


FOUR:

“Hi, nice to meet you, I’m your liver.” This isn’t college anymore - you likely can’t crush a six-pack of beer every night and wake up without a beer baby or the slightest inkling of a hangover. Not only does your body begin to recover slower in your 30’s (have you had that mythical two-day hangover yet?), but let’s face it- your tastes have (hopefully) changed and you aren’t drinking Coors Light anymore. John Michael Verive used a simple equation to develop a general calorie chart for beer to show how much those high ABV craft beers can pack on.  A weekday happy hour with a couple pints could be as damaging as eating two Snickers bars after lunch. Toss up: beers are more fun, but at least Snickers have a little protein. Either way, you aren’t 22 anymore - 10 pints a week could add up to an extra 2,500 calories that might not be going anywhere.

FIVE:

H2O. We’ll keep this one short and sweet: Consume more water. Notice that was consume...not drink. Yes, as a fully developed male homo-sapien you should be drinking between ½ - ¾ gallon of plain ole’ water every day. But, also be sure to take your mother’s advice (even if it’s just this once!) and eat your fruits and veggies. They will keep you full, provide some vitamins that Chipotle doesn’t, AND sneak in a significant about of water into your diet.

  • *Cambridge University Study / Wu, H.W. and Sturm, R. (2013) ‘What’s on the menu? A review of the energy and nutritional content of US chain restaurant menus’, Public Health Nutrition, 16(1), pp. 87–96. doi: 10.1017/S136898001200122X.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna.