There comes a time when you can no longer eat mac and cheese at 4 a.m., when you can no longer order a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle for breakfast every morning, when you can no longer walk up the stairs to your apartment and call it exercise.
That time sneaks up on you, but its arrival is unmistakable when you step on the scale and discover that you have suddenly–inexplicably, horrifyingly–gained 10 pounds.
Logan Square resident Gina Giordano said she was 28 or 29 when she noticed that her body wasn’t as forgiving of her diet and exercise routine as it used to be.
“It was kind of shocking,” said Giordano, now 31. “One day, you look in the mirror and you think, ‘What happened? Who is this person?’ “
Gone are the days when going to the gym and controlling portions could be dismissed as optional, Giordano said after a workout at Crunch Fitness on Grand Avenue last week. When she strayed too long from the gym recently, Giordano said, “I think I gained a waist size.”
It may seem like premature despair, but many people in their 20s and 30s notice their bodies going to pot long before the brunt of the weight gain and other aging phenomena are supposed to hit in middle age.
Natural changes in body chemistry are to blame to a certain extent, but office chairs, after-work drinks and restaurant lunches also make us fatter, weaker and slower young adults.
“There’s a steady drop-off in the body’s metabolism in the 20s and 30s, and the biggest factor for most people is that they have a more sedentary lifestyle than when they were teens or in college,” said fitness trainer David Barton, founder of the national chain of David Barton gyms, which has a location in River North.
After age 30, the average person loses about a half-pound of lean muscle mass per year, largely due to decreased activity, Barton said. The less muscle we have, the slower we burn calories, as it takes calories to sustain muscle.
The good news is that the decrease in muscle mass doesn’t have to mean an increase in pants size. People can stay in top shape if they try, experts say.
“For the 20s, 30s and early 40s, you can fend off this slowing of the metabolism by strength training and being physically active,” said nutrition advocate Charles Stuart Platkin, who writes a syndicated health column called “Diet Detective” and compiles health news and information on dietdetective.com.
The bad news is that many people are so consumed with work and family commitments that they don’t pay attention to their bodies, and their busy lifestyles feed into their downward metabolic spiral.
People on average gain about a pound and half a year starting at around age 20, Platkin said.
Lack of sleep, high stress, skipping meals and eating out at restaurants–common behaviors for young adults–all are linked to weight gain, Platkin said.
The culinary options at the office–candy-filled vending machines and doughnuts in the break room–threaten to pack on even more pounds.
“Office situations are just a disaster,” Platkin said, noting that Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice frozen dinners are good alternatives. “It’s a minefield.”
Barton said sitting in an office chair all day is a sure way to speed up your body’s deterioration. Not only does it hamper your posture, it tightens the hamstring and lower back muscles, weakens the abdominal muscles, shortens the hip flexors and stretches out the butt muscles to the point that they don’t respond efficiently when you do try to work them out.
If, as they approach 30, people are losing the battle of the bulge, “they should be scared, very scared,” Barton said. “They should be eating three or four [small] meals a day, exercising and cutting down on starch and carbohydrates.”
Lincoln Park resident Jerald Edwards, 31, said he has ramped up his exercise and pared down his eating since he noticed his body revolt last year.
“I hit 30, and things just really stopped,” said Edwards, assistant manager at Crunch Fitness. “Now I have to go twice as hard to get things accomplished.”
Staying in shape was easier in college, when he was actively playing sports, Edwards said. Now his body hurts more after working out, and he eats differently, consuming just half a burrito before he starts to get full.
But lifestyle isn’t the only culprit causing flab. We naturally lose lean muscle mass as we age, slowing our metabolism regardless of our diet or activity level.
“As early as the late 20s and in the early 30s, we start to see changes in [muscle] fiber distribution,” said Michael Bemben, a professor in the department of health and exercise science at the University of Oklahoma. “If you maintain the same caloric intake from [age] 20, 30, 40 and 50, and you exercise the same, you’d still continue to gain weight because you’re losing lean tissue.”
Estimates on just how much muscle we lose naturally–and when we start to lose it–vary. Some say we lose 3 percent to 5 percent of our muscle mass per decade starting at age 20, while others say we lose 1 percent per year once we hit 45.
Our muscles suffer an additional blow when levels of estrogen and testosterone–the female and male growth hormones that play roles in maintaining muscle mass–decline. Women’s estrogen depletes in their late 30s and early 40s, while men’s testosterone declines in their mid-50s, Bemben said.
Chicago fitness expert Michael Sena said young adults should do three hours of vigorous exercise a week and eat sensibly in order to maintain their shape, and should weight train to help counteract the muscle atrophy. That’s especially important for women, he said, who are already at a disadvantage because they naturally have less muscle than men.
“When you hit the age of 35 for women, if you’re not weight training, you’re making a huge mistake,” he said. “Coming out of your 20s is when it’s a great time to make sure you have an active lifestyle.”
HOW MANY CALORIES WILL DAILY LIFE BURN?
Most of the calories we consume every day get burned off through our regular body processes, like our breathing and beating heart, and our regular routines, like brushing our teeth and walking to the bus stop.
So if you don’t do additional exercise, how many calories can you consume every day to maintain your weight? It depends on several variables, including your age, gender, weight and activity level.
While every person is different and no calculation can be 100 percent accurate, many experts rely on the Harris-Benedict equation to determine how many calories you burn just by going about your daily life.
Give it a try.
–Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate, which is the number of calories you burn just by existing.
– For men, BMR = 66.5 + (6.25 x weight in pounds) + (12.71 x height in inches) – (6.775 x age).
– For women, BMR = 655.1 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.699 x height in inches) – (4.676 x age).
For example, a 25-year-old woman who is 5-foot-5 and weighs 130 pounds would burn 1,409 calories just by existing.
Calculate your daily caloric needs by multiplying your BMR by your regular activity factor (not including trips to the gym).
– Sedentary (you sit, lie or stand all day with no exercise): 1.2
– Light activity (you sit for most of the day but do some exercise, like walking, for no more than 2 hours): 1.3 to 1.4
– Moderate activity (you’re on your feet for most of the day): 1.5
– Very active (you do several hours of physical labor): 1.6 to 1.7
– Extremely active (you do heavy manual labor, are a competitive athlete or a military recruit): 2 to 2.4
For example, if the same 25-year-old woman were a secretary who sat for most of the day but did walk to and from the bus stop–thereby falling into the light activity category–her daily caloric needs would be between 1,831 and 1,973 calories.
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EARN THOSE MCDONALD’S FRIES
Have you ever wondered how long you’d have to jog to burn off those cookies you snack on or your fast-food lunch? A new book due for release in January, “The Diet Detective’s Count Down” by nutrition advocate Charles Stuart Platkin, lays out exactly how many minutes you’d have to exercise to burn off more than 7,500 different kinds of foods. Here’s a sampling of these exercise equivalents, based on a person who weighs 155 pounds. The less you weigh, the fewer calories you burn per minute, so the longer you’d have to sweat to burn the calories.
–Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
How many minutes it will take to burn if you:
Starbucks grande vanilla latte with skim milk (230 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 59
Run (5 mph) 24
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 33
Swim (freestyle) 28
Yoga (Hatha) 78
Dance 39
Burger King Original Whopper (670 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 173
Run (5 mph) 71
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 95
Swim (freestyle) 82
Yoga (Hatha) 228
Dance 114
McDonald’s medium french fries (380 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 98
Run (5 mph) 40
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 54
Swim (freestyle) 46
Yoga (Hatha) 129
Dance 65
Subway turkey breast deli sandwich (210 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 54
Run (5 mph) 22
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 30
Swim (freestyle) 26
Yoga (Hatha) 71
Dance 36
Pizza Hut stuffed pepperoni pizza (380 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 98
Run (5 mph) 40
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 54
Swim (freestyle) 46
Yoga (Hatha) 129
Dance 65
California roll (266 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 69
Run (5 mph) 28
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 28
Swim (freestyle) 32
Yoga (Hatha) 90
Dance 45
Taco Bell chicken burrito supreme (410 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 106
Run (5 mph) 44
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 58
Swim (freestyle) 50
Yoga (Hatha) 139
Dance 70
Oreos, 3 cookies (160 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 41
Run (5 mph) 17
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 23
Swim (freestyle) 19
Yoga (Hatha) 54
Dance 27
Banana (121 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 31
Run (5 mph) 13
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 17
Swim (freestyle) 15
Yoga (Hatha) 41
Dance 21
Budweiser (145 calories)
Walk (3 mph) 37
Run (5 mph) 15
Bike (10-11.9 mph) 21
Swim (freestyle) 18
Yoga (Hatha) 49
Dance 25
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aelejalderuiz@tribune.com
TELL US
What habit did you have to give up when you hit your 20s or 30s? Tell us at ritaredeye@tribune.com. Please include your full name, age and neighborhood.
