Practical Ways to Tone Your Body

As we grow older, our metabolism slows down which results in a decrease of muscle mass and body water.  Our total body fats also start to increase. Gaining more weight and losing your youthful muscle tone best exemplifies the effects of aging. Though aging is irreversible, understanding why you gain weight and lose some of your muscle tone will let you know how to control these effects of aging.

At the age of 25, our Basic Metabolic Rate starts to decrease which means the ability of our body to burn calories also decreases. This explains why there should be more muscle activities to burn fats and prevent you from gaining more weight. For women, reaching their menopausal stage will lead to a significant increase of fats in their abdomen because the production of estrogen has ceased which lowers their metabolic rate.

Being aware of the effects of aging which start in our mid-twenties should alarm us to do remedial measures to control these effects if we want to maintain our best figure. The following are practical ways to prevent weight gain and keep that youthful muscle tone.

Watch Your Diet

weighing scaleDecrease your food intake. With a lower metabolic rate, your body will not be able to burn all the calories you get from what you eat. Expect your tummy to bloat if you maintain your eating habits when you were in your early twenties.

Choosing healthy foods will control your gain weight. Meals with low fats and carbohydrates but high in fibers are highly recommended to prevent weight gain. Increase your protein intake to advisable levels as proteins are known to increase muscle mass.

Regular Exercise

Increase your levels of exertion as you age to maintain your muscle tone. Muscle mass increases with muscle exertion. You may not have to enroll in a gym, but you can have the desired amount of exercise by doing exercise activities at home.

Push-ups or legs-up are good exercises to diminish your fat in your abdomen area while weight exercises will also prevent sagging muscle arms. You can burn more calories with walking or jogging around your neighborhood. These exercises do not only make you lose weight and improve your muscle tone, but they are also good for physical strength and endurance.

exerciseAvoid Stress

Don’t expose yourself to stress. Stress may result in many health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. These conditions will surely deter your exercise and diet regimen which are intended for weight loss and increasing your muscle mass in order for you to come up with a hot body like Jennifer Lopez.

Maintain an Active Lifestyle

An active lifestyle which is beneficial to your weight loss and muscle tone improvement regimen should evolve around activities of daily living which require physical exertion. Do your ADLs without being overly dependent on technologies. You can go up to your office on the third floor using the stairs, or you can enjoy walking to the nearest grocery store without driving your car. Involve yourself in community health clubs so you will have a support group.

Delaying the effects of aging and maintaining our youthful looks will not only make us more confident about ourselves but it will enable us to achieve more things than a person weighing 300 lbs. with sagging muscles in the arms and thighs.