What Your Weight in the 60s is all about
It is an important decade when we talk about weight in the 60s to monitor our health. 40% of adults are obese of age 60 and above. Your body grabs more fat and gathers it around the middle portion of the body as you age, while your muscles decline at the same time. These factors push the body towards developing different health problems like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and decreased physical functions.
Your weight is an indicator that shows the amount of body fat you are having. In the body, the fat behaves as an endocrine agent. This agent assists in blood clotting, metabolism of sex hormones, insulin sensitivity, and blood pressure. Medical professionals use BMI (Body Mass Index) as a tool to measure body fat to find whether you are underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. A BMI less than 18.5 indicates underweight; second category of BMI from 18.5 to 24.9 indicates healthy weight; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 says it is overweight; and a BMI of 30 or above is obese category which could lead to 40 which means severe obesity.
Take your weight in the 60s as a tool to determine your health as well as your blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. The fat accumulated in your abdominal cavity is called visceral fat. The more visceral fat causes the waistline to get wider. These things pose a higher risk for some diseases like stroke, diabetes, and heart disease.
What happens to your body and body weight in the 60s?
Here are some points you should observe in your 60s;
1.You may still be gaining fat
Your body still gains fat in your 50s which continues in your 60s. In some healthy older adults in their 80s, the body fat naturally increases. Some side effects of medicines and changes in hormones add more fat to the body which affects your weight in the 60s.
2.Your muscles need protection
You, generally, lose some percentage of muscles along with fat loss while dieting. That’s why your muscles need protection. Whenever you want to lose weight, the main focus must be to hold on to as much muscle mass as you can. Do this by having 20 to 25 percent of daily calories coming from protein. For fat loss, you must participate in regular aerobic and resistance exercises. The decrease in muscle mass happens swiftly after age 65 and the amazing fact is that men retain more and longer muscle power than women.
3. Your metabolism has no order
This is the age when your metabolism is on the fritz. The metabolism remains in the order until the 60s and starts declining after 63.
4.Your waistline says it all
Your waistline doesn’t lie. Measure your waistline if you want to have an idea of how much visceral fat your belly has. The waist of men should be below 40 inches and women should be below 35 inches.
5.Menopause affects differently
Women have 5 to 8 percent visceral fat in the premenopausal stage, but when they hit the postmenopausal stage, their visceral fat increases up to 15 to 20 percent. These percentage fluctuations link with insulin resistance, blood pressure, inflammation, and cholesterol.
6.Your neck may be getting thicker
As we grow older, our muscles become less flexible and loosened, and more fat deposits under the area of the tongue. There is excess fat in the neck when its size measures 17 or greater for men and 16 or greater for women, and this is the reason that leads you to conditions like sleep apnea. That’s why, you should be careful of your weight in the 60s.
Why visceral fat is bad
As we grow older, the fat beneath the skin starts accumulating in the abdomen to become visceral fat. Visceral fat in the belly gets deeper to surround the intestines, liver, and stomach. Your body parts like your face, legs, and arms may feel thinner but your waist may appear wider if you have more visceral fat. So, visceral fat is a dangerous one you have.
To monitor your BMI, weight, and waist is more important alike to monitor blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure. If you are not obese, you are still at risk of some issues just because of visceral fat.
The good side of visceral fat is that it goes away very fast. It takes about a month to reduce one inch of waist circumference by doing a brisk walk. Without losing weight, you can lose visceral fat by exercise.
How we think about weight
More than half of women in their 60s say that negativity affects their lives due to weight or body shape concerns that put them into disappointment because of body dissatisfaction.
A percentage of men and women between the ages 50 to 65 feel uncomfortable due to body dissatisfaction when they wear some clothes, especially swimsuits in public. A great risk of poor sleep and depression link the body with dissatisfaction.
Conclusion
Weight has more negative impact than positive but it is up to you how you think about your weight. You may get disappointed with your weight deeming it overweight; whereas it may not be over and on the other side, you may feel cool with your weight when it may not be a normal weight. All in all, it is a mind satisfaction game that shows how you take your weight and body shape to show your satisfaction.
