Admit it. You look at food and feel as if you are gaining weight. You exercise enough but aren’t losing weight. Don’t worry, 40 is the new 20. Forget the tiara, silly titter and the hormone twist. Celebrate the curvaceous you, with lazy brunches, kids, sangrias and more…
“Your body starts burning fat after 20 minutes of slipping a workout,” says Mumbai-based nutrition consultant, Tripti Gupta. “So a minimum 40 minutes workout is required daily. A three-five days workout every week with a healthy diet is a must to get fitness levels.” So ladies, you can choose from one hour of brisk walking, tennis, cycling, swimming and gyming
Physiological aging begins at 25 and at 30, internal ageing starts. As your metabolic rate winds down, the inches begin to pile up. “Most women turn Google doctors and take to crazy diets that increase the fat percentage in the body. When you are in your 40s, you need to build up lean muscle tissue for better stamina, overall toning and strengthening your core and posture. Once you do this, everything falls in place, including the weight loss,” says Leena Mogre, director, Leena Mogre Fitness, Mumbai,
“No zumba, no aerobics, can compensate for weight training. At this age, the body needs a challenging routine to be pushed out of the comfort zone. The moment you rev up your basal metabolic rate, you will burn calories even while resting,” says Leena.
Any activity done as a chore is not a workout. These activities are required to keep us on our feet. When any of these actions are performed consistently for at least 40 minutes at a certain speed to increase our pulse rate, then it is called a workout. Our fat burning process needs our pulse rate to shoot up and stay there for a fair number of minutes; casual activities and chores do not ensure that. Says Pooja Bhatia Arora, a fitness trainer in Bengaluru, who has just turned 40 herself, “Aqua or water workouts are highly recommended. In an aquatic environment, there are less chances of injury as the buoyancy of water cushions the joints. The weight of the water adds to the resistance, resulting in a higher calorie burn.”
Shilpi Madan for New Indian Express