3 Ways to Keep Your Metabolism From Slowing Down After 40

If you want to avoid gaining weight over 40, you'd better stop your metabolism from slowing down.

The alternative is to keep trying to restrict what you eat while still watching your waistline grow.

Now THAT is a frustrating situation.

By the way… We’re Jonathan & Blakley Fletcher. We own and operate Digital Barbell. We’ve been in the fitness business for over a decade, and we’ve been coaching people 100% online since 2018. We love traveling in our Airstream with our dogs while helping our clients all over the world stay strong and age well.

Jonathan & Blakley

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A "fast" metabolism is one that burns a lot of calories to keep you alive.

A "slow" metabolism is one that doesn't.

So, knowing that... how are we going to speed yours up?

I've got three tricks up my sleeve for you today.

1. Build Lean Muscle

The first thing we've got to do is soup up the engine that's responsible for a massive chunk of your calorie burn.

I'm talking about lean muscle.

See, body fat is lazy.

It just sits there.

It requires very few calories to exist.

Muscle, on the other hand, is active.

It burns calories just to exist, and you also burn calories repairing and maintaining it after your workouts.

Two women can weigh exactly the same, but the one with more muscle will have a faster metabolism.

How do you build lean muscle?

You lift weights that are appropriate for your level, at the right intensity, while following a program built around progressive overload.

Not Pilates.

Not running.

Not Peloton.

Not bodyweight boot camps.

And if you're trying to starve yourself to avoid weight gain, can I ask how that's working out for you?

When it comes to building muscle, I'm not talking about "bulking up" or oiling up to step on a bodybuilding stage.

I'm talking about building a base of functional muscle that ramps up your metabolism and makes you look like you actually work out.

If you don't do anything about it, your metabolism will slow down as you age.

Not a big deal unless you're bothered by a growing waistline, being exhausted, or if you enjoy eating food.

Our strength training program, “Strength Made Simple” is a great place to start.

You can download a free week HERE.

2. Increase Your Daily Activity

The second tool in our metabolism-boosting toolbox is much faster and easier than building muscle.

I'm not talking about doing more workouts or putting more meetings on your calendar.

I'm talking about moving your body more as part of your everyday routine.

The simplest measure of this is your daily step count.

A person who walks 5,000 or fewer steps per day is generally considered sedentary.

A person who gets around 7,500 steps per day is considered active.

A person who gets 10,000 or more steps per day is considered very active.

This "non-exercise activity" can easily increase your calorie burn by 300-1,000 calories per day when done consistently.

That extra calorie burn is a game-changer when it comes to avoiding weight gain in your 40s and beyond.

Not only does walking and being active in general increase calorie burn, it can also improve the health of your knees, hips, ankles, and back while helping maintain bone density.

Want better insulin sensitivity and digestion?

Take some of those walks after a meal.

You don't need a fancy fitness watch to track your steps, either.

A simple pedometer or your smartphone will do the job just fine.

3. Eat More Protein

Everyone knows that if you eat too many calories, you'll gain weight.

But did you know that the types of calories you eat affect your metabolism as you age?

All calories belong in three categories:

• Protein

• Carbohydrates

• Fat

These categories are called macronutrients, or "macros."

We're not going down the full-depth rabbit hole of macros today, but I do want to explain how they affect your metabolism.

There's a phenomenon in human biology called the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).

Basically, it's the calories you burn digesting the food you eat.

The reason this matters is that there's a drastic difference between how many calories you burn digesting protein, carbs, and fat.

Fat

Let's start with the loser of the group.

Dietary fat.

You only burn about 3% of the calories in fat during digestion.

So if you eat 100 calories of fat from something like butter, oil, or salad dressing, about 97 of those calories "count" toward your daily calorie intake.

High-fat diets tend to create a lower thermic effect.

Carbohydrates

Carbs are a little better.

About 10% of the calories in carbohydrates are burned during digestion.

So out of the 300 calories in a bagel, your body is only processing about 270 calories after digestion costs are accounted for.

Not great.

Not terrible.

Protein

Protein is the king of calorie burn.

About 20-30% of the calories in protein are burned off through the Thermic Effect of Food.

So not only do you get muscle-building fuel from a 100-calorie chicken breast, but only about 70-80 calories remain after digestion costs.

Why does this matter for your aging metabolism?

I've noticed it in myself, and we certainly see it with our nutrition coaching clients, but as we age, we often don't crave protein as much.

When you're stressed and exhausted, do you reach for a stick of beef jerky?

Or do you reach for nuts, popcorn, chips, or crackers?

It's not that those foods are bad.

But if more of your daily calories gradually shift toward carbs and fat and away from protein, you're eating more calories that aren't contributing to muscle maintenance and are less costly for your body to process.

Those extra calories have no choice but to be stored somewhere.

Your age didn't cause it.

Your choices did.

So if you fight the natural tendency to eat less protein as you get older, you'll be fighting for your metabolism.

How Much Protein Should You Eat?

Women: Aim for 25-35 grams of protein per meal.

Men: Aim for 35-50 grams of protein per meal.

Remember, the amount of protein per serving is listed right on the nutrition label.

The Bottom Line

If you want to preserve your metabolism as you age, focus on these three things:

1. Build Lean Muscle

If you have two people of the same age, sex, and weight, the one with more muscle will have a faster metabolism.

2. Increase Your Daily Activity

Track your steps and look for opportunities to move more throughout the day.

3. Prioritize Protein

Protein supports muscle maintenance and has the highest thermic effect of any macronutrient.

None of these strategies require extreme diets, detoxes, cleanses, or endless cardio.

They require consistency.

And the good news is that you have far more control over your metabolism than you've probably been led to believe.

Lift heavy, stay active, and eat your protein.

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