• Question: i like food and i have an amazing metabolisml.. will it all come back and make me fat when i'm older?

    Asked by anon-22847 to Austin, Kirsty, Nicola, Nike, Sarah on 19 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Kirsty Ross

      Kirsty Ross answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      I think you should make the most of your amazing metabolism while you are young, running around and getting lots of exercise. As you get older, there are fewer opportunities in work and daily life to do things like PE. Most people have sedentary jobs where they spend a lot of time sitting down at their desks. Although their metabolisms may not have changed, the amount of energy they burn daily has significantly decreased. As this excess in energy is not being burnt, it is stored by the body as fat.

      As you get older, your metabolism does start to slow and so it is harder to burn off the energy that you eat. This can lead to the dreaded middle age spread! However, if you can stay busy and active when you start work, that helps burn off energy and has the positive effect of maintaining your metabolism at a high level. This can help offset the metabolism slow down that happens as you age. Maintaining a good BMI ratio and keeping your % body fat in a healthy range will all support your basal metabolism at a high tick.

    • Photo: Austin Elliott

      Austin Elliott answered on 20 Jun 2012:

      Yes, gaining or losing weight, despite all the discussion, still seems to be down to ‘calories in vs calories used’. Like most middle-aged people, I have gained weight since my 20s, mainly because I get so little exercise – sat-at-desk job, commute in a car, etc. etc.

      Sometimes you don’t notice the decrease in activity as you get older that much, because your activity may have been ‘everyday’ things, rather than something specifically ‘exercise-y’ like sport.. For instance, as a 1st year university student I used to live 2 miles from the University in the town centre, so I would often walk 8 miles a day – to and from lectures in the daytime, and to and from wherever I was going out to in the evening. I don’t do that now…!

      So like Kirsty says, make the most of that metabolism – and then hopefully you can keep your ‘active habits’ as you get older. which will be much better for you.

    • Photo: Nike Dattani

      Nike Dattani answered on 20 Jun 2012:

      You are an “ectomorph” just like me !
      No matter what we eat, it seems we don’t gain any weight !

      Endomorphs have a hard time losing weight … everything they eat becomes fat.
      Mesomorphs are in the middle =)

      Even ectomorphs like us do begin to gain weight when we get older though — when we stop growing vertically, where does the food go ??

      I am sure though, that you are very good looking and will continue to be, even when you get older … if you’re worried about becoming fat — just exercise =)

      You can keep eating the food you love, as long as you’re responsible about it =)

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