Is it harder to lose weight and shape up, as you get older?

These technical tips are sound, but the most useful things you need to know are all about how you approach exercise, and the will to invest real effort.

From the research that has been done it seems that, as we age we experience a lowering of our daily calorie consumption and a greater tendency to lay down body fat largely as a result of hormonal changes within the body.

Physically, joints and muscles have a lower threshold for injury, which means that most bodies beyond 30 or 40 cannot perform as intensely as they might have been able to at 21. Most people have no need to perform a lot like an athlete to reach their goals though and a consistent solid effort is enough. (Indeed you only have to look at the legacy of injuries on elite athletes to see that a consistent solid effort is healthier than an obsessive intense and daily effort).

Lets be honest though, we can't exactly blame it on the joints and hormones if we haven't exercised regularly in the last 6 months.

It is ABSOUTELY achievable to have a similar figure at 30 or 40 as 20 or 30. But guess what - you will have to work for it!

The physical limitations are affected by a wider and common psychological pit fall in most peoples approach to weight loss.

The truth about weight loss and toning is this -

'Perform a little more like an athlete and you will look a little more like an athlete' So if your aiming for a fitness magazine cover model look, you will have to behave a lot like an athlete, if you just want to lose a little weight you will have to behave a little like an athlete.

The point is that the real limitation here is 'will'. If you have 10 years of weight gain to reverse, then you need to start with the intention of finishing and you need the will to make actual changes - most importantly set out 3-5 exercise hours in your week. I promise they will be the most rewarding 3-5 hours in that week. As for this being realistic or not, sorry no cotton wool here - it is very very realistic if you have the will.

It's harder to progress slowly, for example if you do have poor joints or an underlying health problem, than it is if you can progress quicker. Here again 'will' is the key factor and setting yourself on a course from which you will not be deterred.

Many people trying to lose weight are trying to lose weight in a very short time period compared to the time it took to put on. A person might let himself or herself go for a year or 2 (or 10) and then expect to see the weight gain reveres in 2 weeks. The correct and committed approach from the start is important - commit to at least 3 months - even better go for a complete and ongoing lifestyle change - why not? It will make you much happier.

You will feel the results from a workout programme like those you will receive at LSFIT within 10 days and perhaps even see them from about the same time. The real rewards will be around 4 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks.

Put your efforts into improving your exercise performance until you can give a good account of yourself in a workout 3-4 times a week. For many physiological reasons that are beyond the scope of this article - you have got to be serious about exercising, diet alone is a poor, unhealthy and unreliable way to lose weight which usually results in a yoyo weight gain effect.

(In brief if you want to print it - dieting loses weight from bone and muscle tissue as well as fat, decreasing the metabolic rate. End result I may save 400 calories on not eating as much food but my body is using 500 calories less anyway - so actually I'm getting fatter as the excess food calories are stored as fat. An exerciser may burn as much as an additional 500 calories per day, so doesn't need to reduce calorie intake to get thinner- obviously if calorie intake is already really high or food choices are very poor then diet must be adjusted.)

Dan Newman