Your body goes through several changes as you age. Some good, while others… not so much. But hey! There’s no reason to be disheartened. It is all a part of life. You cannot expect your body at 50 to be like it was at 20.
There are several changes that happen to your body. You may get a little slouchy, and it might get difficult for you to focus on a particular work. Not to mention the weight gains and weight losses that feel like a rollercoaster.
What Happens To Your Body After You Hit 40?
The body goes through several pleasant and unpleasant changes. These are both internal and external. Some of the changes are mentioned below:
- Your Rate Of Metabolism Slows Down
If you are approaching your 40s or are already in them, you may have noticed that you have difficulty losing weight. Or that you are becoming sluggish. You can blame it on the hormones.
As there is a drop in your levels of estrogen, it affects the body. If you are a man, lower levels of estrogen result in lower sex drive and accumulation of fat around the belly. In women, low estrogen might mean that you are approaching menopause. You may experience hot flashes, excessive sweating, and a decrease in sex drive.
- Your Joints Are Not Supporting You Anymore
If you feel like your joints have become achy, it is because you have turned 40. They have been your friend for all these years while you were looking after your family and quite literally trying to make money out of your career.
The hinges of your body have thus become like the hinges of an old squeaky door, too old and worn out to function properly.
- Insulin
As you grow older and keep gaining weight, your body ignores insulin. This hormone is created in the pancreas. It regulates the amount of sugar or glucose in the blood.
What happens as a result? Your blood sugar spikes and falls uncontrollably. You crave more food, and this results in weight gain (yes, it is like a cycle). Not only that, but excessive insulin can also result in type 2 diabetes.
Habits To Follow Post 40
While you might think that how your body hormones work is not under your control, there are actually a few things that can keep your body in check after you turn 40.
Here are 8 habits that you should follow:
- Wake Up Early
Waking up in the morning without snoozing your alarm lets you have more time. You can utilize this to do the things you actually love to do. Read a book, go birdwatching, take a walk around your locality, make breakfast, spend some quality time with your family, or do the work that is pending. There are just so many things to do.
- Eat Vegetables More
Eating healthy and nutritious food is the first thing that you should do to achieve your body’s goal. Include more green leafy vegetables in your diet. Make sure you get the required amount of macro and micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, proteins, food fats, and carbs, through your food.
Try to avoid eating out as much as you can. If you feel like snacking, replace your regular unhealthy snacks with healthier granola bars or dry fruits, nuts, and seeds.
- Exercise And Meditate
Regular exercising helps the body in many ways. It helps you lose weight and increases your HRV, which in turn helps you deal with stress. The positive effects of meditation on the mind and body are not unknown.
Apart from giving us relief from stress, it also helps us to focus and concentrate stronger. Not only does it make our work easier, but it also helps improve our heart health.
- Make Vitamins Your Friend
You may not find all the nutrients through food every day. This is when your multivitamins come to the rescue.
Although vitamins are important across all age groups, you will need them more as you age as they help the body fight diseases better. Include essential vitamins like Vitamin D (it boosts immunity) and Vitamin B12 in your diet.
- Say No To Processed Food
Processed foods come not only with a lot of conveniences but also with large amounts of sodium and other saturated fats (bad fats).
High sodium consumption can cause an increase in blood pressure, which may lead to stress and stroke. Too much saturated fats in your food can also raise cholesterol levels in your blood. This also results in several heart diseases.
- Have A Healthy Sex Life
There are a lot of positive effects of having sex. It not only makes you feel good but also makes you look young. The feel-good hormones like oxytocin, endorphin, and dopamine, are stimulated while having sex. This is a way to relieve stress and anxiety and improve your quality of sleep.
- Preventative Healthcare Is The Best
Take necessary steps towards maintaining a healthy life. One of the health benefits of cleanliness & hygiene is that you get rid of all the germs and bacteria that are on your skin. This lowers the chances of you getting an infectious disease.
After you turn 40, make annual visits to your doctor a must. Do not take any suspicious changes in the body lightly.
- Sleep
But keep in mind that you have enough sleep. Sleep is important as the body, the blood vessels, and the heart specifically goes through several repairs and healing during the night.
It also helps relax your brain. It also helps lower your blood pressure levels and the risk of diseases like stroke, diabetes, and other kidney diseases.
Final Word
Forty years is a long time to build a habit. The habits you have been following for four long decades might not be easy to put aside. But there’s no harm in trying. If you follow all the points mentioned above and level up your lifestyle with quality sleep and sufficient amounts of water, life will be easy after 40.
Have a positive attitude towards life. Always remember what you want from life and make your health a priority. Give more importance to having fun. Take holidays. It is good for the body, heart, and mind. By keeping your goals in check, you will be able to decide whether you are living life to the fullest or not.