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Name: Michelle

Update posted: 16/12/2009

BEAT THE
PLATEAU

Everyone's metabolism naturally slows down with age. At 40, you could be burning 100 to 300 fewer calories a day than you did at 30. That can translate into a 10-25 pound weight gain in a year; but you can counteract that slowdown and boost your body's fat-burning capabilities by making just a few tweaks to your daily routine. The following strategies will help curtail that weight-loss plateau and burn even more fat.

Take five

Do five minutes of exercise every morning. We all have a metabolic thermostat, called the metastat, that can be turned up or down, and morning is the best time to activate it. Each day, your metastat is waiting for signals to rev up, so the more signals you can send it, the better. Your best bet is a light, full-body activity like walking or push-ups.

Fill up on good grains

Whole grains such as brown rice, wheat germ, dark bread, whole-grain cereal and oatmeal leave you feeling full because they take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers evaluated the dietary intake of more than 74,000 women for 12 years. Overall, women who regularly ate the most whole-grain foods — about 1.5 servings a day — gained less weight than women who ate the least.

Pump yourself up

Muscle burns more calories than fat does, and decreased muscle mass can be one of the main reasons metabolism slows. Disuse can cause women to drop as much as 10 pounds of muscle between the ages of 30 and 50. Losing that much muscle means you'll burn 350 to 500 fewer calories a day. To build and maintain muscle mass, aim for two to three strength-training workouts a week. If you don't belong to a gym, try push-ups, squats, abdominal crunches and tricep dips off a chair.

Power on with protein

Add a little high-quality, low fat protein, such as turkey, fish and egg whites, to your meals, and you'll help your body burn fat faster. Protein requires more energy to digest, it speeds up your metabolism, protein is necessary to ensure against loss of muscle tissue.

Fuel up in the morning

Numerous studies have found that regular breakfast eaters are often leaner than breakfast skippers. "Your metabolism naturally slows at night, but you can jump-start it in the morning by eating breakfast," says Tammy Lakatos Shames,co-author of Fire Up Your Metabolism. Because both your activity level and metabolism decrease later in the day, it's a good idea to make breakfast or lunch your largest meal.