Interesting Article from my Momma!

Middle-aged Women Cutting Calories Significantly Cut Weight Gain
Maria Walton - LDS Living
02/24/2009 01:04 PM MST

Eating a whole bag of chips or an entire pint of ice cream may have
done minimal to no damage to your waistline when you were 20, but if
you’re over 40, the aftermath of such indulgences can be significant.

While, culturally, 40 may be the new 30, when it comes to what you
eat, there is a definite distinction, according to a new study from
Brigham Young University researchers.

In the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health
Promotion, Larry A. Tucker, PhD, and Laura Bates, reported the results
of their new study that will put a sour taste in the mouth of
middle-aged women not already monitoring their eating habits.

After following 192 women with an average age of 40 for three years
and tracking information on lifestyle, health and eating habits,
researchers found that the middle-aged women they studied had more
than twice the risk of substantial weight gain if they did not become
more restrained in their eating.

Although the conclusion that women tend to gain weight and body fat as
they age and become less physically active is no surprise, it is
interesting to note that, even with exercise, those who did not become
more restrained in their eating over time gained weight, but those
that did not exercise more and made an effort to eat less were 69
percent less likely to gain more than 2.2 pounds.

Columbia University researcher Lance Davidson, who was not involved
with the analysis, said the findings illustrate an important principle
of weight management.

“Because the body's energy requirements progressively decline with
age, energy intake must mirror that decrease or weight gain occurs,”
Davidson, a research fellow at Columbia’s Obesity Research Center,
said in a BYU news release. “Dr. Tucker's observation that women who
practice eating restraint avoid the significant weight gain commonly
observed in middle age is an important health message.”

But what is restrained eating? Tucker described it as choosing not to
eat certain things or not to eat as much as you'd like.

"We're not saying you need to go around hungry. That won't work. You
need to restrain from unhealthy foods, from high-calorie foods. If you
don't, you will gain weight," he told the Deseret News.

Tucker and Bates also admitted that eating properly is a skill that
needs to be practiced, and as such, they offered some tips for helping
you in your quest to eat better and get trimmer.

Record what you eat and how much. Put less food on your plate, you
don’t have to feel full or stuffed. Eat more fruit and vegetables, and
substitute low-calorie foods for their fatty, calorie-dense
counterparts. Be careful about butter and gravy, and if you have
“problem foods,” don’t keep them around