Losing weight can feel like an uphill battle as we age, and it’s not your imagination — your body goes through many changes at around age 50 that can make it harder to shed extra pounds.
At Alevizos Medical in Irvine, California, Dr. John Alevizos provides integrative care that blends traditional medicine and alternative therapies. We’re here to help you beat the after-50 odds, achieving sustainable weight loss that works for your life.
Several factors contribute to the difficulty of losing weight as you age. While these changes may start before age 50, most people notice their effects sometime in their 50s.
After 50, your resting metabolic rate decreases, so you burn fewer calories at rest. This slowing can lead to weight gain even if you haven’t changed your eating and exercise habits.
Unfortunately, metabolism continues to decline, so it’s important to recognize and address this change before it leads to more weight gain.
Sarcopenia, or muscle mass loss, steadily declines over time. You lose up to 8% of your muscle loss per decade starting after age 30, so by the time you hit your 50s, you’ve likely already lost significant muscle mass.
Decreased muscle tissue makes it harder to maintain your strength, which may prevent you from exercising and burning calories efficiently.
Hormone fluctuations can strongly influence weight management. Menopause and andropause (male menopause) both reduce the amount of sex hormones in the body, which can lead to increased fat storage, particularly around the belly.
In addition, other conditions, such as diabetes and thyroid disease, involve hormone imbalances that can lead to weight gain. While hormone fluctuations are often a normal part of aging, you can restore your hormone levels to youthful levels with hormone replacement therapy.
Although the factors discussed above may sound like frustrating barriers, they don’t have to be. At Alevizos Medical, we focus on personalized weight management tailored to your age, activity level, and unique health needs.
We help you correct underlying causes of weight struggles, which makes the entire process of losing weight much smoother and easier. You don’t have to feel deprived or starve yourself. Instead, we focus on making smart changes to serve your body well for the rest of your life.
With treatments like hormone replacement therapy, phentermine, Ozempic®, Mounjaro®, and the hCG diet, we can help you stabilize your hormones, balance your body, and reclaim a healthy weight at any age.
Call our Irvine office at 949-916-3600 or contact us online to book a personalized consultation now.
