Maintaining Your Muscle

Courtesy of Paul Devine

As we age, our metabolism slows and it’s harder to shed unwanted pounds. We’re all heard this statement before, but many of us are unsure why our metabolism starts to lag behind once we leave our twenties. The phenomenon is known as sarcopenia. Basically the average person loses 1 % of their muscle mass per year after the age of 30. This may not sound like much, but it adds up over the years. If you don’t do anything to stop sacropenia, you’ll have lost 20 % of your muscle mass by age 50. If a woman has 30 pounds of muscle at 30, she will only have 24 pounds of muscle at age 50. Since a pound of muscle burns an average of 50 more calories a day than fat, her metabolism will have slowed by 300 calories per day in 20 years. If she eats the same amount and doesn’t increase her exercise, she’ll gain 31 pounds in one year. What can be done to slow sarcopenia? Strength training is the only way to reduce muscle loss that comes with aging. 30 minutes of strength training, 3 times a week will counteract the effect of sacropenia and keep your metabolism in high gear your life!

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Power Up Bars

2-1/2 cups natural peanut butter

2 cups honey

2-1/4 cups protein powder

3 cups uncooked oatmeal

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup wheat bran

Preparation: In a double boiler, warm the peanut butter and honey to a smooth consistency. This step can be done in the microwave as well--just heat both ingredients for 70 to 90 seconds. In a mixing bowl, stir together all remaining dry ingredients. Add the peanut butter & honey to the dry ingredients. Press into a 9x9 greased pan. Cut into bars