If you're trying to lose weight, what's your motivation? The answer may depend on your age.
An article in the journal Obesity analyzed data from 2,964 participants in the National Weight Control Registry. The data revealed that motivations for weight loss and weight loss behaviors differed between young adults (ages 18-35) and older adults (36-50).
Of the nine possible reasons for weight loss, six were significantly different between the groups. Older adults were more likely to mention health as their motivation for losing weight, while young adults were more likely to mention appearance, social pressure, wanting to feel good about themselves, attending a social event, and to improve their social life.
Older adults were more likely to enroll in a commercial weight-loss program and talk with their physician as ways to lose weight, while young adults were more likely to attend exercise classes and to lose weight on their own.
Both groups were physically active at entry into the registry, but young adults were more likely to exercise vigorously, to exercise for weight loss, and to exercise in a group.
While weight loss at entry into the registry was similar between both younger and older adults, older adults maintained their weight loss for a significantly longer period of time.
By Jan Eickmeier
Published at Runners World
Great insight, I think more and more of the older group are working out for vanity reasons, I many more forty and fifty something's in the gym and working hard to look good on a date Saturday night. Thanks for the article and I will be back, Robert http://www.loseweightandgainmusclefast.com
ReplyDeleteMakes sense, and it goes back to what we've known: that it's more difficult to lose weight as you age, so the motivation changes. Going through that myself :)
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