Dear Rubytwosday,

First and foremost, congratulations on making a commitment to investing in your body, mind, and spirit at your local YMCA. By engaging in strength training as part of your workouts your are taking a major step in assisting your body with burning calories while at rest, slowing down the effects of osteoporosis, and helping to create lean muscle mass.

The creation of this muscle mass is imperative as women around the age of 50 begin to lose muscle mass, causing a decline in your resting metabolic rate which in turn can cause you to gain weight. Unfortunately as you get older, you have to exercise at a higher intensity to burn the same number of calories as when you were younger. As you age, there is a decline in your exercise capacity, even if you are in relatively good shape. At 21, for example, you might have been able to burn 15 calories a minute while running; but at age 55, you might be able to burn only 11 calories a minute.

That said, I would re-evaluate how “hard” you are training. For example when you are strength training, are you working to the point of momentary muscle failure (the point where your body can not do one more repetition with correct form and tempo)? If you are doing cardio, are you exercising at your target heart rate for at least 30 minutes or are you sauntering on the treadmill while reading your favorite novel? Additionally, you may simply need to change up your workouts as your body may have adapted to them.

Finally, you actually may not be consuming enough calories or may be eating the wrong types or combination of foods. I suggest keeping a food journal and having a nutritionist evaluate the amount and types of foods you choose, as well as the times throughout the day you ingest them.

If you have any more specific questions please don’t hesitate to ask. Best wishes with this advice and let me know how you are doing!