5 Reasons Your Body Shape Changes As You Age

"A lot of factors contribute to our body shape changing, and the first one is overeating," says Donnica Moore, M.D.,president of theSapphire Women's Health Group . "More than half of adult Americans are overweight and a third are obese. Many of us are starting out behind the eight ball before we even factor in other changes." 

The average American man eats 2,638 calories a day and the average American woman eats 1,785 calories a day, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. That's far more than the recommended 2,000 calories for adult men, and 1,600 calories for adult women.

"After the age of 40, a whole host of factors contribute to overeating," says Pamela Peeke, M.D., author of Fight Fat After Forty . "This includes business-related travel and meals, higher levels of stress and stress-related eating, more celebratory social dinners, and more alcohol use."  

What can you do? Start with small changes like adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet while cutting out sugary, fatty snacks. You can also cut down on how much alcohol you drink. "Cut out diet soda," says Dr. Moore. People have the mistaken belief that you won't gain weight with diet soda, she says, however, diet soda is loaded with artificial sweeteners, which have been shown to cause food cravings.

2. Hormones