Obesity is a major health issue affecting a person’s quality of life. If not addressed early enough, it eventually can lead to more severe health problems and death. The rates of obesity in America are steadily rising, especially among those over 40 years old, as seen by the following statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “The obesity prevalence is 39.8% among adults aged 20 to 39 years, 44.3% among adults aged 40 to 59 years, and 41.5% among adults aged 60 and older.”^[1] One reason for this trend may be that as we age, our metabolism slows down, leading to weight gain. According to Piedmont Healthcare, “As we age, our metabolism slows, and the rate at which we break down food decreases by 10 percent each decade after age 20.”^[2] As people grow older, they become more sedentary and may start eating unhealthier foods, leading them down the path toward obesity. But it doesn’t have to be this way if you are ready to make a few changes in your lifestyle and invest in your health. Though it can be tough to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle, some discipline, determination, and knowledge can help you achieve your goals faster. Kirk Anderson is proof it can happen.

Anderson is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist helping people look great and feel even better by providing customized diet, workout, and supplement plans. He is passionate about the over-40 crowd in particular—a group he understands all too well as he’s over 40 himself. In fact, his life changed for good in his 40s, and he’s now enjoying better health than he ever did in his younger years. As a former clinically obese person, Anderson knows the pain of trying different exercise regimens, changing your diet multiple times, and failing to hit your weight loss goals. In his case, he tried that and failed twice before he turned 45.

In his mid-30s, Anderson could not bear the sight of the person looking back at him in the mirror. By this point, he’d grown morbidly obese, his face had become unrecognizable, and that was just part of it. Because of his weight, Anderson’s blood pressure and cholesterol levels were through the roof, and to add to that, he was pre-diabetic. Fed up with these problems, Anderson decided to do something about his health and started exercising. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough knowledge to help him make sustainable changes and admits he might have been too cocky in believing he could do it on his own.

After trial and error, Anderson made significant strides in his weight loss journey. At 37, he lost 65 lbs and tasted what a healthy lifestyle would look like. Two years later, he regained the weight and went back to the drawing board again at 43. This time around, he invested in his health by hiring a professional coach. She helped him develop sustainable habits, and the results came soon after. By 45, Anderson had lost 40 lbs of fat and gained 30 lbs of muscle. He has never looked back. At 49, he boasts impressive achievements like leg pressing 1,000 lbs for 10 reps, deadlifting 415 lbs for two reps, squatting 315 lbs for two reps, and bench pressing 315 lbs for two reps.

As a trainer and coach, Anderson’s goal is to shorten the learning curve for others and help them reach their goals faster than he did. His platform helps his clients dispel myths about weight loss at 40 and above and remain consistent until they achieve their goals. Whether people are trying to lose 100 lbs of fat, gain 30 lbs of muscle, tone their legs or naturally lift their butts, Anderson is ready to show them how!

^[1]https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html#:~:text=The%20obesity%20prevalence%20was%2039.8,adults%20aged%2060%20and%20older.

^[2] https://www.piedmont.org/living-better/why-metabolism-slows-as-you-age

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