The debate on the impact of metabolism is an interesting one. You often hear comments like this:

"I’m super lucky with my metabolism. I have to be realistic – that might not always be the situation. That’s why I chose really intense training."

A recent article in Men’s Health (March 2009) states differently:

Overweight people, on average, have slower 3,000m steeple chase times than slim people. They also close the fridge door slower. Overweight people DO NOT, however, have slower metabolisms. To blow this myth out of the water, a recent study by the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute discovered that most groups of organisms favour the same optimum metabolic rate, while Germany’s Journal for Nutritional Science found overweight people actually have faster basal metabolic rates (presumably because of the extra effort shifting that excess weight around).

Personally, as I have crossed into 40land, I have noticed weight gain when my lifestyle becomes less active and my consumption of food outstrips my bodies ability to burn it off.

Time and time again, it all comes back to lifestyle and staying active. The only thing that will slow down is my choice to get off that couch!