This is Monica Reinagel, the nutrition diva here with your quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Today we're going to talk about something that's absolutely critical to healthy

and successful aging, and that is hanging on to your muscle as you get older.

And now let's get on with today's topic. By the time we're in our 30s,

most of us have already reached our peak in terms of lean muscle mass.

From that point on, we're gradually losing muscle.

It's not obvious at first, but by the time you get to your 60s or your 70s, the difference in body composition is really dramatic.

At that age, you see a lot less firm muscle tone and a lot more soft flesh and loose skin.

But age-related muscle loss isn't just a cosmetic issue.

So much of the loss of function and vitality that commonly accompanies aging

actually begins with this gradual loss of muscle tissue that starts way earlier in midlife.

As we lose muscle, we lose strength and stamina, and that

means we can't do as much as we used to. We aren't as strong and we tire more easily.

But as you lose muscle, you also tend to lose bone tissue and

thinning bones eventually lead to the frailty falls and fractures that we

typically associate with people in their 80s, but the seeds for this are sown way

back in middle life when we start losing muscle mass.

Okay, enough with the bad news.

How about some good news? If you can hang on to more muscle as you age,

you can turn this entire ship around and age more successfully. And I have some strategies that can

help you do just that. I recently got an email from David who wrote,

I'm a 54 year old man, an excellent diet, plenty of exercise, and no medical issues. Like many men my age I'm experiencing

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