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A natural part of aging is a slowing metabolism, making it easier for us to pack on the pounds.

But it's not all out of your hands - there are things you can do.

Elizabeth Cohen has more in your Facebook Story of the Day.

When Rene Esler was forty-two, she began to notice some unwelcome changes.

"I can't wear tight shirts at all, I mean I have bulges that I swear to you that I would never ever have."

Esler realized her metabolism was not the same as in her younger years.

The process of metabolism converts food and drink into energy to fuel the body.

Dietitian Marisa Moore says as we age, both men and women tend to see a slowdown in their metabolism. The primary cause for the slowdown of the metabolism is the fact that the body tends to start to replace lean body mass with fat mass. And muscle burns more calories than fat does. And that means it's easier to gain weight.

Moore offers these tips to maintaining a healthy metabolism.

Make sure that you are physically active, as much as you can every day.

Make sure that you do maintain a healthy and balanced diet. Stay away from fad diets and products that promise to rev up the metabolism because they generally don't work.

Esler says she's accepting this fact of life. "I just want to be healthy but at the end of the day, if my definition of healthy and my feeling my best isn't me in my 20's that's ok, it's just ok."

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