9 Steps to Help You Lose Weight As You Age
You’re getting older and you just can’t seem to lose weight. Is weight gain inevitable? When you’re in your 20’s and 30’s, it doesn't take much to cut back on calories and lose weight, but when you start approaching 50, that weight does not want to budge! What’s going on? Researchers say women gain, on average, 2-5 pounds during perimenopause and with hormonal changes, weight gain may continue into menopause. How do you stop this from happening? Here are nine steps to get you back on track:
Eat high quality, clean food. Get rid of food that has been processed and look for healthier options. Processed food will have more sugar, salt, oil, and calories. There are usually additives such as dextrose, maltose, trans fats, and hydrogenated oils found in the ingredient list. Because these ingredients are not natural, they are harder to digest. The cleaner the food, the faster you will be able to digest it, which means more weight loss. So, stick with natural food!
Add more high fiber foods into your diet. The best foods with fiber are: vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, whole grains, beans and lentils. Fiber is necessary for digestion, and it also keeps you full longer. Women should aim for 25 grams of fiber per day, and men 38 grams.
Try intermittent fasting (IF). IF cycles between periods of fasting and eating. You are not required to eat anything specific, but I recommended that you eat healthy, high fiber food so you see results quicker. Unsure of how to start? You can start with the 12/12 method which is 12 hours of fasting and then you have a 12 hour window to eat. You will want to work up to the 16/8 method which is 14-16 hours in a fasted state and then eat during an 8-10 hour window (women usually do best fasting for 14 hours and eating for 10). You can either eat your breakfast later in the morning, or eat your dinner earlier in the evening. You decide what works best for you. There are a few other ways to do IF. If you want to learn more, go here.
Get rid of any excess sugar you eat. Sugar turns into fat and doesn’t digest well, so get rid of it! And, if you get rid of all of your processed food, you won’t have to worry about the hidden sugar found there.
Get rid of (or cut back) alcohol. I know you don’t want to hear this, but sadly alcohol will add calories with very little nutritional benefits. If you’re having alcohol nightly, save it for one or two nights on the weekend. You might also want to try giving it up for 30 days by following The Alcohol Experiment book to see how you feel. It has some great points without being preachy.
Keep moving everyday! Most of us start to slow down as we age. Work gets in the way and sometimes you feel too tired to exercise. But, this is not the time to slow down if you want to lose that weight. I do something physical everyday. This keeps my body burning calories continuously. It doesn’t have to be a big long work out, but you should be sweating and bringing up your heart rate so your body will continue to be a fat burning machine.
Switch up your work outs if you have been doing the same thing, and you’re not seeing results. If you’re a walker, start adding hills or stairs. If you haven’t added weights to your work outs, add them! You should be doing at least two days a week of weight training to keep your muscles strong.
Pay attention to why you’re eating. If you haven’t checked out and tried my Food & Mood Journal, you might want to use it to see if you’re an emotional eater. You will find the journal page here with other suggestions about how you might be sabotaging your health.
Finally, BE CONSISTENT! When you consistently exercise, eat right, and take care of yourself, you will see results!
As we get older, our body naturally changes. Sometimes the weight just doesn’t want to come off and this becomes frustrating. Do the best you can and take care of yourself by follow these nine steps. You’ll feel healthy and be able to stay active for many years to come. Plus, with hard work, your weight should start to come off. Tell me your weight loss story in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
