By As we age, hormonal shifts with the different sexes, makes it just a little bit more challenging to lose that extra weight we’ve managed to accumulate. This is not to say that it’s completely out of the picture. Weight loss can and does happen with proper nutrition and exercise program. Our metabolism does start to reduce with age, and this can be effectively handled in more ways than one.
One very key aspect of ageing is that we tend to have a lot more life responsibilities and stresses from work, home and general daily life. This effects our energy, and also can causes us to become less active due to tiredness or exhaustion. Overtime, this small aspect can allow our clothes to become tighter, and our weight increase.
Some important things to be aware of.
The key factor in identifying how the weight gain progressed, and what is going on in your life, will allow you to take back the power of circumstance, and be able to change it. Have your sleeping patterns changed? Are you experiencing some major stresses in your life right now? Have you been resorting to take away, rather than eating from home? Is work consuming your life right now? Are you going through a break up or divorce. All of these, plus many more can effect your energy levels, sleep and also the choices you make with your food and activity. When you begin to gain awareness of what’s really going on, then making the necessary changes will become a lot easier.
What happens to our bodies as we get older
As our age increases, we may find (due to inflammation) that it’s can possibly become a lot more uncomfortable riding a bike, or going for a run. Perhaps the years of pushing ourselves with exercise, has taken it’s toll on our bodies.
Muscle mass also tends to diminish as we age. As much as 40 percent will disappear between the ages of 40 and 80. This key aspect is what slows our metabolism down, allowing for more fat accumulation, especially around the belly. Let’s not forget that it can increase your risk of diabetes and many other diseases.
From this you can gather, that it’s even more important to look after your health and well-being as you age. Here is how you can work towards a resolution
5 keys to losing weight over 40
- Make protein a priority. This is a big one for most people. Protein is essential in our diets, and it helps us to feel fuller for longer, eliminate cravings, and even assists us in burning body fat. It actually takes calories to digest this stuff, which is magical! We do need to make sure that protein play a part in our diet, but we must be aware of the portion we are consuming. Just because it’s a key macro, doesn’t mean you can eat too much of it. As with anything, we must exercise control. If I may suggest what your plate contains, I would say that it most definitely needs to be filled with vegetables, with a small palm size serving of protein.
- Try intermittent fasting. You don’t have to fast every day (but it’s extremely effective if you do), even a couple of times a week will make a huge difference to your whole body, not just the amount of belly fat you will lose. Intermittent fasting allows our bodies to tap into fat stores for energy, as well as help us to increase muscular gains when we exercise. That is great news all around, because increasing muscle mass helps us to expand our metabolism, burning even more body fat.
- Use weight training in your fat burning and muscle building regime. Weight training is king when it comes to body fat loss, and firing up your metabolism. Our bodies respond well to lifting heavy items, and this engages our muscles, increasing our strength, bone density and our overall health. Of course, you will have to train in a specific way if fat loss is your goal. I won’t get into that now, but I will highlight the importance of weight training on a regular basis. Building muscle increases your metabolism, allowing you to consume more foods. It also prohibits weight gain (to an extent). Females, you will not ‘bulk up’ with weights. It’s impossible for us to get as big as a man (naturally) so please, do yourself a favour and consult a professional to familiarise yourself with the magic that weights can do for your physique and health.
- Fresh, whole foods with every meal. That means, disregard anything that belongs on a supermarket shelf, with a very long used by date. Instead, make the fresh vegetable isle your place to be. Stock up on spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, mushrooms, turnips. sweet potato and anything green that’s available. These should be a major part of your diet from now on, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Consuming too many carbs. Although carbs are essential, you do have to make sure you are eating the right kind. Past and bread is not an option here, if you want to lose weight. Lean more towards veggies, and carb cycle your sweet potato, oats and basmati rice. Stay away from so called whole grain, as they are not good for your gut health. Always opt to consume carbs on a day you have been training, so that it restocks your glycogen stores. You will notice a difference when you do this.
With some lifestyle and dietary changes, you won’t believe how fast weight loss and strength building will become. All it takes is some educated decisions, and commitment to making those changes. Weight loss is just around the corner for you.
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