Top Secrets for Losing Weight after 50 for Women

For most women, maintaining a healthy weight becomes harder as they age. A sedentary lifestyle, a declining metabolism, hormonal changes, and low energy levels make it harder to keep up appearances. While you can’t necessarily stop or reverse all of the changes that come with aging, here’s what you can do to maintain a healthy weight in middle age and beyond.

Increase your Protein Intake

Women need to amp up their protein intake after 50, not just to reverse age related muscle loss, but to help them lose weight easily. Your resting metabolism slows down after your turn 20, and continues its downward journey as you age due to age-related muscle loss. However, eating a protein rich diet can help you lose weight faster and even keep it that way. Not to mention, people over 50 need a higher protein intake than younger adults, making it all the more important to incorporate more protein in your diet.

Eat Less at Night

Women looking to lose excess body fat and maintain a healthy body weight need to consume fewer calories at night. A study revealed that those who consumed more calories at dinner were at twice the risk of becoming obese than people who ate more during the day. Not to mention, people who eat more at dinner are more vulnerable to developing metabolic syndrome, characterized by excess belly fat and elevated blood sugar levels. You would do better to divide most of your calorie intake between breakfast and lunch, and eat a lighter dinner to boost weight loss.

Boost Your Activity Level

Some women over 50 stop taking care of day-to-day chores such as mowing the lawn, house cleaning, cooking, raking, washing their car, shoveling snow, or even carrying groceries. If so, this means that you are burning far less calories every day than you used to. When it comes to weight loss, your lifestyle has much to do with the overall process. Working out isn’t the only way to burn calories; you can even boost your non-exercise activity thermogenesis by indulging in daily chores and activities.

Divide Your Plate

As a rule of thumb, you should get 45-65% of your calories from carbs, 10-35% from protein, and 20-35% from dietary fat, to effectively shed pounds after 50. However, if you don’t have time to count calories during weight loss, you can divide your meal the right way to make sure you’re meeting daily nutritional needs. Before heaping your plate with your favorite foods, stop!

Fill up half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables, such as asparagus, mushrooms, bell peppers, celery, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, green beans, and tomatoes. One-fourth of your plate should constitute protein-rich foods, such as tofu, fish, chicken, and eggs. The remaining one-fourth should be filled with fiber-rich carbs, such as whole-grains, legumes, peas, corn, fruit, lentils, and beans. In addition, remember to consume 2-3 servings of low-fat daily, as well as a small portion of dietary fat, such as seeds, nuts, vegetable oils, and avocados. Dividing your plate this way makes sure you are fulfilling your daily nutritional needs which are essential to your weight loss journey.

Workout

Staying active over 50 helps you maintain high energy levels, obtain a healthy weight, preserve lean muscle mass, improve strength and flexibility, slows down age-related physical decline, and bid adieu to anxiety, depression, and stress. A varied exercise program is necessary at this age to offset body composition changes that are quite common with age. For instance, strength training helps to build and maintain muscle and improve your metabolism, while aerobic training improves your heart health and slows your metabolism from declining. On the other hand, flexibility training increases the range of motion in your joints, which makes it easier for you to work out, while stability training helps you garner a youthful-looking body and improves your balance, posture and appearance.

If you are not used to working out, start out with yoga, Pilates, and Tai chi. These workouts help you relax, improve flexibility and balance, and give you a burst of energy. Gradually introduce fat-working workouts to your exercise regime. These include circuit training for 30-45 minutes 2 days each week, such as rowing, burpees, and rope jumping, cardiovascular exercise for 45-60 minutes 1-2 times per week, such as swimming, biking, walking, and jogging, and High-intensity interval training for 20-30 minutes 1-2 days each week.

Cook At Home

Science says that people who prepare and eat more meals at home are more likely to follow a healthier diet than those who don’t. This is because preparing your own meals helps you control what goes in each recipe, limit portions, and skimp on unhealthy ingredients. Cooking at home also helps you wean off convenience food, such as fast food, candy, and processed snacks. Calorie-laden convenience foods are devoid of essential nutrients such as protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Cut back on convenience foods and replace them with nutritious meals and snacks.

Get your fill Of Supplements

It’s common to feel exhausted and drained as you age, but getting the right supplements is the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle at any age, enhancing mental health, reducing chronic disease risks, and getting the energy you need to reach your weight loss goals. Your body’s ability to absorb certain nutrients declines as you grow older, leading to deficiencies. For instance, most women over 50 are known to be deficient in folate and vitamin B12, the nutrients that are needed for energy production. A B12 deficiency can hinder your weight loss progress, as well as impact your mood and energy levels. For this reason, women over 50 are recommended to see their physicians about which supplements are right for their needs.

We usually recommend 500 milligrams of DHA plus EPA, 1-10 billion CFUs (colony forming units) of probiotics, 200 milligrams of green coffee bean extract, Multivitamin supplements designed for women over 50, 425 milligrams of choline, Calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorous supplements, as well as  3,000 milligrams of phaseolus vulgaris to enhance weight loss, improve immune function, boost digestion, optimize heart health and cognitive function, and boost bone health.