It may seem like as you get older, losing weight gets increasingly difficult. It’s easy to blame our age or slower metabolisms as to why we aren’t looking or feeling as good as we want. Well unfortunately this is no longer a good excuse. Even though your metabolism may have slowed down, your weight gain is mostly due to being less active and having muscle loss. Fortunately, these are two things we can do something about.
Do we have the time and energy to work out as much as we did when we were in our 20s? Ummm no. Those were the days when we didn’t have kids, weren’t in the thick of our careers and had much more free time.
But now that we are in our 40s and 50s, we have to make our health a priority. We have to carve out time and pay attention. We have to set goals and get to work.
Here are a few things to do to help you be successful in achieving your fitness or weight loss goals:
- Set more than one goal. Don’t just set a goal based on the scale. Set goals to include a fitness component (example: jogging non-stop for 20 minutes) anda nutrition component (example: drinking 6 cups of water a day). Setting a variety of goals will help you feel more frequent success and positivity and help to keep you staying on track.
- Talk to the professionals. First of all, consult your doctor to ensure you are healthy enough to start an exercise program or if you have any specific issues that need to be considered such as IBS, Diabetes, or injuries (current or past). Make sure you are honest with all professionals you consult about your issues as this will ensure you are safe and programs are tailored to you. Some people you may want to consider hiring either for a one time or multiple sessions include personal trainers and dieticians/nutritionists. Let’s face it, if we were experts in these areas we wouldn’t be needing to get some help here. These pros can make the process much more enjoyable and increase your likelihood of success.
- Get moving – more often. Seems pretty basic but it’s a big move. Take the stairs, walk around on your coffee break, plan a coffee walk with a friend rather than sitting and sipping. These will all help to increase your metabolism.
- Workout. A few things about working out:
a. Do something fun – whether it’s a dance class or swimming, find something that you enjoy doing – it will make all the difference.
b. Buddy Up – whether it’s a friend or family member you meet for your workouts or a group fitness class, getting your sweat on with others makes you more likely to stick with it as you are accountable to others.
c. Add weight lifting to your routine. This is especially important as we get older. Not only does this help with maintaining muscle to aid in keeping our weight gain at bay, it also helps with balance. - Nutrition is so important! This is probably going to make the biggest impact on your weight loss. A few things (other than talking with a certified dietician/nutritionist) to consider:
a. Be mindful about what you are eating, how much and when. It’s easy to scarf down an entire bag of chips subconsciously while watching Netflix!
b. Increase your protein intake. Getting enough high-quality protein in your diet is not only important for weight loss but also critical for stopping or reversing age-related muscle loss. Some examples include lean meats, protein shakes, beans and legumes.
c. Drink lots of water – try to have this be your more frequent drink of choice!
d. Eat whole, nutrient dense foods – vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, poultry, fish, legumes, and whole grains, are packed with nutrients essential for maintaining a healthy body weight, such as fiber, protein, and healthy fats.
e. Cook more at home and eat out less. Know what you’re eating. Eating out often usually means eating high fat, sugar and salt and highly processed foods. This will likely save you money too! - Sleep! Not getting enough quality sleep may harm your weight loss efforts. Many studies have shown that not getting enough sleep increases the likelihood of obesity and may hinder weight loss efforts.
- Finally, be patient. Just because you start on a path to a better, fitter, healthier you, doesn’t mean it is going to happen quickly. It takes time. But it WILL happen. Just be patient.
Just because you haven’t made yourself a priority in the past, doesn’t mean it has to stay this way. You are worth the effort.
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I heard an ad on the radio the other day from a grocery chain advertising that they have family meals for under $40 – hence “affordable”. I am not sure who is doing the grocery shopping for these families but I am pretty sure that most people would agree that a meal at home should not cost $40. In addition, I highly doubt that these meals are nutritious. I decided to challenge this $40 meal with making my meals for my family for under $20. This, of course, requires me to do all of the planning, preparation and cooking. However, I would argue that most of us have to do some level of planning, preparation and cooking when eating at home.
