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It’s quite common to gain weight as you reach your forties and beyond. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t get into great physical shape, with a little effort and dedication. Here, Larry Greenfield, an expert from New York, gives several tips on how to lose weight if you’re over 40.
Load Up on Protein
Protein is an important part of anyone’s weight loss journey because it helps keep you full for much longer. You want to try to incorporate about 20-30 grams of protein into your diet per day if you are over 40 and trying to lose weight. Doing so can help your body burn more calories during digestion while also keeping you full for longer.
Mind Your Munching
Not being mindful of your munching and failing to track accurately what you snack on can really add up and hinder your weight loss goals. One bite of cake over here, one scoop of ice cream, some whipped cream on top of your coffee, one cookie on the go, one bite of brownie, and so on, and suddenly you have eaten 400 extra calories that you aren’t counting! Snacking isn’t a bad thing, you just want to make sure you are snacking on the right foods: nuts, fruit, vegetables, light cheese, and hummus, for example. When you do snack, it’s important that you track it for your daily calorie total so you can know if your snacking is helping you reach your weight loss goals or harming them.
Close the Kitchen at Night
Telling yourself that the kitchen is “closed” after a certain point in the night, likely 8 p.m. is a way to ensure that you don’t go for those diet-ruining late-night snacks. This is especially important as our metabolism slows as we age because those extra late-night nibbles can really harm our weight loss efforts.
Get Physical
Physical exercise is just as important, if not more important, to a successful weight loss program when you are above age 40 than when you are young. Circuit training, walking, jogging, yoga, swimming, weight lifting are all great exercises to get you moving above 40. Playing tennis, golf, and going on family walks are also great ways to get your heart pumping while also being social and spending time with your friends and family.
Cut Back on Alcohol
We aren’t saying you have to eliminate your nightly glass of wine with your healthy dinner. But, once you are above 40, your drinking habits will require an adjustment due to metabolic changes in your body. When you drink, you are adding a lot of empty calories to your diet. Plus, drinking decreases our inhibitions while increasing our appetite which can make a late-night nacho binge extremely easy. Those caloric drinks and snacks are much harder to burn off when we become over age 40, so it’s best to limit or avoid them completely as we work to reach our weight loss goals.
Drink More Water
Water is an important component to keeping our bodies running as they should. A recent study showed that people who were well-hydrated ate up to 206 calories less than those who skipped their daily glasses of water. For women above 40 in particular, drinking ice water can not only help with weight loss but can also help combat hot flashes.
While losing weight over 40 might be a little more challenging than in our younger years, it’s not impossible by making tweaks to your diet and exercise routine. Try out a few of the above tips and see which ones work best with your lifestyle.
About Larry Greenfield
Larry Greenfield is a certified fitness coach from New York, NY, who specializes in helping men and women over 40 get into the best shape of their life. Through years of experience, he’s discovered that personalizing his approach to fit each client’s needs and aiming for long-term results is the best path to improve his clients’ lifestyle. When he is not working, Larry enjoys fitness, art, traveling, and outdoor activities with his family.
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