8 Ways to Lose Weight Safely After 50 And Keep It Under Control:
Consider the following expert-recommended tips for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight in middle age and beyond.
1. Lift weights Strength training
strength training using a combination of resistance bands, dumbbells, and body weight can help increase muscle mass, supporting metabolic functions related to healthy weight control. Additionally, a review of 149 studies and 12 systematic reviews published in Obesity Reviews suggests that strength training combined with aerobic exercise can help you lose visceral fat while maintaining muscle mass.
2. Add more protein to your plate
Lyons recommends adding lean protein to your diet, such as chicken breast and fish, or a protein shake as a supplement. Research suggests that a high-protein diet can help you lose weight by reducing fat and preserving muscle mass.
3. Don’t give up carbohydrates
Get healthy sources of carbohydrates like beans, sweet potatoes, and brown rice, but only eat them after a meal containing protein and vegetables, advises Schmidt. Eating carbohydrates later in meals can help you control the insulin spike that typically occurs after eating, allowing you to feel full faster and managing your appetite, which can lead to overeating.
4. Sleep well at night
Lyons recommends consulting a doctor about magnesium glycinate or magnesium L-threonine supplements if someone doesn’t feel sleepy enough to fall asleep. A 2021 study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that better sleep is associated with greater weight and fat loss in overweight and obese adults.
5. Take a walk
Even a 10-minute walk after lunch can improve digestion, counteract the resulting increase in insulin, and promote a feeling of satiety. Meanwhile, an evening walk provides additional aerobic activity, which can help create the calorie deficit needed for weight loss.
6. Look behind the ladder
While the number on the scale gives you some measure of your overall health, it doesn’t provide the whole picture. Regarding fat storage, location matters, and measuring waist-to-hip ratio can give a more reliable picture of weight-related health risks. If you are visiting a healthcare facility, you should share these measurements when discussing your weight loss goals, which should not exceed 2 pounds per week for safety and sustainability reasons.
7. Keep a journal of your habits
Schmidt recommends keeping a diary of your daily habits. “I love it when clients track themselves in one way or another, be it calories, hydration, or sleep,” she says. She adds that people are likelier to stick to a weight loss plan if they document their daily health habits.
8. Set sustainable goals
Lyons and Schmidt agree that any weight loss plan must be sensible, achievable, and sustainable in the long term. Learn how to create an intelligent plan tailored to your needs and benefit from expert advice.
Consult your doctor before starting a new diet, exercising, or losing weight. By sharing your individual goals and accessing critical baseline data like body fat percentage, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels, you can create a healthy, safe, and lasting weight loss plan regardless of your age.
Secrets for losing weight after 50.
If you think losing weight becomes more difficult after age 50, you can’t imagine it. “As we age, our metabolism begins to slow down, and many metabolic, organ, and absorptive functions become slightly less efficient,” You need fewer calories than ever to maintain your weight, let alone lose it. Additionally, as we age, the quality of our muscles begins to change- from a composition consisting primarily of muscle fibers to a combination of fat and muscle within the muscle fibers, says Dr. Stephen Anton, associate professor and head of the clinical research department, in the Department of Aging and Geriatric Studies at the University of Florida College of Medicine. “From the age of 50, the process of fat transfer to the muscles accelerates,” he explains. Result? You may feel tired more quickly. Your metabolism slows, and you lose muscle mass, making it harder to store fat. A 50-year-old man needs about 100 fewer calories per day than a 20-year-old man of the same weight, calculates Dr. Steven Heymsfield of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. “If you don’t compensate, your weight will continue to increase,” he says.
You can still lose weight after age 50 (and beyond), but you’ll need to make more concerted efforts than before. Fortunately, there are several easy ways to lose weight.
Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Of course, you need to consume fewer calories than you burn to lose weight. But instead of focusing on what we should eat less, let’s talk about what we should eat more. Especially fruits and vegetables. A Harvard study found that people who ate more fruits and vegetables lost weight, mainly when they ate more berries, apples, pears, soybeans, and cauliflower. Tucker says that fruits and vegetables are low in calories but full of essential vitamins and minerals that you need more of as you age, including fiber, which keeps you feeling full between meals. He recommends putting vegetables on half of the plate at every meal. Store frozen vegetables in the freezer so you never run out, and make creative salads by adding olives, cheese, or orange slices to make them tastier. Check out our favorite breakfast salads –yes, breakfast salads-to inhale later. Holly F. Lofton, MD, director of the Medical Weight Management Program at NYU Lang one Health, recommends “easy” vegetables: “Try vegetables that are easy to wash, cook, and eat, like asparagus and broccoli, “explains Lei.
Buy an Instant Pot and make bean stew.
beans are high in fiber and protein, and as they move through the digestive system, the fiber and resistant starch they contain feed the good bacteria in your gut, says Tucker. A review of studies conducted in Canada shows that people who consumed a daily serving of legumes as part of a weight-loss program lost an average of several pounds in just six weeks. Try cooking beans or lentils using the Instant Pot, which allows you to prepare legumes with vegetables and other aromatic ingredients and is sufficient for the whole family. Discover more ways to schedule one of our favorite grains: chickpeas.
He Knows your standard.
Weigh yourself every morning to immediately see whether your result increases or decreases. “If you gain weight and focus on it from the start, and it’s just a few pounds, you can lose weight quickly, but if you leave it at that, you’ll reprogram your body to a heavier weight and make weight loss more difficult.” Weight yourself because “you’ll be hungry, said to Tucker. Learn more about the benefits of daily weighing yourself every day.
Focus on your diet.
Between teaching kid’s karate, meetings with your accountant, and all the other tasks faced by the modern middle-aged man, you may need to give your meals the respect they deserve. Instead of eating in the car on the way to work or lunch between meetings, put the food on a plate, sit down, and chew slowly to savor each bite. Adding crunchy foods like jicama or shredded cabbage can also help you slow down and eat less. Another thing: See if the next episode of Netflix’s hottest series can wait until dinner. (Hint: It’s possible.) Eating in front of the TV is linked to weight gain, according to a study published in the journal Obesity.
Travel is another danger zone for reckless consumption. Especially if you’re the type of person who eats when someone hands you something, says Dr. Lofton. “You can eat before the plane, on the plane, and after you land,” he says if there are a lot of business meetings taking place during dinner. He recommends eating something light once a day, even as a meal replacement. “Create structure when you find yourself in situations where you don’t have the most control over your meals,” she says.
Stop drinking sugar.
Sugary foods and drinks provide calories – about 150 calories in a can of Pepsi –but do not satisfy the appetite. “Soda runs out quickly,” Mittendorfer says. “Eat the equivalent in a salad, and you’ll feel fuller for longer. “(To reach 150 calories, eat more kale than you can tolerate.) Among the benefits: People who avoid soda and other sugary drinks gain less weight over time than those who avoid soda and other sugary drinks. Smoothies and juices can also add a lot of sugar to the body, emphasizes Dr. Lofton: ” It’s better to eat the whole fruit than just the juice.
Vary your training.
If you only rely on one type of exercise, now is the time to change it. A recent study at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Iowa State University found that older adults who performed 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and 30 minutes of resistance training three days a week reduced their body fat and gained muscle mass. (They also showed improvements in blood pressure and cardiorespiratory fitness, which are essential factors that accelerate cardiac aging.)
According to a study by Dr. Elizabeth Schroeder, strength training is efficient for building muscle, which burns more calories than fat, and aerobic exercise is particularly effective for burning fat.
“Together, they lead to positive changes in body composition, and increased strength and fitness with age leads to improved quality of life and maintenance of independence,” he says. When it comes to strength, “focus on training your legs and large upper body muscle groups by performing compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups,” says Anton. “These exercises target more muscle groups than individual exercises and generally result in greater muscle gains while increasing fat metabolism.” (Also, check out our strength training for beginners.) Regarding aerobics, find something you enjoy: running, cycling, swimming, or even walking.
(Discover the best cardio workouts without running.) Interval training is even better, combining intense work with light activity periods. If you last exercised a while ago, contact a personal trainer to assess your mobility and figure out where to start.
Choose a new sport.
Playing with friends is not only fun, but it’s also like high-intensity interval training and a therapy session at the same time. “Sports like soccer, basketball, and Super Frisbee would be ideal because they burn a lot of calories, and their high intensity leads to increased fat burning over the next 24 to 48 hours,” says Anton. The friendships you make can also be helpful. “Overall, this social support increases adherence to healthy lifestyle changes,
” says Anton. A study published in the Scandinavian journal Medicine & Science in Sports found that older people who dieted and played soccer lost more body fat than those who just dieted.
Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting may seem strenuous, but it simply means eating regularly at a specific time of day and not eating at any time. By limiting your food intake to certain times of day, you can encourage your body to switch from using glucose as an energy source to ketones from fats, says Anton. You can start with weight
to nine hours – including sleep – without food. And so from 8 p.m. You eat at six a. Pretty simple, right? You can then gradually get used to going 12 hours without eating. “Many good friends and family members who have practiced intermittent fasting rave about the benefits of reducing belly fat and improving energy levels,” says Anton. This type of diet is not for everyone.
Start practicing yoga
can help you increase and maintain your flexibility as you age, and its calming effects can be helpful if you’re trying to lose weight, says Anton. Yoga alone won’t help you reach your weight loss goals, but it can be beneficial when combined with other exercises. Chinese researchers found that older people who practiced yoga for a year lost about an inch in waist circumference, a key indicator of belly fat.
Check what you are taking.
“Many men over 50 take medication,” says Dr. Lofton. “It’s a good idea to check with your doctor about the risk of weight gain from taking medication,” he advises if you feel like you can do anything without losing control. Sometimes, medications can be changed to avoid this side effect.
