Losing Weight After Forty: 4 Things to Keep in Mind
How we perceive age is often a result of psychosocial factors, rather than the actual
physical age. That being said, there are certain physical changes that do occur
within our bodies with the passing years and once you hit forty, those changes
become more apparent than ever before. So, if you are planning to lose some
weight for this summer, you need to understand that it’s not going to be as
easy as it was five years ago, but it isn’t going to be that hard either! To
help make the most of your workouts and diets, here are four things that you
should remember.
Gaining Fat is Now Easier
than Losing It
Practically speaking, this is pretty
much the case irrespective of your age, but once you cross that 40-year-old
mark, this fact becomes ever more prominent. The increase in fat occurs due to
a slowed down metabolism, falling estrogen levels, and unstable insulin levels
in the blood. This means that you will need to be extra careful with your diet
now since those occasional cheat meals are going to be a lot harder to burn off
after forty.
Eating Less is Important
In most cases, cutting back on food
is a bad idea because, ideally, you should be looking to replace unhealthy
sources of food with healthy ones, rather than starving yourself! However,
since your rate of metabolism has now slowed down a bit, your portions and
total calorie consumption needs to match your goals and age. It would be
impossible to recommend a daily calorie intake without knowing the particulars
such as height, weight, exact age, medical conditions, physical conditioning,
etc., of the person in question, but the general idea is to cut down a few
hundred calories by sticking to smaller portions for each meal throughout the
day.
Skipping Meals is a Bad
Idea
We just discussed that you will need
to cut back on portions, but it is not even remotely the same as skipping
meals. As insulin spikes and crashes are quite common in women after forty due
to the effects of menopause or perimenopause, you cannot go without eating for
a long time because that teaches your body to store away food in the form of fat
to make up for the absence of immediate energy. In addition, it will also
increase your cravings for junk food, sugar, and carbs to an almost
irresistible level.
HIIT is Better than Cardio
Now, there are contrasting opinions
about this in the fitness world, but a lot of recent research and studies are
showing that high-intensity interval
training aka HIIT is a better option for older people to lose weight than
traditional cardiovascular exercises. If you are trying to lose weight fast,
ask your trainer about this and get him/her to make you a workout schedule around HIIT.
Now that you know some of the basics
of achieving weight loss goals post forty, head over to Health Row for plenty of other resources that will help you to lose weight faster
with each workout. Aside from weight loss, Health
Row is also an excellent source of knowledge and information regarding any
and all things related to health awareness.
Have you had an issue with weight
gain post-40? If so, let us know!
