As women age we naturally start to carry around more weight. Losing weight becomes harder and harder as we get older. But weight loss for women over 40 is possible. You can do it and it is not as hard as you may think if you learn to eat a healthy balanced diet.
Women loss for women over 40 is influenced by your slower metabolism and hormones. Middle aged women often suffer from water retention and bloating. The thyroid is metabolizing slower also.
Unfortunately the days of losing weight without trying very hard or just doing the next fad diet to weight loss are over. And besides truthfully if they had worked in the first place you would not still be looking for a way to lose weight.
Women over 40 are a special group of individuals. And you need to realize that weight loss methods which work for teenage and young adult women simply may not work for you.
Your first step to creating your calorie deficit is to first understand and determine your basal metabolic rate. This will tell you how many calories you burn while at rest and is responsible for up to 60 to 70% of the total calories you burn.
The simplest way to do this is use an interactive online BMR calculator. These calculators use your age, height and gender to approximate the number of calories you burn. This is your starting point to create your calorie deficit.
Another great thing you can do is to change your eating patterns. If you eat 5 to 6 small meals a day instead of three big ones, you will lose weight as well as gain more energy. This extra energy will help you burn more calories which will lead to weight loss.
Cutting back on your caloric intake is a must. When you’re over 40, your body doesn’t need as many calories as when you are younger. This is because most people are not as active as they get older and because as we age, all of our body systems slow down a little. You will probably need to cut back by about 200 to 400 calories per day.
Over 40, dieting may no longer provide the best results. As you age, your body will not respond to quick fixes and short term plans like it may have at one time. When you are over 40, rather than dieting, you need to change your lifestyle to make it healthier. An over 40 diet needs to be different than your diet was when you were younger. Choose foods with higher nutrient value that provide more of the things you need for energy with fewer calories while avoiding eating out and pre-packaged meals which are common to the lifestyle of woman today.
You should have
- Breakfast
- Snack
- Lunch
- Snack
- Supper If your supper is a late supper then you should not have a snack afterwards.
- Snack
Your meals and snacks should be low in fat and calories. You should also make sure you have all the food groups in your diet sometime throughout the day.
Annabelle Dickens Annabelle Dickens, raised Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, graduated in 2000 from University Of Hull United Kingdom. A United Malayan Banking Corporation Scholar, she graduated in late 2000 with a MBA as an Marketing major, with an emphasis in Financial Studies. Violet Glade currently is a product review writer for various household products and a poet. She writes for many article directory and article websites such as Moneymattersonline.co.uk, Articlehoopla.com, Manipalonline.com, Articlesprey.com and many others.
