Weight loss after 45; easy tips for staying healthy

weight loss after 45, tips and tricks
Photo by Briana Tozour on Unsplash

Weight loss after 45; easy tips for staying healthy

Very soon I will very proudly turn 56. Is the age affecting me? Umm! not now but yes, a few years back I was so upset thinking about ways and diets to lose weight. Everyone around me used to tell me about how it was almost impossible to lose weight after 45, but I proved everyone wrong by losing 90 pc of that extra weight. After achieving partial weight loss goal, I feel accomplished and can proudly say that weight loss after 45 is possible. So today I am going to share some easy tips for staying healthy after 45.

Weight loss after 45; easy tips for staying healthy Photo by Briana Tozour on Unsplash

Today I feel good and at peace, not because I proved my point to the critics around me through my weight loss journey, but because I have understood that the numbers on the scale hardly matter. Today all that matters to me is a good exercise routine with a healthy diet.

I have seen with every adding year to my life, the number on the scale increasing too. With each year, and menopause, has made my weight harder to lose. I understand how women cut back on food portions, stop sugar, and sign up for gym memberships but for a few not so lucky ones, size never decreases. Turning 45+ brings in various serious changes in digestion, metabolism due to hormonal shifts that every thing gets affected in a negative way. Let us know what can be done to stay healthy without bothering about increasing weight.

Worried about weight loss after 45, follow these simple tips for staying healthy.

1. Take out a pen and paper to prepare a list of your habits which you feel works well  for you and which don’t.
2. Analyze each habit and think about ways to build healthy habits removing the unhealthy ones.
3. Understand that after 45 your BMR too changes. You can find new BMR with the help of free online BMR Calculator. With age and health conditions our activity level also changes. The calories have to be re-adjusted accordingly in order to achieve better weight loss. We need to know about creating an effective calorie deficit.  

Make a conscious effort to boost metabolism.

1. Age slows down metabolism making weight loss difficult. To heal the slowing metabolism we need to include extra fiber and protein to our daily diet.
2. Add foods that are good for a boosted metabolism, like oats, eggs, and yogurt.
3. Calcium rich natural sources are especially required for women over 45. 
4. Add some extra supplements (after consulting your doctor) to take care of daily requirement of vitamins,  minerals and micronutrients.

Move more to lose more

1. Over 45 women must go for 45 minutes of aerobic physical activity five or six times a week.
2. Adding weights can help muscles grow stronger.
3. The time of the day for exercise is not really important because an exercise is beneficial whenever done.
4. Exercise after 45 may mean a simple brisk walk outside according to your joints health.

Regular exercise helps slow down the loss of bone and muscle mass. Thus starting with a regular exercise routine not only helps to strengthen muscles but also speeds up metabolism helping burn more calories.

Rest and sleep better

1. Normally as we cross 45, sleep pattern gets disturbed. Stress, busy lives along with physical issues like backache to nasal blockages and hot flushes at night can cause havoc with our sleep.
2. Interestingly lack of sleep is directly connected to weight gain as per research due to two hormones, leptin and ghrelin, which control hunger and satiety. These hormones result is more craving, with less of feeling full.

Slow and realistic changes bring change.

1. It is important to opt for a “slow and steady wins the race” approach is always better way for weight loss after 45 as it is not an overnight miracle.
2. Focus on cutting down the number of calories consumed and increasing the calories being burnt.
3. Go slow in making changes in routine as it is a beginning of a new phase. Push a little but not to get crushed forever. If long hours walking makes you feel good and active do it; but if you cannot go beyond 30-40 minutes, do that.
4. Making small lifestyle changes that are easy to follow in our daily routine are more effective to help lose weight after 45. 

My two cents-

I went for a low carb diet with excessive exercises and ended up losing loads. In the bargain, I lost my joints too. My hypothyroid kicked up and I regained the lost load. At 56 today too I am trying to get rid of some but find it difficult. I am not a gym person so can’t be there. BUT YES I love to walk and stay active. I walk anywhere between 5000 to 10000 steps four to five times a week. I eat healthy with a few cheat meals here and there. I step on the scale just for the sake of it because I don’t care about it any more. So I don’t care what others say, I love myself the way I am… ‘Happy to move’.

If you agree that weight loss after 45 is difficult, let us join and start a community of women who are happy to move without looking at the scale numbers. Are you ready to face your after 45 phase head on like me?