With all the other changes going on in your life, why does losing weight after 50 have to be so darn tough? You’re wrestling with finances, so you can afford retirement and maybe pay off your kid’s college bills; you’re dealing with physical and emotional issues exclusive to your age group and other mid-life woes, so not being able to lose weight can really get you down.
Here’s the scoop on why you’re body is making weight loss harder and how you can in fact, make it easier:
It Really Is Your Metabolism
Because of the changes with your metabolism right now, just maintaining your current weight may mean consuming around 100 fewer calories than what you’re use to. Thus, dropping those pounds will require further cuts in calories; however, your metabolic changes could mean you’re actually hungrier all the time now and that creates a very challenging scenario. At least, though, you can take comfort in the fact that it is your metabolism and not something you’re personally responsible for, although that doesn’t make it any easier.
Lifestyle Can Make Losing Weight After 50 Tough
Unless you’re always involved in physical activity, a slower lifestyle after 50 combines with your slower metabolic rate, making weight gain so effortless, you hardly notice it until you’re suddenly tens of pounds heavier than you were at 35 or 40.
Your Thyroid May Be Working Against You
Particularly if you are female, your thyroid is likely starting to develop issues of its own, giving you a third and potentially devastating strike against your efforts to manage weight. Women have a 10-to-1 greater chance of developing thyroid issues than men and this problem alone can doom even the most meticulous weight loss program.
Developing Your Personal Weight Loss Program
No matter how hard it may be to lose weight once you reach 50, it’s not impossible; therefore, a carefully thought out plan is in order. The following six ideas can help you strategize your itinerary and reach those elusive goals, once and for all.
1. See your doctor: Ask to have your thyroid levels checked and if it’s under-performing, adjust your diet and exercise to boost it back into functioning, if possible. You may require medication if your TSH, T3 or T$ (thyroid hormones) are out of balance.
2. Make what you eat matter more: Pack more nutrition, fewer calories and a greater feeling of fullness into every meal and snack. That way, you eat healthy, gain less, but without feeling starved all the time.
3. Exercise in short intervals, often: It might be hard for you to endure a full-length workout, so take a walk in the morning, partake of a few yoga poses in the afternoon and engage in stretching before bed.
4. Exercise bi-weekly, with a friend. Going on a long hike or bike ride a couple of times a week will help you burn calories and get you into better shape, but doing so with a friend means you’re more motivated to keep up with the activity. It’s almost like not exercising at all.
5. Meditate: Even if everything is perfect in your life, after 50, it can be easier to feel frazzled or stressed, making meditation a very valuable medicine for you. Meditation moves you closer to homeostasis, making weight and life management much easier.
6. Start a journal of your weight loss: This one tool can help you more than anything else, if you write in it daily and record what works, what doesn’t, what motivates you and what discourages you and more. Make it your personal diary, where you can alleviate stress by venting and reveal whatever may be holding you back from success.
Living and loving life after 50 is everyone’s right, but it’s difficult to keep up the pace when you’re overweight, constantly low on energy and even lower on motivation and confidence. The more you work at it, though, the more everything finally comes together. Start you plan and your journal today and make each day hereafter really count at making you healthier, leaner, stronger and happier.
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