Any advice on how to lose weight after 40?

Question

Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD · Answer

Wow. How to lose weight after the age of 40? It can be done. It's not easy, and it's a lot harder than it was when we were 25-years old. I actually wrote a whole article about this for the Huffington Post where I talked about trying to fight against a muffin top and keep my energy. So here's some evidence from research that has been shown to be beneficial. This is also coming from someone who is 46-years old and having the same challenges that I'm working through with my patients as well. Number 1, what worked when you are 25, typically, will not work when you get into your '40s, '50s, and beyond. That's number 1. Number 2, what has been shown to be beneficial is moderating carbohydrates a little bit more. So a moderate carb approach, which for the most part, is about 45% of your total amount of energy coming from carbohydrates tends to be better for over 40, if we want to lose weight and keep it off. And that's because it helps in avoidance of those blood sugar and insulin rollercoaster rides. Those are things that actually encourage fat-gaining, encourage our body to hold on to fat. And that's the second point, really wanting to avoid any kind of yo-yo dieting. So losing weight and then putting more back on, doing it again, doing it again. So what we go through here is something that's really looking at adaptive thermogenesis, which is where the body is assuming that you're going to go into another famine because you've done it before. And so it starts holding on to your fat. It's got to prepare for that famine, and it makes it so much more difficult to lose weight. So moderating those carbohydrates, that could be something as easy as simply taking a carb out for a snack option or in a dinner option, not having carbs after, let's say 4:00. Intermittent fasting has also been shown to be beneficial, and then exercise. Even though the evidence is not strong that exercise is the golden key for weight loss, that's food, it is one of the golden keys for weight loss maintenance. So if you do lose weight, you want to keep it off, move, move, move, move, move. Moderate those carbs. Sleep. Get at least 7 hours of sleep. If you don't, you're also more likely to not be able to lose weight and keep it off. Hey, it's hard once we get over 40. I'm experiencing it myself. Take a look at my article, and I can give you some more tips than that. Thanks so much for that question. It's a good one.

JJ Virgin, CNS · Answer

If you're over 40 and looking to lose weight, you actually want to focus on building muscle. So when you're using a scale, you want to make sure that you have a body composition scale that will tell you not just your weight, but what that weight is made up of. For most of us, our big challenge is not that we are overweight. It's that we're undermuscled. And muscle acts like metabolic Spanx to hold everything in tighter and boost your metabolism. Plus it's the first place that you can help to restore something called insulin sensitivity. This is key for having good blood sugar balance. So what I want you to do is get out of your mind, I need to lose weight, and instead put into your mind, I need to build muscle. And you build muscle by lifting weights, doing resistance training, and making sure that you're getting optimal amounts of clean lean protein into your diet. How much protein should you have? Basically, your floor for protein is 1/2 a gram per pound of ideal body weight. That is your absolute floor. You're better off at about 3/4 of a gram per pound of ideal body weight. And if you're really trying to build muscle, you're really focusing on that, or you're stressed out or recovering from a surgery, then you're going to want to go up to about a gram or more per pound of ideal body weight, the weight you want to end up. Again, make sure you're tracking using a body composition scale, and make sure you're doing that resistance training to build muscle, along with getting the good, clean protein in your diet.

Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS · Answer

The question is, if I have any advice on how to lose weight after 40? Well, since I didn't even begin my health Journey till I was 38, I think I have a lot of advice on how to do it after 40. Really, the answer is the same way. You lose weight at any age. I'm a tennis player. You got to learn your groundstrokes, you got to learn your footwork. Now if you start tennis as I did at 50, you still got to learn your groundstrokes, you still got to do your foot. With your footwork might be a little slower and your strength might be a little bit less. So you work with that. But you can't avoid those basics in the basics of weight loss, or you have to manage stress, you have to lower your carbohydrate intake and you have to move. If you can do those three things at any age, they're going to have an effect. The effect might be quicker and more obvious, and take less effort when you're 20. It might take A bit more effort when you're 40 and maybe hormones aren't cooperating as much, but it can be done. I see it done all the time. I did it. You got to just be very careful about sugars and starches in your diet. You got to really take care of your stress, in your sleep, both of those can rob you of the ability to easily burn fat. You have to take a look at your hormones. Hormone replacement might be an option that would really help a lot of people and you've got to move and if you do those things, Things, it might not be as fast as you want, but it'll happen.

Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN · Answer

Any advice on how to lose weight after 40? My weight loss advice tends to be the same regardless of what age you are. The difference is that after 40 sometimes it gets a little more challenging for several reasons. But number one, I always say to include a very high protein source and produce source at each meal. So somewhere between 25 and 30 grams of protein per meal along with fruits and vegetables to give you that protein and fiber which are the two things that are going to keep you full, satisfied and needing less overall total calories because you're going to be more satiated on the food that you're eating. I want people focusing on fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, seeds, whole grains, low and nonfat dairy and lean protein sources. And in portions that balance where about half your plate is fruits and veggies, about a quarter is your protein source and about a quarter is a healthier whole grain or carbohydrate source. But the truth is physical activity matters, strength training, we have to build that muscle or it's going to be harder to maintain weight and then you're also potentially going to lose lean body mass when you lose weight if you're not building muscle. Manage stress, adequate sleep. Those things are critical as well to any kind of weight loss or weight maintenance situation. It's an overall approach and don't do anything that you can't do for the rest of your life because you'll just gain weight back.

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"Any advice on how to lose weight after 40?"