Given the nature of the dieting industry, it can feel impossible to lose weight. But it’s actually easier than you think. Regardless of whether you’re young, middle-aged, or enjoying your golden years, you can follow a few basic weight loss principles that will help you drop unwanted pounds at any age.
Basic Principles of Losing Weight
The simplest and most popular way to lose weight is to count your calories. The theory is that if you burn more calories than you eat during the day, your body will get the rest of those calories from your stored fat. You may even want to download a calorie counting app to your phone to help you track your calories more accurately.
But it’s not all about the calories – the quality of the food you eat matters, too. The more fresh and the less processed your food is, the more nutritious it will be. Nutrient deficiencies can slow down your metabolism, so you’ll want to eat nutrient-dense foods to speed it up. Healthy foods also have fewer calories, so you’ll be able to achieve that calorie deficit more easily.
Lastly, you need to exercise! Not only will it help you burn more calories than you consume, but it will pay dividends later on in life and give you greater health benefits as you age.
- Get a healthy mix of both cardio and weight training in your workout.
- Be sure to give your body plenty of time to rest and recover between workouts
- Recent sleep studies show that most weight loss happens while you slumber. So don’t forget to count your z’s.
Tips for Losing Weight When You’re Younger
When you’re under the age of 30, you’re more physically resilient. You can handle harder, more grueling workouts compared to older adults. So don’t be afraid to hit the gym hard and burn those calories!
And don’t forget to fuel your body while you’re at it. You can afford to put a few extra carbs on your plate and give yourself more energy to burn in the gym. Just stick to high fiber, whole foods and stay away from the processed carbs.
You should also be feeding yourself a generous amount of protein. The more muscle you build when you’re young, the more muscle you’ll preserve as you get older! Trust us, it’ll be worth the effort.
Tips for Weight Loss When You’re Over 35
They say the human metabolism starts slowing down at around age 35 and declines by 10% every decade after that. This will make it a little harder for you to lose weight – but it is by no means impossible.
As you get older, give yourself longer rest periods between gym days so that your body has enough time to heal. This will help you avoid injury.
An older body tends to be more sensitive to sugar and carbs. So if you’re curious about a low-carb diet, now is the time to try one! It may also have cognitive and athletic performance benefits in addition to helping you lose weight.
No matter what diet you choose, you and the young people have one thing in common: you need to maintain a high protein intake. Just because you’re not as young as you used to be doesn’t mean your body can’t still build plenty of good, strong muscles. And the more muscles you build now, the bigger the payoff you’ll get later in life.
Losing Weight After 50
Once you start to enter your golden years, you’ll face some of the biggest weight loss challenges there are. But don’t let that discourage you. If anything, take on the challenge and carpe diem your weight loss efforts!
Join a Silver Sneakers Club so that you can take group classes or get one-on-one assistance from a personal trainer. If you haven’t been to the gym in a while, it’ll help you learn correct form and reduce your risk of a serious injury.
Invest in a good, quality spice rack. Healthy food becomes less palatable as you get older. This makes seniors crave unhealthy fats, sugars, and processed food. But your sense of smell is as sharp as it’s ever been, so use fragrant spices when you cook to make healthier foods taste better.
Make sure you focus on healthy sources of dairy and protein in your diet. At your age, bone loss and muscle loss are two of your biggest health concerns. But consuming more dairy and high-quality protein can help delay the onset of osteoporosis and muscular atrophy.
Yes, depending on your age, you’ll have to use different weight loss strategies compared to someone who is older or younger than you – but if you do it right, you’ll see fantastic results!
