7 Weight Loss Tips After 40 and beyond

What is the best diet for weight loss as we age?

The best long term diet after 40 is no diet at all. A lifestyle change is what’s needed, and a different mindset to eating in general. Instead of focusing on eating for enjoyment, we need to eat foods that provide a health benefit. Similar to why we can’t run as fast at 40 as we could at 20, we can’t eat the same foods and expect to be healthy as we age.

To lose weight after 40 we must change our mindset with a new way of thinking

Don’t get hung up on the term “keto diet.” There are a lot of false myths associated with keto. Here is an in-depth explanation of the keto diet. But in a nutshell, you are just replacing sugars and starches with vegetables. To have weight loss success after 40 and beyond you must be willing to think outside the box.

You don’t have to be on a full-fledged keto diet to lose weight after 40, but you do have to drastically reduce your consumption of sugars and starches. Without a substantial reduction in carbohydrate consumption, it’s going to be very difficult to lose weight as we get older.

If you want to learn how to lose weight after 40 you have to understand that your body just can’t process sugar as efficiently as when you were 20. In some people, as we age we slowly become resistant to the blood sugar-lowering effects of insulin. Here is a study that shows a high sucrose (sugar) diet is generally thought to be a risk factor for obesity and insulin resistance.

How do you get rid of belly fat after 40?

It’s hard to lose belly fat after 40 due to the ineffectiveness of hormones. After 40 testosterone starts to drop. Most men begin to see a decline in testosterone at about age 40. Aging beyond 35-40 years is associated with an approximate 1-3% decline per year in circulating testosterone concentration in men.

“Testosterone has a critical role in the modulation of adult male reproductive health, sexual function, bone health, fat metabolism, and muscle mass and strength.”

Testosterone deficiency in the aging male

Exercise is an essential component to losing weight after 40.

This is nothing new but the Importance of exercise becomes more and more important as we age. Ideally we would want to do some form of exercise up until almost the day of our death.

In this 12-month, randomized, controlled trial, a moderate to a vigorous type intensity exercise resulted in significant increases in DHT (Dihydrotestosterone).

Biking or a stationary bike, vigorous walking, weightlifting, hiking, treadmill, resistance bands, isometrics… you get the idea. Do what you can do, but do something. Conducting circuit training is one of the best ways to exercise because you combine cardiovascular training with muscle building.

Try to do exercises that build muscle. This applies to both men and women. Muscles strengthen bones and improves insulin resistance. Weight loss after 40 is difficult because we tend to lose muscle mass as we age. Resistance exercise can reverse this trend.

Why is Keto so beneficial for weight loss after 40?

Besides improving how insulin works in your body (more on that later). The ketogenic diet is a proven method for weight loss and losing body fat will increase your testosterone. Both men and women use testosterone to build and maintain muscle.

Were not talking about building massive muscles. Just firming up the muscle that you already have will provide massive weight loss benefits for us, especially as we age.

“Bodyweight and lifestyle factors influence HPT axis function in aging. Weight loss was associated with a rise, and weight gain a fall, in testosterone.”

Age-associated changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular function in middle-aged and older men

Conduct routine, periodic fasting to lose weight over 40 and beyond?

It (fasting) can improve glucose regulation, reduce markers of inflammation, and increase the production of ketones — which are released into the blood when the body is burning fat rather than glucose for energy.

Mark Mattson, senior investigator for the National Institute on Aging

Fasting is a great way to burn fat and repair the body. When you don’t eat, your insulin levels go down. Insulin signals the body to store fat. Low insulin equals less fat storage. There are different strategies for fasting. Here is a comprehensive guide on intermittent fasting if you want to give it a try.

Fasting is not as hard as you think.

“We recommended that routine estimation of fasting blood sugar is important for the prevention of complications related to obesity for leading a healthy life.”

Effect of Obesity on Fasting Blood Sugar

Choose to eat nutritionally dense superfoods.

What you eat becomes more and more important as you age. To lose weight after 40 you have to really think about what you’re putting into your mouth. You don’t have to go hungry if you choose the right foods.

However, don’t let hunger fool you into thinking you must eat. We can’t let hunger control our lives.

No one has ever died from being hungry. In fact, most people that go on extended fasts lose the hungry feeling. Hunger doesn’t go up in a straight line, after a while it diminishes greatly or can even go away altogether.

Do you get that irritable “hangry” feeling in-between meals? If so it could be a sign of type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

The good news is a low-carbohydrate diet has the potential to reverse type 2 diabetes.

keto superfoods are just highly nutritional foods that happen to be low in carbohydrates. These types of foods should be what you are putting into your mouth on a regular basis. I will leave you with a couple of sources that will help you with food choices:

• Best keto Superfoods
• Low carbohydrate diet food list
• keto diet food pyramid

What’s the difference between a regular keto diet and a keto after 40 diet?

The main difference is the sense of urgency. As we get older we have to realize we are running out of time to get healthy. We have to repair our bodies before it’s too late. Yo-Yo dieting is harmful to the body.

We have to find a sustainable, long term diet that can help us achieve healthy body weight and stick with it. Keto after 40 is not only possible but recommended.

The ability to stay healthy as we age is an important aspect of maintaining a healthy weight. There are ways to slow down the aging process and increase life expectancy, but more importantly, to increase our healthspan. Here are some time-proven techniques to lengthen our healthspan.

Weight is not everything either, where the weight is located is important. For example, if a man has skinny legs, narrow shoulders, and a large stomach, his body weight, in general, might be fine, but he may still be unhealthy. Our muscle-mass/body-fat percentage ratio is important, not just bodyweight.

It’s hard to lose belly fat after 40 for men and for women its hard to lose it from the hips. For both men and women, a waist/hip circumference measurement is a better barometer for weight loss that a scale. You might gain muscle and lose fat and the needle on the scale might not move, but as they say, “your jeans don’t lie.”

Weight loss tips for women Over 40

It’s the same tips for women as it is for men. Yes, women have a more challenging hormonal situation due to their menstrual cycle, but the main hormone that causes fat storage is insulin. The mechanism for insulin is the same for both men and women. Women can build muscle, fast, and eat a low carbohydrate diet just like a man.

I did extensive research and wrote an article titled, “Can women can do keto while pregnant?“ I learned that a women’s body does store bodyfat differently than a man’s, especially before, during, and after pregnancy. So yes a females’ hormones fluctuate more than males, but they can still lose weight after 40.

What foods to avoid after 40?

• Sugar and simple starches
• Processed foods
• Unhealthy fats (vegetable oils)
• Fruits in excess
• *Sucralose (Splenda)

*Sucralose has been shown to negatively alter gut microbiota

Speed keto might be a good way to jump start weight loss for those 40 and older.

There are ways to speed up weight loss with these speed keto techniques. However, I will caution you that if you are new to keto or a low carbohydrate diet, you need to learn how to get fat adapted first. When you eat a low carbohydrate diet your body has to adapt at using fat as energy in place of glucose.

Are there negative effects of the keto diet?

Here is an excellent article that discusses the negative effects of keto. However, the negative aspects are the same as someone under 40 years of age. In fact, the social aspect might be easier because an older individual is less likely to be influenced by peer pressure.

Additionally, a more seasoned individual won’t be as likely to fall for all the false myths related to the keto diet. People over 40 tend to stick to their guns. Once they do the research and make a decision they will likely follow through and stay committed.

Breaking the sugar addiction is the key to losing weight after 40.

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If you’re ready to get started, here is a comprehensive Keto diet guide for beginners.