Many women struggle with weight gain after 40, especially around the belly, because metabolism slows down making it harder to lose weight. But with Fitness Garage, nothing’s too hard. So we'll give you some steps that can help you lose weight. but overall you should keep a healthy lifestyle.
Reasons you gain extra weight after 40:
Gaining weight after 40 could be due to genetics, which is common, and also some biological factors that add to weight gain like:
- Hormones: Usually hormonal changes start in your mid-thirties to early forties like: big drop in estrogen production in women which causes a lot of fat to build up in the body.
- Genetics: The body tends to gain weight as you get older, but your family history controls the areas where fat is stored more than others, like the hips or belly, making it harder to lose fat in these spots.
- Muscle loss: Most women start losing muscle mass and this loss continues with age because of fewer fibers. That's why many recommend strength training for those over 40.
- Slower metabolism: Metabolism drops sharply after 40 and you burn less energy during exercise by about 5%.
Habits that affect weight loss:
Many factors affect weight loss that you can control and improve like:
- Unhealthy eating habits:
Focusing on losing weight instead of following a healthy diet that makes you feel better overall needs to change. Focusing on good diet quality helps you avoid malnutrition diseases by cutting processed food and sugars a lot, and learning healthy, nutritious dessert recipes made from whole grains and healthy fats. Also, add colorful veggies to your diet, plus lean proteins like beans, fava beans, and lean meats.
- Eating extra calories:
You should count the calories you burn daily, then subtract 500 calories to make sure you don't gain weight. This depends on your current weight, gender, age, and physical activity. If you burn 2000 calories daily, don't let your daily calories go above 1500.
- Sitting for long periods:
Your current lifestyle makes you sit a lot because of using screens like laptops, phones, and gaming consoles. This leads to heart and blood vessel diseases, weight gain, and obesity. So try to move every hour if you can. You can do stretching exercises, walk a few steps inside the house, or use standing desks since they help you move more than regular desks.
- Not exercising enough:
Not exercising is common at this age because women are busy with personal and work duties. So exercise should go hand in hand with daily life responsibilities. Exercise helps prevent many diseases, reduces tiredness and stress, and also protects against mental illnesses like Alzheimer's. As you age, your body needs more physical activity but suitable for you so you don't get tired or stressed. Exercising now reduces muscle loss and improves metabolism long term.
How to start exercising after forty?
Many women think it's too late to start exercising and that it's better to start young. But that’s wrong because you can begin exercising and stick to a balanced diet to lose weight noticeably no matter your age. But losing weight shouldn’t be your only goal. Keeping your mental and brain health longer is just as important. Here are some steps to help with that:
- Set a weekly goal: You need to gradually increase your workout intensity to lose weight based on your age and fitness level. 150 minutes a week of suitable exercises is enough. It’s best to get a personal trainer from Fitness Garage. If you’re a beginner, they’ll help you start with basics. Begin with at least 30 minutes daily, then increase slowly.
- Make peace with yourself: You need to put in effort at first to lose extra weight and reach your target weight. Then start maintaining that weight. Also, try to be flexible with workouts and don’t push yourself too hard. Overdoing exercise might cause injuries.
Ways to intensify workouts:
Here are some ways you can boost your burn rate and workout intensity:
- Try high-intensity interval training: There are lots of high-intensity workouts that give you a strong boost to burn more calories.
- Do circuit training: This mixes strength and cardio exercises to keep your heart rate up and burn more calories.
- Increase workout time: If you exercise 40 minutes, add 10 minutes every week.
- Increase frequency: If you work out 4 days, you can increase to 5 days.
- Hire a trainer: Getting help from a professional trainer keeps you motivated all the time. Same goes for having a clear, steady plan for you.
As we get older, our bodies change a lot. We have to accept it and try our best to stay healthy and fit. Avoid feeling guilty or blaming yourself, and keep eating nutritious, healthy food.
