Different people gain weight once they reach 40, especially around their waist. Even if you are following a regular workout and healthy diet routine, your metabolism begins to slow down and often becomes difficult to lose weight.
Many people feel it was easier to manage a healthy weight at a younger age. At a young age, you ate whatever you like, or if you gain weight, you made simple changes in diet and had a workout routine, and easily lowered extra weight.
But as we begin to age, weight gain can impact anyone. Fortunately, there are some lifestyle changes and easy diets you can do to promote weight loss and weight control after 40.
Why Do You Have Weight Gain After 40?
Table of Contents
Age-linked weight gain comes from genetic. For many people, it happens because of older age. While there are different reasons why people get weight after 40, here are some general biological factors.
Hormones
Image SourceFor most people, their hormones begin to change around the mid-30s and into their 40s. This change happens because of low estrogen production for women and low testosterone production for men, lead to fat beginning to develop around the middle of the body.
Genetics
Image SourceMany people have genetically triggered weight gain. According to scientists, specific genes determine how many fat cells people have and where they are stored. It is something you can not change, and if you look at your relatives and parent, you may see there are certain parts where your family member may have more fat storage.
Muscle loss
Image SourceMost people begin to lose muscle mass as they reach their 40s and begin to experience a steady decline as they get older. Researchers think that the size and number of muscles fibers decline with age and that the motor units that activate those fibers fire with low regularity with time. That is why strength training is often suggested to older adults.
Lower Metabolism
Image SourceDifferent things occur to metabolism after the 40 age.
- Your BMR-basal metabolic rate is lower.
- You expend reduced total energy during the workout.
Lifestyle Factors
Image SourceApart from different age-linked reasons why weight gain is common after the 40s, different factors also play a role. Lifestyle choices like you’re eating habits and workout that lead to weight gain. Unlike biology, you can also control these lifestyle factors.
Â
Unhealthy Eating Habits
Image SourceIf you are feeling age-linked weight gain, try not to obsess or panic over it. While it can be tempting to develop a restrictive fad diet that promises a fast weight loss, those diets are rarely effective for the long term and often cause weight to regain. Rather than an obsessive number on the scale, target on feeling better from the inside out, which begins by following a balanced diet, healthy diet filled with nutrient-dense and whole foods.
Different people gain weight in their 40s and beyond because of low nutrition and poor diet. According to unhealthy eating patterns that depend on added sugars, heavily processed foods, excess alcohol, and refined carbohydrates can cause obesity and weight gain.
Cut Back on Sugar Consumption
Image SourceTry to lower your refined carbs and sugary foods and processed foods. Present dietary guidelines set forth by the US-department-of-Agriculture (USDA) recommend eating different nutrient-dense foods, including colorful vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low fat, dairy products, and lean protein, and healthy fats.
A well-balanced diet containing essential minerals and vitamins can boost weight management and enhance complete health. Choose foods that contain high heart-healthy fiber to help you keep fuller longer and stop excess snacking and overconsumption all day.
Excess Calorie Intake
Image SourceConsuming more calories than you are burning leads to weight gain. The USDA suggests a calorie lower of 500 calories per day for a sustainable rate of weight loss of 1-2 pounds every week. On a typical 2,000 calorie diet, that means lowering back to roughly 1500 calories every day. However, this number diff from age to age and other factors like weight, gender, height, and physical activity level. To create a calorie deficit and reduce weight, nutrition experts suggest counting calories. You could manage a food diary to track calories and meals.
It will show you how many calories you are eating every day and provide insight as to which foods you might require to reduce. Sometimes, a little change in diet helps to nourish and satisfy without feeling deprived.
Â
Too Much Sitting
Image SourceAdvancements in technology have shown the widespread predominance of an unhealthy lifestyle. There are different health risks linked with more sitting, especially cardio disease. Unhealthy behaviors during mid-age are also linked with weight gain, type-2 diabetes, obesity, and other types of chronic disease. Try to get up from your desk once in an hour and try stretching your legs and moving around. Different people find that standing desks can be a beneficial alternative to sitting. To stop weight gain, including walks every day can help to burn some calories while lowering the risk linked with more sitting. Try using a wearable fitness tracker or pedometer to see how many steps you can have every day.
Not Enough Exercise
Image SourceNot doing sufficient exercise is a common cause of gaining weight as people get older. Most adults are busy and juggling multiple things in professional and personal responsibilities by the time they reach 40. The busyness of life can often mean that workouts get ignored as you prioritize other matters. Additionally, some people may also be dealing with illness, injuries, stress, fatigue, mental health, anxiety, which may stop them from working out.
But as you age, your body commonly requires more workouts to reduce and control weight. The tricky part is that the body does not always tolerate extra strenuous workouts compared to when you were a younger age, which can lead to injury and burnout. That is why it is essential to devise a realistic workout routine you can gently develop upon and stick to long term. Doing enough workouts after 40 age helps to prevent muscle loss and control the metabolism of the body. Developing muscle can also help to stop weight because extra metabolically active. When you reduce muscle, your metabolism will go down.
Keep a Journal
Image SourceMaintain a journal of your diet and exercise to remember what all things you are doing. When every calorie you add to your body counts, it is immensely beneficial to count each day. That way, you can track the unnecessary weight gain and achieve weight loss.
Take a Daily Walk
Image SourceIncluding a walk-in everyday routine is a first step toward getting a healthier weight. Staying active can help to burn extra calories and lower the chances of injury. Research shows that regular workouts can help to lower the risk of osteoporosis and strain of joints.
Up Your Omega-3s
Image SourceIncluding omega-3 rich foods in meals can help weight loss like avocado, flaxseeds, avocado oil, nuts, oily fish, fish like salmon are good options. Research issued in Obesity Reviews tells that including some omega-3 fatty acids can be suitable for women above 40s.
Study issues in the journal Menopause recommend that it may help to lower the intensity and frequency of hot flashes, as shown in test subjects between the ages of 40 and 55.
Turn Up the Fiber
Image SourceHormonal changes at middle age can affect weight and waistlines, but promoting fiber amount in diet can help. A study issued in Annals-of-Internal-Medicine shows that adding more fiber helped participants reduce 4.6 pounds over 8-weeks and manage weight loss over the year. Even better, dialing up the fiber in meals can help to lower the bloating in the belly and improper digestion that often accompany hormonal changes.
Skip the Sweeteners
Image SourceAvoiding artificial sweeteners helps to assist in weight loss. Eating more sweet food can increase the risk of obesity and more belly fat, but adding these sweeteners to diet and balancing could help to remove unwanted pounds.
Add in a Leg Day
Image SourceIncluding a leg day in your exercise can help to tone up the lower body and prevent unwanted weight. It will increase muscle tone in their lower body and remove the risk of fat accumulation. According to study issued in Gerontology also recommend that strong legs are the best indicator of the strength of another essential muscle in the brain.
Start Swimming
Image SourceSwimming is another best way to get your body into the best shape in life, no matter what is your age? A 155- pound female can expect to burn around 500 calories per hour swimming at a relatively leisurely pace, including another 200 calories to that number by adding some fast laps.
For female over 40, doing low impact workouts like swimming are specifically helpful as it has limited wear and tear on joints, and making it less likely to overuse of injury.
Stick to a Schedule
Image SourceKeeping a regular eating schedule could be helpful to remove the extra pounds after the age of 40. Researchers from Hebrew University discovered that feeding high-fat foods to mice regularly kept them from leaner than when they were eating the foods on a sporadic basis. Sticking to a consistent eating schedule can also help to prevent hunger pangs and cravings for sugar or high-fat foods, which often get worse with menopause.
Sip on Green Tea
Image SourceAdding green tea is another best way to manage weight in the 40s. A study issued in the Journal of Nutrition shows that including green tea in subjects’ diet plans raises their fat-burning ability by a whopping 12% throughout 12-months. Even better, green tea’s combination of caffeine and antioxidants can provide you boost to energy in middle age.
Curb Your Eating To an 8-Hour Window
Image SourceStop eating before 2 hours of your sleep time to reduce your weight at any age. Reducing your food consumption to a certain everyday window of time means using the principles of intermittent fasting, you will lower the likelihood of weight gaining. According to research in Cell Metabolism reveals that mice who had 16 hours of fasting a day and other 8-hours high-fat food stayed relatively lean, while those who ate a similar number of calories and a similar amount of fat with your day significantly raised their obesity risk.
Boost Your Calcium Intake
Image SourceGet plenty of calcium from your diet to increase fat burning after 40. The study of University-of-Tennessee,-Knoxville indicate that obese females who eaten more calcium from 3-servings of yogurt lost 11 pounds of body fat over a 12-month time. Even better, boosting calcium consumption can help to raise bone strength, lower the risk of fracture or fall.
Opt For Organic Foods
Image SourceBeing by choosing organic produce in place of the conventionally-grown stuff. A review in Interdisciplinary-Toxicology discovered that organochlorine pesticides can change the levels of thyroid hormones in the human bloodstream, possibly raising weight gain and leading to thyroid problems. Considering that age women are already at raised risk for thyroid problems, like hypothyroidism, it is a good idea to choose organic.
Make Whole Grains a Priority
Image SourceWhole grains are an important healthy food to prevent refined carbs. It provides more fiber than refined products, which will help to keep you full and prevent bloating during menopause.
Drink More Water
Image Sourcewhen it is about weight loss, what you drink is only as important as what you eat. A study issued in 2016 in the Journal-of-Human-Nutrition-and-Dietetics indicated that well-hydrated people consume up to 206 smaller calories each day than those who saved on H2O. Well, hydration helps in middle age women to prevent weight gain during menopause. You can add herbal and natural teas for weight loss.
Snack on Almonds
Image SourceChanging your snack with almonds can help to prevent weight and increase health. Almond has protein and fiber to keep full for longer and may even remove the stress of weight gain. Research issued in Evidence-Based-Complementary-and-Alternative-Medicine also shows that including magnesium-rich foods such as almonds in the diet help to lower anxiety, lower cortisol levels, and reduce the storage of belly fat.
Pile on the Protein
Image SourceTry to add more protein to your diet. Research issued in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association recommends that low protein diets helped more lean muscle loss in postmenopausal women, potentially slowing their metabolism. If you do not like meat, try including some nuts, beans, or whole grains, like quinoa.
Opt For Red Wine
Image SourceChoose red wine instead of white wine to prevent a few pounds and inches in the body. Red wine is the best source of resveratrol, which has been deemed effective at lowering belly fat and increasing memory retention in the brain with aging.
Cut the Cocktails
Image SourceCut down the cocktail from your diet as it contains more sugar. A single blended drink and flavored martini can have 600 calories per 8-ounce pour, and different menopausal female finds that the blood vessel dilation that happens with alcohol eaten can cause hot flashes worse. If you choose to drinks, ensure to check healthy drink options.
Add Some Flaxseeds to Your Meals
Image SourcePromote your fiber consumption and slim down by adding some flaxseed into your diet. Flaxseed provides omega-3 fatty acids, which are shown to lower inflammation and boost weight loss, and they may even benefit to prevent aging and wrinkle. Flaxseed also consists of alpha-linolenic acid, which researchers at Winnipeg-St. Boniface-General-Hospital-and-Cuba’s-VI-Lenin-University-Hospital has a connection to improve cardiovascular and weight among study subjects. The omega-3s in flaxseed have also been indicated to induce improvement in the hydration and texture of the skin, and fighting wrinkles in the process.
Boost the Intensity of Your Exercises
Image SourceWeight loss is not always about how much time you are giving at the gym, but what you are doing while you reach your 40s. If you have got frustrated with the weight loss rate, try including some high-intensity interval training to routine, a review of research issued in the Journal of Obesity showed that it is more effective to increase complete fitness, boost lean muscle, and enhance insulin sensitivity than old aerobic workout.
Snack on Citruses
Image SourceFoods with citrus polyphenols can help to melt the fat accumulation from the diet and prevent weight gain. Citrus food like vitamin C like lemon, orange, grapefruits helps to promote collagen production and prevent wrinkles.
Get Eight Hours Sleep at Night
Image SourceGetting a complete good night’s sleep is best for a healthy lifestyle and effective slimming. According to the results-of-the-Nurses’-Health-Study show that among a 60,000 female group researched for 16 years, those who had 5-hours sleep or less at night have a heightened risk of becoming 15%. Having adequate rest can also decrease the risk of dementia said researchers at Johns-Hopkins-Bloomberg-School-of-Public-Health.
Measure Your Metabolic Rate
Image SourceIf you wish to lose weight and manage it, the best way to know your eating habits or scaling back is to calculate your metabolic rate. Using the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation is easy to know how many calories you are burning and adjustable for your age.
Switch Up Your Fragrance
Image SourceIt is time to smell your way slim. Changing your fragrance can do more than you feel delicious, it can also help to remove extra pounds as you reach 40. The study results issued in the Journal-of-Neurological-and-Orthopaedic-Surgery indicated that sniffing fragrances like mint or apple increase weight loss among study subjects. Therefore, seek out the fragranced products such as apple inflected or tea tree shampoo scent, for high effect.
Buddy Up
Image SourceGoing to the gym with your friends is the best way to track your weight loss and make this journey interesting. Researchers found that getting a buddy along when you hit the gym promotes calorie burn and increases workout duration.
Keep Your Hands Busy
Image SourceKeeping your hands busy in activities like knitting, origami or something you like helps to keep away the sugary and fatty snack Research also shows that using hands in fidget in a day can help to burn around 800 calories, making it easy to slim down effectively.
Skip the Salty Snacks
Image SourceAvoiding salty snacks will helps to track weight loss in a hurry, no matter what is age. According to the research of Max-Delbrück-Center-for-Molecular-Medicine show that, contrary to famous belief, salt tends to make people more hungry and not thirsty. Two groups on simulated purpose to Mars were examined over 105-205 days, respectively, with one group getting saltier foods during the final weeks of their mock voyage. Researchers found that those providing saltier foods drank less water than those on a low-salt diet, but complained about frequent hunger.
However, the saltier food did raise study participant’s water retention, it can worsen the bloating and water retention issues linked with menopause. Salt will make you heavy and affect the weight loss process.
Turn Off the TV
Image SourceWhile on a weight loss diet in the 40s, avoid watching television. Watching TV will make you eat more snacks. It also triggers feelings of insufficiency in females, which can often cause emotional eating.
Get Some Sun
Image SourceVitamin D from early sunlight is also important for healthy weight in the 40s. According to research from Fred-Hutchinson-Cancer-Research-Center,
overweight females between 50-75 who had enough vitamin D dropped more weight than those whose levels had low. Psychopharmacology also reveals that subjects with stress who took vitamin D supplements felt improvements in their mood in just 5-days, so do not be afraid to take sunshine.
Add Yoga to Your Routine
Image SourceTry including some yoga in your daily routine to help to manage weight. A 160-pound female can require to burn around 477 calories every hour of hot yoga, if you are up for power yoga, that number falls to 594. Fortunately, yoga is also best for increasing muscle tone, low impact, support joints, and lower joint stress. It also prevents the risk of osteoporosis-linked fractures.
Get a Thyroid Check
Image SourceIf you are getting trouble with weight loss after your 40s, it is time to take your doctor about a thyroid screening. Females are more likely to have health problems than their male counterparts, which can cause symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, and depression. Fortunately, for some people, the thyroid problem can be fixed with medication and dietary modification, getting back to track body weight.
Maintain Your Mental Health
Image SourceNot everyone likes the idea of getting older, but if you are experiencing a serious problem at 40, you could be risking heavyweight. Research in JAMA-Internal-Medicine reveals a connection between depression and stubborn obesity, specifically among females, but it is known that weight loss enhanced mental health.
Don’t Eat Like a Kid
Spending time with kids at home makes you feel fun in your 40s and lowers the risk of dementia. However, all that time used in the land of pizza and chicken chunks might have you collecting over the pounds of weight before you recognize it. Different busy elderly find themselves mindlessly consuming the leftovers from their children and continuing many calories to their daily life.
Cool Off
Image SourceDecrease your thermostat and you may reduce weight. Research suggests that sleeping in a 66-degree room can raise the amount of healthy, boost metabolism, brown fat in the body, and reduce unwanted weight.
Be Social
Image SourceDoing a job, connecting with people help at the age of 40 to prevent unwanted weight. Research also suggests meeting different people work effectively in the weight loss process.
Satisfy Those Carb Cravings
Image SourceAccording to research, eating carbs can cause to increase in weight. Therefore, try to cut down on carbs and add healthy substitutes to your diet.
Feed Your Gut
Image SourceMake sure to care for your gut health at every age, but after 40, you need to care extra. Improving digestive health on regular basis can be helpful. Eat prebiotic-rich foods like leafy greens, and asparagus may help to lower the risk of hormonal problems, menopause symptoms, and colon cancer.