The positive news is that it is achievable to shed pounds after the age of 50. Staying within a healthy weight range can help seniors stay energetic and involved in life. Many senior citizens must modify their prior approaches for shedding pounds in order to loss it securely. It is not always the case that the strategies employed to help younger individuals lose weight are the same that work best for elderly people.
but that does not mean it is out of reach for you to obtain your healthiest weight. Recognizing the changes your body undergoes as you age and establishing a secure, efficient weight-loss plan can aid in trimming down as you grow older.
The Best Diet for Women Over 50: Calorie Needs
When you’ve reached your goal weight, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020 estimate the following weight maintenance calorie needs for various age and physical activity categories:
Sedentary Adults
Women age 19-40: 1,800-2,000 calories
Women age 40-60: 1,600-1,800 calories
Women over 60: 1,600 calories
Moderately Active Adults
Women age 19-40: 2,000-2,200 calories
Women age 40-60: 1,800-2,000 calories
Women over 60: 1,800 calories
Active Adults
Women age 19-40: 2,200-2,400 calories
Women age 40-60: 2,200 calories
Women over 60: 2,000 calories
Certain types of weight-loss fads may be effective in the short run, but they may not be reasonable to keep up with over a prolonged period. These diets do not provide enough of the necessary nutrients that are essential for maintaining a pleasant level of vigor, staving off deficiencies, and staying in optimal health for an extended period of time.
As you get older, chances are you may suffer from low bone density, putting on weight, going through menopause, and exhaustion, so to stay in the best of health it is critical to eat a good balanced diet.
Popular Weight Loss Diets
Some ideas from well-known weight loss regimens can be applied when developing a good diet for ladies over 50, but be alert when significantly reducing food groups or amounts of energy consumed.
Given below is a compilation of some usually-followed weight-loss diets and the advantages and disadvantages they possess.
Raw Food Diet
The uncooked food regimen is mainly made up of plants and emphasizes consuming crude, unaltered sustenances that have not been treated. You might want to incorporate 75-85% uncooked items into your diet plan.
You may find yourself consuming uncooked fruits and veggies, raw nuts, sprouted or saturated whole grains and legumes, dehydrated fruit, dehydrated meats, plant-based milks, raw nut spreads, cold-pressed vegetable oils, and aged dishes like kimchi and sauerkraut. Try to stay away from processed goods, extra sugar, food cooked with heat, roasted seeds/nuts, oils that have been processed, table salt, pasteurized dairy, any type of juice, coffee, tea, and alcoholic beverages.
The objective of the raw food diet is to keep as many of the nutritionals as possible in their original raw state, since preparing food typically decreases the levels of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other beneficial properties of your food. The advantages of eating a diet composed of mostly unprocessed foods are that you’ll be getting a powerhouse of nutrition from dietary fiber-dense foods while cutting out unhealthy snacks tied to gaining weight.
It is likely that one will slim down if they stick to a raw food diet. It is hard for a lot of people to keep up with a diet consisting predominantly of uncooked foods for an extended period of time.
Paleo Diet
The paleo diet is comparable to the raw food diet, with the exception that it allows for the consumption of cooked meals if desired. The emphasis is on foods that are thought to have been consumed by prehistoric humans. When adhering to a paleo diet, one should pass on processed foods and make substitutions with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean meats, seafood, and oils.
The paleo diet excludes grains, legumes, potatoes, dairy products, pre-prepared foods, unprocessed sugar, and salt. Similar to the raw food diet, likely benefits from weight loss can be seen with following the paleo diet as it includes only whole foods and does not include processed or unhealthy snacks. This approach is very confining and tough to maintain over a prolonged period for many individuals, and if you don’t take care in formulating your meals, you might be in danger of not getting the necessary nutrients.
Very Low-Calorie Diets
VLCDs, abbreviation for Very low-calorie diets, consist of no more than 800 calories per day, requiring users to usually make use of liquids such as nutrition shakes to suit their needs as meal replacements. It is possible that you could lose around 3-5 pounds in a week by reducing the amount of calories you consume. Nevertheless, keeping up with VLCDs for a prolonged period of time is not a reasonable practice, due to the potential health risks such as deficiencies in nutrients, hair loss, tiredness, and even development of gallstones as a result of losing weight quickly.
Additionally, there does not appear to be an advantage to using VLCDs as opposed to LCDs when trying to shed pounds, particularly in the long run. Research indicates that individuals who use a very low-calorie diet (VLCD) of 500 calories a day, and those who followed a low-calorie diet (LCD) of 1,250 calories a day, saw the same amount of weight loss after a period of nine months. VLCDs are generally only safe under medical supervision.
If you want to adhere to a VLCD eating program on your own, you should limit yourself to 800 calories two times per week rather than consuming it on a daily basis.
Well-Balanced Low-Calorie Diets
For women over 50 who are looking to shed some pounds, the most effective route is through consuming a nutritious and low-calorie diet that includes somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 calories a day (depending on one’s level of physical activity). Consuming a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables, wholesome grains, pulses, poultry, fish and seafood, tofu, seitan, ova, nuts, dairy products or non-dairy milk, oils, and other advantageous lipids is the way to an appropriate diet.
Divide each plate in half by filling one portion with non-starchy veggies, the second half with a combination of protein sources (e.g. lean meat, fish, eggs, or tofu) and healthy carbs (e.g. whole grains, yams, corn, beans, and fresh fruit).
We call this the Perfect Plate!
Eat dairy or plant-based milk two to three times a day and make sure to include a source of healthy fats (i.e. oils) with each meal or snack.
Low-Carb and Ketogenic Diets
Numerous studies have shown that reducing the amount of carbohydrates one consumes leads to a higher level of weight and fat loss. Consuming an insufficient amount of carbohydrates can cause fatigue, reduced cognitive abilities, and halitosis.
A successful way for women over 50 to shed pounds is to remove high-carb nourishments, such as candy, sweetened drinks, white bread, and white rice, from their diet. In order to bypass the negative consequences of feeding your body with diets very low in carbohydrates like the ketogenic diet, which is limited to 5% of your daily calorie intake, it is advised to consume no less than the RDA of carbohydrates, which is 130 grams/day for adult females.
Opt for complex carbohydrates that are high in fiber, such as entire grains, pulse crops, starches obtained from veggies, and fruits.
How to Improve Metabolism? Outsmarting the Aging Process
The great thing is that with a few minor alterations to your lifestyle you can increase your metabolism as you cross into your fifties. These behavior patterns will bring about other good effects on your wellbeing. Check out these tips to see how you can “trick” your body into having a faster metabolism:
Making sure your muscles stay toned is one of the most effective ways to boost your metabolic rate. For seniors, beginning or sticking to a strength-training regimen can help increase their body’s metabolism.
Strength training is also good for losing the belly. A study in the Journal of Obesity established that abdominal fat loss has the most significant helpful effect on the health and wellbeing of elderly people. Strength training can help you to lose fat, even when the exercises are not particularly intended to target your abdominal area.
Strength training does not need to be alarming or take up a lot of time. Discuss with your medical practitioner the development of an appropriate fitness routine if you are not currently engaging in any weight lifting or strength-building activities, such as yoga. The National Institute on Aging presents an outstanding manual demonstrating a few easy exercises for elderly people which could serve as a decent initial step.
Do not forget that, regardless of age, you can still strengthen your muscles. It is possible to develop muscular strength after 60 through strength building exercises. It is feasible to keep one’s muscles strong even when in their 90s.
2. Add more movement to your everyday life.
You can reap the rewards of physical activity without needing to go to the gym. As we age, we tend to be less active during the course of the day. The American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism conducted a study which revealed that people of advanced age tend to be less physically active while performing regular activities.
That’s a pity as engaging in even a small amount of physical activity can assist in boosting your metabolism rate and heart health.
Nevertheless, in our current automated atmosphere, we possess fewer chances to move this way. Search for all possibilities to get in more activity with light. As an illustration, activities like gardening, washing plates by hand, and folding the laundry are all ways to ensure you stay physically active.
Going on foot is often thought to be the top workout for elderly people who wish to shed pounds. You do not need to take 10,000 steps per day to experience positive effects. A modest raise in the number of paces you take can be beneficial.
3. Eat plenty of protein.
Protein can help build muscle. It also requires more energy to digest. It is possible to increase your metabolic rate following the age of 50 by consuming lean protein at each meal in order to avoid muscle atrophy.
Research in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A has found that elderly individuals who consume an acceptable quantity of protein in their diet are less likely to experience difficulty when engaging in simple, day-to-day activities, like putting on clothes or climbing stairs.
It is usually best to achieve your protein intake from eating whole foods, that way you won’t miss out on other essential components of a nutritious diet, such as fiber. It is hard for many people to consume the desired amount of protein only from natural food sources. A high-grade protein powder can be useful in supplementing your diet.
If you are in a rush or not feeling hungry, it can be convenient to buy a prepackaged meal replacement shake. Nevertheless, it can be high in sugar and contain various unnecessary components. If you are looking to consume additional calories and gain further nutrition, drinking protein-packed meal replacement shakes may be an effective option. If you’re wanting to increase your protein intake without adding any additional ingredients, a top-notch protein powder is probably the best option.
4. Consume enough calories.
This may seem like an odd tip. Many fad diets necessitate that dieters significantly decrease the amount of calories consumed. It’s a known fact that in order to shed weight, one needs to consume fewer calories.
However, that low-calorie strategy can backfire, particularly for seniors. When our bodies understand that their calorie consumption is not sufficient to meet our fundamental requirements, our metabolic rate will lower in order to save energy. Again, we can probably thank evolution for this. Before grocery stores and takeout restaurants existed, a lack of available food often meant having to go hungry.
You can also unintentionally lose weight rather quickly if you don’t get adequate calories, which can result in the loss of muscle mass. You must keep your muscles in good shape in order to have a healthy metabolism.
Sadly, a lot of seniors struggle to get enough nourishment. Elderly individuals can have their appetite decrease due to a variety of reasons, such as alterations in their sense of smell and taste.
If you have difficulty consuming the recommended meals that contain a good proportion of nutrients due to a reduced desire to eat, it is important to communicate with your doctor. Initially, a decreased hunger might appear to be an advantage for shedding pounds. For elderly people, but, it could serve as a warning sign for prospective medical problems that should be looked into.
5. Get enough sleep.
Seniors often struggle to get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can damage your metabolism. Investigation published in the International Journal of Obesity has indicated that elderly people who do not get enough sleep are more prone to obesity.
6. Reduce your stress levels.
When faced with a prolonged period of stress, your body may interpret it as a signal that you need to be economical with your energy. The production of glucose as a result of a “flight or fight” response instigated by hormones such as cortisol is because our bodies believe we might require the energy. The findings can affect your metabolic rate, and also induce a longing for sugary treats. Investigation is ongoing, but some studies have implied that relaxation techniques such as contemplation may support metabolic rate.
You Can Reach Your Goals
Yes, losing weight after 50 can be challenging. However, by adapting your lifestyle in a sustainable and feasible way, you can attain enhanced health and a greater quality of life. Collaborate intently with your medical personnel in order to guarantee a safe approach.
