Midlife brings unique challenges, including weight gain. However, losing weight doesn’t have to involve extreme diets or exhausting workout routines that do more damage to your body than good. Instead, the key lies in building small, sustainable habits that lead to long-term success.
In this blog, we’ll explore practical and sustainable weight loss strategies for women over 40, focusing on manageable changes that promote well-being without affecting your lifestyle.
Understand and Manage Pre-menopause
Midlife often brings about hormonal changes, including pre-menopause, which can affect metabolism and contribute to weight gain.
Besides weight gain, pre-menopause symptoms include anxiety, hot flashes, mood swings, and night sweats. These changes can affect your eating and sleeping habits, further increasing the chances of weight gain. Identifying the early signs and managing them can be an important step toward your well-being and makes menopause weight loss easier.
Set Realistic and Sustainable Goals
The first step of your weight loss journey should include establishing achievable and realistic goals that consider your circumstances and lifestyle. Instead of focusing solely on the number on the scale, celebrate non-scale victories such as increased energy, improved mood, and better sleep. Sustainable body changes take time, and setting realistic goals ensures long-term results and improved overall well-being.
Incorporate Exercise into Your Routine
According to the IOF (International Osteoporosis Foundation), your muscle mass and function can decline when you hit 40. This condition is called sarcopenia, which can affect a person’s ability to perform daily tasks, increase the risk of a fracture, and even cause weight gain. Weight bearing exercise not only helps shed weight and prevent sarcopenia. Weight bearing exercise can include yoga, pilates and weight lifting. Make sure you choose activities that you enjoy doing to ensure consistency in your routine.
Drink Water Before Your Meals
You’ve probably heard this before, but this is a crucial step for losing weight and managing your ideal weight. A study shows that participants who drank 17 ounces of water before meals lost nearly three pounds more over 12 weeks than those who didn’t. Staying hydrated not only supports weight loss but also promotes overall health and well-being.
Practice Yoga to Destress
Yoga not only enhances flexibility and strength but also serves as a powerful stress management tool. High-stress levels can contribute to weight gain, so incorporating yoga into your routine can help promote mental well-being and support your weight loss journey.
Prioritize Yourself
As women, we tend to put everyone else first, which leads to skipped meals, inadequate sleep, and increased stress. This can lead to weight gain. Prioritize self-care, set boundaries, and allocate time for yourself. Make sure you’re eating all meals on time so you don’t end up overeating, and aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night to support your weight loss journey.
Weight Loss For The Last Time
For sustainable weight loss that brings long-lasting results, I invite you to join my Hangry to Healthy™ program. Learning to go from Hangry to Healthy is how you regain your energy, feel in conrol of food, stop overeating and lose weight for the last time. You’ll learn how to make the lifestyle changes for permanent weight loss and nourish your body without dieting. As your weight loss coach and nutritionist, I’ll guide you through each step in your journey. With this program, you also get support from a community of like-minded individuals working towards similar goals, further improving your overall well-being.
Contact me now for a free consultation.
