How to lose fat after 40?

Are you in your 40 and have problem with fat loss?

If you’re over 40, you might have noticed that it became quite difficult to lose weight. Or, worse, even if you eat the same as when you were 20 or 30, you seem to actually gain weight. That is not a surprise because, starting with 25 years old, the metabolism starts to slow down every decade. The metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. It determines how fast you burn calories, how fast you gain.. or you lose weight. Along with metabolism, the changes in your daily activities, eating habits, hormones, all play an important role in fat loss.

So, what happens after 40?

1. Hormones fluctuate as you approach menopause and lead to many changes, from decreased bone density and lean muscles to lower sex drive and mood changes.
2. The metabolism slows down and you start accumulate more fat, especially around the waistline and generally feel tired.
3. The muscles mass starts to decrease, which basically means you don’t burn calories the way you did before.
4. The body starts to ignore insulin, which means your blood sugars level are not “controlled” anymore as before. This leads to feelings of hunger and more cravings.
5. Your appetite hormones are confused (ghrelin that tells you when you are hungry and leptin that tells you when you are full)  and this has direct impact on your eating habits.
6. You become less active, due to lifestyle or achy joints, which can make you feel a bit out of shape.
7. You become stressed , that means cortisol secretion that can cause blood sugar levels to drop and gets you into eating mood.
8. The sleeping routine becomes more difficult, you cannot sleep the entire night or you don’t fill rested, so you might not be in the mood to workout or keep active.

That being said, don’t need to despair.

The best way to keep in shape and lose fat is to keep a heart healthy diet and exercise. To give a push to your weight loss process, the biggest focus should be to develop habits that will help you build or maintain your muscle mass. Focus also on nutrition and sleep habits.

 Follow up these recommendations so that you keep feeling energized, healthy! Your will to workout will increase and you will start losing your stubborn kilos.

• Eat plenty of fruits and veggies: fruits and vegetables have more nutrients and less fat and calories than meat, dairy or grains.
• Eat at the same time every day and don’t skip meals: when you skip meals, your cortisol levels raise. This leads to increasing cravings and storing fat, especially in the abdomen. Keep lean protein and good carbs in your diet and watch out the proportions.
• Make time for exercise and weight training: keep your life as active as possible, maintain regular exercise and start weight training to help you keep muscle mass.
• Limit drinking alcohol, because it’s not helping you in weight loss. Your liver will be busy processing alcohol instead of burning fat. Plus, alcohol can make you hungry, so you may eat more while you drink.
• Drink enough water daily and stay away from sodas: dehydration influences the number of calories you burn and sweets sodas have a lot of added sugar.
• Sleep more: when you’re tired, you produce more ghrelin, which triggers cravings for sugar and other fat-building foods.
• Cut calories intake, especially if you tend to be less active. But do it smart, eat smaller portions and count your calories. Don’t make radical diets, starvation will lead to fat gain, not loss.
• Relax and don’t be stressed about your weight; try yoga, meditation walking, listen to calm music, read a book, whatever works for you.

Turning  40 has many benefits: greater wisdom, increased self-awareness, and, if you are lucky, more self-confidence. But that doesn’t mean that other physical changes are easy to deal with. Among these, weight loss. Nevertheless, losing fat is not impossible. Follow the above recommendation and keep your weight under control because, at this stage, it iss more an issue of health than one of aesthetics.