Although maintaining a healthy body weight is important for all ages, it's particularly essential for middle-aged adults since they're at a greater risk of more serious health conditions caused by obesity, including heart disease, stroke, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Middle-aged women face some challenges, but with healthy eating and regular exercise, they can successfully lose weight.
How to Lose Weight
For anyone to lose weight, a person must burn more calories than she consumes over a set period of time. The amount of calories you burn is dependent upon exercise and your resting metabolism, which is based on your genetics, age and physical activity level. The amount of calories you consume is based on your nutritional decisions and what you eat and drink every day. For every pound of fat you want to lose, you must burn 3,500 more calories than you consume.
Considerations for Women
Middle-aged women typically have a slower metabolism, meaning that they burn fewer calories every day. This directly makes weight loss more difficult because it's harder to burn enough calories to create a caloric deficit. Therefore, middle-aged women should take additional steps to increase their metabolism.
Exercise
Exercise directly contributes to the total amount of calories burned and therefore should be completed on most days. Cardiovascular activities, such as running and swimming, are the most efficient in burning calories. You should get a cardiovascular workout in four to six days per week with each session lasting 30 to 60 minutes to burn a significant amount of calories.
Increasing Metabolism
A middle-aged woman can take steps to increase her resting metabolism. Consistent strength training causes you to put on lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass requires a constant stream of calories to maintain tissue structure. Lifting weights two to three days per week will increase your metabolism. In addition, incorporating short but intense walks throughout the day will cause your metabolism to be elevated for the rest of the day. Take a break every few hours to walk for five to 15 minutes.
Healthy Eating
Food and drink choices are what determine the amount of calories you consume and thus have a significant impact on weight loss. A middle-aged woman should first determine how many calories would cause her to maintain her current weight. Online calculators, such as the free one provided by MayoClinic.com, uses your age and your activity level to estimate the amount of calories that would maintain your current weight. After you have that number, subtract 500 to come up with a healthy and appropriate amount that would cause you to lose weight.
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