A healthy weight loss plan utilizes the calorie burning attributes of exercise and an appropriate eating and drinking plan. Women over 40 face the additional challenge of combating their naturally decreasing metabolic rate. There are ways, however, to combat the slowing of metabolic rate for successful and healthy weight loss.
Weight Loss
In order for anyone to lose weight, they must burn more calories than they consume. Each pound of fat loss takes a 3,500 caloric deficit. The total number of calories you burn depends on your personal metabolic rate and any additional calories you burn through physical activity. The number of calories you take in depends directly on the foods and drinks that you consume. Therefore, a successful weight loss plan is one that incorporates regular physical activity to burn more calories and at the same time limit calorie intake with healthy nutritional choices.
Older Women Concerns
Once women approach and reach menopause like they do around the age of 40, hormonal changes typically cause a decrease in metabolic rate. This means that the total number of calories women burn everyday significantly decreases, which can result in weight gain and more difficulty to achieve weight loss. Women over 40 are likely to need to be more strict with their exercise and eating habits to lose body fat.
Increasing Metabolic Rate
Women over 40 can incorporate activities that cause an increase in metabolic rate to combat the natural decrease that occurs with age. Although women may be hesitant to participate in weight lifting, the lean muscle mass that is built with consistent strength training increases metabolic rate. Muscle tissue requires calories in order to maintain structure and function. Lift two to three days per week with a day of rest in between to add lean muscle. Adding short brisk walks throughout the day can also increase your metabolism. You will not only burn more calories while you're walking for 10 to 15 minutes, but your metabolic rate is increased for a period after you've completed your walk.
Regular Cardiovascular Exercise
Besides weight training, women over 40 should incorporate regular cardiovascular exercise into their routine. Cardiovascular activities, such as jogging and swimming, are the most efficient at burning calories in a relatively short duration of time. The American Council on Exercise states that you should shoot for about 60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on most days to lose body fat.
Nutritional Steps
Eating the appropriate number of calories everyday makes the most impact on a successful weight loss plan in older women. Because your metabolic rate is slowing, you don't require the same number of calories that you previously did. Use an online calorie calculator which takes into account your age to determine how many calories you burn everyday and thus the number of daily calories that would cause you to maintain your current weight. To lose weight, subtract 250 to 500 from that total. Just making this adjustment to your daily caloric intake will result in weight loss.
Member Comments