Diet Plan For A 40- To 50-year-old Man

Between ages 40 and 50, a man's dietary needs shift while health risks rise. Adjusting your diet during this period will help you avoid chronic and age-related injury and illness, such as bone fractures, muscle tears and cardiovascular problems. To lose excess weight, another risk factor for disease, choose low-fat foods from every food group and increase your activity level. Foods that trim body fat and support the bones, muscles and heart will best benefit male body composition.

Calorie Limit

A daily intake of 2,000 to 3,000 calories maintains weight in an average-sized man. Use food label information to add up your current caloric intake. Then decrease that amount by 500 calories to drop about one pound in a week. Put a variety of lowfat foods that feature protein, calcium, potassium and vitamin D on your menus every day, staying within your calorie limit. If you deplete those calories through activity, your body will shed fat while preserving bone and muscle strength and normal heart function.

Exercise Component

Any weight-loss diet plan requires exercise to create a calorie deficit in which you expend more calories than you get from food. Lose weight gradually by easing into brisk walking or bicycling in 20-minute sessions. Increase exercise time and intensity as you grow more fit. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports notes that both aerobic exercise and weight loss improve heart health. Men should add resistance exercise such as weight training to sustain bone and muscle strength.

Nutrients You Need

A strong musculoskeletal system helps you avoid trauma caused by a loss of bone density, which commonly causes health problems by age 50 and affects 20 percent of all men. Men need protein, potassium and calcium to form and repair muscle and bone cells. Vitamin D helps your body access dietary calcium. Drink fat-free milk to preserve calcium and vitamin D stores, and choose low-fat fish and poultry without skin for protein and potassium. Dietary fiber, which fills you up on fewer calories, is present among a wide range of vitamins and minerals in whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Follow the suggested serving sizes on package labels to stay within your calorie limit.

Nutrients to Limit

Dietary saturated fat and sodium increase cardiovascular risk, which is greater in men than women and climbs as you age. Foods with large amounts of fat and sugar tend to have higher calories and threaten your weight-loss plan. As you diet, avoid fatty meats and fried, frozen, canned and fast foods, which may have high saturated fat and sodium contents. Eat fruit instead of sweetened foods and beverages. Choose nonfat milk or water in place of sugar-sweetened or alcoholic beverages.