Five Ways to Lose Weight for Women over Forty
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Losing weight and staying in shape for women gets harder with age. However, a combination of a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle can enable you maintain your body shape irrespective of your age.
As women grow older, there are numerous changes that happen in their bodies and one of them is hormonal changes. Hormones are crucial for development, growth and enhancement of general body processes. As one ages, the levels of hormones tends to go down significantly. This reduction affects the rate of metabolism and that is why it is common to see women above 40 having issues with controlling their weight. At this age, the level of metabolism starts coming down which also affects the rate at which your body burns fat. This means in order to maintain your shape, you have to go the extra mile to get rid of those unwanted pounds in your body. Discussed below are top 5 ways to lose weight for women over 40.
Take Foods that Boost Metabolism
You should take plenty of foods that will boost your metabolism. In addition, you should avoid foods that have high content of fat, sodium and sugar. Foods that are rich in sodium will make your body dehydrated while taking a lot of sugar and fat will increase fat deposits in your body. This will jeopardize your weight loss and fitness goals. Fiber-foods, protein-foods and water rich foods should be part and parcel of your diet on a daily basis as they are crucial in boosting the body metabolic rate.
Cardiovascular Exercises
Apart from taking a well balanced diet, you should supplement it with regular workouts. Cardiovascular exercises will go a long way to help you achieve your fitness goals. Some of the cardio activities that you can engage in are; cycling, jogging, running, swimming and brisk walking. Performing cardiovascular exercises at least 3 times a week for around 30 minutes will enable you get rid of the unwanted fats in your body.
Weight resistance or strength training exercises can also help you burn the extra calories while at the same time helping you to tone your muscles. Some of the strength training activities you can do at the comfort of your home include shoulder presses, lunges, crunches, squats and arm curls.
Take Small Portions of Foods Frequently
The last thing you can do in your bid to lose weight is to skip meals. Instead, what you should do is to take small portions of healthy foods several times a day. Start the day with a heavy healthy breakfast so that your body can have adequate energy to carry on the activities of the day. Whole grains and foods rich in magnesium such as nuts are very helpful.
Have Adequate Sleep
If you want to stay fit and healthy even at the age of 40, you should ensure that you get adequate sleep on a daily basis. If you don’t get enough sleep, you tend to feel hungrier which will prompt you to eat more. Taking more than your body requires will result in building up of fat deposits in your body thereby negating the entire weight loss and fitness campaign.
Drink Plenty of Water
Water helps in detoxification as well as emulsification of fats in your body. Nutrient absorption and proper digestion also depend on the amount of water in your body. It’s recommended that you should take at least 8 glasses of water per day. This will help your body to keep hydrated which will be a boost to your fitness goals. This is so because dehydration will cause your body to accumulate a lot of calories which will increase the stored fats in your body.
In addition, taking lots of water will minimize food cravings, which is one of the primary results of weight gain. Therefore, if you want to lose weight in a healthy way, take plenty of water.
Following the above tips will enable you maintain your sexy figure even past the age of 40. You have to be committed and focused in order to achieve your weight loss and fitness goals. It’s not something that you achieve overnight so you need to be patient.
Author bio:
Peter Woodard is a passionate health and fitness writer. He has been writing for the past 11 years and as such he has established himself as an authority in this field. He draws his inspiration from MyPhentramind.com.
