Losing weight at any age can be a challenge, but it seems much harder when you’re older. Yes, we said difficult but not impossible, especially if you follow these expert-approved tips. If you want to lose weight after 50, take it seriously and keep a positive attitude.

Tips to lose weight after 50

Reduce stress
Middle age is a stage where stress and anxiety increase. In addition to managing your personal life, you may have a stressful job, raising children, paying a mortgage, etc. etc., Not to mention you have to start thinking about retirement and the possibility of your children leaving home and experiencing “empty nest syndrome”. The more stressed you are, the less likely you are to do the things you should be doing to lose weight after 50, like exercising like a game of padel and eating right.

Contact the professionals
If none of the methods you tried before work, it’s best to consult a professional to help you lose weight after 50. These highly specialised doctors can help you address any concerns and get you started on your weight loss plan.

Don’t give up
Studies have shown that obesity treatment and weight management methods proven by science to work in both seniors and the general population. It’s best to stay calm and not get discouraged.

Check your medications
As you get older, more prescription and over-the-counter medications are being taken to treat age-related health problems. Some medications, including antidepressants, can cause weight gain, so make sure that any unexplained weight gain is not a side effect of the medication.

Get enough sleep
Sleep patterns change as we age. For menopausal women, night sweats may mean waking up frequently to change the sheets or put on different pyjamas. This loss of sleep can make it difficult to lose weight. Ghrelin is a hormone that signals when you need to eat, and when you’re sleep deprived, ghrelin increases. For its part, leptin levels, which is the hormone that indicates when you are satisfied, decrease when you are sleep deprived. The more ghrelin, the less leptin, which leads to weight gain. The good news is that melatonin, a sleep supplement, can also treat menopause symptoms.

Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is trendy, and among studies, some suggest that a type of fasting known as the 16:8 diet may help you lose weight. During 16 hours of the day, for example from 6.30pm. to 10.30am, you don’t eat, and for the other eight hours of the day you can prepare meals. With this system, you consume fewer calories and lose more fat.

Increase your protein intake
Muscle mass decreases as we age, and since muscle burns more calories than fat, metabolism also decreases, leading to weight gain. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating an equal amount of protein in three meals can develop muscle strength in people over the age of 50.

Break from the diet
Now may be the time to give up dieting, at least for a few days, as it may help you lose weight, according to research. Participants in various studies who stopped dieting for a fortnight lost more weight during the study and didn’t gain extra pounds after it was over.

Eat more vegetables
Change the order of the foods you eat. For example, when you eat bread before a meal, your blood sugar levels increase along with the production of the hormone insulin, which increases your chances of gaining weight. Consuming vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates ultimately has a profound effect on blood sugar levels and reduces ghrelin levels.

Do strength training
As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and this makes weight loss difficult because less muscle mass means a lower metabolic rate. Strength training exercises can change the composition of muscles in a way that makes them more metabolically active. Free weight exercises or padel workout once or twice a week.

Take the best supplements
If your diet and exercise plan are no longer producing results, you may be deficient in one or more essential vitamins or nutrients. Consult your doctor about getting tested and incorporating supplements into your diet.

Don’t weigh yourself
Scales don’t always reflect reality when you’re trying to lose weight after fifty. Instead of weighing you, measure your waist circumference with a tape measure. If your waist size is smaller than when you started your weight loss plans, you can use it as a benchmark for fat loss. Your weight may not change, but your waist size does.