Can You Lose Weight in Your 40s?

Is It Possible to Lose Weight in Your 40s?

Does weight loss have an age limit? 

Your body undergoes numerous changes when you age. Your skin becomes thinner and your bones shrink. You become intolerant to what once were your favourite snack foods. You soften around the edges, even when you continue to work out. You lose muscle mass to fat every decade beginning in your 30s. This loss is what slows your metabolism down.

However, don’t let that discourage you. A University of Warwick study revealed that despite these physical changes, age is not a barrier to successful weight loss. The way you adapt to changes that come your way, you should modify your physical activities to address the shifts in your body. It’s the simple secret to losing weight in your 40s.

How Can a 40-year-old Lose Weight Fast?

Anyone, regardless of age, can trim away excess fat right away. After all, anyone can go on a crash diet, over-exercise, or even ask for a little medical assistance. None of these tricks is healthy, and they might even be riskier when you’re in your 40s or older. It goes to say that even if you’re struggling to lose weight in your 40s, this may not be the best idea.

Crash dieting, which is when you rob your body of sustenance for a few days or weeks to lose weight fast, can create a yo-yo effect, slowing down your already decelerating metabolism. You’ll also deprive yourself of critical nutrients that may make you more prone to age-related diseases. Too much exercise, on the other hand, can put too much pressure on your bones, muscles, and joints, causing injury, which is counterproductive to your fitness goals.

So yes, you can lose weight fast, but resorting to shortcut methods also creates more shortcuts for the kilos to return.

Why Is It Harder to Lose Weight in Your 40s?

Let’s get it out of the way: yes, weight loss is a much more difficult challenge when you’re older – and especially if you have a sedentary lifestyle for most of your life. Some of the key factors that may impede your weight-loss efforts include:

Slowed-down metabolism

Your newly acquired, sluggish metabolism is a consequence of your muscle loss. Generally, lean muscle diminishes by 3% to 8% every decade after you turn 30. Muscle burns more calories, so you can see how this affects your weight.

Moreover, as you age, you may develop conditions that can affect your metabolism, such as hypothyroidism. This hormonal imbalance means your thyroid levels are low, decelerating your metabolic rate.

Hormonal shifts

Speaking of hormonal conditions, these chemical substances can significantly affect your weight, especially as you age. Apart from the prospect of hypothyroidism, women also face menopause, which occurs between their 40s and 50s. According to the National Institute on Ageing, this causes a drop in estrogen, including estradiol, which helps regulate metabolism and weight.

Meanwhile, around the same time, men experience a decline in testosterone production. Studies have linked low testosterone levels with increased fat mass and reduced lean mass.

The mood swings brought about by fluctuating hormones, such as depression, may also contribute to weight gain and make it harder to lose weight in your 40s.

Professional priorities

Your 40s will, perhaps, be the prime of your professional life. Your 20s may be about finding yourself and your 30s may be about trying to build and solidify your career. In your 40s, you will be much more settled and predictable. You’re likely a middle manager or higher. Perhaps you’re a supervisor overseeing a team of 12.

However, this larger role demands more responsibility, such as longer hours or the occasional overtime. It may encroach on your exercise time. This can be a big reason that you are struggling to lose weight in your 40s.

Family matters

Managing a household is a workout, but not always the physical kind. When you get older and you have a family of your own to manage, your list of priorities grows. 

As a parent, you may be running around making sure the children are healthy and well. You may find yourself staying up to ensure their homework assignments are completed, or driving your children to their football or GAA club. Your extra busy lifestyle may leave you resorting to fast food or processed meals and skipping exercise.

Genetics

Let’s be honest: genetics plays a primary role in most of your physical attributes, including metabolism. Have a look at your mum and dad. Did they gain weight as they grew older or did they stay relatively the same? They may give you a picture of your future, but don’t be deterred by this. You can use that premonition to make critical lifestyle adjustments so you don’t end up on the same path.

Trust us, you can get over any hurdle. First, you must understand that what you used to do in your 20s won’t work now that you’re middle-aged. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You just have to customise your weight-loss plan to your current needs.

How Do You Kickstart Your Metabolism at 45?

Now, let’s go back to the main question: how can you lose weight in your 40s? Is it any different when you’re trying to lose weight in your mid-forties? Maintaining your fitness is the secret to revving your metabolism in middle age. Were you up partying in your 20s? To some extent, it’s all right because you have the speedy metabolism to help you fight the effect of your nightlong debauchery. However, things become different as you age.

The ideal advice is to follow healthy practices whatever age you’re in, but you can’t help the temptation of going to the pub and having a bit more than a few pints when you’re younger. When you’re older, however, committing to your health is necessary – especially if you want to stave away the kilos.

“The drop in your basal metabolic rate as you get older causes a difference in your calorie requirement that is about 200 less as you get older,” explains BodySlims founder Gerard Moran, who doesn’t beat about the bush over the realities of weight loss and aging. 

Did you know that it will take approximately nine months to get your metabolism up and going – and that’s only after determination and consistency. Watch the video below to learn more about this… 

Helpful tips on losing weight in your 40s

If you want to lose weight in your 40s, you must follow the tips below.

Sleep

The seemingly innocent act of slumber is associated with various hormonal and metabolic processes. Getting eight hours of quality sleep can help maintain the optimal metabolic rate for your age. It also provides you with enough fuel to exercise during the day and ward off unhealthy snacks, such as sugar, that give you fleeting energy.

Enjoy a well-balanced diet

It’s no longer just about what you eat ­– your plate should contain lots of leafy greens, lean protein, and fibre – but also how you eat. Another study reports that early-breakfast eaters were more likely to lose weight. In the research, those who frontloaded their meals and ate lighter during the evening lost more weight than those who did the reverse, despite consuming the same number of calories.

Drink water

The cooling effect that comes with drinking water stimulates thermogenesis or heat production in your body. This body’s response is to warm the fluid to body temperature, utilising more energy and thus hastening the metabolism.

Perform movements

It may seem ironic to be on the move later in life, but according to Moran, movement is the only way to boost your metabolic rate. Mix fat-burning cardio exercises, such as walking, running, or swimming, with strength-training, to help maintain your lean muscle.

How Can You Flatten Your Stomach at 45?

Do you have a beer belly? Unfortunately, you can’t flatten it with the usual weight-loss methods. When you lose fat, it happens all over the body. You can’t point to your paunch and tell your body to burn it first. If you want to reduce your love handles, you must get rid of the excess kilos first. It means adopting healthy eating habits (bid those crisps goodbye!) and following a consistent fitness plan.

How Can a 40-year-old Get in Shape?

If you’ve always been an active person, particularly in your youth, staying in shape and losing weight in your 40s should not be too difficult. When you exercise regularly, your body craves movement, thus initiating a long-term commitment to fitness.

There’s no age limit to getting healthy. If you want to learn how to lose weight in your 40s, you can start slowly. Do 30-minute walks after a meal. Then, intensify it as you get better and better. If you want to know how to do it correctly, sign up for our weight loss programme. 

Our 10-week programme doesn’t just give you a list of things to eat and exercises to do. It fully understands that you must be mentally and psychologically ready to commit to fitness for the long term. It comes with seminars and daily motivational videos to help you keep going, regardless of your age.

Take a look at some of our success stories and sign up today!