The 8 Best Ways to Lose Weight After 40

The 8 Best Ways to Lose Weight After 40 – “Changes in your level of activity, eating habits, hormone levels, and the way your body stores fat can all have an impact.”

With a decrease in muscle mass comes a decrease in metabolism. When your metabolism slows down, your calorie burn decreases with it, making it tough for men to maintain a caloric deficit long enough to lose some of that stubborn fat.

“For this reason, it can be challenging to lose weight after the age of 40 years old, mainly if weight training is not a regular part of an individual’s routine,” says Mary Wirt, R.D., a board-certified sports dietitian.

It’s true that it’s natural to lose muscle mass over time, which can predispose you to weight gain.

When it comes to weight gain in your 40s, “it’s multifactorial,” says Fatima Stanford, M.D., MPH, obesity medicine physician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Numerous factors can sneak up on you and help you gain or hold onto weight, including your lifestyle, your food, your biology, and your sleep habits.

Guys often wonder whether a dip in testosterone is at the root of their weight gain, says Stanford. “When men develop overweight and obesity, they tend to have a drop in testosterone that leads to a drop in energy and more retention of adipose tissue,” she says.

The excess adipose tissue drives testosterone down. Once we normalize the weight, the testosterone normalizes,” she explains.

Instead of looking to testosterone first, try these other, more effective strategies to hack your biology and lifestyle and lose weight after 40.

Don’t Give Into the Popularity Contests

“There are many eating patterns that can be used to lose weight,” says William Samuel Yankee, M.D., director of the Duke Diet and Fitness Center and associate professor of medicine at Duke University.

If you prefer a specific plan with specific rules, make sure it goes with your lifestyle, which, for most guys, gets increasingly complicated in your 40s with more responsibilities at work, with your family, and maybe even with your aging parents. A vegan diet can be hard to do in a healthy way if you live a grab-and-go existence. Meal prep is going to be a challenge if you’re never home long enough to cook. Don’t just pick what worked for a friend; pick what’s likely to work with your busy, over-40 lifestyle.

Stanford is emphatic that you need to be sure that the eating style you choose to lose weight after 40 is something you can do for the rest of your life.

For a sustainable plan, “I don’t like to hyper-focus on calories. It’s important to have a high-quality diet of lean protein, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables,” Stanford says. “Processed foods lead to weight gain, so the less processed the food you eat, the better.”

When it comes to the high-quality diet she advocates, “nothing is bizarre we know that lean protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are constant no matter how the guidelines for healthy eating have changed over the years,” she says.

Prioritize Strength

Starting in your 30s, you can lose three to five percent of your muscle mass each decade if you don’t stay active. Note the last part of that point: “If you don’t stay active.” As you get older, “there’s a lot of competition for your time and energy,” says Dr. Yankee. For some men, that can push exercise out of the picture.

You can maintain that muscle or regain it with a regular strength routine meaning you do moves that hit the major muscles of the body at least twice a week. A great place to start: This 3-Week Full-Body Workout Plan for Men Over 40.

Even if it doesn’t actually help you lose weight, it can help keep you from gaining it along with all the other good things it does for your body, mind, and life.

It’s from Bryan Kahn, author of the Men’s Health Training Guide, Muscle After 40, and as he puts it: “It makes much more sense to train more frequently, but to inflict less damage on your muscles and joints in those workouts. No recovery, no benefit.”

That doesn’t mean you should only strength train; aerobic activity is helpful, too. But supplementing your spin/run/row/elliptical routine with strength training is essential.

Check out Rudy Kalb, for instance, who set four world power lifting records at age 71. Or get motivated by Simeon Gipson, the 75-year-old cyclist who beat diabetes through cycling and now pedals through a 300-mile trip every year.

A problem shared is a problem halved, right?

This adage may hold literal truth on the weight loss front.

“According to the Mayo Clinic, having a supportive environment of friends or family members is imperative for long-term weight loss success. A supportive environment most often increases accountability and helps maintain long-term motivation,” said Wirt.

Social media support groups are options too. Local fitness studios and online message boards can be great places to find like-minded people seeking to have someone keep tabs on them as they try to lose weight.

Covalence says that accountability is a powerful motivator when it comes to weight loss. “According to a study, participants who had a weight loss partner lost significantly more weight than those who tried to lose weight on their own.”

Sometimes, the best course of action is making your weight loss buddy your workout partner. After all, prioritizing exercise is essential.

“Many people in their 40s don’t have a lot of free time to exercise between desk jobs, commuting, and family obligations. But it’s crucial to put in at least 2 ½ hours a week of moderate physical exercise, such as brisk walking or light yard work, for your weight and general health,” Corrales says. “Schedule these times on your schedule and give them top priority.”

When you schedule such workouts with a friend or sign up for the same yoga classes as other people who are ‘regulars’ at your local gym, it will incentivize you to stick to your workout goals.

Stress Less

“Research has shown that chronic stress can make it more difficult to lose weight and can contribute to weight gain.

Studies have suggested that hormonal factors, including increased cortical levels related to psychosocial stress, may contribute to metabolic syndrome and obesity, says Wirt.

The good news? You can work conscientiously and consistently perhaps in tandem with a licensed therapist and/or psychiatrist to reduce your anxiety levels.

“Fortunately, various stress reduction techniques can reduce cortical levels and even modestly improve other factors such as blood pressure. Diaphragmatic breathing exercises can be beneficial as a stress reduction technique,” says Wirt. “Other relaxation techniques include massage, meditation, yoga, music and art therapy, journaling, and exercise, among many others.”

Along with those techniques, Covalence also shared that research has shown that massage therapy may reduce cortical levels and improve weight loss efforts.

Talk with a Doctor

Losing or gaining weight can always be a challenge, regardless of your age.

Many chronic health conditions, including diabetes, hypothyroidism, and mental health conditions, can make losing weight difficult, says Wirt. “It is essential to discuss any barriers to losing weight with a medical care provider.”

Working with a healthcare provider to come up with a weight loss plan is always an option.

Check your meds

Sometimes the medicines you’re taking for other issues, such as high blood pressure and antidepressant meds, can increase your weight or keep you from losing it, says Dr. Stanford. Ask your doctor if your weight concerns could be side effects of the prescriptions you’re getting filled.

Sleep

Sleeping enough is important, and if your lifestyle is making you cheat sleep, then thinks about what you can do to get enough.

“Untreated obstructive sleep apnea can lead to additional weight gain,” says Dr. Stanford.

If you are making all the right efforts to get restorative sleep and still don’t feel restored, consider seeing a sleep doctor, who can drill down on the problem and help you find some solutions.

Be Sober Curious

“Another factor I see that can help men is to take a look at drinking habits,” Kirkpatrick says. “Men that I counsel who cut alcohol or significantly cut back tend to lose weight more easily.”

Now that the whole sober curious moment is making not drinking trendy, it’s easier to find alcohol-free options. There’s a whole non-alcoholic beer renaissance these days, in fact. Explore non-alcoholic alternatives such as New London Light for a gin substitute or Seedlip, a distilled non-alcoholic option with diverse flavors.