One common belief about ageing is that you can’t lose weight, or even more importantly you can’t change your body composition.
Muscle matters, especially as we age and weight loss often is accompanied by muscle loss.
Losing weight with a temporary restriction of calories results in losing more muscle.
Body Composition
Regardless of the reasons you may want to lose weight, focusing on losing body fat should be the priority. There are many reasons to keep and build muscle for life. You can read about them here and here and here.
But, can you actually lose body fat and maintain muscle mass as you age?
Yes, you can.
Three proven weight loss methods that work
- Pay for it. From personal and professional experience I know this to be true, but a new study from the University of British Columbia provides more evidence! Director of UBC’s Centre for Obesity and Well-Being Research Excellence, Dr. Lesley Lutes says, “To be successful it must address the root drivers of obesity.” Simply trying to avoid foods or drastically reduce calories doesn’t work in the long term and often results in muscle loss.
- Make your own meals. Research in the European Heart Journal showed how lockdowns had some health benefits. This was due to a reduction in eating fast food and ready-made meals. In other words, making your own meals is a good way to improve cardiovascular health and lose weight. 21% of the 53,043 French and Germans studied reduced their body weight and vascular age by 3 years!
- Change your environment. Your people and your immediate surroundings have the biggest impact on our weight. We are influenced by the people around us, and while you can’t change them, you can ask for their help. Simple things like asking others to put unhealthy temptations away so they are not visible will make a difference. This works with other cues in your environment. What you see is what you will eat, having a bowl of fruit on the counter and putting higher calorie snacks in a far away cupboard are easy changes.
Weight loss is possible even as you get older, but sustainable weight loss is a slower process. Changing what and how we eat, should not be a temporary shift. Maintaining muscle is equally important. Don’t let your age keep you from improving your health.
Change your mind, change your health,
Shayla
Eat better, live better and feel better.
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