Tips for Weight Loss After 50 (Changing Habits)
Video | “Most Important Meal Of The Day” | How Do You Lose Weight? | Make Better Food Choices
Weight loss is difficult, but it can feel especially difficult to lose weight after 50. With that said, over the past 50-plus years, a lot has changed in our understanding of how weight loss works. In order to take advantage of this new understanding of how to achieve weight loss after 50, we must learn some new tricks.
In this post, I’ll share how to look at fat loss in a new light, so you can get the results you want!
Weight Loss After 50 – At-A-Glance
- We grew up learning that the best methods for weight loss are low-fat and low-calorie.
- We now know that weight loss is a hormonally controlled process. That means that food choices matter as much, if not more, than calories.
- If weight loss is your goal, it makes sense to reduce your intake of foods that spike insulin and eat more of the ones that don’t spike it.
Tips for Weight Loss After 50 – Changing Habits [Video]
In this video, you’ll learn…
- What most people think a diet for weight loss entails.
- The best way to eat for weight loss results.
- How to make better food choices daily.
The War On Fat
I was born in 1967, which was around the time that the war on fat began. So, like most of you, I grew up thinking that eating fat makes you fat and that carbohydrates were the key to good health and weight control.
In other words, you could enjoy your toast in the morning, but, if you were smart, you’d skip the butter.
The Most Important Meal Of The Day
While dry toast might not have been a very satisfying breakfast, at least it was breakfast! We grew up being taught that breakfast was “the most important meal of the day.”
The thought process behind this was that you needed to eat a hearty breakfast to stimulate or wake up your metabolism.
Calories In, Calories Out
Finally, we were told that the above way of eating would work out just fine. That is, as long as we did not consume too many calories.
So, food choices didn’t matter. As long as you consume fewer calories than you burned, you would lose weight.
The Old Weight Loss Rules Didn’t Work
The nice thing about these rules was that they were very clear. The bad thing was that they didn’t work.
In fact, we have watched the obesity rates skyrocket since the time when we were growing up.
Most of us have heard that Einstein’s definition of insanity is, “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
I think there is a lot of truth to that statement. If we want to lose weight over 50, we have to be open to doing different things and adopting different eating habits.
In fact, it is very fortunate that we are living in this present time when we have a new, scientific understanding of how the body loses weight.
Contol Insulin, Control Weight Loss
We now know that weight loss is a hormonally controlled process. That means that food choices matter as much, if not more, than calories.
There are three main nutrients that provide your body with calories, they are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Each of these nutrients has a dramatically different effect on the fat-storing hormone called insulin.
Carbohydrates, like bread and cereal, cause the greatest spike in insulin. Protein sources, like eggs and meat, cause a subtle rise in insulin. Fats, like butter, have very little impact on insulin.
How To Make Different Food Choices
If weight loss is your goal, it makes sense to reduce your intake of foods that spike insulin and eat more of the ones that don’t spike it.
In other words, eat a low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein diet.
How do you eat a low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein diet? By making different food choices.
For example, at breakfast, instead of dry toast eat eggs fried in butter.
Intermittent Fasting
Or, consider skipping breakfast altogether. This is an easy way to dip your toe into intermittent fasting.
Skipping breakfast, or not eating during a 12-hour window, will keep insulin low for an extended amount of time.
This low-insulin state keeps your body in a fat-burning state longer.
Your Metabolism Is Controlled By Hormones, Not Breakfast
By the way, around 4 AM, we all experience a surge of hormones, and that hormonal surge is what wakes you up and jump-starts your metabolism, not breakfast.
Where To Start Your Weight Loss Journey
I know that this is a lot of information to wrap your head around. If you are new to my blog, I have a lot of posts on here for you to explore.
Thank you for reading and I’ll see you back here next week!
About the Author
Dr. Becky Gillaspy, DC graduated Summa Cum Laude with research honors from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1991.
