3 Best Tips to Get Back in Shape After 50

Are you over 50 and can’t seem to get started on your weight loss plan? Dr. Becky Gillaspy works full-time, helping people reach their health and weight loss goals through her website and two YouTube channels: Dr Becky Fitness and 2 Fit Docs. In a new viral video, she offers some simple advice on how to jump-start weight and fat loss in your 50s. “If you are over the age of 50, the chances are good that you have followed diet or exercise routines designed to help you lose weight. Some of those efforts may have been successful, so it would make sense to repeat what worked in the past. However, what if you can't find the motivation to get started or what worked in the past is not working now?” she asks. “In this video, I'll share four things you can do today to get your eating, moving, and thinking on track so you can jumpstart your weight loss.”

Your Muscle Mass Is Declining and Hormonal Changes Are Taking Place

“When we get into our fifties, there are natural changes that impact how our bodies handle weight loss. For instance, it is normal for muscle mass to decline with age, decreasing the number of calories we burn through our basal metabolism. There are also hormonal changes that take place. Our cells naturally become less sensitive to insulin as we age, making it easier to gain weight, and menopause can influence how fat is distributed in a woman's body,” she explains in her post.

Making Small Changes Can Jump Start Weight Loss

“While these factors don't stop our ability to lose weight, they can slow progress and feel frustrating, making it hard to muster up the motivation to get started. The good news is that small changes in the way you move, eat, and think can quickly shift your perspective and get you headed in the right direction,” she says.

1. Add Short Bursts of Intensity to Your Walks

She starts with exercise. “Walking at a steady pace has many benefits, and when we set out to improve physically, it is a comfortable place to start. However, if you are looking at walking as a way to jumpstart your weight loss, you'll get the most significant benefit by adding short bursts of intensity,” she says. “For example, have a stopwatch with you. The next time you go for a 15-minute walk, start at a comfortable pace for two minutes, then walk fast or jog for the third minute, and then repeat that at lower to higher intensity until 15 minutes have passed. While the short bursts of higher activity will slightly increase the calories that your body burns, the true benefit that you'll get is how it makes you feel. You'll be surprised at how the boost in your heart rate and breathing rate boost your motivation and mood,” she says.

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You Can Also Do This with Bike Riding, Swimming, or Strength Training

Not a walker? “This same concept can be applied to other exercises as well, including bike riding, swimming, or using exercise equipment at the gym. But regardless of the activity, by changing up your speed and intensity, you will be left with a sense that you want to do more, and that is what jump-starting progress is all about,” she says.

2. Reduce Your Carb Intake

Because cells become less sensitive to insulin as we age, “resistance causes insulin levels in the blood to increase, which can slow or block fat loss to work around this issue,” she says. “You want to eat in a way that naturally keeps insulin levels low. That is accomplished by reducing your carbohydrate intake, especially refined carbs because those are the foods that spike insulin.” For example, you can swap out high-carb breakfast foods like cereal or muffins for an omelet, which is a low-carb option. “At lunch, you can trade in a sandwich for a salad. At dinner, you can skip the pasta and have meat, chicken, or fish, all of which are low in carbs,” she recommends.

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3. Try Intermittent Fasting

“You can get an even bigger jumpstart to your weight loss by shifting your eating from an all-day grazer pattern to a time-restricted eating pattern,” she recommends. “While we may not think of ourselves in this way, studies have shown that many of us are all-day grazers consuming unhealthy foods with very few breaks from sunup to sundown, and the continual blood sugar and insulin spikes that result from this way of eating, encourage weight gain by practicing time-restricted eating, which is a form of intermittent fasting. We give our bodies a break, allowing insulin levels to lower between meals.”

Consume Most of Your Calories Earlier in the Day

While restricting the number of hours in a day that you consume calories is an effective weight loss accelerator for any age, she recommends those over 50 “looking for an additional edge” to practice early time-restricted eating. “With this method, you consume all of your calories early in the day and then fast until bedtime. For example, you can start eating at 8:00 AM and finish eating at 4:00 PM. Studies have found that allowing more time between your last meal and bedtime improves insulin sensitivity, which is something that we are looking to improve as we age. It will also ensure that you are getting to bed with a lower insulin level, improving fat loss as you sleep. Now, so far, we've gone over unique challenges that we face when we aim to lose weight after 50,” she says.

4. Shift Your Thinking

There is also a “mental component” to losing weight in your 50s. “When you first move from an unstructured eating pattern to one that is lower in refined carbs and restricted to set hours of the day, it's common to experience cravings. The good news is that with time, the healthy habits that we've discussed in this video will steady your blood sugar, reducing cravings naturally. However, this leveling out of blood sugar will not happen overnight until it does. You need to accept that things will not always go smoothly. That acceptance is easier said than done. It is frustrating when you want to reach a goal, but you feel like your body is fighting against you. It feels this way because your body likes routines and will strive to function on whatever we give it,” she says. “It's always doing the best it can with the resources it has available. When you consciously change the way you move and feed your body, your body will initially resist the change, even if it is a shift to better health, and your body will come around. But until that happens, you can expect some moments of imperfection.”

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If Things Don’t Go As Planned, “Forgive and Forget”

“If you have an unplanned splurge, the best approach is to forgive and forget. You know, it's tempting to say, ‘I blew it today. I'll start fresh tomorrow.’ But that type of thinking will keep you stuck. Goals are not achieved through a series of perfect steps. In fact, failure is often the best teacher. So, if a craving gets the best of you, get right back on track with your next meal, not the next day. By doing so, you make less work for yourself in the future and help your body establish the new healthy routine that you want,” she says.

Get Started!

“Much of jump-starting weight loss after 50 has to do with getting ourselves to the start line. By adding short bursts of intensity to an enjoyable activity like walking, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment that boosts your motivation to do more. You can then start working with your body by tweaking your eating, reducing your overall carb intake, and shifting your eating to earlier in the day to improve insulin sensitivity. Taking the breaks off of fat loss to stay in the game,” she says. “Remind yourself that perfection is the goal but rarely the reality. When you have a misstep, forgive and forget by getting right back on track with your next meal.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Losing weight after 50 can be challenging, but it’s certainly not impossible. “Not all people over 50 will experience the same degree of difficulty with weight loss as genes determine 40 to 70 percent of what your weight is at a given time,” Holly Lofton, MD, director of the NYU Langone Medical Weight Management Program in New York City, tells AARP. Here’s how to kickstart an effective over-50 weight loss program in just two weeks.

Lift Weights

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Lifting weights helps burn fat even when you’re not exercising. “Muscle is more metabolically active — it burns more calories than fat,” William Yancy Jr., MD, director of the Duke Lifestyle and Weight Management Center in Durham, North Carolina, tells AARP. “So having a higher ratio of muscle to fat will mean you burn more energy — just while sitting. To build that muscle, you have to exercise, and that burns calories, too.”​

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Be Mindful of Drinking

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Alcohol can be kryptonite to any weight-loss regimen—but lowering intake or abstaining completely can help accelerate weight loss. “Across the board, for people who are trying to lose some weight, cutting out empty calories is a good place to start,” Leslie Heinberg, PhD, tells the Cleveland Clinic. “Oftentimes, beverages are a big source of empty calories — whether it’s soda, juice, sweet tea, beer, wine or cocktails. Any of those things add calories, but really without nutrition and without the sense of feeling full.”

Calories Count

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Calories count, so make an effort to track how much you are consuming. “First, multiply your current weight by 15 — that's roughly the number of calories per pound of body weight needed to maintain your current weight if you are moderately active,” say the experts at Harvard Health. “For example, to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week — a rate that experts consider safe — your food consumption should provide 500 to 1,000 calories less than your total weight-maintenance calories.” Don’t go too far, though: women should eat at least 1,200 calories a day, and men should eat at least 1,500.

Ditch the Sugar

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Want to lose weight quickly? Ditch the added sugars, experts warn. Not all foods containing sugars are the same,” dietitian Victoria Taylor tells the British Heart Foundation. “Fruit or dairy products contain natural sugars but are nutritious foods that contain vitamins, minerals and in some cases fiber. What we need to cut down on are free sugars, which include added sugars, syrups, or juices. It’s recommended that we eat less than 30g (1 oz) of free sugars each day, but most of us are eating more than this.”

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Aerobic Exercise and Active Hobbies

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Getting your heart rate going is a great way to accelerate fat loss. “For most healthy adults, experts recommend moderate aerobic activity,” says the Mayo Clinic. “This includes brisk walking for at least 150 to 200 minutes a week or vigorous aerobic activity, such as jogging, for at least 75 minutes a week. Find time to take care of yourself. Activities that you enjoy doing can help you get exercise. This can include gardening, yoga or other active hobbies.”

💪🔥Body Booster: Cut out empty liquid calories from sugary drinks, alcohol, and juices. Prioritize water and low-calorie beverages for weight loss.