Losing weight: The bane for most people. Complicate that by being a woman 50 or older, and you must take all sorts of pressing factors into consideration. A woman in this age range, although perhaps desperate to lose those excess pounds, has to make sure that she's getting adequate calcium into her diet as well as essential vitamins and minerals because she can no longer count of her hormones to keep her healthy. She can't crash diet, or she's asking for disastrous results.
You've Slowed Down to a Crawl
Women and men alike may not realize, until they've packed on 20 or 30 pounds, that their actively levels have diminished in recent years. When you are inactive, the pounds are going to pile on and, unfortunately -- particularly for perimenopausal and menopausal women, adding insult to injury -- the weight gain is going to collect around your midsection, rather than being evenly distributed.
Fiber
Health.discovery.com (see References) recommends that you make a conscious effort to add bulk (fiber) to you diet, and this may save you from adding pounds to your body. A high-fiber diet helps keep you regular, and can spare you from bloating and flatulence. But it also creates a feeling of fullness, which may help you stop overeating at meals.
Cardio (Yes!)
Bizzywomen.com (see References) suggests that women older than 50 engage in cardio exercises that include walking, aerobics and running. If you've never done any of these things, start out slowly; get yourself a partner to work out with. You might even find that you enjoy it. Exercise three times a week and this should help you lose weight. Don't forget to get a good night's sleep. This is nearly as important as working out when it comes to staying fit and losing weight.
What You Eat and How Many Times
Eating quantities of fruits and leafy green vegetables can help you lose weight. Eat lean meat and fish. Eat six times a day, small portions, rather than three times a day to generate more metabolic action.
Pay Attention
Be cognizant of what you are doing and not doing and what you're putting in your mouth. Don't eat while you are watching television. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk uptown instead of driving. Buy yourself some small hand weights and "pump iron" while you're watching television. Stop eating when you are full. Deprivation (starvation) is not going to work, so don't do it. Avoid the foods that you know make you feel bloated, fat and uncomfortable. Walk your dog. Roll around on the floor with your grandchild and have some fun.
Buy Yourself Some Time
Losing weight is not going to be easy and no one is suggesting that it will be. An older person's metabolism is slower than what it was when she was younger. Menopausal women have rioting or diminished hormones working against them and may discover deposits of fat that weren't there the day before. It's going to take effort and willpower, but you will buy yourself some time -- time that you can spend with your adult children and their children -- if you get rid of some of those excess pounds.
