Over 40s weight loss

# · Have a full health check up before you begin. This is important as the emphasis is on improving your health as well as losing weight.

# · Start moving more. Walk as much as possible, park your car just that little bit further and walk to the shops.

# · Avoid sugar

# · Write down what you eat, include all drinks and snacks. This way you can easily see where you need to cut back, begin a weight loss journal

# · Drink more water, eight glasses a day is recommended.

# · Cut back on bread, limit it to eating no more than 2 slices a day, preferably in the morning.

# · Drink green tea, it is full of antioxidants and curbs the appetite

# · Learn to cook using less fat, no more deep frying, instead try an oil spray.

# · Have a good breakfast of oatmeal, fruit and yogurt. This will give you energy and you will be less likely to reach for a quick sugar fix later on.

# · Get at least 20 minutes of sustained exercise daily.

# · Build a support network; enrol the help of family and friends.

# · Throw away all unhealthy and fatty snacks and get into nibbling on apples or celery sticks and carrots.

# · Have a hearty soup for dinner and avoid sitting in front of the TV while having your meal.

# · Move your body as much as possible; listen to your favourite CD and dance!

I am giving you all the tips I have learned on my own journey to a healthy weight. I cannot claim to be 100% there, oh well, I am far from it still!

The only thing I can say is that my weight is maintained at a reasonable level and that I am a lot healthier and fitter as a result of my keeping tabs on what i eat, I had no idea that small little snacks can pack in the calories as much as they do.
Write down everything even the beverages, coffees, be very thorough.
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The journal is very good to give an overview of your eating habits through the week and it can show you what triggers an eating binge or even just a little lapse into a chocolate indugence.

I love food but my journal has shown me that I eat the wrong kinds of food a lot more often than I thought. Use your journal to also note healthy recipes and habits you can acquire that would get you on the path to greater fitness and health.

Every pound added to your weight before your 40s will generally spread evenly over your body after that, it settles around the belly and waist. This extra weight can sneak up on you, you may buy looser clothes, just an extra dress size... or two...or 3.
Shedding that weight becomes difficult due to changes in lifestyle:

* we are busier
* eat out more
* children are tiring us out,
* we have more stress
* we sleep less
* don't exercise enough
* consume sugar and/or alcohol

so at the same time that we are slowly gaining fat most of us are also slowly losing muscle.

How does this all contribute to middle aged spread?

Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, so it requires many more calories, even at rest. As you begin to lose muscle, even though your activity levels may remain about the same you will burn fewer calories for any given period of time. This may not make much of a difference over a few days or a few weeks or even a few months, but over the long haul it can have a dramatic effect on your weight as well as your overall body composition.

Excessive fat stored around the abdomen can lead to an increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, breast cancer, and high cholesterol.

The only proven way to lose body fat is to burn up more calories than you consume.

The energy expended must greater than the energy consumed!

Science tells us that 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, so a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories should result in 1 pound per week fat loss.

When you create a calorie deficit , you will lose fat.

I now replace one main meal [dinner] with a hearty home made soup. Its so easy to make and you can vary it as you choose, also it freezes well.

Basic ingredients:

Chicken or vegetable stock [homemade or bought is fine]
1 cup cooked lentils or chick peas
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
2 or 3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 chopped onion
1 cup barley
1 inch piece of grated ginger
1 inch piece of turmeric
1 or 2 tlbs of dark miso [ this is a soy bean paste, you will find it in Asian or health food stores]
Cook all the ingredients in a large pot until just tender, adding the miso at the end] then blend the soup if you like.
Serve it with plenty of chopped fresh herbs and a dollop of yoghurt.
Bon appetit!

Add cayenne and fresh herbs before serving

The variations to this basic soup are endless, try:
- mushrooms and broccoli
- add cumin and paprika for a Moroccan favor

If you decide to make your own chicken stock make sure that you skim off the fat before you use it.

The hardest part of my own weight loss journey was not snacking on bread, cookies or potato chips while watching TV or just sitting down reading a good book. In the past I would always have a cup of tea and a plate of sugary snacks in front of me, somehow watching a movie would not be the same without being able to reach for a nice morsel of food.
In came the healthy snacks!

Here is a list of my favorites:

Carrot and celery sticks with a low fat yogurt and cucumber dip, add a touch or mint and a little garlic

Raw nuts with dried fruit, easy on this one as it packs the calories, I like to cut apple segments into it

A plate of fruit cut into bite sizes

A cup of frozen berries

Instead of a snack make a pot of freshly brewed green tea, green tea is full of antioxidants and it may well stop the urge to eat, very often we mistake thirst for hunger.