Eating Healthy For Women Over 40 Starting An Exercise Program For Weight Loss

Once you decide to start an exercise program for weight loss, the next step is to ensure your body is adequately nourished. A good nutrition plan will provide the fuel and energy needed during exercise, as well as promote healthy weight loss and maintenance.

Know What Your Body Needs

Most of the time, when we’re ready to make a change, we want to change everything. But the reality is, most women over 40 have a ton of things on their plate (pun intended)! Trying to adopt new eating habits, and revive the gym rat lifestyle of their twenties, is a recipe for disaster. When you over-exercise or don’t eat enough, your body will demand more calories, setting you up to make poor food choices.

If you’ve been following our previous blogs, you already know the importance of proper nutrition to ensure your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is where it should be.

Once you know your starting point, you can determine how much fuel is needed for your exercise program.

Use a food tracker like My Fitness Pal to figure out if you need more calories, based on the intensity of your workout.

Food First, Then Exercise

Tip #3 is to be patient and start slow. Adopt an eating plan and practice it for three to four months before trying to add a new exercise routine. Even then, start slow. 30-45 minutes of cardio, three times a week, and some gentle weight lifting are all you need.

It’s also important to follow your body’s clues. When you are fueling correctly, you’ll have more energy naturally, to encourage you to add in exercise. Until then, don’t blame yourself for not working out. Doing too much all at once is usually overwhelming, encouraging a return to bad habits to soothe yourself.
If you’re ready to start, our next blog talks about getting to know your body and its current needs.