It’s easy to say that you must lose weight. In fact, it’s the easiest part of this whole process. But actually sticking with your decision can be a little trickier – if not a whole lot more. To make the process easier, you’ve got to start by developing a plan of action.
Developing a strategy is the only way for you to get from point A to point B, or to get from where you are to where you want to be.
As with most things, there are always more and less effective ways to get things done. The same goes for weight loss. There is also the fact that what may work for others may not exactly work for you.
You’ll mostly notice this when comparing your weight loss journey to those of a younger generation. But this isn’t because you’re doing it wrong. It’s because as you age, your metabolism gets slower.
Metabolism is your body’s reaction to your intake of food. A higher metabolism means that your body breaks down your food quicker and turns the food into energy. A fast metabolism makes it easy for you to lose weight and keep it off too.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an instant solution. Any kind of strategy will take time and commitment. But, there are simple methods that’ll make it easier for you to lose weight, especially once you’re older. A couple of small lifestyle changes are all it takes!
The best part is that these changes are simple to implement and can quickly become a part of your daily routine. You don’t have to give up certain foods or count every calorie. Simply implement and commit to one or maybe more of these strategies, and you’ll be on your way.
1) The “Perfect Plate” portion control strategy
Many people don’t know that managing what you eat has more of an impact than going to the gym. Maintaining a healthy diet is the most fundamental step in losing weight and keeping that weight off.
There’s a specific amount of calories that your body must intake for it to stay healthy. But we aren’t here to talk about calorie-counting.
Besides that, Your body necessitates the proper consumption of fat, carbohydrates, protein, and vegetables.
But now, you face the question of how much is just right?
The perfect plate strategy focuses on proper portion control. Having half a plate of vegetables, ¼ of carbohydrates, ¼ lean protein, and a little fat is considered the perfect plate because of the ‘just right’ quantities of each food.
Let’s break down each of these parts:
- Vegetables. You and I both know what these are! Kids sworn enemy, but now your best friend. Green vegetables are usually your best bet, but at the end of the day, there’s no need to restrict which vegetables to eat because they’re all good for you anyway. Just pick out your favorites.
- Lean Protein. Organic meat is always best. Many gym buffs prefer chicken and poultry as their form of protein, but beef, turkey, or salmon are all great sources of protein too.
- Contrary to popular belief, not all carbs are bad carbs! In foods like; brown rice, bread, berries, and oats, the carbs present are known as ‘Slow carbs.’ This means these are foods that cause slow digestion, which keeps you full for longer. They also provide a gradual energy flow for your body, rather than getting burnt out super quickly.
As a tip, pre-planning your meals will help you stay committed to this weight-loss strategy. Identify the foods you want to eat ahead of time and prep them before you need them so you’ll never be tempted to order greasy take-out food when you’re too lazy to cook.
For older men, this might just be your holy grail of weight-loss strategies. It’s easy to keep up, and the impact is impressive. It’s great for your health, and you’ll be able to lose a couple of pounds along the way—the perfect win-win scenario.
2) High-Intensity Workouts
I mentioned that eating healthy has more impact than working out, so why am I bringing this up?
To really get the existing fat in your body to burn and burn faster at that, a high-intensity workout routine is a great way to jumpstart the fat burn.
The good thing with high-intensity workouts is that you don’t need to do them for too long. These are completed way quicker than a regular workout and are also found to be more effective.
A high-intensity workout, also known as HIIT, involves an ‘on’ period, a short burst of energy to complete an exercise followed by an ‘off’ period, which is a short rest period. So it’ll be something like 30 seconds of workout, then 10 seconds of rest, and repeat.
HIIT comes in a variety of forms. The Tabata, which is an exercise for 20 seconds, then followed by a 10-second pause. Each set should ideally last for about 3 minutes, and you should aim to complete about 7 sets of different exercises in total.
But, you are the main judge of how much you can do. Overtraining is also a bad thing to do. Push yourself, but don’t push yourself too hard. Endurance is something that is built up over time.
3) Intermittent Fasting
One of the most common methods for intermittent fasting is to choose two days that aren’t next to each other every week. On those specific days, you’ll have to monitor your calorie intake and aim to only consume about 600 calories, depending on how much weight you want to lose and how fast.
For the rest of the week, you’ll be able to eat as you usually do. This is a great chance to mix the ‘Perfect Plate’ strategy with this one! Of course, it’ll be extra helpful if the foods you eat are still healthy.
There’s also the method of fasting a full 24 hours, either once or twice a week. However, if you aren’t used to fasting, it’ll be unavoidable for you to have low energy during these days. I wouldn’t recommend fasting the full 24 hours for older men unless you’ve had prior experience doing so.
Aside from the entire 24 hours of fasting, you could opt for a more manageable 16 hour fast instead. The best part about this is that you’re free to count the time you’re asleep as part of the fast. So, in the end, you’ll basically be actively fasting for only 8 hours.
Intermittent fasting works because it deprives your body of readily available glucose that comes in the form of calories. Your body ends up burning the fat that you have as a form of energy.
This is an extra popular strategy because of how easy it is to start and the lack of exercise required. The most that you’ll need is discipline.
