5 Reasons Why You’re Struggling To Lose Weight As You Age
I recently sent out a survey asking my clients what they would ask a world expert about their biggest health and wellness struggles and one that caught my attention was: “Why is losing weight so hard as you get older?”
I know this is a huge struggle for a lot of women and there were a few reasons that came to mind that I’ve observed over the years.
You’re eating too much from a box or paper bag
There is so much misinformation out there when it comes to diet. You may think that what you’re eating is good because the food pyramid told you so but in reality the food pyramid is totally wrong and will make you AND keep you sick and overweight.
I often see people eating packaged instant oatmeal and drinking cappuccino for breakfast. Unfortunately, a lot of packaged foods contain high amounts of sugar which causes your blood sugar to spike. Then insulin comes to the rescue to lower the amount of sugar in your blood by carrying it to your muscles and your liver and then eventually storing it as fat. During this process though, the insulin can work “too well” and your blood sugar levels will lower more than it should causing you to crash. You’ll feel tired, hungry and probably a little moody until you get your next sugar fix and the cycle starts again.
Do this instead:
Focus on whole or 1-ingredient foods
This would be meat, eggs, vegetables, low sugar fruits like berries, healthy fats like avocado oil and butter and full fat dairy.
Keep your breakfast as low carb as possible
Start your day with 3 eggs fried in butter and 2 strips of no-sugar bacon. This meal is full of good healthy saturated fat, protein and ZERO sugar, plus very low carb. This will not only keep you full for longer but your brain will function way better and you’ll be in a much better mood by lunch.
I find this sugar-free bacon at Aldi’s :)
Save your carbs for the evening.
If you find yourself craving something sweet during the day, try your best to hold off on eating it until after dinner.
Don’t tell yourself that you CAN’T have it. You can eat whatever you want but the point here is… do you want to?? Tell yourself that you can eat it later and save it for after dinner.
This is a strategy that I’ve been doing for years and I’ll tell you why. Say you eat that sweet or super starchy food like pasta at lunch. Remember that blood sugar cycle that we talked about earlier? Well we just started it again at lunch and now we’ll spend the rest of the day craving junk, feeling tired and not burning fat.
If you save it for the evening then:
#1: You’re WAY less likely to eat a whole day’s worth of junk calories in an hour. (There’s another factor that will help with this too that we’ll talk about in a bit.) (Hint: Protein)
#2: By the time the cycle ends, you’ll hopefully be asleep and not craving your next fix. Overnight your body goes into fasting mode and then when morning comes you start over. No cravings. :)
#3: Saving your carbs for the evening will help you relax and make you sleepy. Just in time for bed.
So stay as low carb as possible for breakfast, add a little in at lunch (unless they cause too intense of cravings) and then add a sweet potato with butter (not that margarine crap) to your evening meal along with that cookie that you’ve been saving all day.
Example day:
Breakfast- 3 Eggs fried in butter with 2-3 strips of low or no sugar bacon.
Lunch- Big lettuce salad with olives, boiled eggs, feta cheese, chicken breast, tomatoes, avocado, fresh cilantro, olive oil, lime juice and salt and pepper. OR (for simplicity) A burger (no bun) with all the toppings and fried buttery zucchini on the side.
Dinner- Sirloin or ribeye steak with a baked sweet potato covered in butter and lots of salt along with a side of broccoli (also covered in butter and lots of salt).
P.s. get pink Himalayan or Celtic sea salt. Stay away from the iodized crap. ;) You can find this type of salt at Wal-Mart. Just make sure the ingredients say only “Salt”.
2. You’re not eating enough protein
I could talk for hours on how amazing protein is and how much easier it makes fat loss but I have way too much to talk about still so here’s the basics.
#1 Amino acids (which make up proteins) have been proven to improve mood and decrease cravings. Check out this book for LOTS more info: https://amzn.to/4phiz1L
#2 Protein gives you strong bones and muscles - prevent injury from falls with protein!
#3 Protein burns more calories!! I’m gonna explain this one a little more because it’s so awesome. Check out the chart below:
Your body burns a percentage of calories just to process and digest different foods.
So if you consume 100 calories of protein, your body burns around 25% just during digestion. Basically, you can spike your metabolism by eating a steak!
So how much protein should you eat?
There’s a lot of different opinions out there but one thing for sure is that the older you are, the more protein you need.
Aim for at least 90 grams of protein a day. That’s 30 grams of protein for each meal of the day.
3. You’re doing too much cardio
So if your goal is to shed fat, get toned and do it with the least amount of effort in the shortest amount of time… then LIFT HEAVY THINGS.
Steady-state cardio is great for many reasons like boosting mood but if your goal is to burn fat then you need more muscle.
The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism is.
The more muscle you have, the more carbs and sugar you can eat because your muscle will eat it up.
Check out this book to learn why weight lifting is better for your cardiovascular system than cardio: https://amzn.to/4o147Ke
Lifting weights also builds stronger bones which helps prevent fractures from falls.
And don’t worry about getting bulky, it seriously takes a lot of time and effort to become a bodybuilder. When lifting weights, focus on a weight that you can lift 8-10 times. If you can keep going after that, increase the weight.
So if you can do 15 bicep curls with a 10lb weight, up the weight to 15lbs so that your muscle is exhausted after 8-10 reps.
Another reason to limit cardio is cortisol especially if you already live a busy, stressful life.
Cortisol is the hormone that’s released when your body is stressed. So if you’re doing too much cardio, your body will hold on to fat, especially around the abdomen.
If you really like cardio, try doing 1 HIIT or Tabata workout a week. This form of cardio is great at burning fat as long as you only do it 1-2 times a week.
I love doing this on a stationary bike. Have your stop watch ready. Then pedal as hard and fast as you can for 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds. Do this a total of 5-10 times and that’s it!
Forget spending an hour on the treadmill. Get that sh** done in 5 minutes and be on your way. ;) Much more effective!
You can also do sprints, jumping jacks, burpees or mountain climbers. Just move as hard and fast as you can for 20 seconds then rest for 10 and repeat.
4. Your thyroid needs attention
The thyroid plays a huge part in your metabolism and as you age it can slow down a bit.
If you’re already on thyroid medication and haven’t been tested in a while, it may be a good idea to get checked.
I’m not a doctor and can’t treat or diagnose but I’ve learned a lot about the thyroid in my health coaching classes and as someone who has Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and hypothyroidism.
One thing I learned from my Lyme-literate doctor is that there’s a way to calculate your test results to show if your levels are optimum.
The next time you get testing done, have your doctor check your Total T3 and Reverse T3. Then divide your Total T3 number by the Reverse T3 number.
According to my doctor, most people feel their best when that number is between 10 and 14.
So my last reading showed Total T3 at 161 and Reverse T3 at 10.2. Divide those and get 15. He said this was perfect as long as I feel good.
The point of me saying all of this is most people get prescribed levothyroxine (T4) but still don’t feel good and can’t lose weight. Your body has to convert T4 into T3, which is what the body uses so if you’re not converting well then you need to talk to your doctor about a prescription T3.
We found that I do best on only T3. I don’t take levothyroxine (T4) anymore.
If you’re struggling to get proper testing done, I do have access to Rupa Health’s lab test kits and can get you on the path to finding answers. Just email me here to get started: whitney@whitneyowen.com
5. You don’t have enough estradiol
Hormones is a topic that I have been a little obsessed with lately especially since I am now taking bioidentical forms of estrogen (estradiol), progesterone and testosterone. Bioidentical means that the form of hormones I’m taking are natural versus synthetic hormones. I get these medications compounded so that there are no additives and they’re prescribed by my Lyme-literate doctor.
If you don’t already have a doctor that is great with hormones, it may be wise to find one.
This just a small fraction of what I have learned in the last couple of months…
(Check out this book for LOTS of great info on hormones: https://amzn.to/49HHzuH )
How a lack of hormones are affecting your health and fat loss efforts:
#1) Your mitochondria (the part of all of your cells that create energy) work together with estradiol, progesterone and testosterone. A lack of hormones affects this balance which means less energy for you to get through your day or do a workout.
#2) Progesterone and estradiol work together to help the brain function better. This directly affects your emotions, motor skills, learning, memory and motivation. Motivation that you need to get that HIIT workout in. ;) These hormones also influence how well you sleep which makes a huge difference in your energy, motivation and cravings.
#3) The cells in your bones have estradiol receptors. This means that estradiol helps to prevent breakdown of the bones and promotes building. (May not help as much with fat loss but extremely important for health and longevity).
#4) Estradiol and progesterone prevents your hair from falling out and helps it to grow faster. (Pretty sure we’re all happier with a head full of hair…)
#5) Estradiol increases insulin sensitivity which helps blood sugar control. Estradiol also helps the process of fat loss by supporting the production of a hormone called adiponectin.
#6) Estradiol and progesterone also speed up your metabolic rate so you burn more calories in a day. They also dictate where and how much fat is stored on your body.
#7) Estradiol also regulates and enhances muscle protein synthesis, which is how the body builds muscle.
#8) Estradiol prevents the decline of the function and production of the muscle cells in the heart. Strong heart = strong body. Estradiol and progesterone both play a role in blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well.
#9) Estradiol helps to maintain the strength of the pelvic muscles including the pelvic floor. A fear of leakage may prevent you from giving your all in a workout.
#10) Estradiol also works together with the gut microbiome to prevent diabetes and obesity. Estradiol also prevents an abundant amount of the gut bacteria that causes inflammation.
Like I said before, this is just a fraction of why hormones like estradiol and progesterone are so important not only for fat loss but for our general health and longevity.
If you’ve been led to believe that all of your suffering is normal and that you should just deal with it, then get the book above and find a doctor that can help.
“The average woman will live 40 percent of her life after menopause.”
Why should you suffer for almost half of your life??
Share this post with anyone that you feel it could help.
Thanks for reading!
Whitney Owen, LMT, CHC
Coming Soon:
A community for women ready to shed fat, sleep deeply, and get their spark back!
More details to come.
The Best Phrase For Manifesting
If you’re reading this post then you’re probably well aware of what the law of attraction is and you know at least a little about how it works.
“What you believe, you shall receive.”
Sounds so simple but most of us know that there’s more to it than that.
How do you actually change your beliefs so that you can attract everything you want?
How do you stop your subconscious from raining on your parade every time you say an affirmation?
How can you easily and quickly get into the vibration of what you want whenever you want?
So a little backstory…
I was listening to a training video about the energy and frequency of money from Amanda Francis and it totally clicked for me.
She was talking about how one of her clients had a $300,000 month in her business but had been unable to make that much money again. So Amanda asked her what was going on inside of her during that $300,000 month. Her client replied that she was thinking that it would feel so cool to make that much money and how proud of herself she would be and so on.
She was feeling the feelings of what it would be like to make $300,000 a month…
And then she did!
Ask yourself: How cool would it be if (insert your desire here)..?
I realized right away that saying this felt way better than just rehearsing an affirmation that my brain had a hard time believing.
Asking myself, how cool would it be if I could work less but still make the same amount, instantly removes my subconscious mind’s defenses and allows me to get excited and feel what it would be like to have that.
This raises my vibration a lot more than just repeating: I make more and more money with less and less work…
Now I’m not saying that affirmations don’t work but you can’t have any hesitation or disbelief in what you’re saying. If you’re just daydreaming daily about how cool it would be to have your desire then you really don’t have any hesitation come up because to you it’s just your imagination but to your energy field and the universe, you’re attracting.
Hope this all makes sense and that it helps you to get out of your own way and get what you want out of life.
Happy daydreaming! :)
