![pic of woman exercising]()
Dear K and A: Being a post-menopause person in her early 50s, my metabolism SUCKS. I’ve been working out 5 days a week, sometimes twice a day. I’ve been eating healthfully yet losing only 1 to 1/2 pounds a week. Is there anything I can do to hypercharge my metabolism? Brooke, Midlife Bloggers Facebook Group
Alexandra: The answer is always yes. It’s also “It depends.”
In the group thread of a Facebook community I belong to, I read lots of good advice for this frustrated woman, with people recommending various diets and types of workouts. Yet if we back away from the question, and ponder the underlying assumption, it’s possible she doesn’t need to make any big changes. If she wants to KEEP the weight off once it’s lost, she might just be right on track with her 1 to 1 1/2 pound weekly loss. I’ll make a leap of faith and assume keeping the weight off after her weight loss program is over is her longer-term goal. Which means losing 1 to 1.5 pounds per week might be best.
Before we get to how to hypercharge your metabolism, we want to mention TransformAging, the webinar summit that guides you to be more fit, energetic, attractive, and mentally and physically stronger. TransformAging will reinvigorate your body, mindset, and life when you implement its easy steps. Top fitness experts who specialize in making the second half of life rewarding and achievable gathered together for this six-video series. Get your own set of the entire TransformAging Summit recordings and access proven, evidence-based secrets you can put into action today. Click any link in this paragraph to find out more about this cutting edge series and how you can own it immediately.
A few years ago my sister and I were asked whether it is safely possible to lose 10 pounds in 4 weeks, and we essentially said it’s reasonable, sustainable and realistic long-term to lose 1.5 – 2 pounds per week if you combine
- intense cardio
- resistance training and a
- nutritious diet.
T or F? You can lose 10 lbs in 4 weeks if you combine intense cardio, resistance trng, & a…
Click To Tweet
Of course, that is hard for menopausal women, and our fitness pro colleague Tamara Grand has some spot-on suggestions and resources for staying the nutrition and fitness course once midlife changes everything!
In this post we wrote about the differences between losing weight and maintaining weight loss, you can see in the chart that to LOSE weight, reduced caloric intake is the easiest way for most people to achieve negative energy balance, while to KEEP it off, physical activity is the strategy to prevent weight regain.
Kymberly: When you are done reading this post, check out how you can choose the “right” diet. You will find it far easier to cut out a 500-calorie drink than to exercise strenuously for about an hour. Ouch, it hurt to say that as a fitness pro who prefers moving more to eating less, but there you have it!
An apple a day keeps the, er, cowboy hat on!
Alexandra: So our advice to you (and the millions of other women with this same question) is to perhaps focus more on your intake than your output. Once you reach your weight goal, you can switch that around (to a point – the fluffy, puffy, whipped creamy coffee drinks are still an issue).
Kymberly: Brooke, you asked about supercharging your metabolism. In general it usually helps to incorporate strength training 2 -3 times a week into your workout program. Perhaps you are already doing that, given the exercise activity you mention. But if could be that your metabolism is “stuck.” How can you get it unstuck? Read this: If My Metabolism is Stuck, What Do I Do?
Alexandra: While we’re at it, I’ll throw in my occasional mantra, “Never give up. Never surrender.” It’s from a movie that cracks me up.
A bonus item for you:
As part of a campaign with Blue Diamond I did a twist on the traditional Dolly Bar recipe that incorporates their Toasted Coconut Almonds. Easy recipe. Quick to make. Delicious to eat.
Call to Action: If you’re wondering what could be better than a galaxy quest, it’s a quest for accurate, successful and engaging fitness & health info! And that’s what occurs when you SUBSCRIBE to our blog. Never give up, never surrender to a stuck metabolism and lack of weight loss when you become part of our community. Enter your email in the sidebar or pop up box today to get a freebie and active aging solutions twice a week.
Photo credits: Woman walking – GaborFromHungary; Woman eating apple – Mensatic.
Alexandra Williams, MA and Kymberly Williams-Evans, MA
The post I’m Losing Only 1 1/2 Pounds Per Week on my Diet; Is that Enough? appeared first on Fun and Fit: Active Aging Answers for Boom Chicka Boomers.