Losing weight after reaching your 60s can be a difficult task. Back in the day you could eat whatever you wanted and not see a difference. Now eating one piece of chocolate it seems as if you gain 10 pounds overnight. As we grow older we lose the ability to eat whatever we want. That’s why it’s important to understand how to keep the weight off in a healthy and realistic way.

Why is it Difficult to Lose Weight in Your Senior Years?

Losing and managing your weight will begin to become a concern as early as 50 years of age, although many feel this discomfort about 60 years of age.

Blame it on the hormones

For starters, your metabolism slows down as you age. At 60 the slowing of the metabolism is a function of decreased production of testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH), which causes a loss of muscle mass.

In essence, this isn’t your fault. With age, your body becomes less efficient with producing the key hormones it needs, which makes losing weight… well, really hard.

Common Changes in Older Women

For women, perimenopause and menopause are a reality of your 50s and 60s. Because of this shift, you actually burn fewer calories than you used to.

With menstruation, our body temperature would fluctuate, so we would get a bonus calorie burn of about 300 calories per month. It’s not much, but it adds up over time.

Another issue that comes with both perimenopause and menopause is insulin-resistance, which makes losing weight even more difficult. This means that the things you used to eat, you can’t eat anymore! That also goes for portions – you might not be able to eat as much as you could before without gaining weight.

More Free time Can Lead to More Eating

When you’re nearing retirement, there’s more time. More time to exercise, of course, but is that really how we like to spend our free time? Older adults often have more opportunities for socializing and better finances to go to nice dinners.

In fact, we’re more likely to eat more if we’re around other people who are eating. All that socializing is making it harder to stay in shape.

Tips For Losing Weight After 60

Losing weight after 60 is a real problem that many men and women face. However, there are some tricks to nudging that weight off so that you can tip the scale in your favor.

Strength Training

Strength training, also called resistance training, isn’t usually the first thing older adults think of when they think of exercise.

The missing exercise component to help those over 60 lose weight is oftentimes strength training. This is an exercise using weights to strengthen and build muscle. It increases the size and strength of the muscle fibers and strengthens the tendons, ligaments, and bones.

As we age, we lose muscle mass – mainly because of the slowing metabolism, which then contributes to an even slower metabolism, and suddenly, you’re in a vicious cycle.

But the benefits of strength training don’t stop at weight loss. Other benefits of strength training include:

1. Less risk of injury
2. Improved athletic performance
3. Better balance
4. Better agility
5. Better coordination
6. Higher energy levels