Natural Weight Loss Done Right

In case you haven’t noticed, weight loss and weight gain changes as we age. Overall, as we age, loss is harder and more complicated. And gain is easier (unless you’re trying to gain… then it’s still hard).

As we age, every problem seems to exaggerate. Sometimes because there are more body systems getting involved and generally, because we are more complicated.

Women’s Hormone Shifts

In our teens and 20’s (and beyond) stress of school, college and first big work experiences can be fat-promoting.

As we reach child-bearing years, and beyond, sex and thyroid hormones interfere with weight balance.

As women hit their late 40’s and 50’s, many experience hormone shifts that impact weight during peri-menopause. And post-menopause, with decreasing sex hormones, is a challenge. All through the peri-menopause and menopause years, unless you’re adapting and changing your habits, you’ll pretty much automatically gain 10-ish or more pounds.

Men’s Hormone Shifts

Men are not immune — they are also impacted by stress and sex hormone changes, which causes middle weight gain.

Changes in Activity Level + Changes in Muscle

Sometimes you take a desk job, or move to the suburbs and rely on a car, or you’re just less active than you used to be. That causes weight gain unless you react and change your intake habits.

Further, as we age, it becomes harder to gain muscle and easier to lose it. SO, it becomes more and more important to get some muscles going. I personally have had success with yoga and Pilate’s classes. I find it hard to have motivation without a bit of help and guidance.

Gut Health + Food Sensitivity

We’re learning more and more about gut health these days. It really is one of the darlings of health research. Research is increasingly suggesting that the balance and contents of bacteria in your large intestine impacts overall health. We know that overall digestive health (bowel health-gas-bloating-constipation), brain health (anxiety-depression), immune health (how often you catch something), and weight (how likely you are to hold onto weight) and more are all impacted by the contents of the large intestine.

Paying attention to your balance, eating to feed the beneficial bacteria and NOT eating to feed the opportunistic bacteria is really important. Sugar and antibiotics, toxins and processed food impact the bad guys. Veggies, beans and legumes all feed the good guys. As we age, your bacteria contents and balance impact weight management.

Hydration

It is relatively common to mix up hunger cues and thirst cues. Over time this leads to eating instead of drinking. It’s important to stay hydrated for SO many reasons, and one of those reasons is because we should eat when we are genuinely hungry and have strong hunger cues.

Inflammation

Again, over time, as we age, our lifestyles catch up to the body. If you’re internally inflamed, due to internal stress, external stress, or many years of eating inflammatory foods, you will have a MUCH harder time losing weight.

So, if you’re increasingly struggling with weight management, it MIGHT be one of these reasons. As we age, our habits tend to catch up to us and it does impact our lives.

At Healthy Nest Nutrition, we are all about digging to find your issues and creating habits and lifestyle changes that are sustainable, do-able and delicious.

Our Natural Weight Loss Program’s low and slow philosophy allows you to create your new habits and then solidify them over time as you lose pounds. When you’ve completed the weight loss piece, you’ve also created the lifestyle piece, seamlessly. Works like a charm and we’re proud of it.

Want more? Reach out! We’re here for you. Schedule a free consult with a holistic nutritionist.