With so much weight loss advice out there, it can be hard to know which advice is the best to follow. Most people know that calories are related to weight loss, but not many people understand how many calories to eat during the day. “Eat less and move more” is a common phrase regarding weight loss, but did you know that you can actually eat too few calories to a point where it inhibits weight loss?
A women in her 40’s should eat 200 to 700 fewer calories than normal per day to lose weight, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day.
Women that want to lose weight should never eat less than the calories that their baseline metabolism is running at. Eating too few calories can cause all sorts of issues and can actually make it harder to lose weight. Since calorie needs differ person-to-person and even day-to-day, it is helpful to estimate how many calories you are burning overall and then eat in a small to moderate calorie deficit.
Read on for more information about what is overweight for a 40-year old woman, how many calories a 40-year old should be eating to lose weight, whether or not to go on a diet, and general tips for healthy and sustainable weight loss for women.
What is “Overweight” for a 40-Year Old Woman?
Many people including doctors and dietitians still use BMI (body mass index) to classify someone as being underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. However, BMI only takes into account weight and height and is not the best measurement of health, so take that weight classification with a grain of salt.
A better way to determine if someone is at an unhealthy weight is to take into account body composition, eating and exercise habits, medications, medical conditions, mental health and stress levels. Looking at changes in weight over time can also be helpful in determining health status.
Don’t forget to take into account how you feel. Even if you technically fall into the “overweight” or “obese” categories of BMI, your body may be healthy at that weight. Evaluate your energy levels, your endurance and strength, general stamina, and other things that might confirm that you are actually at a good weight.
For example, on a BMI scale, a 40-year old woman who is 5 foot 7 inches tall (170.1 cm) and weighs 150 pounds (68 kg) would have a BMI of 24 which is normal/healthy. However, a 40-year old woman who is 5 foot 3 inches tall (160 cm) and weighs 150 pounds (68 kg) would have a BMI of 27 which is considered overweight.
How Many Calories Should You Eat to Lose Weight?
To get an estimate for how many calories you are burning in a day you can use the MyPlate website as a resource. Select the “Resources” tab and then click “tools.” You should then see a section called “MyPlate Plan.” From here you can answer some basic questions and get an estimate for how many calories you are burning in a day.
Once you have your estimated daily calorie range, subtract 200 to 700 calories per day for a weight loss calorie goal.
Most women should never eat less than about 1500 calories, but for many people even eating that few calories can cause problems! I recommend eating in a small to moderate calorie deficit, which usually is about 200-700 calories less than you are burning, however, work with a dietitian to determine an appropriate calorie goal for you. For example, if you need 2,200 calories per day and you want to lose weight, you should eat about 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day to lose weight the healthy way.
Should Women Go on a Diet in Their 40’s?
It might surprise you that as a dietitian I recommend staying far away from fad diets when you are trying to lose weight. Even if you have seen other people get results from following these diets, the results are usually short-term and achieved in an unhealthy way. Most people that diet often re-gain that weight back plus some extra!
How many people have you seen that have lost a substantial amount of weight that they say was due to a restrictive diet (i.e. keto diet, low-fat, IF, macro, gluten-free, etc.)? It always seems impressive, amazing, and sometimes tempting to try the same diet, but often a few years later that friend has gained the weight back, right? I’ve seen it countless times! I’ve seen so many people lose lots of weight on restrictive diets and then gain it back, they never really learn the healthy habits for longterm success and weight maintenance!
Why should you avoid diets? Diets often work against what your body really needs. For example, Keto removes carbohydrates, your body’s main energy source. Intermittent fasting restricts energy intake to certain hours during the day when your body really needs a consistent energy source throughout.
Dieting also tends to be linked to restriction, which your brain and body do not like very much. In fact, setting a bunch of food rules for yourself often backfires, resulting in obsessively thinking about food, strong cravings, binging, and other disordered eating behaviors.
Instead of restrictive dieting, it is so much more helpful (and sustainable) to develop healthy eating habits for weight loss. You may notice slower weight loss but you’ll feel better and have a new lifestyle that sticks!
Should Women Use Diet Pills and Supplements?
If you walk into a store, turn on the television, or open up a website, you are often bombarded with weight loss pills, supplements, and remedies that claim to help you drop weight fast without having to change anything with eating and exercise. I strongly encourage staying away from these products for a few reasons:
- The supplement industry is highly unregulated, meaning that pretty much anyone can sell anything and claim that it has all of these beneficial effects. In reality, many supplements are found to be ineffective, dangerous, or contaminated with harmful substances. Yikes!
- Supplements can interfere with medications and high doses of certain vitamins and minerals can even block the absorption of other important nutrients in your body. It is always good to check with a doctor before starting any kind of supplement.
- Becoming reliant on a pill to solve all of your problems is not the way to go. It is healthier and much more sustainable to establish good eating and exercise patterns that have other benefits to your body in addition to helping you lose weight.
- Those supplements can get expensive, especially when you venture into meal replacements and other similar products. I would much rather you spend your money on healthy food that you enjoy eating!
- Weight loss is supposed to happen slowly. If you are dropping weight extremely fast, like some of these supplements advertise, it is likely going to be very hard on your body and very hard to sustain. You should be losing no more than 1-2 pounds a week to help with weight maintenance long term.
Remember, supplements are supposed to be “supplemental” to a healthy diet, not in place of a healthy diet.
How Can a 40-Year Old Woman Get to a Healthy Weight?
Remember that a healthy weight for you might be different than what the BMI scale says is technically “healthy.” Evaluate your habits and start making small changes that benefit your overall health and make you feel good! Many times people start noticing a change in how they feel even before the scale starts to change.
Focus on what you can add rather than what you need to cut out to keep you out of that restrictive mindset that your brain and body don’t like!
I always recommend working with a dietitian to make sure you are going about your weight loss journey in a healthy way. They can give you more personalized guidance and help answer any questions that you have. A dietitian can also help you recognize what might be an appropriate weight for you and make sure you are eating enough to still nourish your body appropriately.
Weight Loss Tips for Women in Their 40’s
Maybe you have some ideas already for some things that can be changed or improved, but here are a few of my best weight loss tips that are easy to implement and applicable to everyone!
- Eat regularly throughout the day and avoid going a long time without eating something. Waiting too long to eat often leads to overeating and feeling uncomfortably full. Don’t go more than 3-4 hours during the day without eating.
- Eat breakfast– preferably within 30 minutes of waking up. This gives your metabolism a kick-start first thing in the morning. Oh, and coffee doesn’t count as breakfast. Try to stay away from the unhealthy carb-heavy breakfasts that are popular (pastries, muffins, sugary cereal, white pancakes and waffles, sugary yogurts, etc.). These will make your blood sugar spike and then it will crash later in the day and you’ll feel fatigued, irritable, and have unhealthy cravings.
- Focus on balance. Aim for a combination of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. This will help keep your energy levels, blood sugar, mood, and everything else balanced throughout the day and you will feel much better!
- Eating something is better than eating nothing! Although I encourage eating balanced, sometimes life happens and your eating doesn’t go exactly according to plan. To prepare for the unexpected, keep balanced snacks with you- in your car, in your purse, at your office, etc.- but remember to just do the best you can and don’t beat yourself up when you aren’t able to eat the perfect balance of nutrients. Try to not go more than 4 hours during the day without eating something.
- Make sure you are consuming enough fruits and vegetables each day! They provide amazing nutrients for your body and the fiber helps keep your digestive system regular and cholesterol levels in a healthy place. A good goal might be to include a fruit or vegetable at every meal!
- Try to put away distractions while you eat so that you can really be mindful and present in the eating experience. Focus on your five senses as you eat and really enjoy the food that you are consuming.
- Listen to your body’s hunger cues. Remember that some days you just need more calories than other days and that is perfectly normal! Even if it seems like you shouldn’t be hungry yet- give yourself full permission to eat when your body tells you it’s hungry. Stop eating when you are comfortably full.
- Incorporate joyful movement– yep, that means exercise should be fun and enjoyable! Exercise should be a way you take care of your body and never should be thought of as punishment for what you ate. Experiment with other forms of physical activity until you find something you enjoy (walking the dog, ice skating, swimming, kickboxing, skateboarding, dancing, walking around the mall, hiking, jumping on the trampoline, etc.)
- Don’t do fasted workouts. Your body needs to have the energy to exercise as well as the energy to recover. If you are trying to cut back on calories by skipping out on eating around exercise, you are likely doing more harm than good.
- Find healthy ways to deal with stress. Did you know that stress levels can actually change the way your body stores fat? Make sure you take time for yourself to de-stress and unwind each day, whether it is through exercising, taking a nap, watching a favorite show, painting your nails, yoga, meditation, being out in nature, or anything else that brings you peace!
- Don’t forget about sleep… if you have little kids running around and waking up in the middle of the night, sleep can be a bit of a challenge. However, sleep is a very important part of weight loss because it is the time for your body and hormones to rest and recover.
Summary
Sustainable weight loss does not mean going on a crazy diet and cutting out all of your favorite foods. In order for your body to get to a healthy weight, you have to be taking care of it!
This includes more than just food and exercise. Sleep and mental health are two things that need to take priority in your life if they haven’t already. Your body is a complex system and all the pieces need to be in place for your body to feel comfortable to let go of excess weight that it doesn’t need!
Rather than focusing solely on the number on the scale, focus on the changes that you are making and how you are feeling. Are you sleeping better? Feeling less bloated? Having less anxiety? Feeling more energized? Focus on those benefits, even when the scale doesn’t seem to be doing what you want it to do.