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Intermittent Fasting for Women over 50

Posted on 30th April 2022 by Max Lowery

Article

Women over 50 can face difficulties and struggle a lot when losing weight. This could stem from a plethora of reasons, a lot of them associated with the harmful effects of being exposed to diet culture and fad diets.

It has left women over 50 feeling very confused about food, fat loss, and fitness. It creates beliefs that in order to lose weight and be healthy, you must restrict and deprive yourself.

Restriction and deprivation are not sustainable. Anything that is unsustainable is a waste of your time, money, and energy.

Many of the women over 50 I have worked with over the years have tried every diet under the sun and are at the point where they are about to give up.

There are also other physiological issues that can occur for women over 50.

A reduction in lean body mass (muscle) and changes in hormones due to the menopause can mean that metabolism can decrease.

This can mean that what worked for women over 50 in the past, no longer has the same effect.

Intermittent fasting for women over 50 can be an effective tool to lose stubborn body fat, reduce hunger levels and increase energy.

Why is intermittent fasting for women over 50 a good idea?

I mentioned earlier that women over 50 experience a reduction in basal metabolic rate. This means that they have to eat less food, to get the same fat loss results. Eating less is difficult and unenjoyable, everyone loves to eat! Intermittent fasting makes eating less much easier. In fact, you get to eat large satisfying meals, but overall eat less than if you were eating and grazing throughout the day. Many of the women over 50 I have worked with have had great success with intermittent fasting and weight loss. It’s sustainable, enjoyable and has many additional health benefits.

Types of Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 50

It is advised to research the intermittent fasting methods mentioned below and choose one that suits your needs and timetable the best.

Daily Intermittent Fasting Using 16:8 or 20:4

The daily method is the most used and popular of all intermittent fasting types. The daily method revolves and follows a 16/8 or the 18/6 rule. Meaning eating regular healthy food within the 4 to 8-hour window every day – then fasting for the leftover 16 to 20 hours of the day. The daily method is the most sustainable method for most women over 50

The 2 Meal Day   

I created the 2 Meal Day intermittent fasting method back in 2017. Since then it has helped 10,000s people make intermittent fasting a sustainable way of life, rather than a short-term diet.

The 2 Meal Day is very similar to the 16:8 method, where you fast for 16 hours and eat in an 8-hour “eating window”. There is one small but very significant difference… Rather than focusing on the clock and eating when the clock tells you to, you focus your attention on your body and perceived feelings of hunger.

For me, this is where the power of intermittent fasting lies, you begin to understand what hunger actually is – something that occurs every 16-24 hours, not every four hours!

By skipping one meal, you are getting a 16-hour fast, but the focus is on eating when you feel hungry, not because the clock tells you to.

This slight change in focus makes a MASSIVE difference. It becomes a way of life rather than something you do in the short term to get you to your weight loss goals.

Check out my 2 Meal Day 30 Day RESET PLAN        

5:2 Method   

The 5:2 popularized by Dr Michael Mosely is an approach that involves normal eating healthy meals over the 5 days of the week and keeping your calorie intake under 500 to 800 for the other 2 days of the week. I personally do not like this method of fasting, because you aren’t getting any of the health benefits of fasting, just weight loss. It’s also not sustainable for most people and involves some aggressive calorie restriction on your “fasting” days.

Alternate Day Method

If you want to eat normally one day out of the two, you can pick this method. On the days you are fasting, you get to eat only 25% of your daily calorie quota. If you eat 1,800 calories on a normal day, limit it to only 450 calories on the days you are fasting.

What Are the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?

When it comes to intermittent fasting, weight loss is not the only benefit. Fasting as a practice dates back to ancient times, and in many cultures, it is still practiced frequently.

Metabolic Health     

Some women experience menopause in their fifties. Menopause causes definitive changes in a women’s body, leading to a decrease in metabolism, muscle mass, and hormonal changes. Intermittent fasting for women over 50 can help decrease blood pressure, belly fat, and cholesterol levels – improving insulin sensitivity. Fasting can also help regulate and track your metabolism as you age.

IMPROVED ENERGY LEVELS

When you aren’t constantly digesting food all day, you free up that energy for other purposes. Many women over 50 report stable energy levels all day long once they transition into intermittent fasting. This can be an empowering experience, to no longer experience peaks and troughs in energy levels.

LOWER INSULIN RESISTANCE

Intermittent fasting has been shown to stabilize blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity.  I have personally had clients reverse their type 2 diabetes when eating in this way. Insulin resistance is common among men and women over 50, but it doesn’t have to be an inevitability of aging.

Conclusion

Intermittent fasting can be effective for women over 50 to lose weight, improve health, and boost energy levels. It is important that it is incorporated in the right way and with the right mindset, or it will become just another diet that only gets you results in the short term.

I have 10 years experience helping women over 50 lose weight, improve their relationship with food and become the best version of themselves.

I highly recommend starting my FREE intermittent Fasting short course, where I show how to do it properly and get amazing results in sustainable way, so that you never have to diet again.

Get your FREE course today!

GET MY INTERMITTENT FASTING SHORT COURSE

 

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