These 7 Foods Will Help You Fight Fat Over 40

Blueberries

These 7 Foods Will Help You Fight Fat Over 40 by Dr. Tami Meraglia

Alright. That’s it. You’ve had enough. You’re 45 (or some other age around 40). You’ve had a few kids, and they’re young enough that you’re still a full time mom and homemaker (and apparently, gourmet chef), and yet you still work a day job the rest of the 40 hours in your seemingly never ending week (how do you do it, really?).

But your energy is low, you’re heavier than you want to be, and you don’t make the time to work out. Despite the fact that you barely eat anything (who has time for that?), the scale is not your friend. That ends today, you think to yourself. I will train hard, work hard, and I will lose weight.

We hate to break it to you…wait…actually, we’re happy to break this to you: working out is not going to be your key to weight loss. And thank goodness, because where will you find the time? Sure, you should be doing exercises, but just 30 minutes a day can do the trick. Where you are going to make the biggest impact is with the food you put into that beautiful body of yours.

But (of course) there’s a catch.

·       The first is obvious: not enough food. 

·       The second is less obvious, but is something that plagues most North Americans: we’re eating food, but we’re not eating the right kinds of food (or enough of them) that deliver the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to function properly.

LETS GET TECHNICAL

When your body does not have enough raw ingredients to make all the cells, hormones, and chemicals needed to rock your health, they send out a stress response. This stress response, like all stress responses in the body, produces fat (especially around the waist) and sends a message to the body to hold onto fat! That means that you will have a harder and harder time losing weight until you give your body what it needs so it can release fat. 

In order to fix this problem, we need to ramp up our “good” food intake, that will pack a punch of nutrients and feed our bodies so they can get out of starvation mode, and into weight loss mode.

7 FOODS THAT FIGHT FAT FOR WOMEN OVER 40

1.  Blueberries

  • Blueberries are packed with micronutrients but also will balance your blood sugar for several hours after eating them so you will have less cravings.

2.  Greek Yogurt

  • Greek yogurt has twice as much protein as other yogurt and when protein is eaten first thing in the morning, people eat about 300 less calories without even realizing it! Choose options without added dessert (aka fruit) and add your own fresh berries.

3. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)

  • This ancient grain is packed with nutrition. One cup has 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber.  The micronutrients included are iron, zinc, selenium and vitamin E.  Cook like you would rice.

4. Green Tea 

  • Green tea has been shown in studies to promote weight loss by stimulating the body to burn abdominal fat.

5. Raw veggies with hummus

  • Using cut up veggies dipped in hummus is a fantastic mid-afternoon snack that prevents the afternoon dip from becoming an energy dive. By supporting your adrenals this way, your body will be able to release fat.

6. Cinnamon

  • Cinnamon has magical powers on our weight loss. Cinnamon has been shown to lower blood sugar, reduce hunger and help the body burn fat. Try putting a bit of cinnamon in your coffee grounds before brewing. You will find it helps soften any bitterness and tastes wonderful.

7. Water

  • Researches in Germany have shown that drinking water actually speeds up the rate you burn calories. After drinking 17 ounces of water, people in the study had a 30% increase in their metabolism.  The researchers concluded that if a person increased their water consumption to 1.5 liters per day, they would burn an extra 17,400 calories, for a weight loss of five pounds!

Weight loss doesn’t need to be a challenge. Armed with the right information, women over 40 can finally see that number on the scale begin to go down, and see their body change – for good. They can finally feel energized the way they’ve been longing for since they had their first child. All they need to do is eat the right stuff, and give their bodies what they’re asking for.

About Dr. Tami:

As a double board certified MD in Cosmetic and Integrative Medicine, Dr. Tami Meraglia focuses on hormones and ways to boost and balance them. Her approach is to use natural remedies such as nutrition, targeted supplements and real life stress tools that are both physically and mentally effective, to treat her patients. The Hormone Secret is her first book.