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Jumpstart Your Weight Loss Journey: 10 Days to Renewed Energy, Radiant Skin, and a Healthier, Happier You – Your Transformation Awaits!"
Your Secrets to staying fit well into your 50's
When you hit your 50s, you are often ready to reset and find a new norm for life and your health. You’ve weathered thousands of experiences and life events. Your metabolism has slowed. Your hormones have changed. Your natural nutrients could be depleted. Your body is much different than it was 10 or 20 years ago. It can be challenging to lose weight and re-find that energy you once had. But when you can embrace these 5 truths about weight loss in your 50s, you can lose weight and achieve the wellness you desire for the long term!
1. Diets Don’t Work for Long-Term Weight Loss
Maybe you’ve tried diet after diet – lost weight only to gain it back. That’s because one diet does not work for everyone. In fact, when you deprive your body of the food it needs, it keeps track! Then once you go off the diet, your body knows what it was lacking, and your willpower cannot match. Diets can also deny you of much-needed nutrients and do more harm than good. Just one example: it doesn’t do any good to lose weight and have less energy or ability to concentrate.
2. Inflammation Is Good Unless It’s the Cause of Your Weight Gain
You’ve probably heard how inflammation can be the root of all sickness. But the truth is, inflammation is your body’s natural defense system and healing system, in close communication with your immune system. Inflammation is good! But when it becomes chronic, it can cause weight gain and many other health issues.
On the flip side, losing weight can help reduce chronic inflammation. One NIH study found that weight loss caused a significant reduction in plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
So you could be battling weight gain when you really need to battle your chronic inflammation first.
3. Your Mindset Sets You Up for Success or Failure
You have about 6,200 thoughts per day. You also have established many beliefs and habits by age 50. Your auto-pilot thoughts and habits could be sabotaging what you really want out of life. For example, if you’re going to the fast-food drive-thru each day because it saves you time, you aren’t helping yourself lose that weight and feel healthier. When you transform your mindset – including your auto-pilot responses and actions – into healthy ones, you’ll get the weight loss and other results you want!
4. It Isn’t Natural to Become Less Active as You Age
Social norms say that as you get older, you become less agile, less able to move as quickly and less balanced. But your body was not created to become less. It was created to sustain you throughout a purposeful life. A sedentary life leads to an aged body, not the other way around.
5. You Have the Power to Impact Your Health in Just 24 Hours
You may have heard that your gut is your second brain. This is because research has proven that your gut health impacts your overall health, body weight and different physiological systems. While “diets” don’t work for the long term, eating a plant-based diet can make a significant difference in your weight and health. (A plant-based “diet” simply means you’re making plants more central instead of meats or junk/processed food.) If you go from an animal-based diet to a plant-based diet, you will notice positive changes in 24 hours.
Knowing these 5 truths, you can begin to explore your body’s true needs, your current mindset and your fitness need to achieve the weight loss and vitality you want, even in your 50s and beyond!
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How Can You Overcome the Struggle to Lose Weight and Keep It Off?
Reduce Chronic Inflammation by Using Food as Medicine
You just read that an inactive lifestyle can cause chronic inflammation – which can show up as aches, pains, fatigue and brain fog as a few examples. Your food choices also either add to or reduce inflammation. In particular, a lack of whole foods and a lack of variety in your diet can cause inflammation and/or weight gain.
Follow these 5 rules of thumb for anti-inflammatory eating:
- Eat more plants for their anti-inflammatory nutrients – a rainbow of fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes.
- Eat more antioxidants to help prevent, delay or repair cell and tissue damage. Choose colorful fruits and veggies including berries, leafy greens, beets and avocados. Add ginger, turmeric and green tea as well.
- Consume enough omega-3 fatty acids to help regulate inflammation-related pain. Find these healthy fats in salmon, tuna, mackerel, walnuts, pecans, ground flaxseed and soy.
- Eat less red meat which can be pro-inflammatory. Try substituting your lunchtime beef with fish, nuts or soy-based protein a few times a week.
- Cut out or limit processed foods (packaged and often with many hard-to-pronounce ingredients). Sugary cereals and drinks, deep-fried food, and pastries can add to your body’s inflammation. Your healthier options can be just as quick if you prepare them ahead.
Improve Your Gut Health with Nutrients That Help You Feel Fuller
Evidence has proven how increasing whole grains and plant foods aids in weight loss by decreasing your hunger and leaving you feeling fuller after you eat. This is because the prebiotics in the plant-based foods feed your healthy gut bacteria, encouraging production of short-chain fatty acids which are the main source of nutrition for the cells in your colon (gut)! So improve your gut health by adding more of these plant-based, prebiotic-containing foods to your diet:
- Legumes
- Oats
- Green vegetables (especially asparagus)
- Bananas
- Garlic
- Onions
If you eat gluten free, choose plants such as quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, sorghum or millet.
Conquer Your Cravings Strategically
Your daily life can easily trigger cravings. Does frustration or boredom provoke you to reach for the chips, cookies or candy?
Pay attention to how you deal with these unhealthy food cravings. Do you immediately grab what’s in front of you? Will you interrupt what you’re doing to find it?
Instead, reduce your cravings:
- Don’t skip meals.
- Don’t bring temptations home or to work (keep them out of reach).
- Eat enough protein and healthy fat to satisfy your hunger and energy.
- Be a food label detective and find new healthier versions of your favorites.
- Always eat something healthy FIRST.
Practice Portion Control
Managing your portion size is different from controlling your cravings, but skipping meals can ruin both of these efforts. To practice healthier portion control:
- Don’t skip meals. Start your day with breakfast including protein to keep you feeling full longer. Portion control is very difficult when you are starving!
- Eat a healthy snack – from a small bowl and not straight from the container or bag.
- Use smaller plates – you may find that you eat less but still feel full.
- Slow down when you eat and chew your food more (aim for 25-40 chews per mouthful) – you will end up eating less.
- If you are tempted to eat seconds, ask yourself WHY. Try distracting yourself with conversation or a neighborhood stroll.
Say Goodbye to These Common Weight-Related Symptoms
TIGHT-FITTING CLOTHING
Studies show that when presented with larger portions, you will eat up to 50% more than usual. Just 200 extra calories per day over one year adds up to 73,000 extra calories, which equals 20 pounds! With your busy lifestyle, you may eat in a hurry or not pay attention to your food and portion choices as much. And after menopause, it’s common to see changes in your belly and thighs anyway. But when you learn how to apply mindful eating, you’ll control portions, lose weight and feel good in your clothes again.
FEELING TIRED
Will one workout make a difference? Certainly not. Will 4 workouts? Not really. But 208 workouts a year will definitely make a difference! If you exercise just 4 times a week for one year, that equals 208 workouts! Now, if you feel too tired to work out but know you should just do it, a little support and mindset shift can get you moving. Working out regularly not only helps you lose weight, but also allows you to release everyday stress which otherwise adds to inflammation and fatigue. With less weight, inflammation and fatigue, of course you’ll feel fitter and freshly energized.
BINGE EATING & BLOATING
Binge eating messes up your metabolism, impacting your ability to digest and your energy level. If you begin binge eating, perform a quick mindset check. Ask yourself “Why am I eating right now?” Is it emotional (procrastination, boredom, anger, frustration, depression)? Is it out of habit – like that 3-4 pm snack you think you need to re-energize? Your gut is closely connected with your emotions. When you stop binging or emotional eating and learn to handle stress and emotions more healthily, your bloating will stop.
As a Woman in Her 50s Do You Want To:
• Lose weight and feel good in your clothes without dieting?
• Learn how to shop and eat healthily? Or more consistently, despite your busy life?
• Strengthen your immune system and prevent disease?
• Have more energy for the activities and people you love?
Set Realistic, Strategic Goals
Your first step to living that healthy and fulfilling life you desire is to put your goals in writing. Next, you want to create a plan that 1) achieves those goals and 2) you can stick to while staying motivated! When you have a clear vision and path to where you want to go, your possibilities become more real.
Embrace a Healthier Mindset
We are so conditioned to focus on the ‘what if I fail’ thoughts and to have the ‘I could never do that’ mindset, that most of the time we don’t even try to go for our goals or dreams. Or, we just give up too soon.
Much of this may come from childhood experiences in which you had feelings that or were told “I’m not good enough.” These self-defeating thoughts can then drive your adulthood, limit your beliefs and prevent you from reaching your true potential. When not at your true potential, you’re not experiencing life to the fullest.
The truth is that you are who and what you tell yourself you are, not what anyone else tells you. Your mindset = your thoughts and your attitude. Changing your mindset can literally change your life.
Feed Your Curious Mind – Dream
What would you attempt if you knew anything was possible? Allowing yourself to dream and be curious can change your attitude. What would you attempt if you knew you would succeed? Is it something on your bucket list, a new adventure, or maybe it’s becoming healthier, eating better and being more active? Then look for ways TO rather than why NOT to go for your dreams!
Choose Your Word
Words can empower you. What’s your word for this year or season? It should be a word that will make you stop and think positively and MOVE you in the direction you want to go. Write it down and make a mental picture of it. Here are some examples: healthy, brave, driven, energized, fit, committed.
Eat the Right Probiotics
Probiotics are live microorganisms that keep pathogens (harmful microorganisms) in check. They support healthy digestion, nutrient absorption and immune function – that desired gut health! Add probiotics to your “diet” by eating foods that contain live cultures (especially Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus) such as yogurt with lower sugar, kefir products and aged cheeses. If eating dairy free, opt for fermented, non-dairy foods with beneficial live cultures including kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh and cultured non-dairy yogurts.
Clinical studies on metabolic health suggest that Bifidobacterium lactis B420 specifically may support body weight maintenance and combat obesity. These fiber-rich foods will help increase your Bifidobacterium levels: apples, artichokes, blueberries, almonds, pistachios and whole grains such as oats and barley.
Choose Less Stress as Your New Norm
Ongoing activation of your body’s stress response (fight or flight) system and the stress hormones involved (like cortisol) can disrupt almost all of your body’s natural processes.
It’s not realistic to eliminate all stress from your life, right? But how is stress affecting you?
Look at the areas of your life that are causing you stress (work, home, parenting, marriage).
What are some ways you can reduce it?
Your calendar is a common stressor you can control. Look at your calendar for the next month. If you (and your spouse and/or kids) are completely overbooked, what can change? Maybe this means taking a step down from certain obligations or activities. Perhaps you can work out a carpool and be OK not attending every event.
Don’t let your schedule run YOU – decide how YOU can run your schedule.
Success Stories
Priscilla Easter
Executive Assistant @ Landmark Health. Roxana has helped me to be accountable and learn how to prioritize taking care of myself to achieve a healthy weight. She eliminated the stress of not knowing what to eat through easy recipe ideas and food alternatives. Her committed coaching has helped me make a huge change in my eating habits because she was always there when I struggled. I have lost 1 pound every week and am keeping it off!! I’m seeing the transformation in my body and the results I’ve been wanting! Inflammation and weight gain struggles are less each day.
The Weight Loss Body Detox has helped me eliminate unhealthy cravings, reset my eating habits, increase my energy and decrease inflammation in my body. It cleaned out my digestive system naturally. In the first week, I started to see a significant difference – my bloating went away and my stomach felt flatter! Now instead of grabbing a processed snack, I go for a fruit or detox smoothie from the recipes provided. – Feb 2022
Carola Jennings
My name is Carola Jennings. I work as an Executive Assistant for Sterling Plumbing company. Before working with Roxana I was struggling with my weight. I didn’t know what, when and how much to eat. Going out to eat was exceedingly difficult because I couldn’t control myself and didn’t know what to order. During the pandemic I would binge eat due to stress which caused me to gain weight.
Working with Roxana has been a lifestyle changing experience. She was kind, patient and clear in explaining what is necessary for long-lasting and healthy weight. She was always open and willing to answer any question or frustration I had. I learned how to apply mindful eating too. Now, I’m at a healthy weight, feel more energetic and feel confident in my own body!
My health is getting better, and the pain in my knees and joints has disappeared. If I fall off the wagon, right away I know what to do, thanks to Roxana. My mindset has changed with what I’ve learned to keep a healthy weight and age gracefully. – July 2021
Aida Kohn
Hello! My name is Aida Kohn. I am a Real Estate agent. During the pandemic I hired Roxana at Food as Medicine to be my nutrition and fitness coach. I was having pain in my lower back, hips and shoulders. With all that, I felt very stressed out and gained weight. The first month working with Roxana I started seeing huge progress – not only in my body mobility but also improving my bad eating habits and portion control. Her one-on-one coaching regarding what and how to eat to nourish my body has been life changing. I learned to eliminate food items that were bad for my health and how to eat more “mindfully” like she says. She taught me how to read nutrition facts labels from foods! How great is that?!
Roxy’s knowledge, experience, compassion and dedication through Food as Medicine has made it a possibility to learn how natural foods and exercise can restore our bodies. I am grateful that she has helped not just me, but many women during the pandemic. I highly recommend Roxy at Food as Medicine for your nutrition and fitness needs! – February 2021
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*This program is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any illness or disease.The information provided by Roxana Vega Cooley at Food as Medicine is for your general knowledge and is not intended to take the place of medical advice or diagnosis from your medical professional.
If you suffer from medical or pathological conditions, please consult with your primary health care provider before making any changes to your diet, supplement routines or other medications.
Food as Medicine as the owner of this website cannot guarantee the outcome of the recommendations provided. By continuing to read/use/participate on this site you are acknowledging that the owner does not guarantee any particular outcome as the individual variables are outside the owner’s control. You are solely responsible for your health care and activity choices.