Mastering Weight Management: Tips for Sustaining Your Health Goals As You Age

Starting or continuing your weight-loss journey as you age can be an exciting but possibly intimidating experience. However, it’s an important one. Aging and weight maintenance should go hand in hand, and healthy aging strategies should incorporate the use of supplements that can facilitate the weight loss process.

Learn more about how aging can affect weight management, why this occurs, and what you can do about it.

Understanding the Impact of Aging on Weight Management

Aging and weight maintenance have an important relationship. Aging has a wide range of effects on weight management, particularly impacts on metabolism, hormonal changes, and stress or health issues. Understanding the factors that could be impeding your weight loss is an important first step as you focus on long-term weight management.

Metabolism Changes

Most people are familiar with the idea that metabolism slows as we age. Research now finds that the average person’s metabolism slows by about 3% every year through the 20s, 30s, and 40s. This is one of several factors that can make weight loss more challenging to begin and maintain as you age. Unfortunately, not only is losing weight harder as you grow older, but maintaining weight loss results also becomes more difficult.

If you continue to eat the same number of calories you did when you were young, you risk creating more body fat if you don’t participate in enough physical activity to burn those calories. To make things more complicated, muscle mass tends to decline as well. This poses additional challenges because muscle mass is an important factor when it comes to the calories the body naturally burns every day; muscle requires energy to maintain and burns more calories just by existing than other tissues.

Hormonal Changes

Hormonal changes, such as reduced levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone, also play a role in weight gain and fat distribution. Changes in estrogen and testosterone often lead to an increase in abdominal fat, causing even those who remain relatively trim to appear out of shape. Hormones also affect metabolism, further slowing weight loss.

Lifestyle Changes and Stress

As people age, they also tend to adopt lifestyle changes that can make weight loss challenging. The overall tendency is to become less physically active. Work demands, family responsibilities, or health issues can also reduce exercise time, affect nutrition, and lead to weight maintenance issues. Stress can also contribute to unhealthy eating habits and a lower motivation to exercise.

Of course, not all of these qualities of aging affect everyone in the same way or to the same degree. However, for many people, they make a perfect storm of conditions that can cause weight loss to plateau or weight gain to commence.

Effective Strategies for Weight Loss

Whether you’re looking to maintain your current weight as you age, lose weight as you get older, or are simply thinking ahead to prevent maintenance issues, rethinking weight loss strategies should be an important first step. These effective strategies for weight loss can help you jumpstart your journey to a better, healthier you.

Focus on Things Other Than Weight

Many people tend to fixate on their weight, which can become a frustrating impediment to success. Instead, try to find other ways to monitor your progress – a frequently-used alternative is the way your clothing fits. Improvements in your self-image and energy levels can also be useful signs of progress that don’t center around numbers. Even when you focus on your weight, remember that losing weight too quickly can also have health consequences.

Restock Your Pantry

One effective trick for improving the quality of your diet is to clear your kitchen of processed foods and sugary snacks. Stock your pantry with natural foods and anything rich in vitamins and minerals. When your only eating options are healthy ones, you are much more likely to cut back on junk food.

Understand Why Calorie Deficits Matter

When you’re losing weight, you need to maintain a caloric deficit. A pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, so a caloric deficit of 200 calories a day could lead to a one-pound loss of weight within about two weeks. There’s nothing wrong with going slow; the important thing to remember is that you need to do more than maintain your caloric intake. You will have to run a deficit to shed pounds, and some math may be necessary if you’d like to do it more quickly.

Track Your Progress With an App

New apps and monitoring devices offer an accurate and easy means of monitoring your weight loss progress. Apps on your phone can track your daily calorie intake and how many calories you burn per day; some can even help you create a new meal plan. These applications for your phone can help keep you accountable and honest as you work to lose weight.

Plan Ahead for Meals

Busy schedules can lead to unhealthy eating choices if you don’t have a plan. Use your downtime to develop a menu for the upcoming week, go food shopping, and batch cook. Keep healthy foods on hand to quickly put together wholesome meals.

Spread Out Your Calories

Consider spreading out your calories instead of eating a heavy breakfast or dinner. Some people fight cravings all day only to give in to them in the evening. Spreading out caloric intake keeps your metabolism active and reduces blood sugar swings. You can also try several mini meals throughout the day instead of focusing on three square meals alone.

Manage Cravings

Mindfulness about meals and eating means only eating when you are truly hungry. Managing your cravings can help you reduce your intake of unplanned calories. The first step is to try to learn what triggers your cravings. Then, be sure to have a calorie-free drink or distract yourself with an activity.

If cravings are more about stress or emotional eating for you, mindful eating apps can help improve your relationship with food.

Don’t Forget About Drinks

Don’t waste calories on sugary beverages like juice, soda, sweet teas, energy drinks, and flavored coffees. Alcohol is also calorie-dense, so be mindful of your cocktail intake. Instead, work to increase your water intake. To jazz things up, add fresh lemon or lime or try calorie-free flavored seltzer. Any calories you cut from your beverages will contribute to your weight loss plans.

The Role of Physical Activity in Aging Gracefully

Aging and weight maintenance can mean that you need to focus on more than what you eat; you’ll also need to consider the role of physical activity. As mentioned, with age, your natural metabolism slows at an incremental rate. You can offset this decline by increasing physical activity.

Exercising offers benefits beyond burning calories. Working out on a regular basis helps you maintain muscle mass and strength, which is essential for balance and mobility. Staying fit also reduces the chance that you will suffer a serious fall.

Working out also reinvigorates the body and boosts metabolism by replacing adipose tissue with muscle. This can reduce your risk of developing obesity-related health issues.

Physical activity also:

Consider engaging in activities like walking, swimming, yoga, or strength training to help you stay active, independent, and healthy.

How Pharmacy Wellness Products Can Help Your Weight Loss Journey

Custom Weight Loss Medications

A compounding pharmacy like Compounding Pharmacy of America can also create custom weight loss medications that can help you maintain your weight as you age. If you’re experiencing conditions like hypothyroidism, thyroid imbalances, insulin resistance, or even genetic factors, a compounding pharmacist can create specially formulated versions of effective weight loss medications that incorporate your other medications. Pharmaceutical solutions like metformin, semaglutide, bupropion/Naltrexone combinations, and phentermine/topiramate combinations are formulated to address other issues but can help with weight loss management.

Managing Stress and Sleep: Key Factors in Weight Control

Only 26% of Americans are getting the recommended eight hours of sleep or more per day. If you are struggling to lose weight, it is important to understand the relationship between stress, sleep, and weight control. Stress often triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone linked to appetite stimulation and fat accumulation.

Implementing stress-reduction techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, and regular physical activity can help mitigate these effects. Quality sleep is vital for regulating metabolism and appetite hormones.

Poor sleep patterns can lead to imbalances in leptin and ghrelin, hormones responsible for hunger and satiety, increasing the likelihood of overeating. Prioritizing consistent sleep schedules and creating a restful sleep environment can enhance metabolic function and support weight management efforts.

Creating Sustainable Lifestyle Habits for Healthy Aging

Sustainability is key to sustaining weight loss. Establishing new eating habits that focus on a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins can provide essential nutrients that help you maintain your weight loss.

Incorporating regular physical activity, such as walking or cycling, can help you maintain mobility, which can, in turn, help you sustain your new workout schedule. Being realistic about what you can or can’t do with your available time can also help you sustain your healthier lifestyle.

You’ll need to focus on more than diet and exercise alone. You’ll benefit from establishing healthy sleep routines, stress management practices, and meditation habits. By integrating these habits into daily life, you can promote longevity, improve your quality of life, and enjoy a more fulfilling and active lifestyle as you age.

Weight Management FAQs

Your weight loss journey will be unique to you and should address your challenges and needs. At Compounding Pharmacy of America, we believe that it is important for people to be well-informed about the weight loss process and what they can expect along the way.

Learn More About How Compounding Pharmacy of America Can Help You Lose Weight

Healthy aging strategies should involve more than simply working out more or eating less. A comprehensive and holistic approach should consider allowing supplements to support your weight loss plan. Your body is unique, and it’s important to understand your strengths and weaknesses as you approach aging and weight management.

Sustainability will play an important role in your weight loss journey. Be realistic about your goals, and seek weight loss solutions that you can easily incorporate into your daily habits and routines. Supplements can be a simple way to help you boost your weight loss and improve weight maintenance. Check out our wellness shop to find supplements and test kits to help you approach aging with ease.

Sources:

Matt Poteet, Pharm.D.

Chief Operating Officer, The Compounding Pharmacy of America

Matthew Poteet, Pharm.D. graduated with Honors from Lee University with a Bachelors of Science in Biological Science. After his undergraduate training, he completed the Doctor of Pharmacy program at Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy, graduating in 2004. Dr. Poteet has spent much of his pharmacy career on staff at two of the most prestigious academic teaching hospitals in the Southeast; Emory University in Atlanta and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. At these institutions he received extensive experience and training in sterile products compounding.

He returned home to East Tennessee in 2010, where he has held the position of Pharmacy Director at two sterile products pharmacies in Knoxville. Matthew lives in Knoxville with his wife, Chris. Dr. Poteet is Tennessee’s first Board Certified Anti-Aging Pharmacist by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.

Read More About Matthew Poteet, PharmD