A lot of women by the age of fifty, tend to have gained a bit of weight. To some, this weight gain might be affecting the way they feel. Carrying additional weight can also affect your health. That’s why a diet plan for a 50-year-old woman to lose weight would really help.
Some of the co-morbidities related to overweight and obesity include cancers (cancers of breast, endometrial, ovarian, colorectal, esophageal, kidney, pancreatic, prostate), Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, Coronary Artery Disease, Congestive Heart Failure, asthma, chronic back pain, osteoarthritis, pulmonary embolism, gallbladder disease, and also an increased risk of disability
As we get older, it’s considerably harder to lose weight, but don’t let this put you off. It is possible to lose weight at any age.
Dieting plays one of the leading roles when it comes to shedding weight. By following a diet plan it can make it a lot easier to lose weight.
To lose weight you need to consume fewer calories than your body requires. You need to aim to be in a calorie deficit of 500 a day. If this sounds difficult, don’t worry we have a very easy-to-use calorie calculator.
By being in a deficit of 500 calories per day you should be able to lose 1lb of fat per week. 1lb of fat equals 3500 calories.
When losing weight, you want to lose fat, not muscle. You can read more about muscle loss in my article about age-related muscle loss.
Meal Prep
Planning and prepping your meals in advance helps. And allows you to keep track of what you’re eating.
Do you find yourself buying anything you can get your hands on at lunchtime? Why don’t you prep your lunches on a Sunday and freeze them?
You get them out the night before, let them defrost overnight. If you’re lucky you might even be to make lunches you can warm up at work.
Check out my low-calorie meal prepping article for more ideas.
Foods that May Help You to Lose Weight
Before we show you an example meal plan or you try creating one yourself. You will need to learn what foods to eat to help you lose weight.
The book I found helpful was the ‘Fat Burning Kitchen’. If you would like to find out more you can read my book report The Fat Burning Kitchen from an owner’s point of view.
Beans and Legumes
Which includes kidney beans, black beans, lentils, and many others. Beans and Legumes have a significant benefit in weight loss.
According to research, Beans and Legumes tends to have higher levels of fiber and proteins.
Which have been proven to lead to satiety (feeling full), and they contain starch. However, it requires people to prepare legumes properly, as some people find them hard to tolerate. One of the side effects of beans is bloated bellies and gas.
For that reason, women in their ’50s may consider giving Beans and Legumes a miss. There are other ways to get your fiber in.
Leafy Greens
For leafy greens such as collards, kales, swiss chards, spinach, and many others. They entail several factors that make them perfect for a diet that promotes weight loss.
For reasons such as they are loaded with fibers and with fewer carbohydrates and calories.
As we already know that consuming fewer calories helps you to lose weight, consuming leafy greens are ideal.
Leafy greens are also known to have many antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, for example, calcium which has proven to burn fat.
Boiled Potatoes
It comes as a shock for many to find boiled potatoes in this list. However, it is such an incredible meal for two primary reasons which are they are suitable for optimal health as well as weight loss purposes.
They contain high levels of potassium and most people don’t get enough of it. And potassium plays a significant role in blood pressure regulation and control.
According to the satiety index, which is a scale used to compare and contrast how filling different foods, boiled white potatoes managed to rate the highest among the food tested. In fact, Boiled Potatoes scored 6.8 times higher than Croissants. Croissants scored the lowest.
This means, that having boiled potatoes with pork, it’s possible to consume fewer calories for that meal. This was compared to eating steak with pasta or rice.
After potatoes are left to cool after being boiled, they tend to be beneficial in terms of weight loss due to their fiber that forms high starch resistance.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Some people use apple cider vinegar in the form of diluting it in water and drinking it. Research has proven that apple cider vinegar is useful for weight loss.
Apple cider vinegar makes it an incredible substance for women in their 50’s to take to help with weight loss.
It has also proven to be a safe product, and it has no side effects on the body upon consumption.
When taken together with high carb meals it has been said to hike the feeling of being full and thus making the consumer take from a considerably two hundred to three hundred fewer calories for the remaining part of the day. This was only a small study
Consuming less food at mealtime can significantly translate to losing weight as calorie intake has been reduced by a considerable amount.
According to a study done, it shows that obese women who took fifteen to thirty milliliters of vinegar per day for a period lasting for twelve weeks lost an average of 2.5 to 3.7 pounds which equates to 1.2 to 1.7 kilograms.
Chili Pepper
Adding chili pepper to a weight loss diet can turn out to be very fruitful in terms of weight loss since they have this capsaicin substance. Numerous studies have shown it to reduce appetite and increase fat burning in some studies.
Capsaicin has been for so long sold in supplement form and has been heavily used for commercial purposes, having blended in supplements meant for profitable weight loss.
According to a study once done, it shows that the intake of one gram of chili pepper leads to a significant increase in fat burning and reduces appetite among people who are considered to take less pepper regularly.
Fresh chili peppers have been shown to increase your metabolic rate, it could increase it by 50 calories. For example, if your Basil Metabolic Rate is 1600 calories a day it could be increased to 1650 per day.
To find out more about Basil Metabolic Rate you can read my article what is Basal Metabolic Rate and how to calculate your BMR.
Fruits
However, the fruit has significantly been associated with weight loss among women regardless of their age. Despite their sugar content, their energy density is considerably low.
The fiber content in fruit serves a very crucial role in making sure they maintain a slow rate of sugar flow into one’s bloodstream.
However, there is an exemption of people who may be forced to minimize or even avoid fruit, and those are the ones on the low carb ketogenic diet or those who have an intolerance. Fruits are delicious and often useful, especially when added to a weight loss diet.
Fruit makes for a good snack and is easy to carry around. A few workplaces have started to offer free fruit to their employees.
Grapefruit
This type of fruit deserves acknowledgment as it is different from other fruit due to its exemptional results.
In research that concluded on 91 obese women for a duration lasting 12 weeks shows that only taking half a grapefruit right before eating led to a significant loss of an average of 3.5 pounds which equates to 1.6 kgs.
According to the research they ran to the conclusion that eating half of a grapefruit around an hour before taking your regular daily meals helps in making one satisfied and that would lead her to eat fewer calories generally.
Full-Fat Yogurt
Given types of yogurt having a bacterium known as probiotic bacteria. These bacteria have been recognized for their capabilities to increase the functioning of your gut.
Healthy guts help in protecting you against leptin resistance and inflammation, which plays a crucial role in aiding obesity.
During your yogurt selection, make sure you select one that has phoniatrics. According to research, it shows that full-fat yogurt plays such a non-assumable role in fighting against obesity, and in addition to that it helps to fight against type 2 diabetes.
The problem with low-fat yogurts they are normally loaded with sugar. So whilst you think you’re being healthy you could be increasing your risk of diabetes
Dieting is such a slow but very efficient process to lose weight. It’s a safe way also and even medically recommended. It’s imperative to take control of your body weight before it gets too tough of a time where you need to put extra effort to lose weight.
Slow Down
A lot of the time weight gain be contributed to eating too fast. If we’re not paying attention we could be eating more food than we realize when eating too fast. We’re not giving our bodies enough time to process the food and let it know we’re full.
I know from experience that by slowing down my eating, I started to eat less. I lost weight. Also, the other benefit is you won’t feel full and bloated.
Protein for Weight Loss
As I’ve already mentioned that you want to maintain as much muscle as possible when trying to lose weight.
Extract from a 2017 study on protein and weight loss.
These findings have been confirmed in a recent paper by Wejis and Wolfe in a sample of obese older adults (over 55 yrs), showing that protein requirement during weight loss should be of at least 1.2 g/kg BW and 1.9 g/kg fat‐free mass to obtain a satisfactory muscle mass accretion.
Consuming enough protein, and when I say protein I mean good quality protein will reduce age-related muscle loss.
Example Diet Plan for a 50-Year-Old Woman to Lose Weight
To help you with meal planning and preparation you might want to check out our article Low-calorie meal preparation.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article here is an example meal plan
Breakfast
- 1 egg and 1 egg white (don’t fry it): 105 calories
- 2 oz microwaved or cooked in water turkey sausage: 130 calories
- whole-wheat toast (1 slice): 80 calories
- 0.5 low-fat cheese: 90 calories
- Plenty of water or black coffee, unsweetened tea
Total: 405 calories
Snack
- Apple medium Apple: 90 calories
- Homemade protein brownie: 150 Calories (See my recipe)
Total: 240 calories
Lunch
- 1 tuna can: 200 calories
- Light mayo (1 teaspoon): 50 calories
- Spinach (2 cups): 40 calories
- 2 carrots: 60 calories
- Plenty of water, or tea (unsweetened)
Total: 350
Snack
- A handful of mixed nuts (1 oz): 172
Dinner
- grilled chicken (3 oz): 130 calories
- steamed broccoli (2 cups): 100 calories
- Steamed Potatoes (3.5 oz): 80 calories
- low-fat cheddar cheese (1 oz): 50 calories
- Plenty of water, or tea (unsweetened)
Total: 340
Snack
- Turkey breast slices (2 oz): 75 calories
- Low-fat Swiss cheese(1 slice): 60 calories
Total: 135
Daily Meal Total: 1662 Calories
This is just an example of a meal plan, your daily calories will vary. Use my calorie calculator to work out how many calories you require.
Exercise
I know this article is all about nutrition and creating a meal plan, but it is important to talk about exercise.
Depending on which exercise you choose, you could burn between 300 – 500 calories.
The best type of training is strength training, especially for older adults. As we age our muscles decrease each year. After the age of 50, you start to lose 1 – 2 %each year. This process is called sarcopenia, you can find out more in our article Muscle loss.
Strength training is an excellent way of reducing age-related muscle loss. Also, it also helps to increase muscle size, strength, and function.
Strength training really helps to lose weight, by burning body fat and increasing your metabolism. This leads to an increase in calories you burn during the day.
Don’t worry if you’re not ready to start with strength training, you could try a Zumba class or walk, for example. My wife really enjoyed Zumba, you can read her article about how Zumba helps you to lose weight.
If you struggle with motivation to exercise why don’t you team up with a friend or family member, you will be able to help motivate each other.
Conclusion
I know starting a meal plan can be daunting, but the best thing you can do is just make a start. You substitute foods that you don’t like for the ones that you do like.
Here are a few suggestions of food to choose from
- Tuna
- Eggs
- Non-starchy vegetables: asparagus, broccoli, spinach, kale, etc.
- Spinach
- Whole grains like quinoa, wild rice, oatmeal, etc.
- low-fat, high quality, protein such as turkey breast or chicken
- Egg Whites
- Low-fat or Non- fat dairy like low-fat natural yogurt with no added sugar and cheese, etc.
- Unsweetened Tea
- Water
- Black Coffee
Remember when you’re preparing your food you take into account the hidden calories. For example, the cooking oil you use to cook your chicken, these hidden calories soon add up.
If you require an in-depth program to help you with your weight loss goals read my article The Flat Belly Fix Review – Your Complete Guide.
In the fitness industry losing body fat is known as cutting as you trying to cut away the fat. I go into more detail around hidden calories I’m my article what is cutting.
References Used in This Article
- Apple cider vinegar diet: Does it really work?
- Effect of dietary supplementation with apple cider vinegar and propionic acid on hemolymph chemistry, intestinal microbiota and histological structure of hepatopancreas in white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei.
- Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels in obese Japanese subjects.
- Dietary protein content for an optimal diet: a clinical view.
- Preserving healthy muscle during weight loss.
- Effect of a high-protein diet versus standard-protein diet on weight loss and biomarkers of Metabolic Syndrome: A randomized clinical trial.
- Health impacts of Obesity
- Effect of calcium supplementation on weight and fat loss in women.
- Food intake and plasma ghrelin response during potato-, rice- and pasta-rich test meals.
- What really satisfies.
- A satiety index of common foods.
- Effect of chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens) ingestion on plasma glucose response and metabolic rate in Thai women.
- Effect of dihydrocapsiate on resting metabolic rate in humans.
- Dietary capsaicin and its anti-obesity potency: from mechanism to clinical implications.
- The effects of grapefruit on weight and insulin resistance: relationship to the metabolic syndrome.
- Diverse roles of leptin in the gastrointestinal tract: Modulation of motility, absorption, growth, and inflammation.
