Reasons Women Over 30 Don't Lose Weight

by Gina Parsons

Are you over 30? Having a hard time losing weight? You are not alone...  Women over 30 seem to have a harder time losing weight than those under 30. Women over 30 can always find an excuse for not being able to lose weight and ultimately keeping it off.

There are a multitude of reasons that once you hit the BIG 3-0 you can't lose weight as easily as before. Sluggish thyroid, increased cortisol levels, dreaded menopause, a lifestyle that is more hectic and out of control than before or your gene pool. In reality, it is not any one of those. It is actually how you how you handle losing the weight and the approach you take in tackling weight loss and maintaining that weight loss.

#1 Get Exercise Exercise, exercise, exercise. Your personal trainer and your doctor has told you that exercise is truly the only way to help lose and maintain weight loss. The only way to truly lose weight is to use the excess fat associated with those unwanted pounds. You don’t need to exercise 7 days a week and run yourself ragged. You need to find activities that you like to do and do those activities briskly for a minimum of 45 minutes 5 days a week. A study featured in the Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition found that women who exercised briskly for at least 50 minutes, five times a week can lose up to twenty five pounds in 6 months. This weight loss is of course coupled exercise with eating a properly balanced diet consisting of vegetables, fruit, protein and carbohydrates.

#2 Eat Properly Diets are a fad. You can follow a diet but what do they all have in common? They require you to eat less. You can try all the diets in the world - Atkins, South Beach, Cabbage Soup, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, every single one of them has the same thing in common. Consume LESS Calories! Unfortunately, there is no magic diet or no magic pill that will allow you to lose weight without doing anything. If you want to lose weight, you will need to eat less and exercise more. There is no easy way out. Most doctors and medical studies will tell you that the key to weight loss is very simple - eat less and exercise more. So you can use whatever dietary method you feel most comfortable with but the key is you need to eat a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

#3 Giving Up Too Quickly  It is one of the easiest things to do. Just give up! We do not give the healthy lifetyle changes enough time to see results. It takes time for the weight loss to be noticeable. Weight loss is not something that happens quickly. It does take time to see any weight loss. If you starve your body, your body will go into preserve mode and slow down the metabolism to "preserve" fat stores. Your body will protect itself. Many times quick fix diets or protein diets that rely on ketosis induction, is extremely difficult to maintain for life. Protein diets put extra stress on your liver and kidneys and can do your body more harm than good.

#4 Lack of Focus Life is extremely hectic. You may have a family, work, and a house to keep. Every one has their priorities. You will need to make sure that eating healthy, exercising, and taking care of yourself is a priority. You make time for everything else in your life so it is imperative that you make time for yourself. Shopping for healthy lifestyle choices takes time but the rewards will definitely be worth it. Exercising may take time away from other activities but those added pounds will take years off your life.

#5 Believe in Yourself One of the most important things to do is believe that you can and will lose the weight. Many times we are our own worst enemy. We sabotage our best efforts by not believing in our own ability to stay focused, eat properly and exercise our way through our weight issues. If you believe it, work hard at making yourself a priority and make helathy lifestyle choices; you can lose those unwanted pounds and become healthier as well.

So to keep it simple.

1. Consume less calories.
2. Exercise briskly doing your favorite activity for 45 minutes five days a week.
3. Give yourself sufficient time to see results.
4. Focus on yourself and be sure to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
5. Believe in yourself - you can do it.

Weight loss is at your fingertips and you can do it.