The Secret to Weight Loss Over 35: Stop Ignoring This!
What makes accountability such an important part of the weight loss process for those over 35? In short, when you fail to keep yourself accountable in your weight loss journey, you’re essentially sabotaging your progress. So, if you don’t want to fail, there are ways to keep yourself accountable for success, such as hiring a professional, writing down your goals, and letting your friends and family know of your intent to lose weight.
If you’re more of an introvert, I understand that seeking a personal trainer and telling others of your weight loss journey might make you feel uncomfortable because you’d rather it be private, but, as I’m about to explain, weight loss is one of those things where having a support group is pretty much going to help more than it’s going to hurt. That said, taking on a weight loss journey, especially for those of you guys that want to act like you already know everything, this is the time that you check your ego and open yourself to seeking out others for help.
Hiring a Professional
Getting yourself a personal trainer to kickstart your workouts in your weight loss journey is one of the most effective steps one can take to increase their chances of success. Especially when you’re over 35, your workouts at this age are going to be different from what they were in your younger years, so if you were a high school or collegiate athlete back in the day, don’t try doing the same things you did back then, particularly at the start of your journey. A good personal trainer will assess your current fitness state and observe how you perform certain lifts to ensure that they’re not prescribing a workout routine too advanced or too easy for you.
What kinds of things should you look for when in the market for a personal trainer? First, understand that you are under no obligation to hire the very first personal trainer you speak with. A dirty secret about a lot of gyms is that they send new members to personal trainers that are totally new to the profession and with almost no experience, so if you’re coming back after hernia surgery and pre-diabetic, that 19-year old they send your way is not going to have a clue about your situation. Research personal trainers, finding out what certifications they might hold (NASM, ACE, ACSM, and NSCA being the most respected), a college degree is always helpful, and ask a lot of questions and follow-up questions while listening closely to filter out the sales jargon (“functional training” and “toxins” are some of the most used that are least understood by most trainers).
If you’re looking for a personal trainer, ask if it’s possible to get a trial workout to test drive their training style and make mental notes to consider if you think you’ll be able to work well together. As a personal trainer, myself, this step benefits both the prospective client and the trainer because, as far as my experience goes, if it becomes clear that we just won’t be able to work well together, forcing the sale is just going to blow up in my face in the future, so it would be better if I can refer that individual to a different trainer who might be a better fit.
Finally, for every person over 35 that is considering to hire a personal trainer, I can’t stress it enough that you treat that person as a professional and keep your expectations high as you would with a doctor or attorney you hire. A personal trainer that shows up late and eats their breakfast, lunch, or dinner on the gym floor while texting others or taking selfies when they’re with clients is more common than you think. Personal trainers that maintain a high regard for their professionalism is a good sign that they’re going to take the necessary steps to guide you in your weight loss journey while ensuring that positive results are abound.
Goal Setting
“A failure to plan is a plan to fail”. When you’re over 35, it’s crucial that your understand the importance of setting a goal for yourself because that’s what is going to keep you consistent with exercise and healthy eating — think of it as a sea captain on a trans-Atlantic voyage while the sky is constantly overcast and nobody brought a compass. The more specific the goal the better, and don’t forget to include a target deadline. As a pro tip for goal setting, break up the overarching goal into mini goals; for example, let’s say you want to lose 20 lbs in 6 months, if you split it into two week intervals where your weight goes down 1-2 lbs every other week, you may, prospectively, be able to reach your goal ahead of time while keeping your motivation high.
Setting a goal is great, but openly sharing it with your friends, family, and significant others gives you a support group that’s rooting for you to succeed and serves as a mode of motivation when you encounter trouble spots in your weight loss journey. While you don’t necessarily have to share absolutely everything that goes on in your path to losing weight, just make sure that you’re comfortable with the updates and challenges you’re sharing during the process. Also, be honest about the challenges that arise — everyone knows that losing weight isn’t easy, so when you talk about giving in to cravings or skipping workouts, this is far more relatable with your support group than constantly posting about eating super healthy and beast mode-style workouts.
One of the best strategies for folks over 35 that want to lose weight is to remind themselves for the reason why they want to drop pounds. For example, if your doctor sat you down to talk about health complications related to your current weight, or because you want to be able to keep up with your hyperactive kids or grandkids — if these are important enough to drive you towards changing your lifestyle, reminding yourself of these reasons are fundamental when challenges arise. Something as simple as putting a post-it note on your refrigerator door or changing your phone’s background, this can keep the reason why you think it’s important to lost weight at the top of your mind.
Recording Progress
One of the things I do with my personal training clients is maintain a record of their workouts and performances since this gives me a better idea of where they are over- or underperforming, thus making it easier for me to make the necessary changes to their workouts. If your current personal trainer doesn’t do this, you can maintain your own record by using a simple spiral notebook or using a spreadsheet app, like Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, or Google Sheets. Not only does keeping a workout journal inform you of your performance, but it also serves as a source of motivation — one of my favorite things to do with my personal training clients is showing them their lifts and performances when we first started, then comparing it to where we are now — it’s a huge confidence boost!
After your mid-30s, what you eat and drink is way more crucial in your weight loss journey than in your younger years because, not only are you now way more busy because of work and family, but your metabolism has slowed down. A lot of times, the most common culprit behind one’s weight gain isn’t so much the Taco Tuesday from last week with your friends, but, rather, the snacks you take with you from the boss’s secretary’s goodie jar or sweetened beverages you drink in your office. Using a food diary app, like MyFitnessPal or FatSecret, it makes it easy for you to track your eating (and snacking) habits to unearth the things that contributed to the caloric surplus responsible for your weight gain.
While keeping a workout journal and food diary is extremely helpful in spotting where you over- and underperform in your weight loss journey, you also want to include notes about how you feel for each given day. While crushing it at the gym and eating super lean on a certain day might look like an all-out win to the naked eye, but if you felt like absolute crap that day, there’s little likelihood that you’re going to want to repeat that. Reflecting on what went well and what went wrong at the day’s conclusion can better guide you towards making necessary adjustments for the future.
Conclusion
Losing weight after 35 is not going to be easy, but it’s also not an impossibility. By hiring a personal trainer who embodies professionalism and straightforward with helping you reach your goals, sharing your experiences with your support group with honesty (the good and the bad), and recording your workout and eating habits, while also noting how you’re feeling, you can greatly improve your chances of success. As always, if you ever need help with your fitness journey, don’t hesitate to reach out to me!
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