Over-50 Antiaging Weight Loss Diets That Really Work

Which antiaging weight loss diets really work and which anti-aging weight loss regimens are frustrating exercises in futility? Keeping weight off after the age of 50 is tough going, but that doesn’t mean trying to lose weight is not worth the effort. Maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy foods, and getting plenty of exercise are some of the simplest and best ways to stay young for a long, long time.

New diets and diet products come out daily, all of them making big promises, but all anti-aging weight loss diets have to take several factors into consideration in order to promote truly lasting weight loss over 50:

• People begin to lose muscle mass after the age of 50. Muscle burns calories, so less muscle means fewer calories can be eaten if a person wants to keep the same body. Any diet will take off weight, but if muscle is not replaced and maintained through regular exercise, then less and less food will have to be eaten over time to maintain the loss.
• 95% of all people who go on any weight loss diet gain all the weight back over the course of the following year. Changing bad eating habits has to be a permanent change in order to be truly effective, and making permanent changes is not as easy as it seems.
• Some change in body shape and weight is natural after 50, even for people of normal weight. Keeping expectations healthy and realistic is vital to success.

The following programs are popular and many people who are over 50 report success with them. Each has advantages and disadvantages:

• Weight Watchers is the oldest commercial weight loss program around and the program most often promoted by actual doctors and nutritionists. Advantages of the Weight Watchers program for people over 50 include ongoing group support, flexibility (dieters count ‘points’ and can eat anything so long as they stay within their allotment), and a focus on a sustainable, nutritionally sound eating and exercise. Weight loss is slow by design, so dieters can learn new habits while taking off pounds.
• Jenny Craig Weight Loss Clinic combines the accountability of weekly weigh-ins and healthy foods with some of its own products. Many people find the individual attention more discrete and helpful than the group emphasis of Weight Watchers. Jenny Craig also promotes a slow loss of one to two pounds per week and stresses regular exercise for weight loss maintenance.
• Nutrisystem sells a 28-day supply of diet food by mail. No counting, no meetings, no weigh-ins are required. Dieters eat only the prepackaged pre-portioned food and lose weight. On the down side, no new habits are learned, since everything is prepackaged, and the food is rather expensive. Anyone can lose weight on this diet: The challenge begins afterward with maintenance.
• ‘TOPS’ stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly and is less commercial than Weight Watchers but very similar in method. Meetings are organized locally and dues are paid by the year. Ongoing group support is one of the TOPS program’s best features and is especially helpful to people over 50 in keeping the weight off, not just taking it off.

Is it really worth it to keep going through anti-aging weight loss diets if you keep gaining back the weight? Research shows that, contrary to popular belief, it is worth it. Even though keeping weight off is difficult and requires a lifetime commitment and permanent lifestyle changes, several failed attempts followed by success is far preferable to obesity when it comes to staying young and staying healthy.

Recent research shows that metabolism does not slow down when moderate weight loss (one to two pounds per week) is followed by relapse and weight gain. So giving it another try is always worth it. With the right attitude and a healthy dose of patience and support, this time the anti-aging weight loss diet you choose just might be the last one you ever need!

Related links:

Anti Aging Foods: Look and Feel Younger with the Foods You Eat

Calorie restriction as an anti aging solution