I truly believe that 40 is the new 30, and with a proper, healthy lifestyle, you can still get stronger, lose fat, and feel just as good, or even better, than you did a decade before.

But as we reach our 40s, are there special considerations to be made when we want to lose weight? Especially for women?

Below are the top 3 tips for women over 40 who want to lose fat, and you may be shocked how surprisingly simple they are.

Focus on Weight Training

But wait, shouldn’t we be doing that anyway? Well, yes! But for a female in her 40s who wants to lose weight, resistance training is one of the best things you can do. 

As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass and see decreases in bone mineral density.

Muscle fiber atrophy and the loss of motor units are inevitable, even among healthy, physically active adults. I’m not saying this to deter you, but to further stress the need to resistance train for not just generating optimal movement patterns, but emphasis the right muscle-building responses.

Women tend to attain their highest strength levels between the ages of 20 and 40, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t lift heavy and get stronger. Adding more muscle mass to your frame will help increase your metabolism, which naturally declines when we reach our 40s. Plus, more muscle looks great for overall body composition.

In general, inactivity increases with age, so if you can maintain 2 to 3 days of weight training with daily walks, you’ll have a solid foundation to kick-start fat loss.

Take Another Look At Your Daily Calories 

The older we get, the fewer calories we need.

Several factors contribute to lower energy needs, including the loss of (wait for it) calorie-burning muscle mass.

In your 40s, you won’t need to drastically cut your daily calories, but keep in mind, that if you steadily increase your daily calories, it will probably be harder to lose weight because you will have a slower metabolism.  

Many women in their 40s will also enter perimenopause, which comes with its own body composition changes.

I’d suggest re-evaluating how many calories you’re eating, and address how to slightly cut some from your diet. I’m not saying to slash 500 calories a day; 100 to 200 calories should suffice (just remember, every body is different and not everyone will respond the same way to cutting the same amount of calories). Just be sure that the calories you do cut don’t come from protein, because adequate protein consumption is absolutely necessary to maintain and promote muscle mass. Speaking of protein….

Prioritize Protein…and Micronutrients

It’s pretty well-known that protein is needed to promote recovery, and without a sufficient amount of protein in your diet, you won’t achieve the same muscle-building responses as someone who dedicates at least 20% of their diet to protein sources. This same philosophy is just as important for the 40-something female. 

But did you also know there are micronutrients that you should be eyeing as well? Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals that we know are vital for our health, but are more so casually addressed with an added multivitamin to our morning breakfast.

For a variety of reasons, the vitamins and minerals below are just a few power players that help combat muscle loss and promote lean body mass: 

-Potassium. Sources include leafy greens, legumes, avocado, bananas, winter squash, potatoes

-Vitamin D. Sources include fish oils, salmon, egg yolks, sardines. **Plants are poor sources of Vitamin D, so if you are a vegetarian, you will need to rely on fortified sources of Vitamin D, sun exposure, and supplements

-Vitamin B6. Sources include beef, poultry, fish, whole grains, white potatoes, starchy vegetables, bananas, and eggs.

If you feel that you are having a hard time getting in your recommended doses of vitamins and minerals, Organifi is stocked with all the essentials you need for immune health, fat loss, and hormonal balance.

If you find a lot of this advice to be familiar, it should be. The same guidelines and principles for fat loss are generally the same for a woman in her 40s, as it was when she was in her 20s. There may be hormonal factors at play, but calories and resistance training are still at the heart of an effective fat-loss regime.

And if you want easy-to-follow guidelines for your fat-loss journey, the Fabulous 40’s Bundle has everything you need.