Women over 50 experience a number of hormonal changes that lead to changes in metabolism. These changes may lead to weight gain, especially in the belly as well as fatigue. Women over 50 may also begin to notice that they develop a food intolerance to certain types of foods, especially wheat and dairy. These factors can lead to strong food cravings.
If you feel as if you are constantly sabotaging your diet due to uncontrollable bouts of the munchies, then use these easy tricks to stop the cravings before they strike.
4 simple tips women over 50 can use to combat the munchies
1. Eat carbs after exercise. After the age of 50 muscle mass decreases; therefore it is important for every woman over the age of 50 to workout with both resistance exercises and aerobically. However, a common pitfall of dieting along with exercise is that exercise stimulates your appetite.
This happens because exercise depletes stored carbohydrates. When carb stores are low your body boosts carb cravings to replenish them, leaving you with a hard to control case of the munchies. To combat this, allow yourself a carbohydrate after a workout. This doesn't have to be junk food, whole grain bread or whole pieces of fruit work great.
2. Identify Hidden Food Intolerances. Food intolerance may increase with age. This is different than a food allergy. An allergy will lead to the sudden onset of symptoms, such as hives, itchy throat, and possibly breathing difficulties. Food intolerance symptoms develop more slowly and are harder to identify.
If you notice that you feel bloated, gassy, and tired during the day, you may be experiencing a food intolerance to something such as dairy or wheat. Food intolerance creates an inflammatory response inside your body and this can leave you feeling unsatisfied with your diet, which can lead you to crave junk food.
Try eliminating dairy products for one week and notice if your cravings diminish. If not, eliminate wheat the next week and check again.
3. Watch out for trans fats. You have probably heard that trans fats are not good for your health, but did you also know that they stimulate cravings? Trans fats have actually been nicknamed the "addictive" additive. Have you ever eaten one chip and then found yourself gorging on the entire bag? If so, you have seen firsthand the effects of trans fat.
Check your labels, or better yet avoid boxed or bagged products, which are notorious for their trans fat content.
4. Avoid long-term low carb diets. Choosing to eat a low carb diet can work for weight loss, but stay on this diet for more than a week and you will stimulate strong food cravings. This is because your body senses the loss of its valuable energy source, carbs. When this loss is sensed the amount of the fat-burning hormone leptin plummets.
Leptin's job is to keep you from starving and when its level drops, your body tries to force you to eat by stimulating an intolerable case of the munchies. If you want to stay on a low carb diet, be smart and take one day during the week to eat a high-carb meal. This not only allows you to feel better on the diet, it also gives you a scheduled break that keeps the munchies at bay.
If you struggle with losing weight after the age of 50, then you are not alone. There is no better time to lose weight then right now, and remember that every successful weight loss story begins at the same place - setting a goal.
