Our Top 5 Nutrition Strategies in Your 40's, 50's, 60's and Beyond

I saw this post on Instagram last weekend and it hit home.

I’ve been a gym-rat for longer than I’d like to admit.  I remember striving for a perfect body in my 20’s.  In my 30’s I was all about obstacle course races and half marathons.  Now that I’m in my 40’s, my fitness routine focuses on general strength and conditioning so I can go into my 50’s without hurting.  I don’t see myself stopping in my 60’s, 70’s or 80’s and I hope I can still “dance party” well into my 90’s. 

Does nutrition follow a similar pattern?  Did I try fad diets and magic potions in my 20’s?  Yep!  Did I calorie count in my 30’s?  Yep!  My 40’s have been focused more on health and feeling good, but this means something different to everybody.  To simplify things, we’ve come up with the Top 5 Nutrition Strategies to help you feel your best in your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond. 

#1:  Get your weight under control! 

Obesity is related to coronary heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, and dyslipidemia just to name a few.   It’s no surprise carrying extra weight isn’t good for you, so why is it that 72% of the American population is either overweight or obese?  One reason is food can mean more than nourishment.  Food is comfort, love, happiness, family.  It’s not easy saying NO to your favorite foods.  Aligning goals with food intake is typically the first place we start with clients when they wish to lose weight.

#2:  Ditch the Ultra-Processed Food

You’ve heard of processed foods, but have you heard about ultra-processed foods?  According to the USDA a processed food is anything taken from its natural state and heated, frozen, diced, juiced, or canned.  Baby carrots, bagged salad, frozen fruit have all been processed.  We tend to think of these types of foods as healthy, but they did not come from the ground in the state we buy them.  So, what is an ultra-processed food?

The NOVA Food Classification System was developed by an international panel of food scientists and researchers to help classify processed foods into four categories from minimally unprocessed to ultra-processed.  Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations made entirely or mostly from substances extracted from food (oils, fats, sugar, starch and protein), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats and modified starch) or synthesized in laboratories from food substrates or other organic sources (flavor enhancers, colors and several food additives used to make the food hyper-palatable).   How good does a Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup sound now? How about a frozen pizza?

Here is a link that explains more in detail: https://educhange.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NOVA-Classification-Reference-Sheet.pdf

Why are ultra-processed foods such a hot topic in health?  Because they contribute to obesity, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, cancer, and early deaths.  More on the negative side effects of ultra-processed foods in a later post.

#3 Increase Your Fruit and vegetable Intake

If ultra-processed foods cause every disease under the sun, fruits and vegetables do the complete opposite! A diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been shown to: lower blood pressure, prevent certain types of cancer, lower the risk of eye disease, decrease risk of digestive problems, and have a positive effect on blood sugar which can help with your appetite. 

We recommend clients get 5 servings of vegetables and 4 servings of fruit each day.  For arguments sake, a serving size is ½ cup or 1 small piece of fruit.  Those HUGE honeycrisp apples are usually 4 servings of fruit, so it’s easy to make this happen each day.  Add a LARGE green salad and you’re set for the day.  This does require some planning, but we’ve discussed the importance of planning in earlier articles. 

#4 Fiber, Fiber, and More Fiber

There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble.  Soluble fiber found in oatmeal, lentils, barley, beans, apples, and blueberries can help lower cholesterol and blood sugar.  Insoluble fiber adds bulk and helps move food through your digestive system.  Examples of insoluble fiber are vegetables, whole grains, buckwheat, and fruits with edible skins.  Both play a role in your health so it’s important to get 25-35 grams of fiber a day.

Some of the benefits of fiber include:

·       Decrease risk of heart disease

·       Decrease risk of diverticular disease

·       Fights constipation

·       Helps control blood sugar

·       Most recently it’s been linked to decrease incidence of breast cancer. 

#5 Stop Drinking Your Calories

Lattes, juices, sodas, and alcohol are just a few examples of empty, non-nutritive calories.  This simply means, there is little to no nutritional benefit from these items, yet they contribute to our total caloric intake for the day.  They may taste great, but the only thing they will do for is expand your waistline.

Let’s explore:

·       12-ounce IPA beer: 250 calories

·       Venti café latte: 240 calories

·       8-ounces orange juice: 115 calories

·       16-ounce Coke: 195 calories

If you had all four in one day, that’s 800 calories.  Do this everyday for a year, that’s 292,000 calories or 83 packed on pounds a year!  The easiest way to whittle your waistline is to stop drinking your calories.

Whatever decade you’re in, there is always a way to improve your health.  Take baby steps and make sure you’re 100% committed to your vision, because when there are bumps in the road, you’ll need to fall back on the reason WHY you started this in the first place.  And if you need help, we are here for you!