Personal Trainer Tips: Hidden Habit Sabotaging Weight Loss for Men Over 40

For every man in his 40s, it’s an unavoidable fact that being physically active and staying in shape is way more challenging than when you were younger. Even the ageless wonder himself, Lebron James, admits that in his first couple of years in the NBA, playing back-to-back games was never an issue, but that’s not the story now that he’s 40 and has over 20 seasons in the league. When it comes to losing weight after a guy turns 40, being a personal trainer, I know it’s not always the lack of effort in eating healthy and exercising consistently to blame for a lack of progress, but, rather, problematic habits that are often overlooked.

In most cases, such bad habits were insignificant and never posed a problem for most of us when we were in our 20s, but as we get older, joints start feeling stiffer, the metabolism slows down, and work and family life makes it feel like you’re always busy, these things further magnify the effects of such habits. Whether it’s the allure of what you see from fitness influencers, liquid calories, or drinking too little water, these are just some of the examples that might be hampering your progress.

Meals Choice

At its most basic, weight is a result of there being a caloric deficit, usually by decreasing food and caloric drink consumption, increasing exercise activity, or the combination of the two. Unfortunately, a lot of men in their 40s that want to lose weight take the decreased caloric consumption to an unnecessary extreme by eliminating meals or eating very light meals. What you have to remember is that one of the most important benefits of your meals is that they include important vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients, which means that the extreme dieting approach, while it can lead to weight loss, it’s bound to have devastating health implications that are going to harm you in the long run.

One of the unfortunate facts about weight loss is that most guys are going to lose some of the muscle mass they were carrying before getting started, but there is a way that you can minimize the loss. Of course lifting weights is going to help, but you can’t forget about the protein.  I always have to stress to my personal training clients that protein is effective in repairing damaged muscle after training and it also helps with keeping one satiated, thus reducing the likelihood of overeating or over-snacking between meals. How much protein you should consume depends on your goals and training intensity and consistency; for guys that want to lose weight, the general rule is to consume one gram of protein per pound of their targeted body weight (in other words, if you want to get down to 175 lbs, you should aim for 175 grams of protein each day).

When in your 40s, dropping a couple pounds can be a challenge, but the lack of progress might be due to overlooking some of the little things related to your eating habits. Healthy fats and protein consumption are hugely important pieces for any guy that exercises, as well as good weight management, but don’t forget that these are calorie-carrying macronutrients. Some folks like to add a bunch of coconut oil and grass-fed butter to their coffee, which can easily surpass 500 calories if you’re not careful with the serving size. Also, if you’re consuming your bodyweight in grams of protein, but you’re not really training that hard, much of the excess that your body doesn’t use for muscle repair is likely to be stored as fat.

Among the most overlooked parts of the diet that most men over 40 are guilty of is fiber consumption. Oftentimes, we get so preoccupied with working out consistently, getting adequate protein and healthy fats, drinking plenty of water, and sleep, so it’s understandable that something as unsexy as fiber isn’t getting the attention it deserves. Fiber plays a big role in satiety, which helps to reduce overeating, but its key benefit is its role in aiding digestion. Fiber acts as the street sweeper for your intestines, thus clearing out the gunk in your digestive system that can cause problems if left there. Fruits, vegetables, legumes, and oats are excellent sources of fiber.

Fitness & Lifestyle

If you want to be serious about your fitness as a 40+ year old man, you have to be more disciplined about the amount of screen time you spend with your phone or tablet that has little or nothing to do with work. I’m not saying that you must completely eliminate all use, especially because that’s almost impossible in regular American life, but that you need to set limits and abide by said limits. Most of us, including myself, are totally guilty of spending an hour or so looking at our phones while lying in bed when you’re supposed to be asleep. Just like you schedule meetings and appointments, do the same for the things you like to do recreationally, like check out TikTok or play Madden.

Lifting weights is for everyone, and don’t you ever allow someone to try to convince you otherwise. Being a personal trainer and man in his 40s, I can relate that one may feel some discomfort at some of the crowded gyms that are filled to the brim with people half your age, but don’t let that push you away. Check out other gyms, especially the smaller, locally owned facilities, as these often have smaller crowds and you might be able to find one with more members closer to your age. Also, consider hiring a personal trainer for yourself to guide your through workouts that are specific to your abilities and goals.

One of the most effective tools in helping men in their 40s reach their fitness goals is the progress log. Since there are so many things you’ve got going on in your life, you’re bound to forget some of the things you do with your diet and workouts, so the best way to counter that is to maintain a food and activity log. While it might feel a tad tedious at first, even if you maintain the log for a few days, you’ll still be able to pinpoint areas that you can improve upon.

Believe it or not, the number of calories that treadmill you’re using is saying you have burned is probably incorrect. A lot of factors go into how many calories are being burned, such as age, weight, height, gender, hormones, sleep quality, intensity of exercise, and so on; additionally, the estimates provided by such workout equipment doesn’t consider the elevated caloric burn stemming from EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). Instead, focus on finding an exercise activity that you enjoy doing and has you interested in doing on a consistent basis because that’s what will help you reach your weight loss goals.

Conclusion

Losing weight is hard enough, and the last thing you want to do is to further increase the difficulty with bad habits that you can correct. The reality is that you don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel to reach your fitness goals; in fact, you can increase your progress quite a bit by keeping your eye on some of the little things, such as protein intake and calorically dense drinks. Also, something as simple as a dietary and training log can help you spot some of the little shortcomings that may be behind what’s causing the stalled results.