5 Fat Loss Rules You MUST Follow Over 40

Are you over 40 and stuck with stubborn fat despite eating healthy and working out?

After 25 years of coaching busy people over 40 to get into amazing shape, I've seen outdated advice hold back countless clients.

So, I'm going to share the five proven rules that make lasting fat loss simple and realistic after 40.

Rule 1: Prioritize Strength Training Over Endless Cardio

To start, let's look at the most common misconception that might be holding you back. Many people believe that the key to fat loss is endless cardio.

You certainly want those cardiovascular benefits as you get older, and cardio does burn calories. You should be doing a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous cardio just to maintain your health.

But as you age, you start to lose muscle. About 0.8 to 1% of your muscle mass each year starting around 40 if you don't do anything about it. Muscle is the engine of your metabolism, and you want to hang on to as much of it as you can.

That means your workouts need to shift from just burning calories to building and preserving lean mass, which is why you need to prioritize strength training.

When he came to me, my client Harry spent hours every week running and cycling, which he really enjoyed. He wasn't overweight, but he wanted to lose his belly fat, and he just didn't like the soft look that he had, especially since he'd gotten into his 50s.

He called himself skinny fat, and that was probably a good description since he didn't have much muscle definition. He started working out with a weight training program that I gave him, just three days a week for about 30 to 35 minutes at a time.

He cut back slightly on his cardio down to only 4 days a week for about 30 to 40 minutes. Within a couple of months, he started to see arm definition that he had never had before, and his belly fat started to come down.

He also found his appetite was finally manageable enough so he could get his eating under control. Since doing so much cardio had always increased his appetite, fat loss over 40 can really be impacted by your muscle mass.

You want fat loss and not just weight loss. So, aim for at least three strength training sessions per week. You can keep them fairly short, 25 to 45 minutes of actual weight training, and push yourself to get close to failure. That means within your own personal limits, of course, nothing crazy.

Always aim for excellent technique so that you can protect your joints from injury and strengthen your muscles through their full range of motion. That's really what functional training is all about, not silly exercises where you stand up on stability walls and do squats.

Use Compound Movements and Progressive Overload

➡️ Use a lot of compound movements like squats, lunges, presses, lat pull-downs, deadlifts, pull-ups, dips, and rows.

➡️ Push, pull, and press to feel strong.

But yes, you can also do other fun stuff like biceps curls, lateral raises, and cable triceps extensions, isolation exercises. They're enjoyable, and they give you that mind-muscle connection with the muscle group you're working on.

Full body workouts that incorporate multi-joint exercises can be a great option if your time is limited, too. Incorporate progressive overload, meaning you should gradually increase the weight or intensity over time.

You can include both free weights, dumbbells, and barbells and resistance machines to target muscles effectively. You can even include some bodyweight exercises.

Where Bodyweight Fits In

I often get asked if bodyweight exercises are enough for resistance training, and that really depends. If you're a complete beginner, then yes, they challenge you to get stronger because you're relatively weak at that stage.

As you get more experienced, you have to keep picking bodyweight exercises that are more and more challenging. It's not always easy to do, but if you're committed to bodyweight only, you have to really know what you're doing to get great muscle building results.

Whatever way you challenge your muscles to build, don't think of strength training as optional. It's sort of like your fat loss insurance policy over 40.

Rule 2: Eat Enough Protein

But even the best workouts won't work if your body doesn't have the raw materials it needs to repair and build muscle. So make sure to get enough protein.

Protein has five key benefits for fat loss over 40:

➡️ It preserves lean mass. A high protein diet helps you retain muscle mass while in a calorie deficit. If you lose muscle over time, your metabolism starts to slow.

➡️ Protein boosts satiety. Protein keeps you fuller longer, reducing the likelihood of overeating.

➡️ Protein increases thermogenesis. Your body burns more calories digesting protein than it does digesting carbs or fat.

➡️ It supports recovery. After doing your strength training, protein helps repair and rebuild your muscle tissue.

➡️ It helps regulate your blood sugar. A diet high in protein can stabilize blood sugar levels, reducing cravings and energy fluctuations throughout the day.

My client Steven came to me after he had already lost 20 pounds with intermittent fasting. He'd always eaten pretty well, but he had a very demanding career with a lot of business lunches, dinners, and travel. He found skipping breakfast helped him drop the weight, but he was still about 15 lbs from his goal weight, and he had hit a plateau.

When I looked at his diet, I saw that he wasn't getting enough protein. For his weight of 200 lb, I wanted him to get at least 140 grams of protein, 0.7 grams per pound per day, and probably more because he was 60 years old and our response to protein decreases with age. He was only getting about 80 grams a day. Not that surprising since he was only having two meals a day.

So, I asked him to add a protein shake with berries in the morning, something that he enjoyed, and to increase his protein portion size in his other two meals. After a week, he noticed that he felt stronger when he was working out and he didn't get as hungry as before.

He ended up eating fewer high calorie treats later in the day. He managed to add 5 lbs of muscle and he also lost 2 in. off his waist since he started to lose the belly fat that had been hanging around for about as long as he could remember.

That's the power of protein. It doesn't just keep you full, it changes how your body functions. So, make sure you're getting at least that 0.7 g per pound of body weight per day. That's 1.6 g per kilo per day.

If you're fairly lean already and enjoy your protein, you can go as high as 1 gram per pound, 2.2 g per kilo.

🎁 If you want specific ideas for lean protein sources, grab a FREE copy of my Protein Plan HERE.

Rule 3: Listen to Your Body

To make real progress without burning out or getting injured, let me show you how to tune into your body's signals and make smarter decisions.

Listen to your body. And that has so many meanings as we get older. I'm definitely not telling you to just slow down and relax more in your 40s and 50s. We're still way too young for that.

A lot of people feel like they're more tired over 40, and there are a lot of different reasons for that. But the important thing to know is that it's not normal to be tired all the time. You shouldn't just accept it as a part of aging because it's not. If you're always tired, there's something you need to change.

Are you sleeping enough—at least 7 hours consistently? If not, you should tackle that first and set it as a priority. You're not going to be at your physical and mental peak if you're not sleeping.

If you're sleep deprived, your levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, go up and your levels of leptin, the fullness hormone, go down, which makes it hard to manage food cravings and lose fat.

Are you recovering from your workouts properly? If you do too much for too many days in a row, you may be sore and tired. Muscle growth happens between workouts. So, if you're constantly sore when you start your workout, you're probably not recovering enough.

Our recovery from exercise may reduce a bit as we get older. So, it's important to pay attention to the messages your body is sending you. Are your joints always sore? Does your elbow ache from golfer's elbow or tennis elbow? Mine does, actually.

Are your knees constantly sore? Don't just push through the pain.

It doesn't mean you want to skip weight training altogether, but you'll want to change your exercises so you're not aggravating the affected joint or tendon. You can often change your hand or leg position to reduce the pain that you're feeling.

Fat loss isn't just about pushing harder and harder all the time. Sometimes it's just about adapting your program as you run into challenges.

Rule 4: Reduce Calories Gradually

To stay on track without burning out, let me show you how to adjust your calories in a way that keeps fat loss going without draining your energy or making you miserable.

Reduce calories gradually and only slightly. There's a common misconception that diets don't work, but they do. Even the very restrictive ones with low calories. The problem is they only work as long as you stick to them. And if the diet is too restrictive, then you won't be able to stick to it.

You do need a calorie deficit for fat loss. But if you drop your calories drastically, here's what's likely to happen. You'll feel tired and hungry and cranky. It won't be long before your cravings take over and you slip off your plan.

You eat 2,000 calories a few times instead of the 1,600 you planned. Then you won't be losing fat anymore. So, it's usually better to use a more sustainable calorie deficit from the beginning.

More reasonable deficits also prevent muscle loss. So, a moderate deficit of about 10 to 20% below your maintenance gets you fat loss while preserving your muscle mass. A slow and steady approach prevents extreme hunger, making adherence easier.

They also maintain your energy levels. A gradual deficit prevents fatigue and helps you sustain an active lifestyle.

Rule 5: Be Patient and Course-Correct Quickly

But even the best plan won't work if you give up too soon. So, how do you stay consistent long enough to actually see results? Be patient and don't let minor setbacks get you down.

This is the hardest rule of all. Our brains are wired for quick wins. Many people start strong but give up too soon because they don't see instant results.

Fat loss takes time and staying committed to your plan is essential. Sustainable fat loss is generally about half to one pound a week, but the leaner you are, the harder and slower it gets. Consistency is the most critical factor in long-term fat loss success.

If you overeat one day, don't just give up and decide that you might as well just start overeating. This is called the what the hell effect. In psychology, they call it counter-regulatory eating.

If you've ever been on a diet before, I'm sure you've experienced this sort of all or nothing mentality. Most of my clients have done it, and I did it myself for over a decade.

And what I found is that when people feel like they've failed at their diet, they let their training slip as well. So, both sides of that calories in, calories out equation get hit.

So, course correct as soon as possible. If you overeat at one meal, make your next meal a bit smaller. If you skip a workout or two because you've been busy at work, just do something small to keep the momentum going.

➡️ Do some bodyweight exercises at home for 20 minutes.

➡️ Anything that keeps you moving forward.

Bonus Rule: Keep It Simple

And as a bonus rule, remember to keep it simple. You don't need to try the latest trendy workout plan or crazy diet. You don't need cold plunges or detoxes or VR workouts.

Your life is complicated enough. Keep fat loss simple by sticking to the five rules.

You'll learn how to put them all together into a realistic fat loss plan that works in THIS VIDEO HERE.

Ivana Chapman