The EXACT System To Lose Fat Over 40

Do you feel like losing fat has gotten harder after 40?

For over 25 years, I’ve helped men and women over 40 change their habits and finally lose fat. In this video, I’m going to show you my simple science-backed method that’ll get you leaner as you get older while enjoying your favorite foods and without wasting endless hours on the treadmill.

The Truth About Your Metabolism Over 40

Does metabolism really slow down in your 40s?

Let’s start with something that might surprise you: your metabolism doesn’t actually slow down that much until your 60s. And even then, it’s a slow and gradual process that you can do something about. I’m going to go back to the metabolism issue later because there’s something crucial that you need to do to avoid slowing down your metabolism with age.

Why fat loss feels harder as you age

So, why does it feel harder now?

There’s a combination of physiological, lifestyle, and psychological factors at play. I’m going to guide you to overcome the challenges that do occur over 40 with my POWER framework.

Five science-backed principles that support your physical and mental health for fat loss after 40. I’ve put it all together for you in The Lean and Strong 40+ Plan.

Why Nutrition Comes First for Fat Loss Over 40

When it comes to fat loss, you need to prioritize nutrition because you want to create a moderate calorie deficit to lose fat without draining your energy or your performance in the gym.

Why you can’t out-train a poor diet

Unless you have a couple of hours every day to exercise—and I’m pretty sure you don’t—it’s very hard to burn off as many calories as you need with exercise alone.

I was at one of those viral cookie places a couple of weeks ago, and they had a fairly large chocolate chip cookie available, which I definitely could have eaten in one sitting. And they said it was 720 calories. At my weight of 135 pounds, I’d need to do moderate mountain biking for nearly two hours just for that jumbo cookie.

The average doughnut has about 300 calories. If you weigh 170 lbs, you’ll need to walk for about an hour at a moderate to brisk pace to burn off those calories.

How to include your favorite foods without guilt

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have cookies or donuts. In fact, if you love those foods, I encourage you to keep them in your nutrition plan, but have them less frequently and in smaller quantities. Think about your portion size. You definitely want to share that cookie with a friend or eat a small amount now and leave the rest for tomorrow or the next day.

That first bite is the sweetest. The first taste is the most satisfying. That first sliver of a delicious dessert is the best. There are diminishing returns as you eat more and more of the same food, no matter how delicious it is. So, eat slowly, pay attention to how delicious that food is, and stop when you’re starting to feel satisfied. 

The Food Freedom List

So, what do you actually eat?

I want you to create what I call the Food Freedom List. You’ll put together a collection of foods based on these questions:

➡️ What are your five favorite staple foods you could eat regularly? These are the healthy options you like to have most days.

➡️ What are your five favorite lean protein sources?

➡️ What five vegetables do you genuinely enjoy and want to eat more often?

➡️ What five fruits do you genuinely enjoy and want to eat more often?

➡️ What are your five favorite treat foods that truly feel worth it? Maybe it’s French fries, ice cream, or beer.

➡️ What five treat foods could you easily live without? These are the things that don’t actually satisfy you that much or aren’t really worth the calories.

➡️ Which foods or habits tend to throw you off track? Maybe it’s trigger foods, eating more in social settings, or late-night snacking.

This is all laid out for you in The Lean and Strong 40+ Plan so you can do the exercise yourself.

I definitely have my favorite foods that I eat regularly, and I also have the things that I don’t need. A lot of you might like potato chips or French fries, but I don’t eat those. Or burgers. Those are not really interesting to me. I definitely have a sweet tooth. I do really enjoy carbs in general. So, I like potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Potatoes are a great choice actually because they have one of the highest satiety levels of any food. If it keeps you full, your appetite stays under control and you eat fewer calories overall. And that’s what fat loss is all about.

Why Protein Matters More After 40

Remember that what you eat drives everything: your energy, your recovery, your sleep, your muscle building, and your fat burn. If you take care of the physiological, then the psychological becomes easier.

It starts with planning satisfying meals that keep you full. That makes it easier to eat less and you’re less likely to give in to your habits and cravings, most of which are psychological.

How much protein should you eat over 40?

So, focus each meal around protein for a total of 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of body weight per day or 1.6 to 2.2 g per kilo per day. This applies to active adults who want to build muscle and lose fat like you.

Remember that the protein goal is a range and 0.7 grams per pound can be plenty for you. I usually keep my clients on that lower end if they’re quite large. The bigger guys who weigh 220 to 250 lbs when they’re starting out and have at least 30 lbs to lose. It’s just so much protein to eat.

I weigh around 135 to 140 lbs at 5 foot 10 and I usually get 120ish grams of protein divided into three larger meals and sometimes one smaller one. Sometimes I’ll have a whey protein isolate shake after my workouts, but not always. Protein keeps you fuller for longer and you’ll be less likely to develop cravings later on. It also preserves your muscle mass, which is essential if you’re over 40.

What anabolic resistance means for your muscles

Here’s what happens with age. In people in their 20s, around 20 to 25 grams of high quality protein—meaning it has enough of the amino acid leucine—is often enough to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis per meal.

For people in their 60s, for instance, that threshold increases. They may need 30 to 40 g of high quality protein in one sitting to achieve the same response. Older muscles are less sensitive to leucine, that main amino acid that triggers muscle protein synthesis. And that lowered response is called anabolic resistance. It can start as early as your 40s, but more often after 50. By 70, you may need nearly double the protein to get the same anabolic effect as someone in their early 20s. So, it’s good to get in the habit of having more protein per meal.

Distributing protein across the day

To maximize your muscle building, it’s best to distribute your protein in at least three and preferably four meals. It just means you’re getting a consistent supply of protein. It’s really hard to get enough protein in just two meals a day, unless you’re a really small person. If you’re aiming for 160 g of protein per day, you can have 40 grams of protein per meal for four meals and you’re set.

Appetite, Hormones, and Food Choices 

Managing your appetite is a key part of fat loss because you need to keep those calories under control. Ghrelin is a hormone produced in your stomach and pancreas that’s associated with stimulating hunger. If ghrelin levels are high, you turn into a gremlin.

Ghrelin, hunger, and cravings explained

Protein is the nutrient that’s best for lowering your ghrelin levels. But sometimes when you just focus on protein, you still won’t lose fat.

When my client Mark came to me to lose about 30 lbs, he was already eating plenty of protein. And we’ve just said that protein keeps you fuller for longer and keeps your appetite under control.

So what was happening to Mark? When I looked at his meal plan, I realized his protein sources were things like steak, burgers, and chicken drumsticks. So while those are protein sources, they’re also quite high in fat. Since fat is 9 calories per gram compared to carbs and protein at 4 calories per gram, it adds up quickly. Those foods are calorie-dense, lots of energy packed into a very tasty package.

Why lean protein sources beat fatty cuts

So, he switched up his protein sources to leaner options. More chicken breast instead of drumsticks, grilled fish instead of burgers, and often just choosing a top sirloin instead of a ribeye steak. Yes, you want the protein, but you also need to reduce your calories slightly to get yourself into a calorie deficit to lose fat.

How fiber helps you stay full and lose fat over 40

Fiber can also help with this. Because most fiber isn’t absorbed, those calories pass through. Insoluble fiber from vegetables and wheat bran actually acts as a physical barrier and can trap some fat and carbs. So, a small part of those calories pass through unabsorbed as well. Soluble fiber, the kind you find in oats, legumes, psyllium, chia seeds, barley, and apples, forms a gel-like substance in the gut that slows down digestion and absorption of nutrients and slightly reduces the total absorption, particularly of fat.

This is one of the ways that regularly taking psyllium helps reduce your cholesterol levels. Definitely something you want to keep an eye on after 40. And most fiber sources are also low in calorie density, so they fill you up without many calories.

So, now you might be wondering, if you eat like that, does it mean you don’t have to count calories? Maybe. I’ve seen lots of people lose fat just by putting the focus on lean protein and foods with fiber, particularly vegetables and fruit. Having more nutrient-dense, low-calorie density foods and fewer ultra-processed foods is certainly a great start. For many people, that will naturally put them into a calorie deficit without them having to count calories.

If You're Not Losing Fat, You're NOT In A Calorie Deficit

And right here, I want to clear up some confusion.

Getting into a calorie deficit and counting calories are not the same thing. If you’re not losing fat, you’re not in a calorie deficit. So, people in the comments will tell me, “I’ve been in a calorie deficit for 6 months. I haven’t lost any fat.” You’re not in a calorie deficit. Whatever numbers you’re using to track calories aren’t right for you or you’re not tracking calories accurately enough, which is usually the case because calorie tracking is incredibly hard to do accurately. Even dieticians have been shown to be off with their calorie counting by up to 40%. And I’ve just given you an example where a caloric deficit can be achieved without any tracking.

Another way is if someone is completely sedentary. Let’s say they have 50 lbs to lose and then they start exercising every day or even just walking 10,000 steps a day. If they don’t change what they’re eating at all, then they’ll also get into a calorie deficit and lose fat because energy balance is calories in and calories out.

Things get a bit more complicated if you’re already physically active, already eating fairly well, and only have 30 lbs or less to lose, like most of my clients. You don’t have as much room to play around with. You’ll want to make a small reduction to your calorie intake while fine-tuning your workout and movement.

When to Track Calories

So, when can calorie and macro tracking be useful? I usually recommend that most of my clients keep track of what they’re eating for at least 3 weeks. In the first week or two, you might not even change anything. You’re just recording what you currently eat, your maintenance calories at your current activity level. It’s a learning process and you’ll get more familiar with your food. Then you can make decisions about what’s worth it and what’s not going forward.

I encourage most of my clients to wean themselves off calorie tracking by building their own meal plans that contain the foods they love to eat. But even if you’ve got your calories in check, you still want to pay attention to exercise. Beginning around 40, you’ll start losing 0.8 to 1% of your muscle mass per year.

Why Strength Training Is Non-Negotiable

So, what can you do about muscle loss?

Strength training, of course. Most of the data you see about the rate of muscle loss is in relatively sedentary people because that’s what most people are. Only about 30% of men and 24% of women aged 45 to 64 are doing strength training at least twice a week as is recommended. And it’s only a percentage or two higher for those under 44.

So, if you’re already doing weight training two or more times per week, welcome to my special club for active 40 plus people. In my mind, strength training over 40 isn’t optional if you want to stay lean as you get older. Why? Because maintaining your lean muscle mass as you age will keep your metabolic rate as high as it can be. Muscle burns slightly more calories than fat all the time. More muscle means more calorie burn.

Without strength training, you’ll experience a gradual decline in muscle tissue that accelerates after age 60. At that point, you can actually experience sarcopenia, which is the reduction in muscle that impairs mobility and function. The slow descent to that state can begin in your 40s if you’re not weight training regularly. This is why people start to look softer and less defined in their 40s, even if their weight doesn’t change. You put on more fat and lose muscle, and your body fat percentage creeps up slowly. Pretty much the opposite of what we want.

And remember that muscle isn’t just about how your body looks. Muscle supports a healthy metabolism, increases your insulin sensitivity, improves joint integrity, and supports your bone health. Losing it too early can make fat loss harder and everyday life more exhausting.

So, how do you stop that?

Use a structured resistance training program to overload with purpose. Research shows that even adults in their 70s and 80s can build significant lean mass with the right training plan. In your 40s and 50s, you’re in the perfect window to build and protect muscle against bigger losses later on.

Two strength training sessions a week is the minimum health recommendation, but if you’re serious about getting leaner and feeling great after 40, then three to four workouts a week is better. Full body workouts are a great option, especially if you’re training alternating days like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but there are other ways to split things up that also work.

The standard push-pull-leg split isn’t always ideal because you’ll probably do better hitting your major muscle groups twice per week. There are basically six of them: legs, chest, shoulders, back, arms, and core/abs. Almost everyone I’ve coached in the past 25 years has wanted to lose some belly fat and have a more defined midsection. The vast majority of that is going to come from your diet and your overall activity. But training your abs can build them up a tiny bit and give you some core support in your daily life.

Why compound lifts build more muscle

When we look at the upper body choices—chest, shoulders, arms, back—there’s overlap in the muscle groups you’re using. If you’re doing a bench press, for instance, you mainly think of this as a chest exercise, but it’s working your arms too, your triceps. And with compound exercises where you’re using more than one muscle group and involving more than one joint, like lat pull-downs, chin-ups, deadlifts, chest presses, and seated rows, you get more muscle involved at once.

This is different from isolation exercises like biceps curls, cable triceps extensions, or a lying hamstring curl. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, and I usually include at least one or two of them at the end of my workouts, particularly with arms because I enjoy doing them. But make sure they’re not the only thing you’re doing.

The best strength training splits for over 40

As we get older, we want to take into consideration what’s really functional in our lives and build strength in those movements. Squats definitely apply. Step-ups, because you want more spring in your step every time you’re faced with stairs. Then there are cool things to do like chin-ups, which are particularly impressive in your 40s and 50s. Only about 17% of men and 5% of women of any age can do a single full chin-up. Those are the kind of exercises that many of my clients have as a goal.

Keep workouts focused. Your weight training sessions don’t need to be long. 25 to 45 minutes of actual weight training with maybe 5 minutes at the beginning to warm up and 5 to 10 minutes to do a little stretching and mobility is great. Unless you’re competing in bodybuilding or powerlifting, you don’t need more than that consistently to get amazing results.

The reason most people spend so much time in the gym is that they’re resting for long periods of time. They’re walking around and chatting or scrolling their phone, checking work emails when they should have started their next set. Try to turn off the distractions. Multitasking is only hurting your productivity in the gym.

Generally, you want to keep your rest between sets no more than 90 seconds, maybe two minutes or so if you’re specifically working on strength in that session, but you do want some rest. If you don’t leave enough time between sets, you won’t be able to lift as heavy a weight or do as many reps. It’s not about rushing from exercise to exercise. It’s about giving your muscles a chance to recover just enough to do another set.

Progressive overload made simple over 40

And you want to use progressive overload.

You probably think about progressive overload as lifting heavier weights. And yes, that can certainly be part of it. But as you get more experienced with weight training, it’s not always easy to add more weight to the bar or use a heavier dumbbell.

So, what else can you do?

You can increase the reps or slow the movement down and increase the time under tension. You can also increase your volume. That’s the amount of work in sets and reps that you’re doing over the course of either your workout or over the week. Your body adapts over time to any stimulus that you give it. So, you need to change it over time. That doesn’t mean every session or even every month. Usually, every 6 to 8 weeks is a good period of time to make a change to your workout program. That way, your body has time to get better at the exercises you’ve been doing, and you don’t get too bored. 

Why Daily Movement Matters 

Walk and move daily.

While strength training creates the main stimulus for muscle, most of your daily calorie burn actually comes from what’s happening outside the gym. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, is the small movements that you do throughout the day. Strictly speaking, it’s really just the fidgeting or rocking that some people do more naturally. But we can all increase our total calorie burn for fat loss by moving around whenever we can, standing more than sitting, walking around our homes, cleaning, folding the endless pile of laundry that always seems to be there.

A lot of people really get into counting their steps. Most of the benefits in terms of health risks and longevity seem to max out around 8,000 steps per day. 10,000 steps came from a marketing campaign in Japan in the 60s, but it’s a nice round number. And if you’re trying to lose fat, it certainly won’t hurt.

As another bonus for fat loss, if you feel like you’re constantly hungry in a calorie deficit, a short walk can help reduce your hunger and manage your cravings. Walking is low impact and it doesn’t add training stress to your body. It can actually help you recover from your weight training sessions.

Think of movement as oiling the hinges on a door. Regularly moving keeps everything gliding smoothly. In your 40s, you may have noticed more pain and stiffness in your joints. Some of that is natural wear and tear that comes with age, but I say it’s better to wear out than rust out. Movement and strengthening exercises improve the quality of your tendons, ligaments, and joints. You just need to make small adjustments for any discomfort that you’re having.

If you get stiff and sore from sitting and staring at a screen for hours—and who doesn’t—then getting up every 25 to 30 minutes is a good idea. If you pair that with another healthy habit, like drinking a glass of water, then you move forward even faster. A treadmill desk might be a good investment for your office. I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet. I’m definitely considering it for the winter.

The Lean Mindset Method

But it’s not just your body that needs to move. If you want lasting fat loss, your mindset has to shift too. Establish new patterns. This is what makes the biggest difference for long-term success. To lose fat and keep it off, you need to let go of your old way of thinking:

➡️ Carbs are bad

➡️ Fat is bad

➡️ A tiny bit of junk food is going to make me lose all my progress

➡️ I’m too old

➡️ I’m not athletic

➡️ I have to be perfect to succeed with fat loss

Reframe your thinking with what I call the Lean Mindset Method, based on CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). First, you identify your thinking traps, which are automatic thoughts that come and go without intention. These are things you say to yourself repeatedly that don’t get you to your goals or that make you feel bad about yourself.

For example: “I ate a cookie, so my whole diet is ruined. I might as well eat whatever I want now.” The reality is that one treat won’t undo all your progress. So, let go of any guilt you’re feeling. You can enjoy a cookie and still stay on track with your goals.

Another common one: “I missed one workout this week. I’m going to lose all my muscle and gain fat.” Missing one workout won’t undo your progress. Muscle growth and fat loss is a long-term process.

Over time, you turn all those unhelpful thoughts around. Most of my clients have struggled with that all-or-nothing mindset and have been on that fat loss roller coaster dozens of times. These are successful, driven people who expect a lot from themselves. And they beat themselves up hard about every little slip, and that only makes things worse.

Instead of thinking, “I’ve ruined my diet. I might as well give up and just eat more and skip the gym,” you say to yourself, “I ate a bit more than I planned, but it’s just one meal, and I can move on with the next meal.” Until you change the way that you talk to yourself and the habits that have been ingrained for years—maybe decades—you’ll keep fighting with those last 10 to 30 lbs over and over again.

Why “Clean Eating” Doesn’t Work

So, why not just eat clean or eat real food like so many influencers tell you to? Because avoiding the foods you love isn’t sustainable. Sure, you probably need to eat fewer ultra-processed foods than you are, and in smaller amounts. But trying to ban them altogether isn’t going to work for the long term.

That’s why many fitness competitors and bodybuilders gain a lot of weight when they’re not competing. After being deprived for months at a time, they can’t control themselves around certain treat foods. I did that myself for over a decade.

I could always get leaner if I cut out chocolate, cookies, and ice cream completely and upped my hours in the gym. I’m a pretty disciplined person, so I could manage that for weeks, maybe a couple of months. But eventually, I’d give up and end up binging on the foods I’d been avoiding. Then I felt bad about myself and ate more to comfort myself.

I kept fighting with those 20 lbs, and every time I felt more and more like a failure. I could never have any chocolate or ice cream in the house because I would eat it all and then go to the store to buy more. But now my kitchen has lots of sweet treats, including chocolate on the shelves and ice cream in the fridge. And I can leave it for weeks at a time or just take a small amount and put the rest back, which totally blows my mind whenever I think about it.

When I finally decided that all foods could be part of my plan, it actually took away a lot of those cravings. Because real progress isn’t about restriction or pushing harder all the time. It’s about creating balance. And that includes getting enough rest.

Recovery Is the Missing Piec

Recover sufficiently. This is the most overlooked but critical piece of the puzzle over 40. If you’re not recovering properly, you’re not building muscle, burning fat, or performing at your best. Muscle grows when you’re resting, not when you’re training it.

And if you’re tired, you probably prefer plunking down on the couch with some delivery food and a couple of episodes of Reacher. I hear you. After 40, our ability to recover from exercise goes down. So, you might need more time between workouts and more sleep.

The problem is that our sleep quality can go down too. Our production of melatonin is reduced as we get older. That’s the hormone that manages our sleep-wake cycle. Sleep can get more fragmented with lighter sleep and sometimes early waking.

Not only that, but the decline in sex hormones as we age affects our sleep too. The reduction in testosterone levels in men and progesterone in women can also impact our sleep.

So, why does sleep matter for fat loss? Can’t you just survive on five hours and push through with coffee the next day? Sure, but you know how that goes. Eventually, you get tired and frazzled and just don’t have the focus or energy to exercise or plan sensible meals.

You may also get into a stress recovery imbalance. And when you don’t sleep enough, your body increases ghrelin, your hunger hormone, and decreases leptin, your fullness hormone. So, you’ll have everything against you when it comes to fat loss.

Try to get at least seven hours a night and give yourself a sleep routine. Start winding down 30 to 60 minutes before bed. Dim the lights and turn off screens. If you’re working on your laptop or scrolling on your phone until your head hits the pillow, then the melatonin release—which already gets lower with age—is going to be further reduced. You may fall asleep, but you won’t sleep as well.

Then when you go to sleep, you want that room to be quiet, cool, and as dark as you can get it. Rest and recovery helps make fat loss sustainable, and it’s particularly important if you want to build lean muscle over 40.

Putting Your 40+ Plan Together

If you’re over 40, you can still get leaner, stronger, and feel amazing.

It comes down to five things: prioritize nutrition, overload with purpose through strength training, walk and move daily, establish new patterns with the Lean Mindset Method, and recover sufficiently. Do these consistently and you’ll not only lose fat—you’ll also build a stronger body and a healthier life for decades to come.

To do that safely and efficiently, watch THIS VIDEO HERE.

Ivana Chapman