How to Boost Metabolism for Women Over 40
Many women in perimenopause and menopause experience weight gain due to dropping hormone levels, decreased muscle mass, and a slowing of metabolism. Here’s how women can boost metabolism over 40.
Perimenopause Metabolism Slow Down
As a woman over 40, and a woman in perimenopause or menopause, one of the big health changes you’ll likely experience is a slowing of your metabolism.
You’re eating the same things, exercising the same way (or not) but now you’re gaining weight. What gives?
Let’s talk about what’s going on in the body and how can you increase your metabolism over 40 to lose weight, or even maintain weight, and keep your health in order.
What is Metabolism?
Metabolism, or more specifically your metabolic rate, is the rate at which your body turns food into energy. A person with high or fast metabolism burns more calories over a shorter period of time than someone with a slower metabolism.
If your metabolism is fast, you can usually eat more before you gain weight. You’ll likely also have more energy.
Some women are born with a fast metabolism where they can eat whatever they want and rarely gain weight. While others easily gain weight even though they watch what they eat and how much. That’s genetics and luck of the draw.
There are, however, things you can do as a woman over 40 to boost your metabolism so you can keep burning calories at a decent rate.
Female Metabolism Over 40
As you age, your hormones shift and your metabolism slows, so your calorie and fat burning decrease as well.
After you turn 40, your metabolism decreases about 5% each decade after. By the time you turn 60, your metabolism is approximately 10% slower. Bummer, I know.
As if that’s not enough, as a woman in perimenopause, you start to lose muscle while your estrogen levels drop. That causes your insulin to increase and your thyroid to decrease. This perfect storm of hormone imbalances can lead to weight gain and a decline in energy.
How to Boost Your Metabolism
Luckily you don’t need to take your slowing metabolism lying down, even if you are tired.
Here are some ways to increase your metabolism as a woman over 40:
HIIT It
High-intensity interval training, or HIIT classes, can be a good way to get your body pumping in a short amount of time.
HIIT exercise gives women in menopause a nice twofer. Studies have shown that you can burn more fat with this intense exercise as well as decrease your insulin resistance. That’s a win-win right there.
Being able to metabolize your glucose efficiently and balance insulin not only helps with fat but will also help with hormones and overall energy.
A quick note that if you’re extremely fatigued after working out, you may need more gentle exercise like yoga or pilates. Always check with your doctor before starting a new workout.
Strength Train
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that your body is always burning calories, even while you’re just sitting there reading this.
The bad news is that the calories you burn just from reading are not enough to help you boost your metabolism and maintain your health goals.
BUT, there’s a way you can increase your metabolic rate while just sitting. And that’s by lifting weights. You will get the effects of lifting, even after you’re finished.
When you lift weights consistently, you gain more muscle. More muscle helps you burn more calories and increase your metabolism.
Muscle is important for all these reasons and the fact that muscle cells require more energy than fat cells. That means that when you lift more weight, you boost your metabolic rate, and burn more calories. And you’ll experience these benefits even when you’re just sitting and reading. Not bad.
Eat protein
To support your muscles and growth, don’t skimp on protein.
Not only does protein help fill you up so you’ll stop eating, but it also can cause more of a calorie burn since it takes more energy to process the nutrients.
Protein helps to build muscle. So in addition to lifting weights and practicing resistance training, be sure to feed those muscles some protein. You’ll also be helping to boost your metabolism.
Drink Cold Filtered Water
Drinking water has always been a good thing to do for a woman in menopause or any stage of her life.
Water helps flush out toxins, xenoestrogens, and other harmful substances that take up residence from beauty and cleaning products. Not only that, water helps to process calories.
Several studies have shown that drinking water can increase metabolism and may even help you eat less when consumed half an hour before meals.
Try and avoid drinking a lot of water with your meal since that can dilute the digestive juices needed to break your food down. And always strive for clean, filtered water.
There’s even some evidence that drinking cold water can help boost your metabolism since your body needs to work a little more to heat it up.
Keep Your Liver Clean and Eat Well
Our liver is always busy clearing our digestive pathways.
It filters out toxins and refuse. If there’s a backup, you’ll feel it, and you’ll physically get backed up.
Ways to keep the liver clear while nourishing the body:
Watch toxins in your food - the Dirty Dozen list is a good resource to see which produce has the most pesticides
Watch chemicals in your beauty products
Avoid food you’re sensitive to or have an allergic reaction to
Avoid inflammatory foods including gluten, dairy, sugar, and processed food
Limit your alcohol
Keep the body hydrated with lots of clean, filtered water
Consume fiber to help eliminate toxins
Get Quality Sleep
Sleep is critical for women over 40 for boosting metabolism and avoiding weight gain.
Sleep keeps the hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin at appropriate levels. These hormones control your appetite and fullness. Ever wake up famished after a poor night’s sleep? That’s your ghrelin and leptin out of balance.
Not getting quality sleep will also affect your blood sugar levels and send your insulin soaring.
All of this to say, want to boost your metabolism? Get a good night’s sleep. Here’s how.
Questionable Ways to Boost Metabolism
You may hear people say that eating spicy foods can help you burn more calories. There has been a little research on this but the effects are negligible. And if you’re in perimenopause and experiencing hot flashes, spicy food will only make things worse so opt for the other metabolism boosters listed here instead.
The same goes for tea and coffee. Caffeine may increase your metabolic rate in the short term but it won’t likely produce long-term results.