Losing weight is hard. Full stop. But it is especially hard once you are in your 40s and your metabolism slows down.
Growing up as an athlete I’ve been fortunate to stay relatively fit my entire life. Any time I started seeing a number on the scale that was unsavory I would just try to eat less sweets (honestly a monstrously hard feat for me) and put a running schedule together.
Then I had children and realized it was much harder to lose weight when you gain 60 lbs during pregnancy. Most of that weight came off quick enough thanks to breastfeeding, but life turned upside down with a newborn so there was zero time for a running schedule or any self-care for that matter. To tell the truth I never lost about 15 lbs of that extra pregnancy weight, but had just succumbed to the new jigglier version of myself.
Now that my kids are a bit older, I have a little more time to focus on me, and decided it was finally the year to try and get back to my glory days. But the methods that worked in my 20s and 30s were no longer working. Enter my AI friend, Google Gemini.
I created a fitness coach through Google Gemini (my preferred AI assistant, but you may like ChatGPT better) and can happily admit that I’m now down to my pre-kids weight. By entering my current statistics like height and weight, as well as what I was trying to accomplish, my fitness coach helped put together a daily calorie goal that was focused on protein intake. If you are wondering the key to losing weight in your 40s, it’s protein!
In order to lose fat and not muscle then you need a protein intake of 0.7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound. Let me tell you ladies, that is a LOT of protein. I’ve found that adding some protein drinks and bars to my daily menu was key to helping me stay full longer and not over-eat to remain within my daily calorie goals.
But not all protein snacks are created equal. Some taste like garbage. Others have the consistency of chalk. Thankfully I found a couple staples that have been my go-tos for losing the weight.
Nurris are the most delicious protein drink I’ve found. They taste like a real milkshake, and I have one every single day. My favorites are coffee and vanilla, but honestly I haven’t found one I don’t like. My other go-to protein snack? Barebells bars. They actually taste like candy bars, so I have to try hard to stick to just one per day. The best flavor in my opinion? The cookies and carmel.
These staples, combined with a little healthy exercise like weightlifting and pilates, have turned me into a better version of myself. I’m healthier, happier and excited to share these tips in the hope that they help you find the best version of you!
P.S. The additional benefit of an AI health coach is that it can give helpful tips when you are dining out. Just enter the name of the restaurant and what food you are debating between and your coach will give you the pros and cons of each to help you make the best decision for your daily goals.
