How to Lose Weight in Your 50s and 60s

Have you noticed that your body has started to change now that you've hit middle age? It's common to see changes on the scale and how your clothes fit as you get older, but this doesn't have to impact your health.

While you can't necessarily stop or reverse all the changes that come with getting older, engaging in physical activity, following a balanced diet, and living a healthy lifestyle can help you stay fit as you age. Here are a few things you can do to achieve all of these.

Know Your Numbers

One number often associated with health is body mass index (BMI). But this isn't the best indicator of health for older adults because the recommended BMIs for this age group are different—specifically, they are higher than for younger adults.1

Or maybe you weigh yourself on the scale at home to help keep track of weight-related changes in your 50s and 60s. This can provide some insight, as can knowing a few additional numbers that may also impact your health.

Waist Circumference

Your waistline may get bigger as you get older, even if you aren't gaining weight. Aging expert Florence Comite, MD, says that hormonal changes don't necessarily cause weight gain but they can change the way you carry weight on your body. 

Comite is a New York City endocrinologist who helps people maintain vitality as they age. “Women tend to see weight gain in their middle," she says, "and men—especially those who don’t go to the gym—wear their belt a little lower to accommodate a bigger belly.”

Research indicates that holding a higher level of fat around the waistline is associated with a lower quality of life in older adults. One study found that those with bigger waist circumferences had lower scores in independent living and relationships while also reporting being in more pain.2

Waist to Hip Ratio

Another number that can help monitor your level of health is your waist to hip ratio. This ratio is calculated by dividing your waist size by your hip size. This particular number is important because it can help identify your risk of disease and even injury.

For instance, a higher waist to hip ratio has been linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and even an increased risk of death.3 Other studies have connected an increasing waist to hip ratio with increased hip fractures, in women especially.4

Body Fat Percentage

Your body composition is likely to change as you get older because muscle mass peaks when you're in your 30s and decreases roughly 1% to 2% every year thereafter.5 This is due to several factors, such as lower testosterone levels and decreased sex hormones.

Higher body fat is correlated with reduced strength and joint function.6 Paying attention to your body fat percentage over time can help you identify decreases in muscle and increases in body fat, potentially resulting in these effects.

Evaluate Your Family History

In her practice, Dr. Comite conducts tests to help her patients target and treat issues that affect their health and vitality as they age. But simply knowing your family health history is the next best thing. "If you know that there is a history of diabetes in your family," Dr. Comite says, "then you know to ask your doctor to screen for that condition."

If possible, talk to your family members to get a better understanding of health issues that may run through your bloodline. For family members who are deceased, obtaining their death certificates can provide some additional insight as to whether they died from a specific disease.

Medical issues that can have a genetic or family-related lifestyle component include:7

Heart disease

High blood pressure

Stroke

Cancer

Type 2 diabetes

Be an Expert in Your Own Health

Once you know your health history, connect with your doctor to get personalized advice to improve your health as you get older. For example, if you find out that you have a family history of high blood pressure, find out how changes to your lifestyle can help you avoid medication in the future.

In many cases, maintaining a healthy weight can reduce or prevent disease. Understanding the specific benefits of a healthy weight can serve as motivation to slim down.

 What Are the Benefits of Losing Weight?

Manage Your Diet

Adopting dietary changes that are sustainable can help you manage your weight. Changes should be slow, but reasonable and attainable. For example, you may want to reduce sweets as opposed to stop eating sweets altogether. Here are a few tips to get started.

Reduce Your Calorie Intake

If you want to lose weight at any age, using more calories than you take in is important. This is referred to as creating a calorie deficit. Cutting down on how much you eat is one way to achieve this type of deficit.

Keeping a food journal can help. Record what you eat during the day and the calories in each item to make sure you stay within your desired range. Or, a simpler method is to just cut down your portion sizes. This reduces your calorie intake without having to write everything down.

Consume Nutrient-Dense Foods

Not all calories are the same. Some are what we call "empty calories" or calories that are essentially void of any real nutrition. Then there are nutrient-dense foods that supply a lot of vitamins and minerals per volume, making them better for our health and wellness.

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans stress that older adults have increased nutrient needs due to a reduced calorie intake, nutrient absorption issues, medications, chronic health conditions, and more.8 Consuming nutrient-dense foods can help meet these expanded needs.

Foods that contain a lot of nutrients for the calories they provide include lean meats, whole grains, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Nuts, seeds, and legumes are also nutrient-dense foods, making them great additions to your diet.

Eat Enough Protein

In her book Keep It Up, Dr. Comite lists the benefits of eating the right amount of protein. For instance, it can help you to feel full longer while also assisting with building and repairing your body’s tissues. Plus, the process of eating protein burns more calories. 

Research supports protein's role in long-term health.9 Some health experts even suggest that consuming high-quality protein at each meal may delay or reduce the progression and/or consequences of sarcopenia, another term for age-related muscle loss.10

How much protein do you need as an older adult? Dr. Comite recommends consuming 1.2 to 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For example, a 150-pound person weighs roughly 68 kilograms, which equates to 81.6 to 95.2 grams of protein daily.

If following the other health experts' advice, this would mean consuming approximately 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal (assuming a 3-meal per day eating pattern). Lean meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy products are all foods that are higher in protein.

Boost Your Activity Level

Even though hormones play a role in the aging process, lifestyle comes into play as well. Have you stopped doing daily chores like carrying groceries, shoveling snow, or mowing the lawn? If so, this probably means that you burn fewer calories every day. 

If you have no limiting health conditions and are generally fit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends getting at 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week for healthy aging, plus two days per week of strength training.11

Talk to your doctor to learn whether these guidelines are safe for you. If they aren't possible due to your health or level of fitness, the CDC suggests being as physically active as your abilities and conditions allow.

With this in mind, you can burn more calories without exercise by increasing your non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT. Simple daily chores and other non-exercise activities like walking the dog can boost your NEAT and contribute to a healthier metabolism.

Balance Your Workouts

It’s great if you do any exercise daily. But as you age, a balanced workout program becomes more important. A varied program can help offset hormonal changes that happen with aging while improving balance and flexibility.12 Elements to include in your workouts are:

Strength training: Resistance or strength training has specific benefits as you age. Among them are improving your functional movement, healthier body composition, and preventing bone fractures.13

Aerobic training: Doing cardiovascular activity regularly, such as taking brisk walks or swimming, can help you maintain a healthy body (and weight) while also boosting your stamina.14

Flexibility training: Stretching exercises can increase the range of motion in your joints. This helps your body stay limber and comfortable through activities of daily living.

Stability training: Keep a strong, stable body by adding stability exercises to your routine. They take just minutes to perform but help improve your balance while reducing your risk of falls.15

Evaluate Your Lifestyle

As you near or reach retirement, have your interests shifted to more leisurely activities? Do you spend more time reading, eating in restaurants, cooking indulgent meals, or entertaining friends? These shifts can cause weight gain.

To lose weight, you don't necessarily need to give up your hobbies. But you may want to make simple adjustments to change your energy balance.

For example, if you like to travel, choose an active vacation instead of a food-centered cruise. If you like to cook, invest in a healthy cooking class. Here are a few other changes you can make to your lifestyle that can help you lose weight.

Monitor Your Alcohol Intake

Increased travel, eating in restaurants more often, and entertaining with friends might also mean that you drink alcohol more often. And calories from booze can add up quickly. 

If you drink fairly regularly, cutting back can help you lose weight by lowering your calorie intake. You might also switch what you drink to take in fewer calories. Light alcoholic beverages are one option as is adding lower-calorie ingredients to your mixed drinks—like sparkling water over fruit juice.

In addition, people don't always tend to make the best food choices when they drink. Eating a healthy meal before you have your first drink can help. This way, you are less likely to be tempted by high-calorie, high-fat foods that can derail your weight loss goals.

Stay Connected With Active Friends

Not sure that you will stick to your exercise? Then you may want to connect with friends who will hold you accountable and who also share your interest in an active lifestyle. 

Research shows that social support is a great way to boost adherence to an exercise program.16 Meet new friends at the gym, connect with active church members, or organize a few neighbors for regular walks around the block.

You might also consider downloading a fitness app to enhance your accountability. When the app sends you notifications asking if you've worked out today, it may be just the spark you need to make sure you can respond with a yes.

A Word From Verywell

Dr. Comite recommends making no more than three changes per month to avoid getting overwhelmed and quitting your program altogether. She also reminds us that everyone ages differently. So, be kind to yourself as you age and your body changes, especially when trying to lose weight.