General rules
After forty, a woman’s health enters a unique phase when she needs a special diet and lifestyle aimed at preserving youth and maintaining weight.
Entering such a conscious age, you want to lead an active life, full of emotions, events and worries, and it is important that they be a joy and not a burden. And, of course, what prevents all this from happening in the first place is excess weight, so it’s worth knowing the principles of nutrition and diet for women after 40 years of age. Due to the fact that the metabolic rate decreases with age, you need to remember:
- you cannot resort to low-calorie diets - a sharp weight loss can significantly affect both appearance and health, therefore - no fasting or restrictions in any of the most important nutrients - proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, only a balanced healthy diet;
- a diet for women after 40 years is not an express method, you can lose no more than 5 kg per month, get ready for long-term work on yourself and a complete transition to a healthy lifestyle that excludes harmful foods as much as possible;
- The calorie content of the daily diet, regardless of the chosen diet, should not exceed 1800 calories; this figure should be reduced by 200 calories every five years.
Principles of proper diet at this age
For weight loss to be effective, it is important to follow the basic principles of nutrition, regardless of the type of diet:
- One serving should not exceed 500-700 kcal. The total calorie content per day should be no more than 2000 kcal.
- Be sure to drink a lot of fluids to remove toxins and waste from the body.
- If you need to lose weight quickly, choose a short-term diet.
- They eat small portions, up to 5 times a day.
- One dish should not exceed 100-150 g.
- It is strictly forbidden to fry food.
- It is recommended to consume fermented milk products.
- The best nut to use is almonds.
- To stabilize insulin in the blood, eat legumes once a week.
- For porridges, choose whole grains.
- Avoid baked goods and confectionery products.
- Increase physical activity.
You will learn about proper nutrition after forty by watching this video:
https://youtu.be/yP5Fi7QEwqI
Authorized Products
For women over 40 years old, correct eating habits are especially important, these include:
- daily consumption of boiled or baked sea fish;
- a woman’s diet after 40 years should contain a sufficient amount of protein food - at least 200 g of lean, complete protein, for example, turkey fillet, chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, cheeses prepared with minimal addition of salt, boiled, baked or grilled;
- consumption of exclusively polyunsaturated fatty acids - high-quality olive oil, nuts, sea fish;
- a mandatory large fresh salad every day, made from celery, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, avocado, radishes, etc.;
- fruits, berries, juices squeezed from them, prepared smoothies and cocktails are the most important element of maintaining youth; you need to pamper yourself more often with strawberries, raspberries, oranges, nectarines, pears, apples;
- complex carbohydrates - it is worth remembering about porridges (for example, oatmeal, buckwheat, brown rice), bread, bran and rye bread - important components of a balanced menu that provide a long-lasting boost of energy, remove waste, toxins and contain many minerals;
- maintaining water-salt balance by drinking up to 2 liters per day of pure still water.
Table of permitted products
Proteins, g | Fats, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories, kcal | |
Vegetables and greens | ||||
eggplant | 1,2 | 0,1 | 4,5 | 24 |
green peas | 5,0 | 0,2 | 13,8 | 73 |
zucchini | 0,6 | 0,3 | 4,6 | 24 |
cabbage | 1,8 | 0,1 | 4,7 | 27 |
shallot | 2,5 | 0,1 | 16,8 | 72 |
carrot | 1,3 | 0,1 | 6,9 | 32 |
cucumbers | 0,8 | 0,1 | 2,8 | 15 |
salad pepper | 1,3 | 0,0 | 5,3 | 27 |
parsley | 3,7 | 0,4 | 7,6 | 47 |
salad | 1,2 | 0,3 | 1,3 | 12 |
celery | 0,9 | 0,1 | 2,1 | 12 |
asparagus | 1,9 | 0,1 | 3,1 | 20 |
tomatoes | 0,6 | 0,2 | 4,2 | 20 |
pumpkin | 1,3 | 0,3 | 7,7 | 28 |
zucchini | 1,5 | 0,2 | 3,0 | 16 |
spinach | 2,9 | 0,3 | 2,0 | 22 |
Fruits | ||||
avocado | 2,0 | 20,0 | 7,4 | 208 |
oranges | 0,9 | 0,2 | 8,1 | 36 |
pomegranate | 0,9 | 0,0 | 13,9 | 52 |
grapefruit | 0,7 | 0,2 | 6,5 | 29 |
kiwi | 1,0 | 0,6 | 10,3 | 48 |
lemons | 0,9 | 0,1 | 3,0 | 16 |
peaches | 0,9 | 0,1 | 11,3 | 46 |
sweetie | 0,7 | 0,2 | 9,0 | 58 |
apples | 0,4 | 0,4 | 9,8 | 47 |
Berries | ||||
blueberry | 1,0 | 0,0 | 8,2 | 35 |
raspberries | 0,8 | 0,5 | 8,3 | 46 |
blueberry | 1,1 | 0,4 | 7,6 | 44 |
Mushrooms | ||||
fresh porcini mushrooms | 3,7 | 1,7 | 1,1 | 34 |
fresh champignons | 4,3 | 1,0 | 1,0 | 27 |
fresh chanterelles | 1,6 | 1,1 | 2,2 | 20 |
Nuts and dried fruits | ||||
raisin | 2,9 | 0,6 | 66,0 | 264 |
cashew | 25,7 | 54,1 | 13,2 | 643 |
sesame | 19,4 | 48,7 | 12,2 | 565 |
almond | 18,6 | 57,7 | 16,2 | 645 |
dates | 2,5 | 0,5 | 69,2 | 274 |
prunes | 2,3 | 0,7 | 57,5 | 231 |
Cereals and porridges | ||||
buckwheat porridge with milk | 4,2 | 2,3 | 21,6 | 118 |
oatmeal with water | 3,0 | 1,7 | 15,0 | 88 |
oat bran | 8,0 | 4,0 | 10,0 | 110 |
brown rice | 7,4 | 1,8 | 72,9 | 337 |
Bakery products | ||||
oatmeal bread | 10,1 | 5,4 | 49,0 | 289 |
Rye bread | 6,6 | 1,2 | 34,2 | 165 |
Dairy | ||||
skim milk | 2,0 | 0,1 | 4,8 | 31 |
kefir 0% | 3,0 | 0,1 | 3,8 | 30 |
Ryazhenka 1% | 3,0 | 1,0 | 4,2 | 40 |
curdled milk 0.1% | 3,0 | 0,1 | 3,8 | 30 |
natural yogurt 2% | 4,3 | 2,0 | 6,2 | 60 |
Cheeses and cottage cheese | ||||
Adyghe cheese | 18,5 | 14,0 | 0,0 | 240 |
mozzarella cheese | 18,0 | 24,0 | 0,0 | 240 |
ricotta cheese | 11,0 | 13,0 | 3,0 | 174 |
cottage cheese 0% (low fat) | 16,5 | 0,0 | 1,3 | 71 |
curd tofu | 8,1 | 4,2 | 0,6 | 73 |
Meat products | ||||
veal | 19,7 | 1,2 | 0,0 | 90 |
rabbit | 21,0 | 8,0 | 0,0 | 156 |
turkey cutlets | 18,6 | 12,2 | 8,7 | 220 |
Bird | ||||
boiled chicken breast | 29,8 | 1,8 | 0,5 | 137 |
boiled turkey fillet | 25,0 | 1,0 | — | 130 |
Eggs | ||||
omelette | 9,6 | 15,4 | 1,9 | 184 |
soft-boiled chicken eggs | 12,8 | 11,6 | 0,8 | 159 |
Fish and seafood | ||||
green algae | 1,5 | 0,0 | 5,0 | 25 |
boiled pink salmon | 22,9 | 7,8 | 0,0 | 168 |
dorado | 18,0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 96 |
boiled shrimp | 18,9 | 2,2 | 0,0 | 95 |
salmon | 19,8 | 6,3 | 0,0 | 142 |
seafood | 15,5 | 1,0 | 0,1 | 85 |
steamed mackerel | 18,0 | 13,2 | — | 191 |
boiled trout | 15,5 | 3,0 | — | 89 |
Oils and fats | ||||
olive oil | 0,0 | 99,8 | 0,0 | 898 |
* data is per 100 g of product |
Fully or partially limited products
The diet for those over 40 should be balanced, consisting mainly of healthy, fresh farm products, rather than harmful, high-calorie, almost empty calories. This applies to a greater extent to sweets and starchy foods; any product, dish containing dough, potatoes or sugar should appear as rarely as possible on your table, and it is important:
- minimize the consumption of various seasonings, sauces, salt that stimulate appetite;
- give up harmful high-calorie canned, salty foods and semi-finished products (canned cucumbers, tomatoes and other canned vegetables, fish, pickles);
- no alcohol (maximum - a glass of dry wine), sweet, carbonated drinks, packaged juices.
Table of prohibited products
Proteins, g | Fats, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories, kcal | |
Vegetables and greens | ||||
canned eggplant caviar | 1,7 | 13,3 | 5,1 | 148 |
potato | 2,0 | 0,4 | 18,1 | 80 |
canned green beans | 1,2 | 0,1 | 2,4 | 16 |
Fruits | ||||
canned pineapples | 0,1 | 0,1 | 14,0 | 57 |
bananas | 1,5 | 0,2 | 21,8 | 95 |
Snacks | ||||
potato chips | 5,5 | 30,0 | 53,0 | 520 |
apple chips | 2,2 | 0,1 | 59,0 | 253 |
salted popcorn | 7,3 | 13,5 | 62,7 | 407 |
Flour and pasta | ||||
pasta | 10,4 | 1,1 | 69,7 | 337 |
noodles | 12,0 | 3,7 | 60,1 | 322 |
dumplings | 5,0 | 4,8 | 25,8 | 160 |
pancakes | 6,1 | 12,3 | 26,0 | 233 |
vareniki | 7,6 | 2,3 | 18,7 | 155 |
pancakes | 6,3 | 7,3 | 51,4 | 294 |
Bakery products | ||||
loaf | 7,5 | 2,9 | 50,9 | 264 |
buns | 7,2 | 6,2 | 51,0 | 317 |
pita | 8,1 | 0,7 | 57,1 | 274 |
pita | 7,4 | 0,8 | 49,9 | 242 |
focaccia | 7,7 | 10,7 | 47,3 | 320 |
Confectionery | ||||
jam | 0,3 | 0,2 | 63,0 | 263 |
marshmallows | 0,8 | 0,0 | 78,5 | 304 |
candy caramel | 0,0 | 0,1 | 96,2 | 362 |
candies | 4,3 | 19,8 | 67,5 | 453 |
ready-made sponge cakes | 5,9 | 0,8 | 56,3 | 258 |
marshmallow | 1,8 | 0,2 | 81,3 | 318 |
cookie | 7,5 | 11,8 | 74,9 | 417 |
yoghurt cake | 7,0 | 24,6 | 26,1 | 352 |
gingerbread | 5,8 | 6,5 | 71,6 | 364 |
Turkish Delight | 0,8 | 0,7 | 79,4 | 316 |
Sochnik | 10,1 | 8,8 | 40,5 | 274 |
dough | 7,9 | 1,4 | 50,6 | 234 |
Chocolate | ||||
chocolate bounty | 3,9 | 24,6 | 57,9 | 471 |
twix chocolate | 5,0 | 25,0 | 63,0 | 496 |
milk chocolate | 6,9 | 35,7 | 54,4 | 550 |
Raw materials and seasonings | ||||
seasonings | 7,0 | 1,9 | 26,0 | 149 |
curry | 12,7 | 13,8 | 25,0 | 352 |
ketchup | 1,8 | 1,0 | 22,2 | 93 |
mayonnaise | 2,4 | 67,0 | 3,9 | 627 |
sugar | 0,0 | 0,0 | 99,7 | 398 |
salt | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0,0 | — |
soy sauce | 3,5 | 0,0 | 11,0 | 58 |
tartar sauce | 0,9 | 46,0 | 7,0 | 464 |
Dairy | ||||
condensed milk without sugar | 6,6 | 7,5 | 9,4 | 131 |
cream | 2,8 | 20,0 | 3,7 | 205 |
Meat products | ||||
pork | 16,0 | 21,6 | 0,0 | 259 |
salo | 2,4 | 89,0 | 0,0 | 797 |
bacon | 23,0 | 45,0 | 0,0 | 500 |
Turkish basturma | 14,8 | 20,1 | — | 240 |
jamon | 34,8 | 16,1 | 1,3 | 241 |
steak | 27,8 | 29,6 | 1,7 | 384 |
Sausages | ||||
amateur boiled sausage | 12,2 | 28,0 | 0,0 | 301 |
smoked Krakow sausage | 16,2 | 44,6 | 0,0 | 466 |
smoked Braunschweig sausage | 27,7 | 42,2 | 0,2 | 491 |
sausages | 12,3 | 25,3 | 0,0 | 277 |
Alcoholic drinks | ||||
vodka | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0,1 | 235 |
liquor | 0,3 | 1,1 | 17,2 | 242 |
beer | 0,3 | 0,0 | 4,6 | 42 |
* data is per 100 g of product |
Menu (Meal Schedule)
Sample menu for the week
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W
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Wed
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Thu
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Sat
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Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages | Flaws |
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Review of the best diets, rules of choice
Egg-grapefruit
This diet has a number of positive features that will allow women to quickly get their figure in order.
Grapefruit contains a large amount of vitamins and microelements that will help the body function during fasting.
Low calorie content prevents the appearance of fat deposits. The substances that make up the fruit have fat-burning properties and actively break down lipid cells.
Eggs contain fats that are quickly absorbed by the body , help eliminate toxins and relieve hunger. Protein has a beneficial effect on muscle tissue, making it firm and elastic.
Kefir-cucumber
This diet for a 40-year-old woman is just a godsend! This type of weight loss consists of 2 independent mono-diets, which together help quickly get rid of extra pounds.
Kefir contains tartronic and lactic acids, which ensure high-quality functioning of the entire digestive system and active removal of waste and toxins by the gastrointestinal tract.
A large amount of calcium in the product has a positive effect on the skeletal system, which is important for women in and after 40.
Cucumbers are 80% water. Their calorie content is about 15 kcal. By consuming them, it is impossible to gain extra pounds. Possessing diuretic properties, cucumbers have a beneficial effect on the genitourinary system.
They actively remove toxins and excess fluid, removing puffiness. The diet has a beneficial effect on the endocrine system and normalizes blood glucose levels. This method of losing weight is recommended to be used for 3 days. During this period you can lose up to 5 kg of weight.
Curd Maggi
This diet consists of low-calorie foods. The weight loss method is designed for 2 weeks. During this time, you can remove up to 10 kg.
Cottage cheese is combined with fruits, vegetables and dietary meat , which allows the body to function efficiently during fasting. An important principle is minimal processing of all products.
You should not eat foods with a high percentage of fat content; sugar and sweets should be excluded.
Read more about losing weight with cottage cheese:
https://youtu.be/PCIuuDLtuAI
Buckwheat
The weight loss method involves eating porridge with various vegetables and lean meats. When you feel hungry, you can eat apples or drink kefir.
Do not use salt or spices . They eat small meals, up to 5 times a day. The duration of the diet is 2 weeks.
You will learn a lot of useful information about this diet from this video:
https://youtu.be/ZWjLF4nZAz4
Greek
The diet lasts 2 weeks. When losing weight, use separate meals . For breakfast they eat porridge, pasta and vegetables. They can be eaten without restrictions.
Once a week you need to eat only chicken eggs during the day. Salt is prohibited. They can be combined with rye bread or kefir. You can use olive oil.
They eat meat and fish twice a week, and on other days they eat baked or stewed vegetables.
Adviсe
- To rule out any problems with the body after forty, you must definitely visit an endocrinologist who will assess the state of the thyroid gland, the balance of female hormones, insulin , because weight gain is quite possible due to a lack of any of the above hormones.
- It is necessary to monitor the duration and quality of sleep after reaching 40 years of age - this is a particularly important factor that determines how healthy you are and how fresh you look.
- Physical activity is the key to maintaining youth and the speed of metabolic processes at the required level, so it is best to sign up for a fitness center or gym and remember that the load should be regular and moderate.
A proper diet after 40 includes many aspects
If you want to eat, it is better to snack on healthy foods: fermented milk products, cottage cheese, nuts, dried fruits, fruits or vegetables.
It is better to eat often, but only after a feeling of hunger arises, and portions should be small. To prevent problems with vision, bones and heart, include apples and pears, broccoli, blueberries, soybeans, dairy products, almonds, cabbage, and cereals in your menu. Minimize, or better yet eliminate, foods rich in saturated fat (meat).
Women at this age often indulge in dieting, although this is not the best way to monitor their weight. Many nutritionists believe that at this age it is better to switch to separate meals, which have the most favorable reviews in the dietetic system.
Reviews and results
- Maria, 41 years old: “... I really like this nutritional system - varied, nutritious and easily tolerated by the body. It’s not always possible to abstain from simple sandwiches, salt, and cake, but in general, the diet allows you to keep your weight normal, as soon as I see a plus on the scales, I immediately start on such a balanced low-calorie menu.”
- Katerina, 37 years old: “... An ideal women’s menu, so many delicious things, it’s so nice to pamper yourself, and not eat these potatoes, bread and semi-finished cutlets that everyone is bored with.”
- Anna, 48 years old: “... Every active woman, having reached the age of over forty, is faced with the problem of causeless excess weight gain, I manage to fight it with the help of constant physical activity and a salt-free, low-carbohydrate diet. At first I lost 3 kg a week, after a month the weight returned to normal. “I think it’s important not to consume empty calories, not to overeat, and to listen to yourself.”
Contraindications
The diet is not recommended for use in the following cases:
- if diseases of the gastrointestinal tract have worsened;
- during colds and infectious diseases;
- with anemia;
- when treated with certain medications;
- with weakness and poor health;
- if you have liver or gallbladder disease.