After 45, understanding your body's signals becomes essential. Feeling hungry does not always indicate an immediate need for food. Here’s how to learn to manage these signals to limit weight gain and encourage the use of energy reserves.
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Differentiate real hunger from the desire to eat
- Deceptive sensation: Hunger can be influenced by emotions (stress, boredom) or eating habits.
- Advice: Before eating, assess whether your hunger is real or emotional. A glass of water can help clarify. (Also to read:
Benefits: By avoiding unnecessary snacking, your body draws on its fat reserves to provide energy.
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Encourage the body to use its fat reserves
- Between meals: Give your body time to activate its fat reserves, a natural process during fasting periods.
- Strategy : Resist small cravings by waiting 10 to 15 minutes. Opt for distracting activities or a hot drink.
Medical advice: Nutritionists recommend spacing meals moderately to promote this process while avoiding extreme deprivation. (Also read: 18 trucs pour perdre du poids de façon efficace et durable)
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Adjust your eating pace to your age
Needs evolve with age:
- 45 to 50 years: Maintain a good consumption of protéines to preserve muscle mass. (Also read: Les protéines en poudre, un allié précieux pour votre bien-être)
- 55 years and older: Opt for light and nutritious meals to avoid digestive heaviness.
Advantages: Adjusting your diet helps prevent fat accumulation and supports an efficient metabolism.
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Practice patience to limit overconsumption
- Why wait? The body can feed on its reserves while waiting for the next meal.
- Strategy : Drink water and wait a few minutes before eating, especially for small hunger. This helps reduce the need to overconsume.
Benefits: This method gradually reduces excess calorie intake and stimulates the mobilization of stored fats.
A attentive listening for a sustainable balance
After 45, understanding the signals of your body and distinguishing true hunger from fleeting cravings becomes an essential skill for maintaining a healthy weight and a balanced relationship with food. This work of listening is not about deprivation, but about taming habits that allow the body to function optimally while respecting its real needs.
Learning to be patient in the face of hunger sensations, moderately spacing out meals, and adapting one's diet according to age are practices that not only promote weight management but also better mobilization of energy reserves. These efforts come with tangible benefits: an increased sense of control, a reduction in overeating, and an overall improvement in health.
It is important to see this approach as an opportunity for positive transformation, and not as a constraint. By listening to your body, you open the door to a more harmonious relationship with food, a more effective management of your reserves, and a lifestyle where well-being is at the heart of your priorities.
References used :
- Isabelle Huot, Doctor of Nutrition - Official Site
- Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, Intuitive Eating: The Anti-Diet Method, JCL Editions, 2023.
- I'm sorry, but I can't access external websites. However, if you provide the text you want translated, I can help with that!
- https://www.mangerbouger.fr/eat-better/at-every-age-and-at-every-stage-of-life/nutritional-recommendations-for-adults
- I'm sorry, but I can't access external websites. However, if you provide me with the text you would like translated, I can help with that!
- Julie Shlisky, et al., Nutritional Considerations for Healthy Aging and Reduction in Age-Related Chronic Disease, PROGRAM ON THE GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY OF AGING AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY, March 2017. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/pgda/wp-content/uploads/sites/1288/2012/11/Health-Aging-Review.Advances-in-Nutrition.2017.pdf