Intermittent Fasting For Women Over 50

Intermittent fasting after 50

The plan changes a bit when it comes to intermittent fasting for women over 50!

If you’re over 50 and fasting, please avoid comparing fasting results with anyone under 40. Seriously. Because afterwards, you’re probably going to conclude you’re doing everything she is (maybe even more!) with different results.  And there’s a reason for that! I like to think of it as “maturity” and I hope you will too.

I’ll admit, sometimes I feel like today’s aging women gets the short end of every stick. But honestly, that’s usually just when I’m focusing on my body. In reality, I wouldn’t trade the wisdom I’ve acquired from the past 50+ years for anything. So many of the mental and emotional battles I’ve struggled with my entire life are finally behind me now. And I feel much better equipped to handle the future ones that are sure to come. Yes, I now have wrinkles and other physical signs of aging I would rather not have.

However, I wouldn’t trade any of those aging battle scars if it meant forfeiting the life lessons I’ve learned.

Time for a new mindset

So in a strange way, I feel like a better chapter of life is starting. Now instead of dieting to look skinny, I’m practicing some diet-like behaviors to be healthy.  And fortunately, becoming healthy usually results in weight loss so I can enjoy new cute clothes along the way!  Also, I’ve faced the fact that none of the obsessively strict food plans I followed ever did make me skinny. So why in the world would I ever do that ever again? See how wise I’ve become? 😉

Wise enough at least to know that intermittent fasting is where it’s at for me. It makes me healthier (including weight loss), clears my mind, and helps me sleep.  Plus, many health experts say it slows down (perhaps even prevents) many future conditions I’d rather avoid. Conditions like arthritis, type-2 diabetes, strokes, M.S. and yes, even Alzheimer’s. And just like everyone else, I’m interested in avoiding all of those things. However, intermittent fasting for older women (notice I said “older” not “old”!) looks different than it does for  younger women.

That’s why I decided to write this post to explore how intermittent fasting for women over 50 is different than for women who haven’t started the blessed journey of menopause. 😉

Intermittent fasting for women over 50

From what I’ve read on social media and experienced myself, there seem to be two main concerns when it comes to intermittent fasting for women over 50. Those concerns are weight loss and menopause related. Predictably, they overlap quite a bit as you’ll soon see.

So in this post we are going to focus on fasting for weight loss over 50 and intermittent fasting and menopause.  I’ll also throw in some recommendations for good books that address this issue in case you would like to learn more, get recipes, etc.

Experts agree that intermittent fasting is not for everyone. Please read our Terms of Use.

Fasting for weight loss over 50

No, we are not all crazy! When it comes to intermittent fasting for women over 50, weight loss  is definitely more of a challenge then it is for less “mature” women out there. (See what I did there?)

Recently, in one of my online intermittent fasting groups I noticed a post from a new gal. (I found out later she was 52.) In her first post to the group she came right out and asked “am I too old to lose weight?” One of the younger ladies in the group jumped in right away to help out. (We’ll call her Forty-something-faster.)  She suggested that the frustrated faster do more to get her metabolism going. The new gal said “can someone please tell me how to get your metabolism going after 50?”

Forty-something-faster told her that if she exercised every day the weight would come right off. Within 5 minutes, the more mature fasters in the group were giving forty-something-faster a pretty good thrashing. Bless her heart. Yes, it is very helpful to exercise at any age. No matter what your weight, even light exercise feels great and makes life better for sure.

But exercise is only a supporting component for weight loss, certainly not a solution. At this age or any other age. And if you’re over 50, you’ve got lots of things happening that make weight loss difficult. (Which is probably the reason for the thrashing.) So I’ve got some good stuff here for you about that. But first, I have to share two of the most encouraging weight-loss tools I’ve ever come across.

1. The Smart Scale

I discuss in My Scale Helped Me Lose Fat Not Muscle, my experience with my first smart scale. In a nutshell, you cannot let a typical scale be your judge and jury. If you want to know how much fat you’re losing and where you are losing it from, get a smart scale and smart measuring tape. A smart scale breaks your weight down by fat, muscle mass, bone mass, water, etc.

And by the way, my first scale worked great. But it didn’t have the companion smart measuring tape like the Arboleaf combo does.

The article explains how after getting my smart scale, I realized I had probably celebrated weight loss sometimes when I’d actually lost muscle mass. Yikes! Losing muscle mass makes it even harder to lose weight. (Which is exactly where Forty-something-faster was coming from.)

On the other hand, there were probably other times it went the other way. Times when I approached the scale with confidence because I had been so “good” with my eating plan.  Except the scale didn’t say that. As a result, I ended up discouraged after seeing my weight had increased.  Weight gain discouragement very rarely results in anything good. (Well, technically the three “I don’t care any more” donuts did taste good. But, not the kind of good I really wanted.)

Now, I realize that on some of those “discouraged days,” perhaps my muscle mass had increased. Or I was retaining water. Both work for me! With a smart scale, I would have known that. And maybe even seen that I had actually lost some fat on those days. But I didn’t know. So instead, I turned to the donuts out of frustration.

2. The Smart Measuring Tape

If you’re like me, it takes a long time before I notice any weight-loss progress in the mirror. I guess that’s why everyone says to regularly do body measurements. But measuring is a major pain in the hamstrings. It’s difficult to contort yourself into a pretzel to both measure and actually see the measurement.  Have someone help you, they say. No thanks, I say.

But a smart measuring tape makes it so easy. It walks you through the typical body locations you’ll want to measure. Then you just wrap the tape around whatever you’re measuring and tuck the end back into a slot. And presto, it gives you a measurement and uploads it to the free app. So now it’s there to compare whenever you measure.  Brilliant! Plus, it’s perfect for taking measurement when you want to order clothes online for yourself or anyone else. I’m hooked and it really has made things much clearer for me and I hope the same for you too! I think you’ll find that measurements often provides a bit of encouragement when the scales don’t show any change. Incidentally, the combo smart measuring tape and smart scale record results on the same app so you have it all together in one secret place.

Okay, so back to intermittent fasting for women over 50 and weight loss

I know what we are all most anxious to hear is how to lose weight while intermittent fasting. So let’s get to it. As I mention on a very regular basis, I’m not a doctor or a scientist. I’m just a regular “mature” gal from the Midwest with the same questions as you. Usually I provide lots of links so you can do more research, but today is different.

Today I want to introduce you to Schellea (Shelly) Fowler from Fabulous50s. As in fabulous women over 50. That’s us!

According to her bio, her mission is to help women feel good about themselves and show them how valuable they truly are.  She is a fitness and nutrition researcher and trainer, a stylist, a meditation teacher, a student of life, and a proud mother living life on her own terms.

I first discovered Schellea when I was looking for beginner YouTube workouts I could do in less than ten minutes. It worked for me and I included several of her workouts in my Workout At Home With YouTube article. I’m pretty sure you’ll quickly see why I like Schellea so much. She’s calm and soft-spoken and has a way of making a short workout seem attainable every time.

However, the video we are watching today is not an exercise video. Instead, Schellea is going to share tips and tricks on how to lose weight with intermittent fasting for women over 50. Since Schellea is a leading voice for women in their 50’s in 140 countries, I think we’re in good hands. There is a lot of good information about fasting for weight loss over 50. Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran faster, I know you’ll feel encouraged.