While good, healthy habits are important when you’re younger, leading a healthy lifestyle becomes even more important as you enter your 40s. What you eat, how often you work out, and your lifestyle choices can significantly affect how you feel every day, as well as your future health. Since the diet and health decisions we make in our 40s will affect our health in our older years, it’s time to implement good habits now. Here are 10 diet and lifestyle changes to make in your 40s.
10 Diet and Lifestyle Changes to Make in Your 40s
1. Regular Physical Activity
There’s no excuse for living a sedentary lifestyle in your 40s. Regular physical activity is key to maintaining a healthy weight, improving cardiovascular health, and avoiding diseases like type 2 diabetes. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, including cardio and strength training. Strength training is so important in your 40s as it improves your muscle mass, strength, mobility, and brain function as you age. Cardio is also super important as it keeps your heart healthy and reduces your health risks.
2. Eat More Nitrate-Rich Veggies
Many women in their mid-forties are at risk of nutrient deficiencies so it’s important to focus on a nutritious diet. Nitrate-rich vegetables like leafy greens, beets, ginger, and celery help women increase their nitric oxide levels that decline with aging. Nitric oxide is an essential component of the human body, helping to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow, and enhance exercise performance and brain function.
3. Focus on Micronutrients
Make sure to focus on micronutrients in your diet, including magnesium, zinc, choline, omega-3s, iodine, B vitamins, and selenium. Aging and lower estrogen levels affect how much of these micronutrients your body absorbs, so make a point of ramping these up. Your micronutrient needs can be met by following a healthy diet made up of nutrient-dense food, especially fruits and vegetables that are plentiful in vitamins and minerals.
4. Manage Your Stress Levels
Stress is one of the biggest culprits of an unhealthy lifestyle. Chronic stress has been linked to health issues including high blood pressure, insomnia, weakened immune system, headaches, high blood sugar, an increased risk of heart attack, and more. It’s extremely important to regularly manage your stress levels with techniques such as meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, or hobbies that help you relax and unwind.
5. Challenge Your Brain
It’s important to stay mentally active and challenge your brain as you age. Whether it’s learning a new language, taking a dance class, or taking up a new interest like knitting or embroidering, it’s important to work your brain on a regular basis. Social contact also helps your memory and concentration, so consider joining a social club, doing volunteer work, and make sure to see your friends and family frequently!
6. Eat More Fiber
Fiber is an essential part of a good diet. It normalizes bowel movements and helps maintain bowel health, lowers cholesterol levels, helps control blood sugar levels, and helps you maintain a healthy weight. Many women see a bump in cholesterol levels during menopause, along with an increased risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. Upping your fibre intake with foods like fruits, vegetables, and legumes can help you manage these risks.
7. Do Not Go on a Low-Calorie Diet
It’s important that you keep yourself full and satisfied. Your estrogen levels naturally dip in your mid-forties, which also decreases muscle mass. Skipping meals or eating an extremely low calorie diet can negatively affect your health. Under eating can affect how you metabolize your food, and can lead to you feeling hungry, tired, and affect your blood sugar levels. Aim for a consistent eating schedule with three balanced meals and healthy snacks throughout the day.
8. Up Your Protein
Protein plays a part in nearly every bodily process, from cellular repair to hormone regulation. Once you reach your 40s to 50s, you begin to lose muscle mass, which can lead to weakness, fatigue, and higher risk of injury. Muscles are made up of protein, so it’s crucial you’re getting enough of it each day. As a general rule, you should be eating 1-1.2 grams of protein per gram of lean body mass. Try to add protein when you eat anything, including snacks. Good protein sources include lean fish, tuna, lean beef, chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, and Greek yogurt.
9. Minimize Processed Foods
Along with prioritizing healthy, nutritious foods, you also want to minimize processed and packaged foods as much as possible. This includes foods such as frozen meals, baked goods, processed meats, crackers, breakfast cereals, and sodas. These foods are often high in added sugars, sodium, refined carbs, and unhealthy fats, offering little to no nutritional value. Consuming highly processed foods on a regular basis can lead to weight gain and increase your risk of diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
10. Prioritize Quality Sleep
Sleep doesn’t get enough credit. A lack of sleep can impact your memory, emotions, mood, and weight. As you get older, it gets harder to fall and stay asleep, but quality sleep is just as important no matter your age. People in their 40s tend to get the least amount of sleep due to work and family responsibilities, as well as stress, whether it be work, financial, or family stress. You should be aiming for seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night. Exercising regularly, eating at consistent times, exposure to natural light, and avoiding caffeine and alcohol before bed can all help you sleep better.
If you’re entering your 40s, these diet and lifestyle changes will help you stay on track to living a healthy, well-balanced life.
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