How I lost the stubborn weight after 35, even after 4 babies. After 35, weight loss can be much more difficult. The weight gain from my fourth baby seemed to be so stubborn. It sat for longer, and I had to make more intentional changes to lose the weight. I was so thankful I had my protein powder to help, and I was able to lose the stubborn weight, but I had to make some major adjustments. If you’re anything like me, you may be doing everything right – eating clean, counting calories and exercising, only to find the scale increase! I know how depressing and discouraging trying to lose weight after 35 can be, but I have my experience to help you!

I am also a health and fitness professional, as well as certified nutrition coach with Precision Nutrition. Do not feel discouraged if you are struggling because even with all of my professional knowledge, hitting 35 threw me for a challenge. I am going to go over the best ways to lose weight after 35, so you don’t find yourself eating fewer and fewer calories, reducing calorie intake and still increasing your body weight. Follow my tips and this will NOT happen to you anymore!

Why is weight loss so difficult after 35?

I did not feel 35 when I turned 35. I felt a lot younger, so realizing the aging process going on took some time for me. There are some specific changes that happen after turning 35 (or in your 30s in general), that alter how our bodies process and metabolize food. As we age, we often lose muscle mass, which effects our metabolic rate. When our metabolism slows down, belly fat increases and fat loss becomes harder. Women in particular have it more difficult after 35 because hormones start fluctuating and changing. This causes mood swings and fatgue, which can leave no motivation for eating healthy.

Perimenopoause Phase I starts around 35:

I had NO IDEA that perimenopause was even a thing, let alone that it starts around age 35. Phase 1 is when your hormonal shifts start to become less consistent, but not enough to actually feel different. It is a small shift, but you should still ovulate and menstrate regularly, feel energetic and overall youthful. If you struggle with your hormonal levels in general, then you could feel symptoms more during this phase. For example, if you experience hormonal acne and mood swings, it could be worse during this phase. This is why exercising and eating healthy after 35 is so important! Your hormones can be more sensitive to insulin, blood sugar and overall weight. Exercise becomes even more important to helping with mood swings and easy anxiety that can increase with hormonal fluctuations.

Cravings and fatigue increase after 35:

Women have a particularly hard time (raising my hand!) with cravings for carbohydrates as hormone levels are changing. Many of us in our 30s also have extremely busy and exhausting lives with children running around too. Combine these two factors with a slowing metabolism, and it just seems like the weight gets stuck. If you are anything like me, you have less time to even attempt a workout, as well as higher cravings for carbs and sugar. This is where I was the most thankful for my protein powder, which is formulated to cut sugar cravings! Yes, it is techincally a lactation protein powder, but if you aren’t breastfeeding, it still has the hormonal benefits as well the blood sugar balancing blend.Balancing your blood sugar levels is really important to balancing your homonal levels too. The formula in my protein powder uses science-backed ingredeitns to combat this. I crave chocolate and sugar on the days I don’t have this!

Changes I made after 35 to finally lose the stubborn weight:

Being a runner normally, and generally clean eater, I had to make some changes after 35 to finally lose the baby weight and make some progress. Just running and eating clean didn’t really do it anymore. I had to add in more strength training, increase physical activity, as well as more high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts. In addition, I had to start watching my calories more specifically. Before, I would just eat clean. Now, I needed to look at my macros and see exactly what my rations of nutrients were. I’m going to break it all down for you, so you can start your own weight loss journey, even if you are in your 30s. Getting to a healthy weight will feel so good, and I know will feel so much happier and lighter when you reach your overall health goals.

I added intermittent fasting to my routine:

Intermittent fasting is something I have actually done for many years, BUT I wasn’t doing it completely. I had milk and sugar in my coffee, and I normally fasted for maybe 12 hours at the most. I never did a pure fast of 16 hours, until I was having a hard time losing the last bit of baby weight. This was a game-changer for me. I started drinking black coffee. That wasn’t fun at first, but it is amazing how you adapt, and I still do it. I also fast for 16 hours. It felt a little long at first, but you will get used to it quicker than you think. Intermittent fasting has been proven to help with appetite management and insulin resistance, and you of course are not starving yourself assuming you eat properly during your eating window. If you’ve never done intermittent fasting before, start with shorter fasts like 8 hours, and work you way up to it.

I increased activity level with more resistance:

I decided not to just run anymore, I used to run about 4 miles a day, and that was about it. At 35, with 4 kids, that just wasn’t really possible anymore, and it didn’t seem to be working any more. So, I took steps to increase my activity with weights and HIIT workouts. I first joined a local Burn Bootcamp. It was so fun. I loved the community, music and workouts. It was mainly HIIT, with one cardio day, two heavy weight days and agility training days. When my membership was up, I wanted to find a way to get the workout at home, while still getting some more cardion in. That led me to a spin bike from Amazon, and now the Peloton. You guys, the Peloton is everything. I actually am obsessed with it.

I know they are super expensive, but I started with a 2nd hand bike from Amazon,using the Peloton app. I realized how much fun it was and created a steady habit before I upgraded to the Peloton. The good news is that now the price has gone way down, and you can get 0% financing, which makes it entirely worth it to me. I get to ride at home anytime I want, while the kids are watching a movie or sleeping. The conveniece, with the increased heart rate and resistance all in one makes it my favorite workout. I think this has had a dramatic affect on my metabolism too.

Cycling allows you to get in your cardio, while also adding resistance to your legs. This helps add in some weight training, without sending hours on the weight machines. Then of course there are the bootcamp, strength and cardio classes with Peloton, which are all really good too. It you can’t afford a gym membership, but want a great workout at home, I highly recommend the Peloton. The best thing is that you can use it for a month or 90 days free, to see if it really works for you too!

I added progressive resistance training:

Cycling also was a way for me to add in progressive resistance training. This is really important to help your body burn more calories and increase muscle mass. The body burns more calories the more lean muscle it has. The only way to build more muscle to to increase resistance, not just stay the same. I chose cycling workouts with hills, and always challenged myself to go heavier on the resistance. This may not be your choice of workout, but you can add more reps or more weight to your routine. More reps are going to challenge the muscles for endurance, but ideally you want to add more weight to really break down and build those muslce fibers to be stronger.

I counted macros, not calories:

I’ve always been a clean eater. I really don’t like counting calories, and I never really have. I think it is important to eat intuitively as much as possible, but sometimes when your body changes, this doesn’t work anymore. I was eating very clean, yet I wasn’t losing as much weight as I normally do. So, I dialed in my nutrition and took a look at my macros. I don’t actually know if I was in a calorie deficit because that wasn’t may main purpose. I was more interested in the percentages of fat, carbs and protein. I couldn’t believe that I was eating so many fats and carbs, and so little protein. I was not eating enough protein, and my healthy diet was mainly carbs and fat. I felt like I was good at protein, but turns out I was giving my body two fuel sources. When you give your body both carbs and fat, it has to store the fat and use the carbs, so no wonder I wasn’t really seeing any fat loss. You don’t have to be a macro counter for life by any means, but you can learn so much just doing it for a couple weeks. I was able to get into a good habit of protein intake, which helped me fix my ratios. I became much better about eating more lean protein and less fat. I was eating a lot chesse, which added fat and little protein. I switched to less cheese and more lean protein to fix my ratios. A balanced diet, made a huge difference in how I felt, and I noticed weight loss start much after.

I maintained clean eating:

Clean eating has always been my method of staying healthy and fit, especially after birth. I didn’t alter this at all ater 35, even when I felt like it wasn’t working. Eating clean, in my experience (and I’ve helped thousands of women lose the baby weight while breastfeeding), is the first step to eliminating excess weight, abdominal fat and health problems. Just cleaning up your diet is a good idea when you need somewhere to start, but don’t know where. You will be so surprised after just a few days of eating clean how good you feel, and how you can drop weight! Many new moms specifically comment to me how good their mental health is after eating clean, as well as their energy levels! But, if you are like me, and you’ve been eating clean for a long time, then you need to take some more specific steps to move the scale.

These are the lifestyle changes I made to reduce my total body fat after 35. Turning 35 also meant losing weight after my fourth pregnancy, which I think added another curve ball for me that I hadn’t experienced before. If you want to achieve your weight loss goals after 35, I hope following my steps and experience will really help you. Make sure to find an exercise program that allows you to increase your resistance training with more weight, as well as keeping up with your cardio. These simple, positive chanbes can have a huge impact on your cortisol levels, which will help you feel better and have more energy.