According to MayoClinic.com, your daily calorie needs decrease steadily as you get older. Many people find that as they reach the age of 50, extra weight has accrued. Often, this is because you may not adjust your daily food intake downward as you age -- if this is the case, the excess calories over and above your daily needs may be stored as body fat. However, to lose 10 lbs. does not take a great deal of time or effort -- with diet and exercise you can lose the extra weight in a few weeks.
Step 1
Find out how many calories your body needs every day to maintain your current weight. The calories you need depend on your height, current weight and sex. An individual estimate of your daily caloric needs can be calculated with the MayoClinic.com calculator. For the purposes of this plan, calculate your "sedentary" or "inactive" daily calorie needs -- this will establish the number of calories you should consume before using exercise to lose weight via a calorie deficit. For a 50-year-old man weighing 170 lbs. and standing 6 feet tall, the daily requirement will be 2,050 calories. For a 50-year-old woman with a weight of 160 lbs. and a height of 5 feet 6 inches, the daily requirement will be 1,700 calories.
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Step 2
Create a daily or weekly meal plan which provides the number of calories you calculated in the previous step. Make sure that your meal plan provides sufficient daily quantities of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Calcium is an important mineral to consume at age 50, particularly for women. A report in the June 1998 issue of the journal "Sports Medicine" reports that older women run a greater risk of developing osteoporosis.
Step 3
Work out an exercise schedule which will burn between 1,750 and 3,500 calories per week. The calories burned by different forms of exercise will depend on your current weight -- the heavier you are, the more calories you will burn doing the same exercise compared to a lighter person. Walking or jogging typically burns roughly 100 calories per mile; moderate cycling burns roughly 500 calories per hour. If you burn 1,750 calories per week through exercise -- while sticking to your meal plan -- you should lose 0.5 lb. every week and will lose 10 lbs. over a period of 20 weeks. If you increase your weekly exercise to burn 3,500 calories weekly, you will lose a pound every week and can lose 10 lb. in only 10 weeks.
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