Guinness Record-Holder's Tips For Midlife Weight Loss

At 56, Bob Natoli is one of the oldest six-time Guinness World Records holders for feats of fitness. His latest record came when he lifted 51,640 pounds with an upright barbell in one hour. The Oswego New York grandfather is a fitness guru and recently created the "True Vision 4 Success" fitness program, which, while helpful to anyone trying to lose weight, is really targeted to post 50s.

"Being over 50 doesn’t mean succumbing to an overweight and out-of-shape life," said Natoli, who encourages midlifers to shape up for better health versus appearance. "Exercise and proper diet can improve bone density and help avoid the silent danger of osteoporosis. Every ounce you reduce your weight means less stress on your joints."

Natoli says that our metabolism slows about 5 percent per decade once we reach 40. Losing weight decreases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, he added. And, he says, there is no better time to start living healthier than right now.

Natoli offered these 12 tips for midlifers trying to shed extra pounds:

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• Pre-Empt Your Hunger

  Fifteen minutes before your largest meal of the day, eat an apple and drink 12 ounces of water. The average stomach holds approximately 32 ounces. Eating the apple and drinking water helps you feel satiated and you'll avoid extra calories.

• It's Called 'Weight Watchers' For A Reason

  Measure and monitor your progress on a regular basis. Writing it down establishes a level of accountability. Track your weight often enough to stay aware of your trends, but don't obsess about every pound. Being mindful of the direction your weight is moving helps you figure out what's causing you to lose or gain weight and take appropriate, timely action. So make sure you know your weight and what foods cause you to gain.

• Kick-Start Your Day

  Exercise in the morning before you eat anything. Studies show that there are more fat calories burned on an empty stomach prior to eating in the morning. So boost your effort by walking up and down stairs a few times before breakfast, taking the dog for a brisk walk, doing jumping-jacks with the kids before school, or anything you can fit in your hectic schedule that works. The more the better.

• Temptation Creates Frustration

  You don't need more frustration in your life, do you? Keep the wrong foods out of the house. If you must have certain things available for other people in the family, try attaching affirmation cards to them that say, "This is not for me. These foods are bad for me. I will not consume them."

• Teamwork Helps

  Be accountable to another person. People are more successful when they diet on the buddy system. It works because your partner will encourage you, making you accountable for what you eat and how you train. And you'll reciprocate.

• Visualize Your Success

  Make sure that you spend at least five minutes a day visualizing yourself looking the way you want. Also make sure you're visualizing other people reacting to your new look. Picture buying clothes in a size you've not been able to wear in many years.

• Swear Off Soda

  I believe this one drink is responsible for a great deal of obesity in our country. A can of soda has bout 40 grams of sugar; that's 150 empty calories you're consuming. And do you really want to consume those artificial sweeteners of a diet soda?

• Drive By The Drive-Through

  Fast-food is fast, but is it good? The food may be tasty but most fast-food restaurants load much of their food and burgers with salt (causing you to drink more soda) and plenty of fat to create that flavor you love so much. A fast-food hamburger can contain almost 300 calories. A large specialty burger can have more than 600 calories, 1,000 mg of sodium and around 10 grams of saturated fat -- none of which will help you lose weight and become more fit.

• Stick With 'God's Food'

  These are foods occurring in nature with none or very little help from man. Load your diet with things that grow on trees or from the ground, that swim in the water, fly in the air or run on the Earth. It's hard to become overweight by eating too many vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish, turkey or chicken. Keep your diet as natural as possible and stay away from processed foods created by man. Remember: There is no such thing as a cupcake tree.

• Check With Your Doctor Before You Start A New Exercise Plan

  And if you haven't exercised in a long time, take it slow to start. One reason people don't stick with an exercise plan is that they start out at a higher level than they should. They burn out because of the overzealous pace or become ill by taxing their immune system from the difficult workouts. Integrating your training into your lifestyle in a sustainable way increases your health and liklihood of ong-term success.

• Variety Is The Spice Of Life

  So spice up your training; switch training programs every three weeks to avoid burning out and repetitive stress injuries. For example, those setting out to walk two miles every morning will find after 21 days they'd rather do almost anything than walk those two miles. Instead of changing training programs, many just quit when it becomes boring.

• 'Full' Is Not Your Friend

  Put the fork down and ask yourself, "Am I still hungry?" Eat until you're no longer hungry, not until you're "full." There's a very big difference between the two. People who eat until they're full say things like, "I couldn't eat another bite," and have a greater chance of becoming overweight, drive up their blood sugar levels and place their digestive system under stress, says Natoli.

• Bob Natoli

• Bob Natoli

• Bob Natoli

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Comments

[crankyontheleftcoast]

12:05 PM on 05/28/2012

But what if I want to succumb to an overweight and out-of-shape life?

[Cwenmaria]

06:02 AM on 05/28/2012

Some of these Gurus make lovely money from telling people something so simple and logical. We are all born instinctively knowing how to eat what is right for our bodies! The problem is as we grow older we lose it because our minds tune into advertising and/or other things that simply are not good for us. It is pretty basic really isn't it. Eat more of good foods, less of bad, move your behind on a daily basis and enjoy life. Hey, I should write a book on that ! Here comes the money! (and yes I am laughing at myself)

[Corecleaning]

04:10 PM on 05/28/2012

I'd buy it

[marylivinglightcoach]

08:37 PM on 06/03/2012

You are right, it's just common sense. I lost 100 pounds when I was 46 and have kept it off for 5 years. The past year I've struggled with 10 pounds coming on, then take if ott, and now some has come back. But when people kept asking me how I did it, I told them I just took care of my health and their faces would fall. Fact is, we don't need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to lose weight and keep it off.

But what's really sad is that some Gurus make lovely money from lying to people and selling them weight loss patches, pills, potions, and other "gimmicks". At least this guy's telling the public the truth. Tonight I went on technorati.com and searched "common sense weight loss". Guess what?? There were no matches. Go figure.

[SidTheScienceKid]

12:52 AM on 05/28/2012

'he lifted 51,640 pounds' in one hour .... what sort of thing is that ? No measure of actual work!
Either give it as a power(Watts) or as total energy (Joules), as it was reported, it means nothing !

[hedonistnutritionist]

08:26 PM on 05/27/2012

Years ago, I spent a summer with German family. When they had breakfast and got out the cereal bowl, they used a small bowl the size of which I would have thought was a boewl you would have put a single serving of yogurt in. (Maybe about 1/4 the size of a typical American cereal bowl). They told me this was the standard size of bowl used in germany for cereal. They also ate some fresh fruit and that was about it for breakfast.We Americans are so used to the idea that we need to eat huge portions of food at every meal. Last summer, I traveled in the west and was shocked to see 4 different steak sizes offered at a restaurant: the smallest was 8 ounces. The largest was 2 pounds.

[hairydodger]

09:32 PM on 05/27/2012

Yup, steak and eggs for breakfast every day. I'm 68 and may not live another day. I said the same thing at 40 and 45 and 50 and, and...

[hedonistnutritionist]

10:20 AM on 05/28/2012

Nothing wrong with steak and eggs. Great sources of protein, especially if you an find pastured raised beef and eggs from pasture raised chickens. You know, the food that the good old fashioned farm used to produce. And as far as I am concerned, the yolk is the best part of the egg. If you get an egg from a chicken that has been foraging on grass and eating grubs and the foods that chickens are supposed to eat, the egg yolks will be a beautiful deep orange in color, full of beta carotene and all kinds of good stuff. And good quality beef will be chock full of CLA, carnitine, taurine and here's the thing that would surprise most people: more Omega-3 fats than wild salmon. So enjoy your breakfast and live to be 100!

[Corecleaning]

04:13 PM on 05/28/2012

I'm sure you can understand why that might be a flawed philosophy if you playing the odds. Your lucky to be resilient. But for those of us not as genetically gifted....

[hedonistnutritionist]

08:19 PM on 05/27/2012

Dang, when they said "Guiness Record Holders" I thought they were talking about Guiness beer.

[amrcnninja]

07:47 PM on 05/27/2012

So now a days we say swear off soda and we'll help lose weight and help our children as well. so how come approximately 30 years ago when i was young i could drink 3 to 4 sodas a day and stay slim?? OH WAIT i forgot back then kids went OUTSIDE to play not stay inside to read their facebook, play their ps3's or xbox, or sit and veg on their Favorite TV SHOW.. Here's a thought AMERICA you wanna be thin?? STOP making excuses get off your butts STOP watching tv!! GO play sports, go for a walk, hell go play at the park (frisbee or even catch.) NO matter your age, get out and live!! and funny thing you can then Enjoy your foods or drinks and not count stupid calories.

[hedonistnutritionist]

08:20 PM on 05/27/2012

30 years ago sodas had real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup in them. Not that sugar is great, but HFCS whacks the liver and keeps insulin elevated so you CAN'T lose weight on it. You are right about the need for exercise, though....

[mrfitman]

07:25 PM on 05/27/2012

GREAT story!! GREAT inspiration!! ALMOST as good as MINE!! See, when T turned 60(10/09/11) I weight 289 lbs, had, in the past 3 years: BOTH hips replaced, rt knee too..AFTER, in my 40's I WON the A.A.U. Mr. AMERICA(Masters, 40-49) @49 WON The SUPERBODY Natural World Bodybuilding Championships, and MUCH, MUCH MORE!! 7 months later..NOW May 2012?? DOWN almost 60 pounds!! ith 25 to go BY July 4, 2012..MY Independence Day from FAT, EXCUSITUS!! www.fatbusters.net

[florencebrady]

07:11 PM on 05/27/2012

My mom told me when I was a pudgy yappy little girl that the most important thing for me was to learn to keep my mouth shut!

I'm over 60 (Mom's long gone) and while I've not had the perfect life (by far) I've never been overweight or gotten in trouble for anything I said. So, she did give some good advice.

[Frank Parillo]

06:47 PM on 05/27/2012

Terrible toupee!

[Oonagh]

10:11 PM on 05/27/2012

More like a rug

[whenicyouucme]

06:32 PM on 05/27/2012

Every time I go to the bathroom, I drink 8 ounces of water. Helps lose a lot of weight. Curves hungar.

[egs1217]

07:49 PM on 05/27/2012

I believe you meant to say: 'curbs hunger'

[whenicyouucme]

07:56 PM on 05/27/2012

I can not believe I typed that. Major brain fart. Thanks for the message. (so embaressed)

[thenwhatfilms]

04:47 PM on 05/27/2012

mind your own pathetically self-aborbed retard business

[mzrecycle]

04:40 PM on 05/23/2012

I've studies Ayurveda, the ancient medicine of ancient India. I learned that we should cup our hands together, forming a bowl. Three times a day, eat just that much food, what would fit in your own hands. If you're smart and want to stay healthy as you age, make sure that each meal is good healthy food, with lots of fruits and veggies, mostly fresh, not canned.

I also learned from Ayurveda that adding a lot of water before or during a meal lowers the digestive fire of your body. Food that is not ideally digested is not good for you and will contribute to disease. We are encouraged to have sips of water or other beverages during a meal. So I DON'T agree with your trick of downing 12 oz. of water before meals. It's a common practice with those who want to lose weight, but for longterm health it's a bad idea.

[ddoddr9623]

05:00 PM on 05/27/2012

There is many better ways to eat food than how we Americans do it. We just don't give much thought to it. Anyway, I cupped my average size hands together and realize I don't eat anywhere neat that much three times a day. That's a lot of food.

[mzrecycle]

05:05 PM on 05/27/2012

I'm 5' 4", size 6.  I have fairly large hands with long fingers.  When I make the bowl, that doesn't seem like it would be too much.  My breakfast may not be that much, but lunch and dinner, I feel would be about that much.

[Natassha Halverson]

10:06 AM on 05/23/2012

Exercising on an empty stomach is a no-go. Bad advice. You burn the same amount of fat you would if you had a full stomach, but on an empty stomach you will also lose some of your muscle mass. Working out on empty, does that really make sense to you? Dont do it!

[robin360]

06:07 PM on 05/24/2012

Yeah, I was thinking that would not work for me, either. Sometimes, in the morning my blood sugar is low. It sucks to be half-way through a brisk walk and feel my sugar plummet. I grab a little protein first, then I'm fine.

[Natassha Halverson]

06:11 AM on 05/25/2012

Yeah it is a general bad idea for anyone. One analogy that gets used a lot is a car. A car cant go very far with little fuel. The human body needs fuel (food). Very simple. And if you work out on an empty stomach your body tends to kick into survival mode, burning muscle for calories it thinks it needs.

[BookKeepersSon]

09:48 AM on 05/23/2012

I weigh 250lbs. I need to go on a diet! I want to weigh 180 lbs.

I'm on a diet and losing weight.

I weigh 180 lbs! NO MORE DIETING!!! YEAH!!!!!

I weigh 250lbs. I need to go on a diet!

[Pete Cunningham]

10:36 AM on 05/23/2012

6 years ago I weighed 232 lbs. I did not go on a "diet"...I changed the way I ate. In 9 months I lost 50 pounds. Six years later, I still eat the same healthy, satisfying way (bacon and eggs for breakfast today), and I weigh 171 pounds

[BookKeepersSon]

06:57 PM on 05/23/2012

EXACTLY, Pete. Good for you!

That was just the point I was making.

[ssnugsbug]

05:18 PM on 05/27/2012

Are you considering bacon as healthy? Bacon is satisfying but healthy it is not.

[auris123]

08:44 AM on 05/23/2012

One of the best weight loss & improved health stories is that of Professor Tim Noakes who did an about turn on his eating philosophies. He, as are many other people, discovered that he is carbohydrate resistant & went on a low carb diet which resulted in significant weight loss & feelings of renewed vigor & energy.

The main thing is that he committed to a new, low carb diet that has essentially cut out all the harmful sugars & simple carbs that end up getting deposited in your fat cells 7 gut.

Read more about the foods that he has cut out of his diet & how he lost all his weight:
http://www.total-health-fitness.com/blog/tim-noakes-diet