“I have every self-help and diet book out there, and here I am, still 40 pounds overweight. Sometimes I lose weight and get all excited, only to sabotage myself and eat like a horse. What is wrong with me?”

Sound familiar?

What if you said there isn’t anything wrong with you? What if you started from the opposite side of the judgment street and started calling yourself something totally awesome?

If 85% of diets fail, maybe the problem isn’t with you at all, but with the approach to weight loss through dieting. Dieting is deprivation. It torments. That’s why it doesn’t work in most cases.

You Are What You Eat

We are human. We don’t like being hungry or feeling deprived. We need energy to stay alive. When you get the right energy from the right foods, it will be just like high test gas in a car. You’ll burn your fuel efficiently and your weight will adjust. You will have the energy and focus to live life fully. Diets won’t do that. Healthy, whole foods based eating does.

If you are interested in losing weight after 60, follow these six tips to get the process moving.

Rev up Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the process within your body that converts the food you eat into energy. Your body needs energy just to manage all bodily functions; beyond that it needs energy for you to perform activities you might do throughout the day.

The key is to eat enough food to give your body enough energy to manage these tasks, but not too much or too little. It’s like Goldilocks choosing the right bowl of porridge. Head on over to my blog to see more about metabolism and take a measurement of your own daily requirements.

Get All Junk Food out of Your House

Save “treats” for outside special occasions and they will feel like treats. And by the way, there’s nothing wrong with having a treat. You are human and are entitled to pleasure. When you deny yourself or become too rigid, it will backfire.

So, when you have a longing, choose something that is high quality, have a small portion and savor every bite. Trust me, that first bite is always the most exquisite, much like that first kiss.

Find Sweetness in Your Life

And speaking of kisses, much overeating is an outcome of over-work, loneliness and stress. Find sweetness in your every day. Go for the kisses and hugs, practice good deeds, get out in nature and snuggle with your pet.

Cook Quick and Easy Meals

Scroll through my recipes for some quick and easy meals. French Lentil Salad and Corn Chowder are two of my favorites.

Fire All Judges to Lose Weight After 60

This includes your spouse, friends, kids and anyone who mentions your weight or comments on what you eat. That’s called shaming and has a boomerang effect. So, when you hear “Are you sure you want that brownie?” you can respond with “I appreciate your concern, but comments like that are not helpful.” or “Yes, I’m quite sure.”

Put an end to unsolicited judgment. We do enough of that to ourselves. We don’t need other people doing it, too. Practice these sentences.

Get Non-Judgmental Support

We are a very impatient culture. We want instant results. When you look at weight, you may want instant results when you want to lose, but those same pounds you want to lose were not gained in an instant. Weight gain is gradual, and if you want to lose, you need to be patient. You need to sort out what will help you from the things that won’t.

Non-judgmental support in the form of a health coach can be enormously helpful for some. For others, you may be highly successful with a buddy. This is where you have freedom to choose the source of support that is best for you. You know yourself better than anyone, and when you trust that you know just what you need.

If health coaching is for you, contact me and we will talk about your challenges and goals. Don’t feel frustrated. Clear out those diet books and get into the mindset of successful change. It’s much more fun.

Do you have a success story when it comes to losing weight after 60? What was the single most important thing you did that helped you reach your weight loss goal? Have you been able to maintain your loss? Please share in the comments.