You probably know that it is much harder to lose weight when you are 30 than when you are 20. And if you are over 40, it is even more difficult. Every year your metabolism slows down. That is why the older you are, the more attention you should pay to healthy dieting and maintaining a healthy life style.

You are 20 - 30 years old
It is not common to have a serious problem with weight in this age range. You can lose 3-5 pounds without trying too hard. The best way to lose extra pounds is a fruit diet. Fruits are rich in vitamin C, which will help you to stay physically active. Pectin, fruit acids and potassium burn calories and improve your metabolism and digestion.

Here is an example of an apple diet:
Breakfast: grate 1 apple; add 1 low fat yogurt and 1 table spoon of oatmeal.
Brunch: 1 apple.
Lunch: slice 2 apples and add spinach. For sauce mix 1 low fat yogurt, 1 tea spoon of olive oil, 1 tea spoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 tea spoon of water.
Snack: 1 apple and 3 walnuts.
Dinner: slice 1 apple, squeeze lemon juice on it and eat it with 5 oz of cheese.

You are 30-40 years old
When you turn 30 years old, your metabolism slows down. You should lower calories in your dieting even if you are physically active. Do not try to lose weight fast. It will make you look a few years older because your skin will become loose and wrinkled. The older you become, the slower you should lose weight. Your goal at this age is to lose no more than 4-5 pounds a month. An ideal diet for you consists of vegetables because you will not have "hunger attacks" and swaying in your weight. Also, you should add regular exercise, massage and skin care that improves skin elasticity.
Do not plan exercises on your dieting day.

Here is an example of a vegetable diet:
Breakfast: mix oatmeal and corn flakes; add low fat milk and 1 grated carrot.
Brunch: 1 cucumber.
Lunch: 2 boiled potatoes (with the skin still on them) with a lot of vegetable salad (you can use any vegetables)
Snack: 1 red sweet paprika.
Dinner: vegetable salad and 1 piece of rye bread.

You are 40-50 years old
Almost every woman over 40 has weight problems. Your muscular mass decreases and fat increases because of hormonal changes. You should eat most of your food in the first half of the day and have very light and early dinners. You should get no more fat than 30% of your daily ration. Choose vegetable oils. Eat fish and sea food regularly.

In this age range your body starts retaining fluid. An ideal diet for you is a rice diet because it will help you to maintain a healthy fluid level in your body.

Here is an example of a rice diet:
Boil 8 oz of rice and divide it into 3 portions. 2 of them will be combined with additional protein components.
Breakfast: boiled rice with 1 low fat yogurt and 1 tea spoon of honey.
Lunch: boiled rice and 5 oz of fish or chicken.
Dinner: rice with steamed vegetables and 1 tea spoon of vegetable oil.
Do not add salt because it will lead to retaining fluid in your body. You can add soy because it will help with ‘hunger attacks’.
For snack you can eat a fruit or 3 oz of low fat cottage cheese.

You are 50-60 years old
If you are over 50, you need less energy (about 30%) than somebody who is 20 years old. Eat 4-5 small portions a day. Do not over eat because it is harmful to your health. Limit your daily ration of salt to ¼ tea spoon a day. Sometimes you can fast, but do not do it often because in this age range your body loses its strength to fight illnesses.

The most effective substances killing fat are enzymes. Pineapple and papaya are very rich in enzymes and vitamin C.

Here is an example of a diet for you:
Eat during the day about 4 -5 pounds of pineapple and papaya (or choose just one), including the pulp and juice. Divide these 4-5 pounds into 3 portions: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do not eat anything else this day.
If this diet is too strict for you, try this one:
Breakfast: 1 slice of pineapple and 3 oz of low fat cottage cheese.
Lunch: a half of pineapple and 3 oz of boiled chicken or fish or low fat meat.
Dinner: 1 slice of pineapple and 1 piece of rye bread with 1 piece of low fat cheese.

Also, powerful "fat-killers" are kiwis, apple cider vinegar and artichokes (and the water left from boiling artichokes)

You are over 60 years old
Your muscular mass in this age range is about 15% of your body. That is why if you want to lose weight, you should do it very slowly because fast diets decrease the amount of protein in your muscular mass.
The main rule is to eat no more than 40 g of fat a day.

Here are some examples:
Breakfast: 1 slice of bread with 1 tea spoon of low fat yogurt.
Lunch: instead of 1.5 oz of ground meat choose 1.5 oz of red beans. You will get an optical illusion of meat, but 7g less fat. If you can't live without meat, eat low fat beef instead of pork chop. You will get 13 g less fat.
Snack: instead of cake, choose a piece of fruit pie (minus 13 g of fat).
Dinner: instead of salami choose a piece of ham (minus 10 g of fat). With a piece of 30% fat cheese you get 10 g less fat compare to 60% fat cheese.

Drink no less than 2 L of water. It will support your digestion and metabolism.

Getting older is inevitable, but resisting it is not necessarily futile. We all age, and as we age, our bodies, once strong and spry with youth, start to break down. As the unrelenting waves of time and toil work away on us, pieces of us start to fall away like an endangered shoreline and bit by bit we began to fade away. However, just because father time has caught up to us and we find ourselves slowing down, it does not mean we have to just accept it and shuffle off to the nursing home to let others feed us and put us down for naps. There are things that we can do to help put this off, allowing us our freedom and independence well into our golden years.

The first thing that we can all start doing to ensure that our bodies will better be able to stand up to time, is to start eating healthy. Whether you are 25 or 65, choosing to eat good foods that provide your body with the things it needs to stay strong and healthy, is the first step to a healthier future. While we can all look back and wish that we had ate better things when we were younger, what we should be doing is looking forward and eating better things now. It is never too late to start. A good diet and regular exercise can help you keep your strength and energy intact and prevent the bone loss that leads to frailty. It can also help improve your memory and even help maintain your hair and skin.

So many elderly people find themselves unable to do the simplest things anymore. Because of bad diet and lack of strength and cardio exercises, the everyday task of going to the supermarket and picking up a gallon of milk becomes an impossible thing to do on their own. According to the latest statistics, 4 million people in this country need assisted living care and as this country ages, one fifth of us becoming senior citizens by 2050, this burden can become overwhelming unless we, as a country, do something about it. By eating right and exercising, you are not only doing yourself a favor by taking back your independence, you will also be helping this country's next generation.

This is why the USDA's National Agriculture Library now has a complete section devoted to lifecycle nutrition. Packed with a treasure trove of information from places like National Library of Medicine, the National Institute of Aging, the NIH and many top universities and colleges, the site is a place people can go to find out the choices they should be making as they age to ensure they maintain their strength, mobility and independence.

Different Diet Needs for the elderly

As we move on to the final stages of your lifecycle, our nutritional needs change on the micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) levels. For example, our need for fat soluble Vitamin D (From the sun or from diary products) increases because of the importance that this vitamin plays in calcium absorption and proper bone health. Also as we age, we need to start consuming less iron because of its link to age related disorders such as dementia and heart disease.

Along with different vitamin and mineral needs, older people also have somewhat different macronutrient (fats, proteins, and carbohydrates) needs. For example, according to the modified Tuft University version of the USDA's new lifecycle food pyramid, older people can actually benefit from canned and frozen food because of the easy to make portions and long shelf life. While fresh fruits and vegetables, along with healthy whole grains and good protein sources are optimal, packaged food can help the elderly maintain their strength and vitality even if they find themselves unable to go out. Another example of different dietary needs for the elderly is the modified food pyramids suggestion of using liquid protein shots to help older people function at optimal levels. Like frozen or canned food, these liquid vials can be a convenient way for the elderly to ensure that they are getting what they need to keep the muscle mass that they need to keep going about unassisted.

As we age, it is important to know about the things we need to do to make sure that we stay healthy and vibrant. Eating a good diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables along with foods that contain ample amounts of Vitamin D, calcium and protein, will ensure that our body gets what it needs to stay strong and healthy. We also need to make sure that we incorporate exercise and strength training into our routine to help keep our muscle mass and help keep the blood circulating. By eating right and exercising now, we can help ensure that our future quality of life will be maintained.