Your body changes over time, but you can do things in your 30s to aid weight loss and promote overall health. Excessively restrictive diets and a negative body image, however, may be counteractive.
Losing weight to reach a moderate weight can improve your blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, blood pressure levels, inflammatory markers, and mobility.
A moderate body weight may improve your self-confidence, body image, and depressive symptoms.
But many weight loss methods are unsustainable. Dieting and diet culture can be incredibly harmful to your physical and mental health.
It’s possible to safely reach a body weight that promotes your overall health.
1 to 7: Changes in mentality
1. Redirect your focus
Focusing on improving other aspects of your health rather than your body weight or physical appearance may help you reach your goals.
A 2019 review studying body image and physical activity found that people with positive body images were more likely to engage in physical activity and sports than those with negative body images.
But this does not mean that improving your appearance cannot motivate you. Rather, it suggests that your appearance and desire to be accepted by others should not be the only — or even the main — motivators for reaching a moderate body weight.
Motivational factors like improving your diet quality, endurance, and energy levels and reducing your disease risk may improve long-term success on your weight loss journey.
2. Prioritize health and happiness
Never compromise your health or happiness by following a diet or exercise program that makes you feel bad about yourself.
An extremely restrictive diet that causes you to become overly preoccupied with food is a sign that the plan is not right for you and your needs.
The same goes for activity. If a new trainer or workout class makes you feel uncomfortable or bad about yourself, find a different activity that you enjoy and have fun doing. And if needed, find a new trainer who makes you feel supported on your weight loss journey.
A sustainable dietary pattern and activity plan should leave you feeling healthy, nourished, and energized.
3. Understand that weight loss does not work alone
Weight loss is only one piece of a large puzzle.
Stress, mental health conditions, lack of activity, illness and disease, diets low in necessary nutrients, genetics, and a lack of sleep are other factors to consider.
This is why improving your overall health — not just losing weight — can be the best goal to set.
4. Think about the future
It’s important to consider your future self, although having short-term goals is typical when trying to lose weight.
How can improving your nutrition, increasing your activity, and managing your body weight during your 30s benefit your future health?
Make decisions based on how they affect your overall health and future well-being rather than making dietary and lifestyle modifications based on how quickly they encourage weight loss.
5. Respect your body
Learning to respect your body at any weight fosters self-acceptance and successful weight management. Being hard on yourself will not make you more successful.
Research shows that self-criticism may undermine or even counteract attempts at weight management and weight loss.
Working with an experienced therapist may help if you’re learning to manage self-acceptance and how to show your body kindness regardless of your body weight.
6. Know weight loss is not linear
Plateaus and fluctuations are part of losing weight. Weight loss is complicated and involves compensatory changes in the body that slow weight loss over time and encourage weight regain.
You may need to increase your calorie intake when you hit a plateau, especially if you’ve been following a diet that does not supply your body with an adequate amount of energy.
Slowly increasing your calorie intake may counteract some of the natural metabolic changes that occur during weight loss and make keeping weight off difficult.
7. Overcome the ‘all or nothing’ mentality
Setting weight loss goals you can reach without engaging in unsustainable, restrictive diets and extreme workout regimens is essential.
The best overall goal to consider is improving your health. This can include, but should not be limited to, losing excess body fat.
Understand that your “goal weight” might not be possible unless you use health-harming, extreme measures, which are not recommended.
You can work with a qualified healthcare professional, such as a registered dietitian, to develop realistic, health-supportive, weight loss and nutrition goals specific to your body and health needs.
8 to 14: Changes to dietary habits
8. Load up on produce
Research published in 2020 shows that increasing your fruit and vegetable intake promotes weight loss and may help maintain a moderate body weight.
Adding more vegetables and fruits to your diet is an excellent way to:
- improve diet quality
- decrease disease risk
- promote healthy weight loss
9. Say no to most diets
To develop a sustainable weight loss plan that works for your needs, it’s important to avoid restrictive, unnecessary diets.
Dieting and restrained eating do not work for long-term weight maintenance.
Some of the most frequently reported strategies people use for weight loss, per an assessment of global weight control registries, do not involve heavily reorganizing your dietary plan. Instead, they focus on:
- having nutritious foods available at home
- a regular breakfast intake
- increasing vegetable consumption
- decreasing sugary and fatty foods
- limiting certain foods
- reducing fat in meals
- staying physically active
All foods should fit into a balanced, sustainable eating pattern that you can follow long term as part of an enjoyable lifestyle. You should not ever feel like you need to “cheat” when following your dietary plan.
10. Stay hydrated
Staying hydrated is important when it comes to weight maintenance.
A small 2019 study involving people ages 18 to 39 in Spain found that higher fluid intake was associated with healthier body composition, including a lower body fat percentage and smaller waist circumference.
Fluid needs are dependent on many factors, including your activity levels and body size. One way to tell whether you’re hydrated is to check your urine color.
11. Cut back on added sugar
Reducing your added sugar intake can promote weight loss and reduce the risk of conditions like heart disease and metabolic syndrome.
Foods and beverages like cereals, sweetened coffee drinks, soda, candy, and certain baked goods contain added sugar while offering few nutritional benefits. Essentially, they’re “empty” calories.
Try reducing your intake of these foods over time and using all forms of sweeteners less often or in smaller amounts.
12. Choose sustainable over speedy
Countless diets and detoxes promote rapid, extreme weight loss through the use of very low calorie meal plans.
While these diets are likely to promote quick weight loss by drastically reducing your calorie intake, they’re not a good choice for sustainable weight loss since they can negatively affect your:
- energy levels
- performance
- overall health
Studies have shown that crash or “yo-yo” dieting leads to weight gain and compensatory changes that may make future weight loss and weight maintenance more difficult.
A satisfying dietary pattern that fuels your body and creates a small calorie deficit will result in slower weight loss, but it’ll decrease the chances of weight regain and ensure your body gets the nutrients it needs.
13. Reduce intake of highly processed foods
Nutrient-poor, highly processed foods are associated with weight gain and can increase your risk of developing heart disease, certain cancers, and obesity if you eat them often.
Try to cut back on your consumption of ultra-processed foods, including:
- fast food
- packaged snack products
- soda
14. Choose filling, nutrient-dense foods
Protein is the most filling macronutrient, and adding protein-rich ingredients to meals and snacks can increase feelings of satiety/satisfaction and help manage your weight and hunger.
Eating fiber-rich foods like vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds is also beneficial for weight management and satiety.
When putting together meals and snacks, aim to make them as filling and nutritious as possible by pairing them with sources of protein and healthy fats, such as:
- eggs
- nuts
- fish
- chicken
- unsweetened yogurt
15 to 18: Changes in lifestyle
15. Do not underestimate daily activity
While incorporating high intensity activity into your routine can promote weight loss and muscle gain, it’s unnecessary to do only high intensity activities to reach your goal weight.
Being active daily by increasing your step count or meeting your step goals is just as important as going to the gym.
If you’re averaging around 1,000 steps per day, try to increase your count to 2,500 steps most days of the week (about 1 mile [1.6 km]).
Once you consistently reach that goal, add 1,000 steps per week or so until you’re comfortably walking a few miles per day.
16. Prioritize sleep
Sometimes life can get in the way when you’re in your 30s, reducing your sleep time and negatively affecting sleep quality.
Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain by increasing hunger hormones and calorie intake. It also decreases satiety hormones and energy levels, making weight loss even more challenging.
Getting at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep consistently is important for weight management and your overall health.
17. Step outside
Spending time in nature is incredibly beneficial for your overall health.
Research suggests that spending more time outside is associated with higher activity levels and less time sitting, which may help you lose weight. Spending time outside may also help reduce your chronic disease risk and stress levels.
Make a point to get outside daily for a walk or to enjoy fresh air.
18. Participate in joyful movement
Muscle mass naturally declines with age, starting in your 30s. One way to build and maintain muscle mass and metabolism is to engage in regular exercise.
Instead of jumping into an exercise routine based on the number of calories it burns, take the time to narrow down activities you truly find enjoyable and can imagine doing for life.
Zumba, hiking, biking, walking, Pilates, swimming, and dancing are just some examples of activities that people of all ages may find enjoyable.
19. Learn to love cooking
Studies have linked home-cooked meals to weight loss and improved diet quality.
A 2020 study that analyzed data from people ages 20 years and older found that those who prepared home-cooked meals at least 7 times per week had a higher healthy eating index score compared to those who cooked only 0 to 2 times per week.
This does not mean you have to cook every meal at home or that the meals need to be complex. You could use meal planning apps or meal prep recipes.
Try to increase the number of meals you prepare every week if you’re currently cooking only 1 or 2 meals a week.
20. Work with healthcare professionals
Registered dietitians and therapists can be helpful when trying to lose weight and improve your overall health.
They can help you understand your relationship with food and make beneficial changes to your physical and mental well-being.
When searching for a nutritionist or therapist, make sure they have proper credentials and that their counseling philosophies align with your specific needs.
The takeaway
If you’re in your 30s and want to lose weight, it’s important to use safe, sustainable methods to improve your overall health.
Restrictive diets and excessive calorie restriction can lead to rapid weight loss but also the inability to keep the weight off long term.
Using all or some of the 20 sustainable weight loss tips listed above can help you manage your weight while prioritizing your physical and mental health in your 30s.