What if you've been following all the rules, but nobody's stopped to question whether they're the right ones for your body?
Because some of the advice women have been following for decades deserves a serious rethink. Especially once we hit our 40s.
And a few of the supposed villains might surprise you.
Fasting
Whether it's a 16-hour overnight fast that doesn't remotely fit into your daily routine (or our natural rhythms), or a strict regime of fasting 5-6 hours between meals (even though your blood sugar is dropping into your boots), fasting can just add another stressor into a body that is already struggling
Instead of a mammoth overnight fast, shift your eating window to fit in with our natural rhythms, bring your eating window earlier, aim to eat a little earlier in the evenings. You'll find your are naturally hitting a 12 hour overnight fast which is plenty for improving insulin sensitivity (good for blood sugar balance and weight loss without a single calorie being tracked) and giving your digestion a break
Macros
You could have the 'perfect' bloody macro split and still be completely missing what YOUR body needs. The balance of protein/fat/carbs does not address the fact you're stressed, micronutrient deficient or continuing to eat foods you're struggling to digest (not a problem if you like bloating, inflammation and recirculation of hormones).
Macro splits are only the icing on the cake. They are a TOOL not the be all, end all. You have to address the foundations first, such as stress, blood sugar and gut health
Cortisol
Poor old cortisol, just doing it's job in your stress response, immune response and helping you to wake up in the mornings. And before you ask…. if you're waking up during the night, this is cortisol coming to the rescue after your blood sugar drops, it's the response, not the cause.
Get to work on your blood sugar (as well as stress) and a healthy cortisol rhythm will follow, be mindful of caffeine timing and start saying 'fck no' to a few more things swamping your manic schedule
Protein
Yes I do love protein, I mean 'essential amino acids' are not a trend, our body needs protein to function and it's fcking fabulous for keeping us satiated blah blah blah..... but it's not the ONLY macronutrient.
Try to get a source of protein into each meal and snack, but this doesn't have to be a rigid rule of cottage cheese with everything
Carbs
If you want a fast metabolism and metabolic flexibility (trust me you do).... then you want carbs in your diet. The fastest way to tank your thyroid function (aside from radioactive iodine therapy) is to completely remove carbs. It's also a fast track route to poor recovery,subpar performance and overall signalling to your body that times are bloody hard
Eat carbs. Stack them earlier in the day when our body handles them better (insulin sensitivity is higher), don't skip them pre/post workout and wonder why you're not recovering or making progress
Calories
I will say this till i'm blue in the face, your midlife body does not need another miserable calorie deficit. You can't out deficit a metabolism running on an empty tank. Calories were never the enemy
Ditch the endless tracking, make a big fcking deal of breakfast (instead of saving calories for the end of the day) and focus on building muscle and fuelling your body.
Cardio
I mean the clues in the name surely, cardio is really bloody good for improving CARDIOvascular health, endurance, stamina. Doing endless cardio is not so helpful for a midlife body already hanging onto calories for preservation
Unless you need to train cardio for your sport/activities, treat cardio as an addition. For body composition changes focus on building your metabolic furnace (muscle)
Fats
Well played 90's diet culture, you did a proper number on fats. Symptoms I see from low fat diets: poor bile flow (hello gallstones, you might experience this as a stitch pain under your right ribcage), tanked hormones (did you know that your sex hormones are literally made from cholesterol), fatigue and dry and flakey skin
Eat fat. Including essential fats: chia/flax/hemp seeds, walnuts, fatty fish. With regard to lipids, remember cholesterol is the RESPONSE to inflammation, not the cause. Take a peak at what your blood sugar is doing (are your triglycerides elevated?)
Your hormones
We're somewhere between HRT being the answer for everything and hormones being blamed for every bloody dieting frustration past the age of 40. And whilst they change the landscape for your metabolism, if you're dutifully employing all the diet tricks of undereating and overtraining, you're adding fuel to the fire!
Create an environment your hormones can thrive in: address stress, get off the blood sugar rollercoaster and aim for a daily healthy dump (start with these basics before you throw another diet at your hormones)
So yeah, hopefully some diet culture debunked for you!
If you've spent years doing what you thought were all the right things but you're still knackered, hungry and feeling like your metabolism has stopped playing ball, there's probably more to the picture.
That's where working together comes in.
We look beyond calories and macros to understand what's really going on under the hood.
Ready to stop guessing and get a proper game plan?
Apply to work with me below.
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As always, give me a shout if you have any questions
Harri