Feeling stuck in your health and fitness journey? You’re eating well, exercising, and doing all the “right” things—but the scale won’t budge, your energy is low, and progress feels impossible. If this sounds familiar, it’s not your fault! Your metabolism is changing, and you need to adjust accordingly.
In this episode, I’ll discuss exactly why plateaus occur especially in midlife and, more importantly, how to overcome them. I’ll dive into powerful strategies—like carb cycling, intermittent fasting, strength training, and stress management—to reset your metabolism and finally get results you desire.
Tune in now and get ready to push past that stubborn plateau once and for all!
Welcome!
Welcome back to Small Daily Habits, the podcast where we help women over 40 become leaner, stronger, and more energetic versions of themselves. I’m Christine, your host, personal trainer, and FASTer Way to Fat Loss coach. Today, we’re tackling one of the most frustrating parts of a health journey, hitting a plateau. If you’ve been doing ‘all the things’ and your body just isn’t responding, don’t worry, this is normal and I’m going to walk you through it. The key is knowing why your body is stuck and making strategic shifts to get things progressing again.
Metabolism Shifts and Hormone Changes: How to Adjust
As we enter perimenopause our metabolism shifts. What used to work for you probably isn’t working anymore because of changes in hormones, muscle mass, and your stress response.
The key is to stop doing more of what’s not working like fad diets, undereating, and excessive cardio. Then, make a commitment to working smarter, not harder. I’ll teach you how to break through your plateau in midlife with these 5 simple strategies.
1. Carb Cycling
OK ladies, it’s time to stop making carbs the enemy. Whole food carbs like fruits, veggies, and even rice have a place in a well-rounded nutrition plan. Many women, especially when they enter their 40’s, think low carbs and restriction is the way to go. However, this actually teaches your body to slow its metabolism and increases stress hormones in response to all this restriction. You know what that means? You guessed it, weight gain! The exact thing you are trying to avoid is right where you are headed with this method.
How it works
Here’s what you do instead. Carb cycling is an approach that helps you strategically fuel your body with the right balance of whole foods to keep your metabolism flexible. By flexible I mean easily able to change energy sources from carbs to fats and back again.
Our bodies need carbs to give us energy to fuel our workouts and daily activities. But if we always have carbs available to burn our bodies never tap into those fat stores. So, carb cycling becomes key. A couple days a week focus on lowering your carb intake and increasing your healthy fat intake. This helps your body deplete its carb energy source and forces the body to start burning fat for energy.
However, staying in this low carb cycle for longer than a couple days puts a lot of stress on the body. It’s key to only practice this a couple days each week. On these days focus on doing short burst, high intensity exercise to train your body to burn through fat stores. Then for the rest of the week eat higher carbs and lower fats. Cycling between low carb days and high carbs days teaches the body to be flexible and use the energy source that is available at that moment.
2. Intermittent Fasting
To make overall health and fat loss even more successful add Intermittent fasting to your daily plan. Fasting for 12-16 hours allows your body to tap into fat stores while improving digestion and energy levels.
You may have heard that intermittent fasting puts undo stress on your body and may not be right for women over 40. For some, it may not be however, for most it can have amazing results. Have a discussion with your Dr. if you have concerns or other health risks that may influence your success with intermittent fasting.
Once you get your Dr’s approval I suggest starting with a 12 hour fast and seeing how your body feels. Then stretch the time until you reach the point that feels right for your body, not exceeding 16 hours daily. This gives your body the digestive rest it needs and your body can focus on rest and repair instead of digestion while you sleep. Over time you will start to feel more rested upon waking up and more energized throughout the day. Not to mention, your body got to rest and repair so overall you begin to feel amazing.
3. Strength Train with Intentional Rest
If you’re overdoing cardio and not prioritizing strength training, you’re missing a huge opportunity to build lean muscle and rev up your metabolism
Remember, muscle tissue burns more calories than fat. The more muscle you have on your body the quicker your metabolism will be.
The smarter approach is to focus on progressive strength training or lifting heavier over time while allowing for proper recovery. Aim to lift weights 3 times a week hitting all muscle groups each week. If you are just starting out, take it slow and work your way up. Other movement should be incorporated throughout the week as well.
4. Prioritize Stress Management and Sleep
Hormones at this stage in life make stress more impactful on weight loss. If you’re constantly in ‘go mode,’ your cortisol levels will most likely interfere with your weight loss progress.
Implementing practices like breathwork, gentle stretching, and creating optimal sleep habits can help to lower cortisol levels and therefore make weight loss easier.
5. Track Progress Beyond the Scale
An important reminder is that breaking plateaus isn’t just about weight loss! Non-scale victories like increased energy levels, strength gains, and inches lost are just as important and should be celebrated.
When you work with me, we’ll focus on fat loss, muscle-building, and building healthy lifestyle habits to reduce stress and increase success. Remember, you are so much more than a number on the scale.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, I hope today’s episode gave you some clarity and confidence to make a change. Remember, your body is always working for you. All you have to do is give it the right tools to truly thrive. I’d love to be your guide. My next 6-week FASTer Way to Fat Loss round is starting soon, and it’s the perfect way to reset your metabolism, build strength, and feel amazing again. Join my waitlist here.
As always, thanks for listening, and if you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe and share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it. I’ll see you next week where I’ll be joined by my longtime friend, personal trainer, and fellow FSU dance department grad, Sara Dimmick. She’ll be sharing all about her journey with hormone replacement therapy. You don’t want to miss it!
Remember, BIG changes, begin with Small Daily Habits! Until next time…
Missed last week’s episode all about my personal journey with The FASTer Way to Fat Loss and why I think it’s a gamechanger for my clients? Tune in here and read the show notes here.
Wishing you much love, health, and happiness,
Christine
