My peers and I are noticing a trend among our clients over 40.  They keep cutting calories in an attempt to lose weight and lower the number on the scale.  It doesn’t work.  They’re experiencing weight loss resistance, so they keep eating less.

They’ve bought into the eat less, exercise more diet dogma that we’ve all grown up with.

You may have heard of your metabolism, but what exactly does it do?

The simple answer is your metabolism is the number of calories your body burns.  Calories are energy the body uses to run on.  It does this in several ways:

• Basal metabolic rate (BMR): The amount of calories (energy) your body needs to function—your heart beating, digestion, etc. It uses 40-60% of your caloric intake in a day.
• You want your BMR to be high and efficient.  For many women and men, too, it’s become slow over time as they’ve constantly yo-yo dieted.
• Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) - things like walking, gardening, cleaning your house, etc.
• Thermic effect of food - digesting food burns calories, while protein burns the most.
• Exercise - which only makes up about 5-15% of your total calorie burn

Chronic dieting and calorie restriction slow down metabolism, especially basal metabolic rate. A long history of calorie restriction will also down-regulate metabolism as it attempts to adjust to long periods of severe restriction.

Restricting calories to 1200-1500 calories a day with not enough protein creates a stressed body in a restricted state.  Metabolic adaptation will occur by slowing down metabolism because the body perceives there’s not enough energy available.

Being low-calorie for a long period of time slows down all of the body’s processes without you realizing it, as it attempts to function without enough energy.

When there’s not enough energy, the body will become more frugal with where it allocates resources. An analogy is if you normally spend $200 at the grocery store but now you’re forced to spend $25, you’ll have to make extreme cuts.

The symptoms of this can show up as weight loss resistance, low energy, poor sleep, poor digestion, hot flashes, and night sweats.

If you’re a woman in perimenopause, menopause, or beyond, you have to consider the way stress plays into calorie restriction.  Estrogen keeps cortisol levels (our stress hormone) in check.  As estrogen levels decline, your body doesn’t handle stress as well.  Being in a big caloric deficit is a big stress on your body.

It’s ironic that in midlife, as we experience more stress from balancing careers, children, family, and aging parents, we are called to minimize the stressors in our lives.

As stress increases, the production of sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) decreases.

If you’re eating a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diet and always on the go, cortisol will send the signal to dump sugar into your bloodstream because it perceives a tiger is chasing you.

Living in survival mode slows down metabolism.

How can you break this pattern of cutting calories to try and lose weight?

• Eat enough food - 1200 or 1500 calories is not enough to support your energy needs.
• Address stress levels - as cortisol goes up, your thyroid function decreases, belly fat increases, and sex hormones decrease.
• Improve sleep - If you wake up at 3 AM, this is likely a cortisol response. Consider having a small snack before bed of a healthy carbohydrate and some protein.
• Eat carbohydrates—everyone loves to demonize them—but you need healthy carbs: vegetables, fruit, sweet potato, rice, beans, lentils, etc—find what works for you.
• Eat enough protein - 30 grams/meal - I find most women undereat protein
• Eat enough fiber - eat your veggies
• Hydration - a lot of people are dehydrated - drink half your body weight in ounces
• Stop fasting - for most women, it’s another stressor.   

If you’ve been chronically yo-yo dieting or undereating for years, it will take time to make a change.  It takes consistency and getting in tune with your body.  As you add more calories, you may gain weight.  As your body perceives safety again because enough energy is supplied, your metabolism will become more efficient.

In a previous newsletter, I talked about how stress impacts your body.  You can read more here.

Are we friends on Instagram? I made a Reel with some of my favorite items at Sprouts. You can watch it here.