In this conversation, I discuss why “calories in, calories out” misses the mark for midlife women. We look at how food timing and quality influence hypothalamic signaling, thyroid function, and body composition especially the shift toward losing muscle and gaining fat when energy and carbohydrate are too low. I explain sarcopenia, what low energy availability does after just a few days, and why delayed eating until noon drives more obesogenic and endocrine dysfunction compared to an earlier window.
I talk through practical steps to fuel for the work at hand: a small pre-training hit of carbohydrate (and a bit of protein for strength work), a protein-forward breakfast around 35-40 g, regular meals across the day, and stopping food 2-3 hours before bed to support parasympathetic sleep and recovery.
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👩🔬 About Me:
I’m Dr. Stacy Sims, exercise physiologist, nutrition scientist, and author of ROAR and Next Level. My mission is simple: stop training women like small men. I help you understand and work with your physiology – for better performance, health, and longevity.
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I love Stacey ❤
"Met con" session??
Since I found you, Dr. Simms, two years ago, I started weightlifting. I began with a 20 kg leg press, and now I can lift 190 kg. These days, I'm completely hooked on deadlifts, and my next goal is 60 kg!
Best of all, all of my perimenopause symptoms have disappeared. My life has changed in ways I never imagined.
I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your guidance has truly transformed my life, and I'll always be grateful.
You can't get 15 grams of protein in 2 tablespoons of yogurt
what about fruits in fat loss journey? I see fruits as dessert since I’m avoiding processed desserts.
Watching this at 330 am bc I’m in a calorie deficit and I was so hungry at bedtime last night , powered through, and woke up at 1 am unable to go back to sleep 🎉😑
I added so much more muscle when I dumped the carbs – and my high blood sugar
This is so common, when someone is in a calorie deficit and still gaining or not losing, it’s usually a sign the body isn’t responding well overall, not just a calorie issue.
love your info but do you ever talk about the women who are in their 50's and not going to the gym at 6 am but still want to drop some weight? I never hear you talk about this group of woman. thank you
Today I learned I’m doing everything wrong 😂 thanks Stacy!
If I stop eating 2 to 3 hours before bed and I don’t have a small snack before going to bed, I wake up in the night very hungry. I think the reason for this is because I weight training in the evenings several days of the week my schedule is super busy and that just happens to be the time of day that I can fit it in.
Stacy, I was one of this who said that I couldn’t eat before my 6 am gym session. Ha! I made myself do it and then added a post workout shake as well. I’m reading your book “Roar” with a friend and have implemented quite a few changes from your recommendations. Thank for the work you’re doing for women!
Excellent advice!
The title is ME. I have been tracking by weighing my food and eating good food with a treat here and there and I am not losing weight. Going on 4 weeks in a calorie deficit (1800 – and NOT limited carbs) and I am the same weight, sometimes up a pound or 2. I know that in a deficit because I am hungry when I wasn't before and my workouts have been lacking a little. It's SO STUPID. I walk 8k-12k steps a day and lift weights 4x a week. I hate being a mid life woman.
I’ve worked swing shift for 13 years. 7-12 hour days then 7 12 hour nights. Can you please speak on how to eat and exercise while working like this?
I'm in my late 40s — I find that eating a small amount a food before bed allows me to sleep better at night — seems when I hold off on food for several hours before bed it causes me to wake up around 2:30-3:00 am
What do you mean "we see people". Are you only relying on anecdotal evidence or have you done any studies to confirm this? Because counting calories is a WELL established protocol for changing body weight/body fat.
I'm not aware of any study that shows decreasing calories causes fat gain.
This is all very interesting. But also somewhat disheartening since a lot of women, the majority in fact don´t really have the luxury of being able to choose when to feed from a perfection point of view at the most perfect times of the day that seems so easy for a woman like Dr Sims who seems to be able to choose when she works and mostly works from home and can do her workouts pretty much whenever she feels like it. Most of us don´t have that choice. And if what she says is true, then that means all women who are not in her lucky position are simply just doomed to poor health and fat storage and muscle loss…
I work mostly on the road going between clients who are severely ill and need support and therapy. I mostly don´t have time for either a sitting down breakfast nor lunch. Lunch for me usually is brunch consisting of a protein shake in my car and some berries and perhaps a bit of cottage cheese if i can stop for five minutes somewhere to spork it down. In essence food that you can easily eat while driving a car. My main meal and the only time i ca actually sit down and enjoy a meal of real home cooked food is at night between 6.30 at best but often not earlier than 8 pm at night about two hours before I need to go to bed. That time at night is also my real me time when i can enjoy the company of m family and can focus on eating some good food and nutrients. Now with Dr. Sims logic i should have been gaining a lot of fat and lost a lot of muscles. But in fact the opposite has happened since i gave up breakfast and embraced the fact that this is what my life looks like. I have been able to loose about 70 pounds and have not lost any lean mass but have actually gained some lean mass compared to how things were when i started my weight loss journey.
What i am trying to say is that even though i understand that from a scientist point of view there is always a strive to find that one thing that makes sense across the board. That one truth. But when it comes to the body I just think its too intelligent and complex to allow for us to limit its functionality into just one way. I think the body is flexible enough for many different lifestyles to work and many different feeding patterns too. I also think its important to understand that Dr Sims whole perception of the body is shaped by a lifetime of total focus on elite level of training which also affects the body a lot. Most of us are not on that level and never have been and never will be. And that also means that different rules may apply.
I am writing this because i believe there are a lot of people who like me hear Dr Sims and become a bit disillusioned when they realise that they will never be able to fit into the type of eating pattern that Dr Sims suggests and also claims is the only eating pattern a woman should have unless they want to loose all their muscles and become sick. Which i believe is not true. It would be nice to hear her elaborate on how women who do have lives that comes with responsibilities and demands that does not fit into the privileges that Dr Sims and other influencers can enjoy can make things work when they cannot create the kinds of unusual fasting windows that she apparently can utilise in her life.
For those of us with hypothyroidism who take levothyroxine first thing in the morning AND work out in the morning, I actually can't eat before my workout without interfering with medication absorption. If I worked out after work, then I'd be eating right before bed.
Add to this: starting to eat more, including breakfast and protein and also gaining weight.
stacy never addresses insulin, sugar spikes and locked fat stores.
Eating a' balanced diet' restricts one to NEVER reaching ketosis. A critically important normal function of metoboli health.
Demonizing low carb without balancing the reasons WHY low carb reverses type 2 diabetes and fatty liver.
These extremely important areas can not be achieved eating carbs. even quality ones.
I’m 70 yo women. No hormones since 1997, on Levothyroxine for partial thyroidectomy. How do I lose fat?
Dr Sims, how to fuel after an evening workout then when finished a session at 8pm, please?
I have transitioned gradually from working out on a fasting state to adding pre workout and post workout meals. Was uncomfortable at first but I think it's more sustainable and sensible. Thank you Dr Stacy, I love your podcast and you look Amazing!
Hi Dr. Stacy Sims, I really enjoy your videos and find them so helpful. As a woman who has had a total thyroidectomy and previously had hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s, I would really love to see videos specifically about women with thyroid conditions. It would be incredibly helpful to hear your perspective on metabolism, training, recovery, and nutrition for women dealing with these issues. I think there are so many women with thyroid conditions who would find it helpful. Thank you!!
This addresses meal timing and comp for morning exercisers. How do we adjust for after work exercisers? I am following your Power Happens program for beginners. I am 54 and struggle to shed fat, but have a good amount of lean muscle (as per recent Dexa). I have a measured RMR of approx 1250 cal (@190 lbs) which is quite low. I don't like eating in the morning, but put protein drink in my coffee as creamer – about 15 grms. Nothing else until lunch at 12pm.
Timing is key. I tried the protein coffee but ran out of energy mid workout which was at 9am. I changed my workout time to 10:30 so I can eat more. What would be the best time to eat prior a 10:30 workout and should I have 35-40 g of Protein with Carbs before the heavy strength workout. I stop eating @ 4:30 pm for best digestion before sleep. Thanks