09/07/2026
Some great info for women over 50 struggling with weight gain
The biggest metabolism mistake women over 50 make
If you’re a woman over 50 who’s been trying to lose weight, there’s one habit I see all the time that sabotages women’s metabolism. And surprisingly, it’s something I don’t see people talking about.
It’s not sugar or the occasional glass of w**e, and it’s not skipping the gym.
The biggest metabolism mistake women over 50 make is undereating.
So many of us grew up believing that eating less is the path to weight loss (that was definitely the message we were getting through the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s!). But as nutrition science has evolved and we’ve learned more about women’s holistic health and how to maintain a healthy weight, we now know that chronic under-eating is one of the fastest ways to slow your metabolism down.
By the time most women reach midlife, they've spent decades eating tiny breakfasts, eating salads with fat-free dressings, or cutting out entire food groups because a friend said it worked for her.
These choices might have worked in the moment, but over years of undereating, you’re also undernourishing. Under these conditions, your body responds by protecting itself.
Think of your metabolism as a smart, adaptive system that is always listening to the signals you send it. When you consistently eat too little, your body doesn't know the difference between a diet and a famine. It simply registers "not enough coming in" and adjusts accordingly by slowing the rate at which you burn energy, holding onto fat stores for protection, and breaking down muscle tissue for fuel. It is called The Starvation Adaptation Mode - and it never works long term.
That last part is especially important for women over 50. Muscle is metabolically active tissue, meaning it burns more calories at rest than fat does. When you lose muscle, whether from under-eating, inactivity, or the natural hormonal shifts of perimenopause and menopause, your metabolic rate drops even further. It becomes a discouraging cycle: eat less, lose muscle, metabolism slows, weight becomes harder to manage, so you eat even less. Round and round it goes.
This is why so many women tell me, "I'm eating less than ever and still not losing weight."
There's another layer here that's especially relevant in midlife: cortisol, your primary stress hormone. Under-eating is a physical stressor on the body, just like a poor night's sleep or a demanding week at work. When you chronically restrict food, cortisol tends to rise. Elevated cortisol levels encourage your body to store fat, particularly around the midsection, and can interfere with sleep, mood, and energy levels.
The good news is that this is one of the more fixable pieces of the metabolism puzzle, once you understand what's actually happening. And it all starts with the foundational pieces we talk about week after week. Aside from eating protein at every meal for satiation and to protect and rebuild muscle, here are other important things you can do:
Stop skipping meals. I understand not having time to eat during a busy day. But for many women in midlife, going long stretches without food increases cortisol and sets you up to overeat later. Consistent, balanced meals throughout the day keep your blood sugar steady and your metabolism working the way it's designed to.
Reframe "eating enough" as a metabolism strategy. This is as much a mindset shift as a nutritional one. Eating adequately gives your body the resources it needs to function well, build muscle, and support hormone balance.
Start resistance training. Since muscle is central to a healthy metabolic rate, strength training two to three times a week helps preserve and build the muscle tissue that under-eating erodes.
Pay attention to how you feel, not just the number on the scale. Are you sleeping well? Do you have steady energy throughout the day? Is your mood stable? Are you recovering well from workouts? These are all signals of a properly fueled metabolism. If several of these are off, chronic under-eating is worth considering as a root cause.
The women I see thrive in midlife aren't the ones eating the least. They're the ones eating enough of the right things, consistently, to give their bodies permission to work with them instead of against them. That's the shift I'd love for you to make: not eating less, but eating smarter, and enough. You might just be surprised by the difference you feel and see!
Dr Joey Schulman
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