Weight Loss Over 40- Why its Hard and What to Do

Ephesians 6:12-13, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

After 40, when weight loss slows down, the enemy whispers:
 You’re failing. You’re losing control. You’re falling apart. You’re behind. You should be further by now.

The enemy says: • low serotonin → “you’re failing emotionally” • low estrogen → “you have no control” • slow metabolism → “you’ll always struggle” • fatigue → “see, this isn’t working”

3. Your identity in Christ is stronger than your hormones. Hormones influence your cravings — not your calling. 

Hormone #1 — Estrogen -This affects: • metabolism rate • serotonin • motivation • mood stability • satisfaction after meals.  

Hormone #2 — Progesterone- This impacts: • sleep • anxiety • water retention • inflammation– Less sleep = more cravings. More anxiety = more snacking. More inflammation = slower weight loss.

Hormone #3 — Cortisol Increase- Women over 40 clear cortisol 40% slower.

The Fix:

1. Reclaim your identity from symptoms. “God is not limited by my biology.”

2. Eat FOR your hormones..

A woman over 40 needs:
 ✔ Protein every meal. 25-30 grams per meal, 4-5 meals per day.
 ✔ Fiber (20–25g) daily.
 ✔ Healthy fats- 
 ✔ Consistent carbs (not low carb, not high carb—balanced)
 ✔ Breakfast within 60–90 minutes of waking up
 ✔ Meals every 3–4 hours- this maintains metabolism without the crash and need for quick carbs or caffeine.

This reduces • insulin spikes • cravings • energy crashes • mood swings • snacking

Your spiritual habits regulate your physical habits. When you pray first, you eat differently. When you rest in God, your cravings calm down. When your soul feels safe, your hunger quiets. 

Lord, restore my identity, for so long I’ve let my body dictate my decisions about how I feel about myself. Silence the lies that cling to my body and replace them with the truth of Your Holy Word.  Help me honor You with the way I nourish myself in word and deed Lord. Strengthen my body, balance my hormones, and renew my mind in a way only You can. I love You Lord, thank You for this body I get to reshape and love. Let me honor You with how I love her today, Amen.

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and NOT losing weight?

Hey there friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late twenties and struggled for years to get it off. Seven years ago, I found a basic system that worked and has helped me lose 90 of those pounds. I’ve been working with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since to break chains of diet culture, embrace their bodies and fueling instead of dieting. 

 In this podcast, I'll teach you how to:

• • Lose Weight in a Way that honors God without obsessing about the scale
  • Meal Plan and Prep for Your Family
  • Follow a MACRO based plan that allows you to eat the foods you love.
  • Recognize and pray through triggers keeping you stuck.
  • I’ll help you Plan your week and schedule your self-care time.
  • Cultivate a spirit of self-discipline in your workouts you actually enjoy.
   
  It's time to give God your health journey and watch Him make you new, from the inside, OUT.

Join The Biblical Weight Loss Framework: https://www.herweightlossmindset.com/framework

Join my FREE Community: https://bit.ly/JoinTheChristianWeightLossCommunity

Join my Insiders List with weekly tips for weight loss for Christian women: http://herweightlossmindset.com/herweightlossmindsetinsiders

Transcript

Oh man, I'm about to answer the question. Are you ready? Have you asked this lately?

Why is it so much harder now than it used to be to lose weight? Why is your weight sticking even when you're trying, even when you're praying, even when you're eating better? Why does one bad day feel like a landslide?

Why do your cravings feel louder? And why does motivation just disappear out of nowhere? Here's the truth.

It's not just your body that changes after you're 40. Your identity is actually under attack. So let's dig into the spiritual and hormonal truth behind this.

Hold tight. Are you sick of trying diet after diet and not losing weight? Are you tired of doubting your ability to actually lose weight in a healthy way?

Do you wish you could find a laid out for you plan that will help you stay accountable to your goals? Hey, friends, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late 20s and struggled for years to get it off.

So grab your pre-workout and let's chat. If you're tired of trying every diet, if you've already given up on whatever New Year's resolution that you set, please join the Biblical Weight Loss Framework. We're not doing resolutions anymore.

We're not buying into fad diets. We're not living for an ozempic shot.

We are fixing the things in our mind that lead us to make poor decisions, that keep us from resetting our metabolism, that hold us back from healing from unhealthy mindsets and years of traumas and triggers that have created unrealistic expectations.

We're done. No more. We are ready to heal through Holy Spirit strength.

So if you are ready to finally lay it down for good, join the framework in the show notes is the link. Or you can find it at herweightlossmindset.com/framework. Man, I feel like I can't talk today.

All right. So I shared this verse last week because it is imperative that we remember who the real enemy is. It's not our body, but the actual enemy who wages war against our minds through distraction and struggle.

Ephesians 6, 12, and 13. It says, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand.

The struggle includes cravings, fatigue, discouragement, hormonal shifts, emotional eating. You're not fighting your body. You're fighting the lies spoken to your body.

But I want you to think about the last part of that verse. We can stand our ground when we put on the armor of God. Isn't that amazing?

As we lean in today, I want to talk about the attack on our identity, ladies. Weight struggles create identity confusion. After 40, when weight loss slows down, the enemy whispers, You're failing.

You're losing control. You're falling apart. You're behind.

You should be further by now. And here's the most dangerous one. It's too late.

These aren't thoughts. They're ammunition. Your identity becomes tangled with the scale, the mirror, your energy levels, your body changing, your lack of motivation.

But my sister, identity cannot be attached to biology. Identity is anchored in Christ alone. The enemy uses hormonal symptoms as spiritual accusations.

Low estrogen is not a lack of discipline. Insulin resistance is not gluttony. Cortisol overwhelm is not spiritual weakness.

But the enemy sees your hormonal vulnerabilities as open doors. Now, let's be clear.

If we're not eating clean and healthy, if we're not exercising our bodies as we need to actually change, we have to take responsibility and do our part to implement the things we know are going to push us further.

In time, we will see the change that we want to. But learning to discern the difference is the key. The enemy says, low serotonin, you're failing emotionally.

Low estrogen, you have no control. Slow metabolism, you'll always struggle. Fatigue, see, this isn't working.

He uses your biology to make you question your identity. We have to silence the lie by leaning into prayer and into God's Word. Your identity in Christ is stronger than your hormones.

Hormones influence your cravings, not your calling. They affect your feelings, not your future. They impact your motivation, but not your mind in Christ.

When we apply the strategies, I'm going to share with you here in a second, we can change our bodies, we can boost our metabolism, and we can lean into the goals God will give us and truly change from the inside out. We can.

I know we've talked a lot about this lately. I want to hammer this in, especially after 40. When your estrogen drops, it's going to affect your metabolism, your serotonin production, your motivation, your mood stability.

It's going to affect satisfaction after meals. You're not imagining it. Everything does feel harder, but harder does not mean impossible.

When your progesterone drops, it impacts your sleep, anxiety, water retention, inflammation. Less sleep equals more cravings. More anxiety equals more snacking.

More inflammation means slower weight loss. You're fighting more than calories. You are fighting chemistry.

When your cortisol increases, your stress lingers, your cravings linger, your fatigue lingers, and this is exactly when the enemy speaks the loudest. Women over 40 have a harder time clearing cortisol than women under 40.

Your cortisol clears 40% slower after the age of 40. You have to take intentional steps to reverse these things if you want to see true change. We can reclaim our bodies and realign our hormones through proper food and movement.

Now listen, some of us are going to require a bit more help. I get hormone replacement therapy that helps regulate me after my hysterectomy.

But for many of you, starting with these steps first will make an extreme impact in your body, in your weight loss, and in your mental health. Okay? The first step is reclaiming your identity from symptoms.

I want you to repeat after me. My hormones are shifting but my identity is steady. My body is changing but my calling is not.

God is not limited by my biology. Then you're going to start eating for your hormones, not against them. Ladies, over 40, protein at every meal.

Let me say it again for the thousandth time, 20 to 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal, four to five meals per day, 20 to 25 grams of fiber daily.

Healthy fats, focus on half cup when it comes to nut butters, avocados, cheese, et cetera, and then four to five teaspoons of nut butters, that's per day. You want to focus on consistent fiber filled carbs, not low carb, high carb, balanced.

I eat 226 grams of carbs every single day. I eat bread, potatoes, beans, quinoa, rice, fruits, veggies. If the Lord put it on the earth, eat it.

I want you to focus on eating breakfast within 60 to 90 minutes of waking up. Or if you're waking up and doing a workout, make sure you eat that first meal within an hour after your workout.

You need protein to repair your muscles, fat to rebalance your hormones, and carbs for glycogen restoration post-workout, okay?

Every three to four hours you're eating, this is going to maintain your metabolism and keep you from crashing in the afternoon. That keeps you heading for quick carbs or caffeine. Doing these things is going to reduce your insulin spikes.

It's going to reduce your cravings and energy crashes. It's going to reduce your mood swings and nighttime overeating. But you have to make intentional steps every day.

You have to make a plan. Your spiritual discipline is for hormonal discipline. Because here's the truth, your spiritual habits regulate your physical habits.

When you pray first, you eat differently. When you rest in God, your cravings calm down. When your soul feels safe, your hunger quiets.

And when they overwhelm calls, you have Biblical strategies in place that are going to keep you focused on Jesus and not your cravings or distractions. This is what we work on, 1 million percent in the Biblical weight loss framework.

So as you're journaling this week, I want you to think about which hormonal symptoms that you have mislabeled as identity statements. Where have you believed I can't instead of he can?

Write them down, pray over them, repent and ask God for a new identity based in him. Holy Father, restore my identity. For so long, Lord, I've let my body dictate my decisions about how I feel about myself.

Silence the lies that cling to my body and replace them with the truth of your holy word. Help me honor you with the way that I nourish myself in word and deed, Father.

Strengthen my body, balance my hormones, and renew my mind in a way that only you can. I love you, Jesus. Thank you for this body that I get to reshape and love.

Let me honor you with how I love her today. Amen. Hey sis, I hope you enjoyed today's episode.

If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with a friend? Also, please leave a quick review for the show on Apple Podcasts. It lights me up to know this podcast is helping you.

Okay, it's time to go make a protein shake and get my sweat on. No more standing in the kitchen waiting for motivation to appear. I will meet you back here for another episode.

God bless.