Why Nothing Seems to Work Over 40 (and What Actually Does)

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” — 3 John 1:2

Hard Truth -Your body changes after 40- Hormones shift. Muscle mass naturally decreases. Stress impacts weight more intensely. 

The answer is not: starving yourself -detox teas-1200 calorie diets-excessive cardio

-Fat loss after 40 requires muscle support -The goal should never be skinny or lighter on the scale, but toned, lean and flexible. These are the keys to a healthy life.

That means: prioritizing protein-strength training-walking consistently-sleeping well-managing stress

- Consistency beats intensity - Consistency is what changes your body. A simple plan repeated for months will outperform perfection for seven days.

3 Fixes:

1: Eat protein at every meal - Aim for 25–35 grams of protein. 

Examples: eggs and turkey sausage-Greek yogurt and berries-chicken salad-cottage cheese-salmon --Protein helps preserve muscle, balance blood sugar, and keeps you full.

Step 2: Walk daily - Working up to 8,000- Start with: 20–30 minutes daily- did you know that walking for 2 minutes after you eat helps regulate your blood sugar? Walking supports fat loss, hormones, blood sugar, and mood.

Step 3: Stop restarting- You do not need another “all or nothing” plan. 

Sustainable transformation often looks boring: protein-walking-sleep-strength training-consistency-renewing your mind- boring works. 

Heavenly Father, Thank You for creating our bodies with wisdom and purpose. Help me stop chasing extremes and start walking in consistency, discipline and Holy Spirit led strength. Renew my mind where I’ve believed lies about my worth being in my weight of my size. Teach me to steward my health in a way that honors You Lord. And thank You for grace when I need it. Give me patience for lasting transformation, transformation in my life and thoughts that point me back to You Lord, that is the true transformation I yearn for. I want my life, my body, my choices to be a reflection of You alone Jesus. It’s in Your Most Holy Name I pray, Amen.

 Action Step: Add protein to every meal & Walk 20 minutes daily.

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

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Transcript

Hey, welcome back, my friends. I am just so glad that you're here today. So maybe you're like me and have said, I used to lose weight so easily, you know, like two years ago.

Everything works anymore. Or I'm trying harder than ever and I'm still gaining weight. This episode is for you.

So today we're talking about why your body changes after 40, and why extreme dieting and starvation is probably making things worse. We're also going to talk about what actually works for sustainable weight loss as a Christian woman.

And I just want to encourage you that you are not failing, okay? If your body is not responding the way that you think, she's asking for support, she's asking for nourishment, she's asking for love and consistency and grace, she learns a new way.

So let's one, stop punishing ourselves, stop punishing our bodies, and two, let's start partnering with her. Let's start appreciating the body that God gave us, okay? All right, hang tight.

Hey friend, welcome to the podcast where we talk about weight loss a little differently. Not just calories and workouts, but the heart habits and the beliefs behind it all.

Because this isn't about just losing weight, it's about becoming the woman God is calling you to be.

So if you're tired of starting over, stuck in cycles with food and ready to invite God into this journey for real change, once and for all, you're in the right place. So let's get into today's episode.

Don't forget that right now the biblical weight loss framework is 30% off through the end of the month. That is $150 in savings.

So if you are ready to take a biblical approach to your personal weight loss journey in a Holy Spirit-led way, go to herweightlossmindset.com/framework and enter the code MOMDAY2026.

And if you have any questions, shoot me an email at infoatherweightlossmindset.com. So today we're reading from 3 John chapter 1, verse 2.

It says, Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul. So here's the truth that if you're over 40, you probably know your hormones shift, right?

Like muscle mass naturally decreases, stress impacts weight more intensely, sleep becomes more important.

And if you've spent years under eating, crash dieting, emotionally eating, or constantly starting over, your metabolism actually adapts to those unhealthy habits. And she is constantly on guard and in protection mode. Like she's not broken.

She's protecting you from yourself as best as she can with what she's getting.

So the answer if you are trying to lose weight is not starving yourself. It's not detox teas. It's not 1200 calorie diets or excessive cardio.

The answer is building a healthy metabolism. And this takes time. It takes time, okay?

One day, one step, one choice at a time. So fat loss over 40 requires muscle support. One of the biggest mistakes women over 40 make is trying to eat as little as possible.

But muscle burns energy. Got me? Muscle burns energy.

And with no muscle, you're actually killing your body. And your aching bones are your constant. So if you don't build muscle, if you don't tone your muscle, your metabolism slows way down.

So can we just like be clear about one thing? Like the goal should never be skinny or to weigh less. The goal should be toned, lean, flexible, and mobile.

I tell Adélie all the time, you're a year and a half, she has a credible hip mobility, and one thing that we will focus on as she grows her entire life is maintaining that mobility and flexibility. This is the key to healthy life.

What does that mean? That looks like prioritizing protein, strength training, three to five days a week. It means getting your steps in, not 10,000, okay?

10,000 is not the magic number. It's getting the steps in that you need with good form that work for you, okay? It's sleeping well, it's lowering cortisol, it's managing stress.

Your goal should not be to become smaller at all costs. Your goal should be to be honoring God with your choices and becoming healthier and stronger as you steward this beautiful body that he has given you.

Another truth about weight loss over 40? Consistency beats intensity. Most women are stuck in a cycle of I'll start Monday, or I'll start again tomorrow, or they're extremely strict with their food choices, or they're over training.

Like this has been my biggest struggle lately. They're overeating the wrong things. They're feeling shame in their body, and then they're repeating the cycle over and over and over.

But friend, consistency doing the right things is what's going to change your body. A simple plan repeated for months will outperform perfection for seven days every single time. Did you hear that?

Having a plan that you can keep on repeat for months is going to outperform perfection for seven days every time.

But listen, this could take years to reach your goal, especially if you're over 40, especially if you've consistently starved yourself or crashed diet. Like you have to rebuild trust with your body.

But here are some things that you can do right now to reclaim your metabolism. These are going to take time, okay? You can reclaim your body.

You can reclaim your choices. So I want you to start planning for these each week. Step one is eat protein at every meal.

Aim for 25 to 30 grams of protein at every meal. Build your meals around your protein. Macros make all the difference here.

So a couple of examples are eggs with turkey sausage. Try to do like three to four eggs with a piece of turkey sausage every morning. A cup to a cup and a quarter of Greek yogurt.

Back when I was able to eat dairy and it not kill me, I would do half a cup of cottage cheese and three quarter cup of Greek yogurt. Stir in some honey, some fruit, and top it with a tablespoon or two of nuts. Amazing protein-filled snack.

Make homemade chicken salad, not loaded up with mayo. The bolt house ranch dressing is really good if you mix that with Dijon mustard and add some seasonings to it. It's a great way to keep your chicken salad healthy.

Then cottage cheese, salmon, lean burger, chicken, venison. These are all amazing forms of protein that you can build into your meals every single day. Focus on four to five meals a day.

Protein helps preserve your muscle. It helps balance your blood sugar. Protein keeps you full.

If you're having a mid-afternoon crash, you don't need caffeine. You need 16 ounces of water and three or four meatballs. I've been making a batch of meatballs every other week.

We have a fridge stocked full of burger and venison. I take two pounds of venison, one pound of burger, and I put it in a big bowl with two eggs, and a third a cup panko breadcrumbs, and then I season it however you want to season it.

Then I form them into little balls. I try to keep them about anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 ounces after they cook. It's about 70 calories and 10 grams of protein per meatball.

So I'll put one in my four eggs in the morning, and then I'll have three for a snack in the afternoon. I like to dip them in Dijon mustard, super delicious. And then that gives me 30 grams of protein just in my afternoon snack with three meatballs.

Like they're so delicious. It's so easy. So I cook those on 375 for probably about 22 to 24 minutes.

So prioritize protein, all right? And then focus on strength training three to five days a week. So I do legs on Monday, upper body on Wednesday, full body on Friday, and then I do a steady state cardio in between there.

I just told you last week, I rode my bike for the first time. I'm going to start implementing that as one of my steady state days. But go outside, take your dog for a walk.

No hit, ladies. No hard cardio. Steady state, stay in your zone too.

If you wear a Fitbit, you should know what your zone two cardio range is, okay? Walk consistently. My goal is always 7,000 to 8,000 steps every single day, okay?

Sleep well. Shut your phone off at 6 o'clock. Stop looking at it.

There's nothing that you need there. Like, shut it down. Go to bed 8, 9 o'clock.

Try to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Get up when your alarm goes off. Spend your time with Jesus.

This is how you manage your stress and lower that cortisol, okay? Our goal is not to become smaller. Our goal is to become healthier.

And we do that by the things that I just listed, all right? So, we're not starting over on Monday. We're not doing all of the things that we've been doing.

These are not working, okay? Take steps every single day, every single day. Start with 20 to 30 minutes.

If you can go for a two minute walk after you eat, it's gonna regulate your blood sugar. Did you know that? Like, get to step in.

So, go outside, breathe some fresh air. Like, move your body. Walking supports fat loss, hormones, blood sugar, and your mood.

And you're also more creative. I learned that from Lacey Green. I do a fitness cardio walk with her on the Body App.

If you want to talk about Body Apps, hit me up. Info at herweightlossmindset.com. I've done body since 2005.

It's my everyday. I hate going to the gym. I get real sweaty.

And now that I have Hashimoto's, like, I stink when I sweat. It's never happened to me before. So I don't really like to work out in front of other people.

I don't give it my all if I work out in front of other people.

So if you need some good at-home workouts, I know YouTube has a ton of options, but I will be a body workout girl for the rest of my life. So step three, stop restarting. You don't need another all or nothing Monday.

If you overeat at lunch, make a healthy snack option or dinner option. If you miss a workout, OK, fine, whatever. Go for a walk later.

Make sure you move tomorrow. Like women who lose weight long-term, learn how to keep going when life happens. And we all know that life's going to happen, right?

Every single day. Thank you, Lord, that life happens. Just do the next right thing.

You cannot hate your body into health. You cannot shame your body into skinny. You cannot starve your body into fit.

She is not your enemy. She is your partner in life. And who you need to take care of.

We abuse ourselves. We think horrible thoughts about ourselves. We shame ourselves.

We under fuel. We over train. It's not fair.

God gave you the body that he gave you for a reason. Steward her well. Steward stewardship is not punishment.

Partner with her. And sustainable transformation, it oftentimes looks boring, protein, walking, rest, strength training, consistency, renewing your mind, spending time on the word, spending time in prayer.

Like these things sound boring, but boring works, right? Boring builds consistency and consistency leads to life altering, body altering, mind altering changes. Boring is good.

Boring is good.

If you need help, I am here. Join the framework. Let's take a step towards weight loss your way, the godly way.

Heavenly Father, thank you for creating my body with wisdom and purpose. Lord, help me to stop chasing extremes and start walking in consistency, discipline, and Holy Spirit-led strength.

Renew my mind where I've believed lies about my worth being in my weight or my size. Lord, teach me to steward my health in a way that honors you, and thank you for grace when I need it. Give me patience for lasting transformation.

Transformation in my life and thoughts that point me back to you, Lord. That is the transformation I ache for. I want my life, my body, my choices to be a reflection of you alone, Father.

Thank you for your sacrifice on the cross for me. Thank you for your resurrection. Thank you for your ascension.

Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to live in me, Lord. Let me walk and operate and eat and move in your strength today, Jesus. It's in your holy name, I pray.

Amen. So this week's action step, add protein to every meal, walk 10 to 20 minutes a day, and stop starting over after one bad choice. You've got this.

I believe in you. Beloved, this isn't about doing everything perfectly, okay? This is about becoming consistent in the things that actually matter.

Waking up, spending time with the Lord in prayer and in the Word. So don't just walk away from this episode inspired, walk away making a decision to start every day with Jesus. What is one thing that you're going to do differently today?

Just start there. If this episode spoke to you, share it with a friend who needs it too, because you are not the only one who's walking through this. And if you would, would you go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review?

It helps me to know that these messages are encouraging you. Please know that I am here cheering you on. I am praying for you.

And if you want to work with me one on one, just shoot me an email to info at herweightlossmindset.com and let's talk about how we can work through your personal journey. And I will see you back here for the next episode. God bless.