Episode 29 - A Guideline for What to Eat for Optimal Exercise (especially in your 40's or 50's)

Louise tackles a common question from her private community: what to eat before and after workouts, especially for women in their 40s and 50s. She frames the conversation carefully around scope of practice, using Canadian food guidance, published research, and her own lived experience to explain how to fuel for strength and recovery. Louise also shares practical, body-aware guidance on hunger cues, protein, carbohydrates, and why the answer changes with age, training load, and individual needs.

Key topics

• Louise explains why this episode is about building a stronger body, not shrinking one, and why that distinction matters.
• She clarifies the limits of fitness professionals giving nutrition advice and points listeners toward official government food guidance and qualified dietitians.
• The Canadian food guide structure is highlighted: half vegetables or fruit, a quarter whole grains, and a quarter protein foods, with a preference for plant-based protein more often.
• Louise discusses how exercise fuel should not become an excuse to cut carbohydrates too low, since carbs provide glycogen for workout energy.
• She notes that many people, especially in North America, are under-eating protein for their body size, activity level, and age.
• In women in their 40s and 50s, she points to muscle loss acceleration, estrogen decline, and bone density risk as reasons protein and consistency matter more.
• She emphasizes that hunger cues are not always a rumbling stomach and may show up as agitation, impatience, or feeling “hangry.”
• She gives examples like rice cakes and peanut butter, tuna and rice cakes, toast and jam, and yogurt with fruit.
• After training, she usually returns to a normal balanced meal rather than relying on a giant protein shake.
• She encourages listeners to look for qualified menopause nutrition experts and mentions Dr. Jen Huber as an example of a registered dietitian with both credentials and lived experience.

Useful points of conversation: 

00:00 - Why this question keeps coming up in Louise’s community
02:21 - Using the Canadian food guide as the baseline reference
03:17 - Personal experience versus prescription in coaching
05:49 - The eat well plate model and how it maps to training fuel
06:36 - Why protein matters for recovery and muscular health
08:34 - Why aging athletes often need more protein
09:21 - Carbohydrates as glycogen and workout fuel
09:51 - Why many people do not need extra food for mild to moderate exercise
10:19 - How hunger cues can show up without stomach rumbling
13:59 - Louise’s post-lift cravings and what they might mean
15:02 - Protein intake research for postmenopausal women
16:55 - Higher protein ranges for female athletes under heavy training
17:32 - Why body awareness matters more than formulas alone
19:39 - Practical snack examples before training
20:37 - What she does after training and why balanced meals still matter
22:41 - Why she recommends Dr. Jen Huber for menopause nutrition guidance
25:03 - Her personal rule of thumb: snack 60 to 90 minutes before workouts

Also, as promised in the episode, a direct link to the Riff on Protein. 

Direct link to Dr. Jenn Huber, The Menopause Nutritionist 

Louise Green is an award-winning coach with 20 years invested in working with women of all body sizes. She has coached thousands of women from all over the world, if you're ready take the next step in your strength, check out her coaching program: https://www.louisegreeninc.com/size-strong