One of the MOST common questions we get from our athletes is “how do I manage this new body fat that I can’t get rid of?”
Estrogen is a major contributor to a woman’s metabolism and the ability to make muscle. As it decreases with age you’ll see a downward trend in caloric needs as well as the necessity to spend even more time lifting weights.
There are some very simple adjustments you can make to help navigate this. Today we’re going to cover CARBS.
Estrogen affects how the female body utilizes carbohydrates. As you head into your late 40s, you become less efficient at using this energy source. The easiest way to work around this is to be even more mindful of WHEN you’re consuming carbs and how many you need on a day to day basis.
You still need them for training, but you probably don’t need many if you’re sitting at your desk all day. You do still want some to prep for the next day and sleep, so ideally you coordinate them around high activity, dinner, and as a snack before you head off to dreamland. This could look like 200g a day, with 40-60g before & after training, 40-60g for dinner, and 20g for a pre-bed snack.
Base your needs on training volume and life activity.
If it’s a regular class with a 10-15 min strength session and a 10-15 min metcon, aim for 40g before & after. If you’re training for 90 min to 2 hours+ then aim for more.
If you’re not actively moving, you don’t need a whole lot. However, we still want you consuming 120-150g on rest days to help you recover between training sessions. You’ll coordinate those as first thing in the morning to keep recovering from the day before, and then dinner/bedtime snack to prep you for the next day’s training.
Figuring out what your new body needs will not only help you manage your body composition but will set you up to have properly fueled training sessions, awesome recovery, and better sleep!
Let us know if you have any questions or comments!
Also, did we know we have a training program just for women in late perimenopause, menopause, and beyond? You can check it out HERE.