Is intermittent fasting good for women in perimenopause? I'm never hungry in the morning.
In our experience, it's usually not the best fit for active women over 40, especially if you strength train. We coach regular meals instead, starting with breakfast that has protein in it. Not hungry in the morning? That's really common, and for a lot of women it changes once they start eating earlier. Start small and build.
No judgment if fasting has been your thing.
A lot of us have tried it.
Here's what we see work instead.
First, a few gentle notes
We coach. We don't diagnose.
If you have a medical condition, take a medication that needs to be taken with food, or your doctor has given you advice about when to eat, follow your doctor. Your coach will build your plan around it.
If food has felt hard in a bigger way, or you have a history of disordered eating, please talk to your doctor before you change how you eat. You deserve real support, more than a web page can give.
And if you fast for religious reasons, that's yours. Your coach builds your plan around it.
This page is about intermittent fasting as a way to lose fat. That's the question we get asked.
Why did fasting feel like it was working?
Because for a lot of women, it did feel like it worked. At first.
Here's what we hear on our calls:
- It's simple. One less meal to plan in a day that's already full.
- The scale moved early. And that felt like proof.
- It felt like control. A clear rule, in a season of life where a lot feels out of your hands.
- Everyone was doing it. Your sister, your coworker, the app on your phone.
Then something shifted.
The results slowed down. Or the schedule stopped fitting. A lot of the women we talk to have days that start at 3 or 4 a.m., and a fasting window just doesn't line up with that kind of life.
If that's you, nothing went wrong with you.
Chris says it like this: "You're not failing. The system you were running was not the right system for you."
Why don't we coach intermittent fasting for women over 40?
Here's the thing.
What changes your body after 40, in our experience, is strength training and enough protein. Long stretches without food tend to work against both.
Here's what we see most often:
- Workouts on empty. Fasting until noon usually means training on coffee. We steer women away from that. Here's why we coach a little protein before a morning workout.
- Not enough protein. It's hard to fit protein at every meal into half a day.
- The evening catch-up. Skip breakfast, push through lunch, and a lot of women find the pantry finds them at 8 p.m. More on that in why you eat clean all day and raid the pantry at night.
- Running low. Tired, flat, short-tempered by mid-afternoon.
Chris explains it like this: when you eat regularly, you're telling your body it's safe. That's when it tends to let go of fat more easily.
If you've been eating very little for a long time, start with am I eating too little to lose fat?
Why am I never hungry in the morning?
You're in very good company.
Did you know? A lot of the women we coach haven't felt hungry before 10 or 11 a.m. in years.
Coffee becomes breakfast. Lunch shows up late. And your body gets used to that rhythm.
In our experience, that's often a body that has adapted to waiting. One of our coaches tells women this on their first call: once you start eating breakfast and training, you'll probably notice you're hungry first thing in the morning.
And a lot of them come back a few weeks later and tell her she was right.
How do I start eating breakfast if I'm not hungry?
Gently.
Nobody is asking you to face a plate of eggs and toast at 6 a.m. on day one.
Here's how we ease in:
- Start with a few bites. A hard-boiled egg, a few slices of leftover chicken, a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yogurt once dairy is back in.
- Keep your coffee. Just have a little something with it.
- Make it easy. Get it ready the night before, so there's no decision to make in the morning.
- Build from there. Over a week or two, your coach helps you grow it into a real breakfast with protein.
If something doesn't sit well, tell your coach. She'll help you swap it.
Does it matter when I eat for fat loss?
Most women come to us wanting to lose weight. What they actually want to lose is fat.
In our experience, the clock matters less than a few basics:
- Protein at every meal, starting with breakfast.
- 4 to 5 eating opportunities a day, so you never hit the afternoon running on empty.
- Real food, carbs included, to fuel your workouts.
- Strength training, so your body has a reason to hold on to muscle.
No calorie counting. No food scales. No macro tracking. Your coach uses simple hand-size portions, so there's nothing to add up.
How does a coach help you make the switch?
Changing a habit you've had for years is hard to do on your own.
- Your plan fits your real day. Early shifts, late meetings, the mornings you're out the door at 6. Your coach builds around all of it.
- She's been there. Every coach is a woman over 40 who has done the Reset herself.
- She checks in every week, and you can reach her between check-ins. If breakfast still feels like a lot in week two, you tell her, and the plan changes.
- No food is off limits forever. The first 14 days are lower carb and higher protein, with a short break from alcohol, dairy, gluten and processed sugar. Then those foods come back.
We've helped 1,000+ women lose 10 to 20 lbs of fat in 8 weeks. Plenty of them came to us after years of skipping breakfast.
Ready to stop running on coffee until noon?
You've tried the clock.
Let's try fuel.
Start with the short video on our homepage at fortyfwd.com. It walks through why your body stopped responding after 40 and the method we use to change that.
If it sounds like you, apply for a call with Chris.
He reads every application himself. On the call, he'll look at how and when you're eating right now and tell you straight whether the program is the right fit. If it is, he walks you through the investment then, once you both know it's a fit.
Start with a few bites.
Let's build from there.
Frequently asked questions
Is intermittent fasting good for weight loss in perimenopause?
In our experience, it's usually not the best fit for active women over 40. We coach regular meals with protein instead, because that tends to pair better with strength training.
Why am I never hungry in the morning?
It's really common, especially if you've had coffee instead of breakfast for years. For a lot of the women we coach, morning hunger comes back once they start eating a small breakfast and training.
Should I eat breakfast if I'm not hungry?
We'd start with a few bites of something with protein in it, then build up over a week or two. Your coach helps you grow it into a real breakfast at a pace that feels okay.
Can I work out while intermittent fasting?
We don't coach training on an empty stomach. If you work out early, we suggest a little protein shortly before you start, then a real meal after.
Will skipping breakfast help me lose weight faster?
In our experience, usually not. A lot of the women we coach who skip breakfast end up making up for it later in the day, often in the evening, and regular meals with protein tend to work better alongside strength training.