Why Nutrition and Exercise Are No Longer Working After 40
I Was an ICU Nurse Who Had Zero Healthy Habits for 28 Years. How I've Kept 15 Pounds Off for 18 Years Through Perimenopause Kids and Full Chaos.
Hiiiiii!!! I'm Kim.
Former ICU nurse. Certified women's health coach. Fellow perimenopauser. Mom of 2 girls, one who is getting married THIS MONTH which I am completely fine about. SIGH...life changes...am I right!?!?
And the woman who spent years watching people fight for their lives in the ICU and realized most of what I treated was preventable...which is exactly why I left clinical nursing to help women take care of themselves BEFORE things get critical.
Prevention for the win!
WHO I AM AND WHY THIS BLOG EXISTS
I am not someone who grew up healthy and decided to teach it.
I used to help my dad crush a dozen donuts (seriously the best donuts I ever had!) for breakfast and pour diet cherry coke on top of my bowl of chocolate ice cream for dessert.
As an adult, I would eat only processed foods (Stouffers Mac N Cheese, Hot Pockets, Snickers Ice Cream Bars...I shit you not...that is what my body lived on) and never exercised, like...ever.
So when I say for the first 28 years of my life I had zero healthy habits, I freaking mean it...no structure, no awareness. Nothing...and yes, I was a nurse for 6 of those years...shameful.
Then life got full...kids, work, responsibilities...and I knew I did not have time for some perfect complicated plan that required me to overhaul everything at once.
But I also knew that I now had 2 little precious lives depending on me...AND...if they grew up eating what I was eating (and how I was treating my body)...I WOULD BE SETTING THEM UP FOR FAILURE!!! Heck to the no!!
So I knew I had to crack down, but it was different this time because the REASON I wanted to crack down was deeper than just wanting to look good. So I started embarrassingly small...because that is all I had the bandwidth for...and because everything else I tried didn't last with me.
20 minute workouts during nap time. One vegetable at dinner. Even if that vegetable was corn.
That is it. That is where it started.
And those small changes compounded over time because all I had to do was hit play on a DVD (yup, life before streaming...the good ol days) and plop some corn on my plate. It was easy, it was not optional...and those two things made me FEEL better...my body was looking better...and that made me want to add in something else stupid small...so I did...and that spiraled into a lifestyle I have now maintained for over 18 years. Through two kids. A nursing career. Perimenopause. Injuries. A life that has never once slowed down and said ok NOW you can focus on your health.
And now I am 46, in perimenopause, maintaining my results, and helping over 100 women over 40 do the same.
WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE AFTER 18 YEARS:
The framework that got me consistent health habits for 18+ year is still working for the changes I need to make in perimenopause...but what worked to lose weight the last 18 years...is no longer working.
Eating right and working out is only 25% of fat loss after 40.
I know. I was today years old when I figured that out too...and I want to say right here that that is ok...it doesn't mean there is no hope for us...
The other 75% of what works for weight loss over 40 has three pieces that nobody...not your doctor, not your last program, not diet culture...ever put together for you in one place. And until you have all three working together there will always be a ceiling on your results no matter how clean you eat or how hard you work out.
That is what this blog is about.
The full picture. Finally.
WHO THIS BLOG IS FOR:
This blog is for you if you are a woman over 40 who…
Is doing everything right and still not seeing the results you are working for.
Has tried before, put in real effort, and still ended up back at square one when life got hard.
Feels like her body stopped playing by the rules she knew somewhere around 40 and nobody ever explained why.
Is exhausted from starting over and desperate to finally feel like herself again.
There is nothing wrong with YOU...you are more than capable of this...I pinky promise. You were just never given the full picture.
That changes here.
WHAT YOU WILL FIND HERE:
Real talk about fat loss after 40 and the practical strategies that actually work in a real chaotic life.
Personal stories from my own perimenopause journey...the wins, the setbacks, the tennis elbow from a sport I do not even play, HRT, and everything in between.
Client stories that show what is actually possible when you finally have all three pieces working together.
And honest no fluff conversation about what it actually takes to feel good in your body after 40. Not the Instagram version. The real version, cause I am about as real as you can get.
WHERE TO START:
If you are brand new here the best place to start is my free private podcast Maybe It's Not Your Calories: The Fat Loss Truth for Women Over 40.
8 episodes. Completely free. Delivered straight to your inbox.
By the time you finish episode one you are going to feel somewhere between relief and rage that nobody explained this to you sooner.
I am soooooooo glad you are here.
Keep It Movin,
Kim
