Intermittent Fasting For Women Over 40: What You Need To Know

If you’re a woman over 40, you may have noticed that losing weight and maintaining a healthy body mass index (BMI) is becoming increasingly difficult. Changes in the hormones testosterone and estrogen in the run-up to perimenopause and menopause can affect your body shape. It can also cause a shift in body composition, muscle loss, and weight gain.

For women over 40, maintaining a healthy weight is essential. Looking good and being the right weight for your body size boosts confidence and dramatically reduces the risk of developing chronic illnesses like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. But with so many diets, what is so unique about intermittent fasting? Does intermittent fasting for over 40 work? What are the benefits for women? Let’s find out.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent Fasting (IF) is a type of eating plan where you refrain from consuming food or calories for an extended period. The fasting time varies according to your circumstances but typically lasts between 12 and 24 hours. During the fasting period, only water and zero-calorie drinks are consumed.

For example, if you are on a 16:8 plan, you would refrain from eating for 16 hours and only consume food for eight hours during the day. You can finish your last meal at 6 pm and then wait until 10 am the next day for breakfast, that’s if your fasting cycle is done.

Many women eat instinctively in this manner, meaning it’s a matter of finding the proper fasting cycle and having reliable support to enjoy the weight loss benefits. This is where Fasting Kompanion comes in – it’s an all-in-one pocket-sized companion that helps you stay on track and guides you through your intermittent fasting journey.

Fasting for women over 40

The popularity of intermittent fasting for women over 40 is increasing. There are multiple reasons for this, but perhaps the primary one is that it’s a straightforward diet with few rules and many benefits. Fasting doesn’t restrict food groups or calories, making it easy to accommodate into your daily routine, even if you have a busy work schedule or kids! If that sounds appealing, you can start fasting now with Fasting Kompanion, the fasting tracker that helps you along the way with a wealth of practical resources and educational articles.

The benefits of fasting for women over 40

Intermittent fasting is a manageable diet that fits well into most women’s lifestyles. The main advantages include the following:

Fasting can boost weight loss and metabolic health

Intermittent fasting creates a calorie deficit that leading experts believe can result in weight loss (1). Limiting calorie intake by fasting should reduce body mass and help regulate and boost your metabolic health.

Metabolic health is a marker used to measure how well your body processes (metabolizes) energy. These markers include blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood fat (cholesterol) levels. Studies show intermittent fasting can help lower blood pressure (2), improve blood sugar levels, and repair damaged cells through a mechanism called “autophagy” (3).

Fasting can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Lack of exercise, a poor diet, and being overweight increase your risk of having type 2 diabetes. This condition is caused when your metabolism can’t process glucose and insulin correctly. Studies have shown that fasting can effectively regulate blood sugar levels, thereby helping to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes (4).

Intermittent fasting could improve your mental health

Many women struggle to focus during perimenopause and menopause. Some experts believe the structure of a fasting diet can help ease this issue and even promote increased long-term brain function and memory in some cases (5). This leaves you far more productive in your work and family life.

Fasting can boost your energy

Do you suffer from a lack of energy mid-morning or mid-afternoon? For many women over 40, it’s a daily norm. These slumps are usually caused by blood sugar fluctuations resulting from grazing on food throughout the day. Intermittent fasting focuses the times you eat, meaning your body doesn’t have to work as hard breaking down calories, leaving you with lots of additional energy to use elsewhere.

A fasting diet is sustainable

Many diets are complicated, and you must follow strict rules and food restrictions to succeed. In contrast, the intermittent fasting concept is simple; by decreasing the time you eat, you consume fewer calories which should result in weight loss, provided you don’t overcompensate during mealtimes.

Most women over 40 can follow an intermittent fasting plan long-term. Intermittent fasting doesn’t revolve around calorie counting, watching macros, or refraining from carbohydrates or other food groups. The key to intermittent fasting is finding a fasting cycle that suits you.

Stay motivated with the best intermittent fasting app

Fasting Kompanion is an easy-to-use application that develops a fasting plan, especially for you. Track your body weight, time the cycles, and enjoy regular support and motivation via our visuals and articles.