If you’ve been exploring different strategies for weight loss, you might have come across the concept of carb cycling. While carb cycling has gained popularity as a weight loss technique, it’s important to understand that it may not be the best approach for everyone – especially for women over 40. As our hormones and metabolism changes at this stage of our lives it’s important to understand that popular diet strategies may not work for us, even if we had success with them in the past. Here’s why I do not recommend Carb Cycling as a weight loss strategy:

 

1) Insulin Sensitivity is Crucial Before Carb Consumption

For women over 40, becoming insulin sensitive is essential before incorporating a higher carb intake into their diet. When you are insulin sensitive it means that the carbs that you eat can be used as fuel for your muscles rather than being stored as fat. However, if you incorporate starchy or refined carbs before you are insulin sensitive you may find that you gain weight as your body is not ready to use them as fuel. If you are a woman over 40 who wants to lose weight you need to become insulin sensitive before trying carb cycling.

 

2) Lower Lean Muscle Mass = Lower Metabolism

As we age we lose lean muscle mass and this can lower our metabolic rate and cause us to gain weight if we eat too many carbohydrates. The first step for long lasting weight loss is to increase our lean muscle mass which in turn boosts our metabolic rate. Once we have increased our lean muscle mass and boosted our metabolism then we can include higher carb foods into our diet without gaining weight.

 

3) Hormonal Changes Affect Carb Tolerance

As we age, hormonal fluctuations—especially during perimenopause and menopause—can significantly affect how our bodies process carbohydrates. Women over 40 may experience increased insulin resistance, meaning their bodies are less efficient at processing carbs and more likely to store them as fat. Carb cycling can exacerbate this issue, leading to frustration and stalled weight loss, especially if we have not achieved insulin sensitivity and a higher metabolism first.

 

4) It Can Be Difficult to Maintain Long-Term

Carb cycling requires careful planning, discipline, and a strong understanding of macronutrient ratios. For many women over 40, who are already juggling busy lives, careers, and family responsibilities, this approach can be difficult to maintain long-term. The complexity of carb cycling can lead to stress and burnout, making it challenging to stick with the plan and achieve lasting results. Instead, I recommend a lower carb approach until you have reached your goal weight (and stayed there for a while) then including carbs at times during the day when you are most insulin sensitive and able to use them as fuel instead of storing them as fat.

 

5) Doesn’t Address the Root Cause of Weight Gain

Carb cycling focuses heavily on manipulating carb intake without addressing the underlying factors that contribute to weight gain in women over 40—such as a low metabolism, insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances, inflammation, stress, and poor sleep quality. Without tackling these root causes, any weight loss achieved through carb cycling is likely to be temporary, with the potential for weight regain once the cycle ends.

If you want to understand more about what actually helps women over 40 become insulin sensitive, boost their metabolism and balance their hormones for long term weight loss then I invite you to watch the replay of my masterclass The Secrets of Fat Loss for Women Over 40 in which I’ll be helping you understand both the science and the strategy of weight loss in perimenopause, menopause and post menopause:

​Watch the Masterclass here