Emerging research warns that for women over 40, fasted workouts can spike cortisol levels and trigger muscle breakdown, which may lead to increased fat storage-making it harder to maintain a lean, healthy body as we age.

As women age, hormonal shifts occur making maintaining a healthy weight challenging. Working out in a fasted state can actually work against you.

Let me explain:

When you wake up in the am your cortisol levels are naturally high which is normal, it helps kickstart your day.

Women over 40 are naturally losing estrogen, which is the hormone that helps regulate the body and will regulate cortisol.

Without estrogen, no fuel(food), high cortisol, and then a workout (or additional stressors) the body will break down lean muscle mass. Muscle mass helps the body stay metabolic active if you start losing muscle you can start packing on the weight.

Because the body thinks it isn’t protected, when all that internal stress occurs, the body will automatically protect the vital organs of the body. Belly fat, and fat around the hips will start to happen out of protection.

Think of it this way: if you get to the gym without any fuel in your body your body has increased its cortisol levels and is in a fight or flight mode (stressed mode). You then go and do a hard workout but because you have no fuel you can only do a medium to medium high intensity workout, farther stressing the body.

Double the stress-the body is smart-where does it go to get fuel?

Muscle.

The body then thinks it is not protected and stores fat around the stomach and hips.

By eating 12-15 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbs 30 minutes after waking up you can counteract that process and get the full benefits from your workout.

Here are some suggestions of 12-15 grams of protein

1. 3/4 cup of greek yogurt
2. 1/2 cup of cottage cheese
3. 2 eggs (hard boiled, poached, scrambled)
4. 3/4 cup tofu
5. 1 scoop of protein (protein shake)

Here are some suggestions for 30 grams of Carbohydrates

1. 1 small banana
2. 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal
3. 1 slice whole-grain bread
4. 1 small apple
5. 1 small orange

Years of exercise physiology and sports medicine doctors only did studies on men and what their bodies reacted to with exercise, now with more and more studies actually researching women, they are finding out women need to train differently when they are age 20 then when they are 40, 50, 60 ,70.

To summarize: high morning cortisol is normal, a healthy response that helps kickstart your day, but when combined with additional stressors like intense exercise in a fasted state, it can lead to negative effects such as muscle breakdown and increased fat storage.

If you have any questions let us know. You can email at

elizabeth@thehouseofobrien.com