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For high-performing women who are exhausted by weight gain, hormonal chaos, and vanishing energy — this is your reset. I’m Dr. Ade Akindipe, a DNP, obesity + hormone specialist, and health coach.
On this show, we demystify metabolism, gut health, hormone balance, longevity, and the root-cause mindset behind lasting transformation.
If you’re ready to stop fighting your body and start living with more clarity, energy, and confidence — this is your space.
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Welcome to the Elevated Woman's Podcast, your guide to optimal health and confidence. I'm Dr. Ade Akindipe, family nurse practitioner and women's health coach. I help women in midlife reset their bodies and reclaim their confidence. So this is the place where real talk meets real solutions. No quick fixes, no fluff, just the tools, strategies and stories you need to break free from stubborn weight gain.
balancing your hormones and stepping into your healthiest self yet. Whether you're navigating perimenopause, menopause, or simply just tired of feeling like your body's working against you, then you're in the right place. Let's get into it.
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Welcome back. If this is your first time, I'm Dr. Dey. I'm a family nurse practitioner and a women's health coach. And this space is where we talk about real bodies, real hormones, and real solutions. There's no shame, no extremes. Nobody's gonna tell you, try harder, okay? So this episode, I want to start with this. If eating less was the answer, you would already be at your goal weight, right? Okay. But instead, so many women are doing
everything they've been told. Cutting calories, skipping meals, fasting longer, and somehow feeling more tired, more bloated, and more frustrated, and the scale is just not budging. So if that's you, I want you to listen very closely. This is not failure, but your body is adapting. Okay, let's dive into what I'm talking about. Today we're gonna talk a little bit more about metabolic adaptation, and I think this is something that's very important.
For women, especially those of us that are navigating hormonal changes, you're getting into your 40s and beyond, and you're noticing that the things that used to work for you doesn't work anymore. I wanna talk about what happens when women under eat to lose weight, and why your resting metabolic rate quietly slows down. What is metabolic adaptation? Metabolic adaptation is your body's way essentially of protecting
It's a protective response to when it thinks that your energy is low. Okay, and I'm gonna dive it a little bit deeper. Your body does not know you're trying to lose weight for confidence or for health. Your body only knows one thing. Do I have enough fuel to survive? So when your calories stay too low for too long, your body answers that question with caution. It responds by slowing things down, not because
your metabolism is broken or thinks you're just getting older, it's doing its job. It's trying to protect you. So let's talk about resting metabolic rate or RMR. This is the number of calories your body needs at baseline just for you to exist. Breathing, thinking, digesting, repairing. So when you under eat consistently, your body reduces this number.
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So often, you when we have women come into our clinic and we put them on a body composition, this is a number that shows up on a body composition and we kind of monitor that. Again, like I said, when you under eat consistently, your body reduces that resting metabolic rate. That means you burn fewer calories at rest. So you're just resting and your body's not burning as much calories as it needs. Your metabolism becomes more efficient.
and the same intake that used to work doesn't work anymore. So if you were 25 and you used to just eat less and move more, which is the advice they give you now when you're in your 40s, that's why they say, I barely eat and I still can't lose any weight because your metabolism adapted to survive on less. Okay, now here's where women really feel this and it can be very frustrating when you under eat
for too long, here are some hormones that I want you to know and understand, just the basics. The first one is leptin. Leptin is a hormone that tells your body to stop eating because you are full. Now this drops when you under eat for too long. Grelin, the hunger hormone, that's the one that tells you, you are hungry, it's time to eat. That will go up, it'll increase. Your cortisol, your stress hormone, stays elevated, right?
Think of this scenario, you're under eating, your body thinks that you're starving, so it's gonna make sure that you are hungry so that you can take in food so you can store it for energy for later in case you need to run away from whatever it is that you're stressed out about. And then thyroid signaling can slow down. And of course, women, we need our thyroid to function well. Our thyroid helps us, our metabolism rev up and lose fat. So what does all of this translate into? You are hungry.
You're hungrier than you were and you're never satisfied, so you have more cravings. You're tired, even after sleeping. You crave quick energy. So what are you reaching for? You're reaching for quick things like carbs and cakes and sweets, maybe even salty foods. You're wired, so you feel like you have energy, but not really. You're just wired and exhausted at the same time. So women will reach for caffeine to get through the day.
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But then you want to push through thinking that this is how it's supposed to be and that's not true. You're pushing through physiology and that doesn't work. Okay, here's another piece that rarely gets explained to women. Your body doesn't just slow down, it's metabolism because you're older. It also reduces energy output. So you move less without realizing it. You move less because you don't realize it.
You fidget less, you exercise harder because you're trying to do the right things, but you're getting fewer results. When you do exercise, it might take you three days to recover from a 30 minute workout. Yes. So when the scale doesn't move, you think the solution is to eat even less. That's how women get stuck for years. So signs your metabolism has adapted. So let me call these out right now because this is where clarity can click in for you. If you are cold,
more often, that could signal something's going different. And that could also signal maybe that your thyroid isn't working as efficiently as it used to. Remember, we talked about thyroid being part of how your metabolism works really well, so that needs to be optimal. You are exhausted by mid-afternoon. You're on a weight loss journey and it stalls despite doing everything else that you're supposed to be doing.
You're waking up between three and four a.m. You are tired. That could also mean that your blood sugars are crashing because you're not eating enough, okay? You're more bloated than before. Maybe you're eating the wrong foods. That could also mean that your gut is not functioning as well as it should, so you're not eliminating very well. Or you just feel like your body is just not responding overall. So these are metabolic signals.
So now let's talk about midlife before context, because context really matters. In your 30s, your 40s and beyond, there are some hormonal shifts that are going on. So we just talked about what happens when your metabolism kind of adapts. Hormonal shifts affect insulin sensitivity. This is a huge one for women to understand. So because your hormones are shifting and they're sort of declining, muscle is easier to lose if it's not supported.
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I've talked about it in other episodes that your muscle is your organ for longevity and also metabolism and insulin sensitivity so that your blood sugars can be more regulated and not getting higher as you get older. And then your stress load is higher. Think about it. You're raising children. You're probably taking care of aging parents. You're probably working, maybe multiple jobs. Maybe you own a business. Maybe you're in a leadership position. Multiple reasons why you might have more stress as you get older.
And of course, recovery from exercise or just anything in general is slower. So when you combine under eating, chronic stress and hormone changes, your body gets a very clear message. This is not the time for me to lose any weight. Okay. And your body is not trying to betray you. It's biology. It wants to protect you. It's like, I'm not going to prioritize weight loss right now. I'm going to store energy. Okay. So here's how we start to fix this. The goal is not to eat.
as little as possible. The goal is to make your body feel safe enough to lose weight, to release fat. That means you gotta get strategic about fueling and nourishing your body. We need blood sugar support. You need to eat adequate protein. You need to reduce your stress signals. And sometimes eating more before weight loss resumes. So weight loss doesn't start with restricting yourself. It starts with regulating.
Just those things that we talked about. Okay, so if this episode is resonating and you're thinking, okay, I think this might be me, I created something very special for you, I put together a metabolic adaptation reset guide. This is such a good guide for someone, maybe like you, has, who feels stuck. Maybe you are already doing all the things and it's not working.
This walks you through the signs your metabolism has adapted, why eating less may be backfiring for you, what your body actually needs right now, and the first shifts to start restoring metabolic responsiveness. So grab it, it's in the show notes. It's just gonna give you some clarity. And if you want to dive a little bit deeper and you're tired of guessing, I also wanna offer you a metabolic and hormone assessment. That's going to give you a lot of clarity.
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where we look at what's actually driving your stalled progress. And we map out a strategy that fits you. Because copying plans that you're finding on social media isn't the answer. Understanding your own physiology is. So you'll find that link in the show notes as well. Okay, so you're not broken, you're not lazy. Once you realize that your body has been adapting and once you understand your own changes, you'll know and everything will start to change. Okay, now I'll see you in the next episode.
Stay elevated. Thank you for tuning in to the elevated women's podcast if today's episode resonates with you don't keep it to yourself Share it with a friend who needs this conversation, too And if you're ready to stop guessing and start thriving head over to our website It's listed in the show notes to learn more about our elevated women's coaching program That's where we take these conversations deeper and create a more personalized plan for your hormones
your weight, energy, and more. Check out our show notes. I've linked free tools and cheat sheets to help you get started right away. For more daily tips and inspiration, come hang out with me on Instagram at The Elevated Woman Coach. And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, Thriving Over 40 with Dr. Akindipe. Until next time, stay elevated.