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The fourth decade of our lives is one of the biggest declines in our health, with decreasing bone density, muscle mass, and weight gain.
For women, this is compounded with the onset of menopause, which brings on several symptoms, which can impair quality of life.
One thing that helps during this time, is nutrition. However, what worked in our 20s no longer applies now. As our physiology changes, so does our dietary needs.
In this article, we discuss macros for women over 40. We cover how macronutrient requirements change, correct ratios, macro-friendly foods, a sample meal plan, and strategies for daily intake.
How Macronutrient Needs Evolve After 40
Throughout our lives, our daily macronutrient requirements evolve. In our late teens and 20s, our overall health is at its peak. Regarding physical performance, bone density, and reproductive system, dietary requirements are far less important than in our 40s.
Below we discuss how entering our 40s impacts our physiology, and how adjusting our macronutrients can help improve our health.
Slowing Metabolism and Its Impact on Calorie Needs
Entering our 40s can be accompanied by a slowing of our metabolism. This can be due to several factors including reduced physical activity and muscle mass. During this period, we may experience an increase in food intake and excess body fat, negatively swinging into what appears like a slowed metabolism.
Because of these changes, we need to adjust our calorie intake to reduce weight gain. The recommended daily calorie intake for women is approximately 2,000. However, as we begin to notice we are becoming less active, our appetite is increasing, and we starting to gain weight, we should consider reducing our daily calorie intake to maintain or lose weight.
This can be done by entering a calorie deficit, which is consuming fewer calorie than you are burning each day. This combined with a nutrient-dense diet rich in protein and fiber will help improve your satiety to combat additional weight gain.
The Role of Hormonal Changes (Perimenopause)
For women, things are made worse when we enter menopause. This is the natural process where our menstrual stops. During this time our reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone begin to fluctuate and steadily decline.
Estrogen and progesterone are vital for many areas of our body. Estrogen supports our bones, immune system, brain, metabolic function, and cardiovascular. Meanwhile, progesterone supports neurological health, bone, and mood, and prevents cancer.
However, when these levels decline, we can experience various symptoms. Symptoms include hot flashes, and night sweats, leading to poor sleep and mood changes, which can negatively impact our quality of life.
Increased Risk of Muscle Loss and Weight Gain
The decrease in estrogen can also lead to increased appetite and abdominal fat, while muscle mass and bone minerals slowly decline. Estrogen plays a role in maintaining muscle mass. As it declines, muscles atrophy, contributing to weakness, which can impair function.
One of the biggest determinants of bone density is mechanical stress, in the form of gravity and muscular tension. When our muscles weaken due to decreased estrogen, less stress is placed on our bones, decreasing bone mineral density.
Additionally, when our muscles weaken, we lose function, reducing our ability to perform daily movements against gravity. This results in further loss of bone mineral density, osteoporosis, frailty, and poor quality of life.
Estrogen decline also comes with a rise in the stress hormone cortisol, which can lead to increased appetite. When stressed, cortisol levels increase by approximately nine times, significantly increasing our appetite.
Greater Risk of Chronic Illness
As we age, areas of our health steadily decline, and we encounter a major shift in our 40s. During this time, we are at greater risk of chronic illness due to increases in abdominal fat. For women, this risk is amplified by the decrease in estrogen and progesterone, which can lead to increased inflammation in the body.
Here is a list of chronic illnesses that may come as a result of increased inflammation:
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Hypertension
- Diabetes
- Stroke
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Lung Disease
Fortunately, diet, nutrition, and weight management can reduce the risk of chronic illness. A weight loss of 5%–10% of total body weight can improve health and well-being, preventing type-2 diabetes, cancer, joint pain, depression, and cardiovascular disease.
Optimal Macro Ratios for Women in Their 40s
Calorie and macronutrient intakes are two elements of nutrition that have a profound impact on your weight. Macronutrients known as our proteins, carbohydrates, and fats are required to maintain muscle mass, fuel our body, and support the body’s systems.
Below, we discuss each macronutrient, its purpose, and recommended daily intakes for optimum health.
Macronutrient Ratio
Below we have listed suitable macronutrient ratios to align with your diet. We base these figures on a 2,000-calorie diet. These figures will vary based on your calorie intake.
- Protein: 20–30% of total calories
- Carbohydrates: 45–55% of total calories
- Fats: 25–35% of total calories
Protein: Why You Need More and How Much to Aim For
Protein plays a major role in the human body, supporting areas such as digestion, hormone regulation, gene expression, immune support, and many other biochemical reactions. The most well-known is its ability to increase muscle mass and improve recovery, and satiety.
As mentioned, our 40s are when we experience a decline in skeletal muscle mass and increased appetite. During this time, increasing our protein is essential to improve satiety and help us maintain lean muscle mass.
The recommended daily protein intake is approximately 1.0–1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily.
E.g.
Bodyweight x recommended daily intake
70 kg x 1.2 g/kg/bw = 84 grams of protein/day
We recommend dividing this into 25–30g across all your meals. This will make it more manageable and improve satiety after each meal, reducing hunger and cravings.
Protein also has a greater thermogenic effect than carbohydrates and fat. Thermogenesis is a metabolic process that burns energy to heat our body. When we consume more protein, there is an increase in energy expenditure. This combined with improved satiety results in fewer calories consumed, increasing calories burned, making it essential for weight management and weight loss.
Carbohydrates: Opting for High-Fiber, Low-Sugar Choices
Carbohydrates are an essential part of our nutrition, providing energy to the body and brain while supporting our muscles, organs, digestive, and immune system. There are different types of carbohydrates: simple carbohydrates, and complex carbohydrates.
Simple Carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates such as sugary foods, soda, honey, and sugar cause a rapid rise in blood sugar and insulin. Considered to be a calorie-dense food option, simple carbohydrate foods will use up your daily calorie intake, without much to show for it.
These carbohydrates break down quickly providing us with a spike of energy. However, as the energy passes, we are often left tired, and hungrier than before.
Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates, such as apples, broccoli, lentils, spinach, unrefined whole grains, and brown rice, provide sustainable energy, gradually increasing blood sugar. These carbohydrates are low glycemic (low GI), meaning they offer a slow release of energy. This makes them far more economical as they provide energy, keep us full, and are loaded with vital nutrients.
One major nutrient in carbohydrates is fiber. Fiber has far-reaching benefits to our overall health. Regarding nutrition, it can add volume to our meals, and improve satiety. Meanwhile, it also helps us maintain healthy digestion, controls blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and reduces the risk of chronic illness.
When making a healthy change, we want to consume a range of fiber-rich, complex carbohydrates. This will provide us with sustainable energy and improve satiety to reduce hunger and cravings. We recommend consuming 200g–300g of carbohydrates, and 30g of fiber per day.
Healthy Fats: Supporting Hormones and Heart Health
Healthy fats are vital for many different functions in our body. It plays a role in heart health, blood pressure, organ protection, cell growth, energy, hormones, and vitamin absorption.
Fats should account for approximately 25–35% of your daily calorie intake. They can be found in foods such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, flaxseeds, chia seeds walnuts, avocado, soy, and leafy greens.
These foods can lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and improve blood pressure. This makes it essential for women in their 40s and those going through menopause.
Adjusting Macros for Different Health Goals
When it comes to adjusting your diet, focusing on your calorie intake can make a major difference in your nutrition. However, by combining this with alterations to our macronutrients, we can change our diet to meet our health goals.
Below is a list of different health goals and how you can change your macronutrients to achieve them.
Weight Loss and Reducing Belly Fat
When we adjust our diet for weight loss and reduce belly, entering calorie deficit will get the job done. However, as a woman in your 40s, some considerations need to be made.
As mentioned, our 40s are a time when muscle and bone mineral density will decline, and our appetite will increase. While taking on a calorie deficit by reducing calories will help, doing so without a proper balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats will leave you hungry, and begin to decrease muscle mass. Two things that you simply cannot allow to happen.
To remedy this, we must consider our macronutrients to ensure we are getting enough protein to maintain muscle, carbohydrates for fuel, and fats to absorb vital nutrients and support many of our body systems. Below is an example of macronutrient ratios for weight loss.
- Protein: 35%
- Carbohydrates: 40%
- Fats: 25%
During a calorie deficit, we should consider increasing our protein intake. This will help maintain muscle mass and improve satiety, while still maintaining healthy levels of carbohydrates for energy, and fat to support a variety of our body’s functions
Muscle Preservation and Bone Health
Not all changes to nutrition are about weight loss. For women in their 40s, it can be about preserving muscle mass and bone density.
This will require us to consume maintenance calories. This is when we consume the same amount of calories as we are burning, leading to us sustaining our weight. During this, we will also use similar macronutrient ratios to weight loss and reducing belly fat figures above as they focus on high protein.
- Protein: 35%
- Carbohydrates: 35%
- Fats: 30%
Nutritionally, muscle preservation stays the same, however, we must add other elements such as exercise, and nutrient intake to stimulate muscle mass and preserve bone health.
As mentioned, mechanical stress is a major determinant of both muscle mass and bone mineral density. Exercise in the form of resistance training, walking, and recreation exercises are great for maintaining muscle and bone mineral density.
While meeting nutrient requirements for calcium and vitamin D will help preserve bone health.
Combining these elements, we can forge robust, dense bone and muscle tissue, reducing the onset of osteoporosis and sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss).
Boosting Energy and Managing Hormonal Symptoms
For some of us, entering our 40s can feel like a real slog. While our mind tells us we are still in our 20s or 30s, our aging bodies, and fatigue remind us that our biological clock is well and truly ticking.
What we need at this time is a boost to our energy levels, and to begin managing our hormonal symptoms that come with menopause. This will require a standard macronutrient balance, favoring carbohydrates, and healthy fat.
- Protein: 15–25%
- Carbohydrates: 45–55%
- Fats: 20–35%
Boosting energy will come from eating high-fiber complex carbohydrates, to improve satiety and provide sustainable energy. Meanwhile, we need to eat healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids to reduce inflammation and support our brain, heart, eyes, and skin.
Macro-Friendly Foods for Women Over 40
Understanding how calories and macronutrients are a powerful tool for managing our nutrition. It enables us to modify our diet based on our fitness goals. Now that we know which macronutrients we need, it's time to discuss macro-friendly foods for women over 40.
High-Protein Foods for Muscle Maintenance
In the past decade, there has been an increase in healthy high-protein food options, with many containing reduced sugar, and fat, which makes it easier than ever to hit our protein goals.
Below is a list of high-protein foods per 100g serving size.
As you can see some foods contain higher amounts of protein, but also calorie-dense. For example, 100g of walnuts has the highest protein content but contains 654 calories, not to mention that you won’t be eating 100g of walnuts.
This isn’t to say that these calorie-dense protein sources should be avoided, but rather that they can be consumed in smaller portions, as they contain vital nutrients.
We recommend developing your diet and meal plans around high-protein, low-calorie food sources, and supplementing your diet with high-protein, calorie-dense protein foods. This will allow you to hit your protein target throughout the day, and help you maintain lean muscle mass.
Low-Glycemic Carbs for Steady Blood Sugar
Selecting low-GI carbohydrate food is essential for a balanced diet. As mentioned, low-GI foods offer a sustained energy release and a gradual increase in blood sugar. This can be invaluable in a calorie deficit, as you will likely notice a decrease in energy. Combining Low-GI and high-protein foods will help improve satiety, and maintain steady blood sugar.
Below is a list of low-GI carbohydrate foods you can add to create a balanced diet.
- Low GI — Less than 55
- Medium GI — 55 to 70
- High GI — Greater than 70
The table above lists a range of low-GI carbohydrates including grains, fruits, and vegetables with varying GI ratings. There are different versions of each food, which can change the GI rating. For example, grain bread has a GI of 41, while some multigrain breads contain refined flour elevating their GI to 66.
If you want to develop your diet around low-GI foods, always consider that not all foods are the same. Finding the food that works well for you and keeps you satiated will go a long way to helping you maintain your healthy eating long-term.
Heart-Healthy Fats for Hormonal Balance
Healthy fats play a vital role in the function of the body including heart health, blood pressure, organ protection, cell growth, energy, hormones, and vitamin absorption. Supporting these systems during our 40s can greatly improve our quality of life and reduce the effects of menopause symptoms.
Foods containing omega-3 have anti-inflammatory properties that can help the rising inflammation from decreased estrogen, which can reduce symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats.
Below is a list of foods that contain healthy fats.
Sample Meal Plan with Balanced Macros for Women Over 40
Below we have created a sample meal plan to help kickstart your diet plan. This is based on a daily calorie intake of 1,700 for someone wanting to lose weight.
- Calories: 1,700
- Protein: 30% (127g)
- Carbohydrates: 40% (170g)
- Fats: 30% (56g)
The meals below are based on approximate calorie content. If you decide to follow this daily plan, consider adding it to a nutrition-tracking app for an accurate breakdown.
Practical Strategies for Balancing Macros Daily
The beginning of your healthy eating and macronutrient tracking can seem like a challenging task. To make this more manageable, here are our practical strategies to streamline the process.
Planning Meals Around Your Macro Goals
Planning your meals around your macros is one of the best ways to hit your macro goals. For many, protein and carbohydrates will be the main focus of their meals.
Let’s use the macronutrients from the section above as an example. For each main meal of the day, we want to have approximately 31.25g of protein and 42.5g of carbohydrates.
This can be 100g of chicken breast (31g of protein) and 180g of brown rice (41.4g of carbohydrates). These two foods combined also contain less than 5g of fat.
This is a rough example of how we can create our meals around our macros. While this may seem tedious to figure out before eating a meal, it can easily be streamlined using a meal-tracking app. These contain large databases full of common foods and popular brands, which make tracking your calories and macros easy.
You can simply add your calorie and macronutrient goals, and then design your meals based on the app before making them in the kitchen. Best of all, it saves your favorite foods which makes it easy for future tracking.
Using Simple Portion Control Methods
One of the biggest misconceptions about healthy eating is that because we are eating healthy, portion sizes don’t matter.
Sadly, they do! Take those healthy walnuts for example. While they are an excellent source of omega-3, they are calorie-dense, and eating a few too many as an afternoon snack can blow out your daily calorie limit. This is why portion control is essential!
Simple portion control methods include:
- Using a smaller plate
- Eating slowly
- Using your hand
- Drinking water before meals
- Buy snacks in single-serving portions
Additionally, we recommend taking a mental note of your portion sizes when using the meal tracking apps. In the beginning, you won’t know what 100g of chicken, 180g of brown rice, and 1 cup of steamed vegetables look like. But after a week or two of preparing them, you will almost be preparing them without weighing them.
How to Track Macros Effectively
Below we detail effective ways to improve your macronutrient tracking.
Best Apps and Tools for Women Over 40
Tracking your macronutrients can be a challenging task. Fortunately, there are a number of applications that can help us streamline the task.
These are the best apps for managing your macronutrients.
- Reverse Health
- Noom
- MyFitnessPal
- Lose It!
Tips for Dining Out and Staying on Track
For many people, dining out is an exciting part of life, however, when we start to track our calories, it can take the joy of getting a meal with friends. But, let us assure you that it doesn’t have to be this way.
Here there are several ways we can approach dinner out.
- Adjust daily calories — We can reduce our daily calorie intake earlier that day to account for the calories we will be consuming that evening. This can be reducing breakfast and lunch portion sizes.
- Adjust Weekly Calories — This can achieved by reducing calories across the span of a week to account for your dinner on Saturday night. For example, say that your daily calorie limit is 1,800 calories, and you want to allow yourself 1,200 calories for a meal and a few drinks. You can reduce your daily intake by 200 calories per day for the six days leading up to your dinner. This will amount to 1,200 calories which you can use guilt-free.
- Just Enjoy Yourself — The last option is to just enjoy yourself. Managing your calories and macros is a big commitment, and doing it all the time can feel restrictive. Giving yourself cheat meals each week will help keep your sanity and even help you sustain this long term.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Adjusting Macros
When it comes to shifting our diet towards healthy food options it can be tempting to cut calories and ignore carbs. While these practices may cut calories, they can result in a unsuitable weight management plan.
Below we present common mistakes in adjusting your macronutrients, and how to avoid them.
Skipping Fats for Faster Weight Loss
First on the list is skipping fats. For a long time, low-fat foods became the king of the diet industry as marketing companies boosted sales with low-fat labels. While this is not entirely all bad, it did make many of us believe that all fat was taboo.
As mentioned, healthy fats are a vital component of our diet as they are used to support many systems in the body. However, because certain fats are bad for our health, many decided that eliminating all fat from our diet can help speed up weight loss. While this may be true, we would be forgoing the incredible benefits that come from consuming healthy fats.
For women in their 40s, this is particularly important as healthy fats can help reduce menopause symptoms and support brain and cardiovascular health.
Overloading on Protein Without Considering Calories
Overloading protein without considering your calories is a common mistake many people make when they shift to a healthy diet. While protein is incredible for building muscle and improving satiety, eating large amounts unnecessarily can lead to exceeding your daily calorie intake.
When it comes to protein intake, identify your daily goals and aim to hit those targets consistently. This will improve your ability to manage weight and help you sustain your nutrition long-term.
Ignoring Carb Quality (Simple vs. Complex)
Ignoring the quality of your carbohydrates is a common mistake that can lead feelings of hunger. While both forms have the same amount of calories, complex carbohydrates will sustain your energy levels for a longer duration. This reduces hunger between meals and stops you from snacking on calorie-dense poor food options.
Conclusion: Embracing Your Macro Needs for Health in Your 40s
Entering our 40s can be a scary time for many. Between the onset of menopause symptoms and the signs of aging, it can feel like our health is slowly slipping away.
However, it does not have to be this way! With the correct nutrition, and balance of macronutrients, there is no reason you can’t launch into your fourth decade healthier than ever before.
Just remember to stick within your daily calories, hit your protein targets, and focus on eating healthy fats and complex carbohydrates, and you will be well on your way to regaining your health.
FAQs
What are good macros for a 40-year-old woman?
The acceptable macronutrient ranges are 45–55% of daily calories from carbs, 25–35% from fats, and 20–30% from protein. Keep in mind that overall calorie intake matters most for weight loss.
What is the best macro ratio for fat loss for women?
For fat loss, a typical macro ratio is 30–35% protein, 30–40% carbs, and 25–35% fats. Prioritize whole foods and a calorie deficit for effective results.
How much protein should a woman over 40 eat to lose weight?
A woman over 40 should consume 1.2–1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily to preserve muscle and support fat loss.
How many carbs should a 40-year-old woman eat to lose weight?
A target of 100–150 grams of carbs per day, focusing on vegetables and whole grains, can help with weight loss while maintaining energy.
How can I increase my metabolism after 40?
Boost your metabolism by increasing protein intake, strength training, staying active, staying hydrated, and getting adequate sleep.
