Stability First: Why You Can’t Burn Fat Without Balancing Blood Sugar After 50

You’re doing all the “right” things, eating less, moving more but the scale won’t budge, and your energy crashes by 3 p.m. You’re tired, wired, and wondering if your body is just...broken.

Here’s the truth: it’s not your willpower, it’s your blood sugar.

Before your body can burn fat, it needs to feel safe. Balanced. Supported. That starts with stabilizing your blood sugar.

I know how frustrating it can be to stick to a diet for days and weeks and not see any progress. What if we look at this from another angle? 

When you eat foods that cause rapid spikes in blood sugar, your pancreas releases more insulin to help move that sugar into your cells. If your cells are already full—especially if you have some degree of insulin resistance—your liver converts the extra sugar into fat for storage. Chronically high insulin levels make it much harder for your body to burn stored fat, because insulin signals your body to store energy rather than use it.

If you try to lose weight by simply cutting calories but continue to eat high-glycemic foods, you may lose muscle instead of fat. Since muscle helps regulate blood sugar and burn calories, losing it can make insulin resistance worse and increase your risk for fatty liver and type 2 diabetes.

Fat burning is not the first priority of your body, it’s survival. When your blood sugar is constantly spiking and crashing, your body stays in survival mode, holding onto fat and energy because it doesn’t trust it’s safe to let go.

This is why the “eat less, move more” advice stops working after 50. Your hormones, sleep, and metabolism are all affected by how stable, or unstable, your blood sugar is.

Why Insulin Stability Is the Starting Line

Before strength, before supplements, before another workout plan… your body needs stability. Here’s why that starts with insulin.

When you eat foods high in sugar or refined carbs, your blood sugar rises quickly, causing your pancreas to release a lot of insulin. Insulin’s job is to help move that sugar into your cells for energy or storage. If your body keeps getting these “insulin spikes,” it encourages your body to store more fat and makes it harder to burn the fat you already have.

Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, rises when you’re under stress or not sleeping well. High cortisol levels can increase your appetite (especially for sugary or fatty foods), slow your metabolism, and encourage your body to store more fat—especially around your belly.

Poor sleep makes things worse. Not getting enough quality sleep raises cortisol and disrupts your hunger hormones, making you crave more unhealthy foods and feel less satisfied after eating. It also makes your body less sensitive to insulin, so you store more fat and burn less.

In short: Frequent insulin spikes, high cortisol from stress or poor sleep, and not enough rest all work together to make your body hold onto fat and make weight loss much harder.

When we consider eating to fuel our body and keep our blood sugar more balanced so that our body doesn’t have to make so much insulin as a way of caring for our whole body, we are more likely to consistently make healthy, more balanced choices in our foods and drinks. We now start to use the Mindset Pillar and flip from thinking restriction to nourishment.

One of my clients came to me feeling exactly like this. She had tried everything, but nothing moved. Within three weeks of focusing on blood sugar stability, not restriction, her energy soared, she started sleeping through the night, and her belly bloat started to fade.

She hadn’t lost a pound yet, but she felt like herself again. And a month later? That stubborn fat started coming off, without the burnout.

 What “Balance” Looks Like Day to Day

You don’t need to track every bite, just understand how your body responds to what you eat. Let’s shift our mindset to food as fuel.

Start your day with protein and fat: This means choose eggs, plain Greek yogurt, chicken or meat. Leave out all forms of sugar including: toast, bagels, oatmeal, granola.

Drink a glass of water with a teaspoon of organic Apple Cider Vinegar before each meal. (Start with one meal.) If you joined me for my Early Morning Walking Challenge we added in ACV to our glass of water before our walk. This helps to slow the glucose from leaving the lower intestines into the blood stream and added bonus for my ladies with Hashimoto’s or other autoimmune disorders, it helps to heal the gut.

Avoid naked fruit or any naked carbs for that matter. Fruit is sugar, yes it has lots of vitamins and fiber so it’s good for us but it will spike your blood sugar. To avoid this, eat your apple with a little nut butter and put some cottage cheese or plain yogurt with those berries.

Start your meals with greens, then protein and if you’re going to have a starchy vegetable, eat that at the end of your meal. And if you really want that cookie or piece of chocolate, save a small piece for your dessert so that the sugar releases more slowly from your gut. (If you’re working on losing weight, keep this very occasional)

Sleep, Energy & Weight Loss: The Cascade Effect

When insulin levels stabilize, everything else begins to shift—sleep improves, energy returns, weight resistance softens.

If you’ve been struggling with sleep, either trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, you may start to notice improvements as you start to balance your blood sugar. 

You may notice your afternoon energy crashes and cravings subside. You’ll start to enjoy more sustained energy throughout the day and be able to resist those temptations while shopping at the grocery store.

You may become a kinder, gentler version of yourself because your mood swings will begin to subside and you’ll be able to think more clearly. Most importantly, within a few weeks of stabilizing their blood sugar, most women start to feel like themselves again. 

I Want to Invite You to Consider a New Approach

You’ve been told to push harder and restrict more. But what if the most powerful thing you could do is support your body, so it finally supports you back?

This is a sustainable and healthy approach that will have a cascade of health benefits beyond weight loss.

If you’re ready to stop chasing the next diet and start working with your body instead of against it, this is for you.

My 6 Pillars of Wellness Coaching is designed specifically for women over 50 who want real results without burning out.

Apply now, click this link and take the first step toward getting your energy, sleep, and metabolism back, so fat loss isn’t a battle anymore, it’s a byproduct of balance.

Not sure if it’s the right fit? Email me at [email protected] with  “BALANCE” in the subject line and let’s talk through what your body might be trying to tell you.