245. What To Eat After 40 To Boost Energy
Pursue Your Spark: Midlife Fitness & Mindset for Women Feeling Stuck
Release Date: 10/02/2025
Pursue Your Spark: Midlife Fitness & Mindset for Women Feeling Stuck
Losing yourself in midlife can happen so gradually that you don't even notice it. One day, you realize you've spent years taking care of everyone else, but you've lost touch with yourself. In Episode 266, You Took Care of Everyone Else… But Lost Yourself, Denise Drinkwalter joins me for an honest conversation about why so many women reach this point and how they can begin finding themselves again. We talk about how women often build their identity around being needed. Between raising families, building careers, supporting partners, and caring for others, it's easy to believe your...
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What if the problem isn't your body? What if the real reason you feel frustrated with your changing body has nothing to do with motivation, discipline, or getting older? In Episode 265, The Midlife Body Disconnect No One Talks About, I explore why so many women lose touch with their bodies during midlife—and why reconnecting with the body you have today may be the missing piece to rebuilding midlife confidence. In this episode, I explain why so many women lose confidence when their bodies begin to change. Hormonal shifts, increased stress, changing priorities, and slower recovery all...
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You say yes when you want to say no. You take care of everyone else first. And no matter how much you accomplish, it never feels like enough. Sound familiar? In Episode 264, "Why People Pleasing and Perfectionism Keep You Stuck in Midlife," I sit down with therapist Cindy Payne to explore why People Pleasing in Midlife keeps so many women exhausted, disconnected, and feeling stuck. For years, many of us have learned to be the good daughter. The good partner. The good employee. The good mom. We say yes when we want to say no. We put everyone else's needs ahead of our own. We work...
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Have you ever caught yourself going back to the same habit, routine, or plan even though you already know it doesn't work? If so, you're not alone. In Episode 263, You Know It Doesn't Work: Why Women Keep Repeating the Same Habits in Midlife, I explore one of the most frustrating patterns I see in women today: knowing what isn't working yet continuing to return to it. In this episode, I take a closer look at why so many women feeling stuck find themselves caught in a cycle of starting over. I discuss how old fitness routines, nutrition plans, and wellness habits can become familiar...
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You’re eating well and exercising, trying to stay positive, and holding everything together. Yet somehow, you still feel anxious, overstimulated, exhausted, or emotionally on edge. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. In Episode 262. Doing All the Right Things… and Still Feeling On Edge, I sit down with Dr. Nicole Cain to talk about why anxiety often changes during midlife and why it’s rarely “just stress.” Together, we explore the deeper connection between hormones, gut health, nervous system regulation, emotional patterns, chronic overwhelm, and the body’s...
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Do you keep telling yourself, “I’ll start Monday again,” only to end up frustrated, overwhelmed, and stuck in the same place a few weeks later? In this episode of the Pursue Your Spark Podcast, 261. Why You Keep Starting Over and Still Feel Stuck in Midlife, I’m unpacking one of the biggest hidden reasons women in midlife struggle with consistency, healthy habits, midlife wellness, and motivation — and it’s probably not what you think. Because here’s the truth: you may not actually have a discipline problem. You may have a resetting problem. So many women in...
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You’ve gotten really good at being the one who adjusts—and in midlife, you start to feel the cost of it. In Episode 260, How Good Girl Rules Keep Women Feeling Stuck in Midlife/ Sue Willoughby, I sit down with Sue to explore how good girl rules in midlife quietly shape how women think, act, and show up—often through patterns such as being agreeable, accommodating, and always putting others first. These patterns can work for a long time. Until they don’t. Moreover, we unpack why midlife is the exact moment these rules begin to break down. What once felt natural can start to...
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Why does it feel like no matter how many times I reset my routine… nothing sticks anymore? In this episode, Why Your Midlife Fitness Routine Stopped Working (It’s Not Discipline), I dive into a pattern I see again and again—and one I know personally: the reorganization loop. I keep trying to fix things by organizing better. Moreover, I adjust my schedule, rebuild my routines, and create new plans. And for a moment, it feels productive. In addition, it gives me a sense of control. However, that feeling doesn’t last—and the routines still don’t stick. Here’s what I’ve...
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How to get organized often feels impossible when you're already mentally and emotionally overloaded. For many midlife women, organizing isn’t just about clutter — it’s about exhaustion, pressure, and the quiet belief that they’re somehow “behind.” That belief alone can keep you stuck far longer than the stuff itself. In Episode 258 of Pursue Your Spark, How to Get Organized in Midlife Without Feeling Behind I sit down with professional organizer and coach Tracy Hoth to shift the entire conversation around organization. Instead of chasing perfection, Tracy offers a...
info_outlinePursue Your Spark: Midlife Fitness & Mindset for Women Feeling Stuck
Have you ever said exactly what needed to be said—calmly, clearly, respectfully—and still walked away feeling smaller afterward? Not because the conversation went badly. But because something inside you felt unsettled… like you handled it well, yet it still didn’t feel right. In Episode 257, Midlife Confidence: Why Speaking Up Still Leaves You Feeling Small we’re looking at a pattern many women experience but rarely talk about. We speak up, we stay composed, we say the words that need to be said—and somehow we still shrink a little on the inside. Midlife is often the...
info_outlineKnowing what to eat after 40 can make a big difference in how your energy holds up throughout the day. Many midlife women struggle to stay consistent with their habits when low energy gets in the way.
In this episode, we talk about how nutrition choices can support your energy so you can build consistency in midlife without needing to start over every time life gets busy.
In Episode 245: What To Eat After 40 To Boost Energy, I explain how hormone shifts, stress, and sleep all affect your energy. As estrogen trends down, your body becomes more sensitive to carbs. Add cortisol spikes from stress and poor sleep, and suddenly the same lunch that worked fine at 30 can leave you foggy and sluggish at 45. The solution isn’t another latte—it’s learning how to time and balance your meals so you get steady energy that lasts.
You’ll hear the stories of three women who represent different stages of the journey. Emma often skipped lunch and rode the day out on coffee, Lisa ate pretty healthy but leaned on bars and lattes, and Jasmine was highly active yet still crashed on heavy training days. Each of them discovered that small, realistic changes—like eating protein first, moving lunch earlier, or placing carbs around workouts—completely transformed their afternoons.
This episode is not about dieting or giving up the foods you love. It’s about simple midlife nutrition shifts that support your body after 40 and help you feel strong, steady, and focused.
If you’re ready to stop the afternoon crash and finally fuel your days with consistent energy, this episode is for you.
👉 Want to go deeper? Grab your copy of my book, Pursue Your Spark: Your Guide to Escaping Midlife Traps, Reclaiming Confidence, and Living Fully. It’s filled with real-life stories, practical nutrition strategies, and mindset tools to help you thrive in midlife and beyond.