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If you’re in perimenopause or menopause and wondering how much cardio you really need to lose belly fat and support your hormones—girl, you’re not alone.

This episode of Menopause Makeover (aka The Honeycast) is for every midlife mama who has tried to out-cardio her belly fat, only to feel more tired, achy, and frustrated. I’ve been there too—with the Jane Fonda workouts, the step aerobics, and hours logged on the elliptical. Spoiler alert: It didn’t work.

Let’s talk about what does.

Why More Cardio Isn’t the Answer in Menopause

For years we believed more cardio meant more calories burned—and that meant more fat loss, right? Not so fast.

Here’s the truth no one told us: More cardio can actually stall fat loss and increase fat storage when you're in midlife.

That’s because...

• It increases cortisol (your stress hormone), which signals your body to store fat—especially belly fat.
  
• It can break down lean muscle, which we need mor...

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Strength training in your 40s, 50s, and beyond isn’t about chasing soreness or trying to keep up with some influencer’s 7-day shred. It’s about training smarter—so you can burn fat, build muscle, and feel good in your body again without wrecking your hormones in the process.

If you’ve been wondering why your old workouts aren’t working anymore or why you feel more drained than energized after exercise, you’re not alone. Midlife bodies don’t respond the same way they used to—and that’s not a bad thing. It just means we need to shift how we move, how we recover, and how we fuel.

Let’s break down exactly how to strength train for fat loss in menopause and perimenopause—without the burnout.

Why Strength Training Is the #1 Belly Fat Loss Exercise in Menopause

Let me say it loud and clear: strength training is your best friend after 40.

You can cardio yourself to death and still not budge the scale—or worse, see it creep up. Why? Because yo...

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Welcome to The Menopause Makeover—where we talk Trim Healthy Wisdom, hormones, fitness, and real-life wins (and struggles) in midlife. Let's look at the five sneaky reasons your weight won’t budge—even when you're eating healthy, exercising, and doing “all the right things.”

If you’re a midlife mama who feels like your belly fat has a mind of its own, you're not crazy—and you're definitely not alone.

Let’s get into it.

Why Midlife Fat Loss is Different

You’re not broken—your body is just different now. In perimenopause and menopause, everything from your muscle mass to your metabolism is shifting. But here’s the real kicker:

It’s not your hormones causing fat gain.

Hormones are symptoms of deeper imbalances. When estrogen declines, cortisol rises, and insulin gets cranky, your body starts shifting fat to your belly and holding onto weight like it’s prepping for winter.

And what used to work… doesn’t.

Sneaky Sabotage #1: You’...

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Why You’re Waking Up at 3AM in Perimenopause (and What to Do About It)

Raise your hand if your sleep used to be... well, normal-ish.

You’d go to bed, sleep through (more or less), and wake up ready-ish to face the day. But now? Somewhere in your 40s, sleep flipped the script. You wake up at 3am wide-eyed, your brain is running a full-blown mental PowerPoint presentation, and you're wondering: “Is this just how it’s going to be from now on?”

Friend, I see you. I am you.

This week on the podcast, I had the absolute joy of welcoming my friend and colleague Shonda Palmer, founder of Shonda Palmer Wellness. She’s a national board-certified health and wellness coach, a mindfulness teacher, and a total powerhouse when it comes to helping women in midlife finally get the rest they need. She’s coached thousands of women using CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) — and she joined me to unpack why sleep becomes so elusive in perimenopau...

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Ladies, let’s be honest.

Meal prep sounds great in theory. But by the time Sunday night rolls around, you're exhausted, brain-fried, and the last thing you want to do is chop a pile of vegetables while your to-do list stares you down. And yet, you know that if you don’t prep, your Trim Healthy Mama plan tends to derail by Wednesday, and you find yourself grabbing whatever is easy. Sound familiar?

If you're a busy midlife mama trying to burn fat, lose weight, and balance hormones, meal prep can feel like one more mountain you don’t want to climb. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Today, I'm breaking down how you can meal prep in a way that actually works for your real life, your real energy levels, and your real hormones.

Why Meal Prep Feels So Hard in Midlife

First, let’s just name it: meal prep feels overwhelming because your life is already full. And when you hit perimenopause or menopause, your brain doesn’t always have the same b...

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Welcome to the Pivot

Hey friend. If you’ve been wondering what’s going on with your energy, your weight, your sleep, or your emotions lately—and you’re somewhere in your late 30s, 40s, or even early 50s—let me whisper something to you:

You’re not crazy. You’re not broken. And you’re not alone.

What you’re feeling? It’s hormones. More specifically, it’s perimenopause—the body’s beautiful, frustrating, confusing transition into menopause. Most of us had no clue this was coming. No one pulled us aside and said, “Hey, heads up—your jeans might start getting tight, your sleep may tank, and that quick weight loss trick you used in your 20s? Yeah, it stops working.”

But here’s the good news: this season is not a problem. It’s an invitation.

And what you do now—how you choose to care for your changing body—can either set you up to thrive in your 50s and beyond or make it a whole lot harder to bounce back later.

The Real Signs of Hormonal Imb...

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When Your Get-Up-and-Go... Got Up and Left

Let me ask you something, friend: have you ever looked at your walking shoes, your protein shake, or even just your meal prep plan and thought, "I just don’t have it in me"?

Yeah. Me too.

And I’m not just talking about being tired—I’m talking about that whole-body, brain-fogged, soul-deep lack of drive that shows up like an unwelcome guest in perimenopause and menopause. It’s not that you don’t care. It’s that your hormones have started rewriting the rules without telling you.

Even as a certified personal trainer, Trim Healthy Mama coach, and menopause fitness specialist, I wasn’t immune. My motivation fell off a cliff. And I had to learn how to keep showing up anyway. Not perfectly. But consistently. And most of all—with grace.

So today, I want to talk to you about why this happens, what’s really going on, and how to work with your body—not against it—in this new season.

Hormones, Motivation, ...

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Real-life fat loss strategies that work with your hormones, not against them

If you're in your 40s or 50s wondering why your belly fat won’t budge—despite eating well and even squeezing in workouts—girl, I see you.

You’re not lazy, you’re not doing it wrong, and you're definitely not broken. You're likely in perimenopause, and your body is shifting in ways that require a new approach to fat-burning—one that works with your hormones, not against them.

In this episode of The Menopause Makeover, I break down four simple, doable habits that can help turn on fat burning in midlife. These strategies aren’t about cutting carbs, killing yourself at the gym, or starving. They're about creating a metabolism that’s responsive and resilient in this season.

Let’s walk through each one—because you deserve to feel good in your body again.

What’s Really Blocking Fat Burn in Perimenopause?

Let’s get one thing straight: cutting calories and working ou...

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Learning to Manage Your Mind When the Scale Doesn’t Make Sense

If you’ve ever stared at the scale and thought, “I’m doing everything right—why is it going up?!” this post is for you. As a Trim Healthy Coach, menopause fitness specialist, and midlife woman myself, I know firsthand how defeating it can feel when you’re doing all the right things and not seeing the results you expected.

But I also know this: your mindset might be the most important tool you’ve been overlooking.

This post will walk you through one of the most transformational tools I use with my clients (and myself!) to stay consistent, motivated, and aligned in midlife—even when progress feels slow or invisible.

Let’s talk about managing your mind when you can’t manage the scale.

Why Mindset Matters More Than the Number on the Scale

Here’s the deal: what you think shapes how you feel, and how you feel drives what you do (or don’t do). That’s why two women can see the exact same numb...

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If you’re doing all the “right things” but your weight is creeping up anyway...

if your belly feels thicker every morning and you’re wondering why the scale won’t budge even though you’re eating clean and trying to move more...

welcome, friend.

You’re not just lazy. You’re not completely failing. And you’re definitely not alone in feeling stuck.

I see you: making time for workouts (when you barely have time to breathe), trying to eat whole foods, maybe even tracking macros or following THM...

and yet, your midsection feels softer, your energy is down, and your body just doesn’t respond like it used to.

You’re tired of the all-or-nothing mindset. You’re trying to stay motivated, but it’s hard when nothing seems to be working.

It’s not just you—and it’s not your fault. What used to work simply doesn’t anymore. That’s what we’re unpacking today.

My Midlife Wake-Up Call

I had my last baby at 44—nine kids total—and thought I’d bounce back ...