The Top 5 nutrition mistakes women make in midlife (and what to do instead)

Let’s be real, eating well in your 40s and 50s can feel like navigating a nutrition minefield. What ‘used’ to work doesn’t anymore, your body is changing, and the internet is as confusing as it is scary with contradictory advice from experts to influencers and everyone in between.

If you’ve found yourself feeling bloated after your ‘healthy’ salad, exhausted by 3pm, or suddenly gaining weight despite feeing like you are eating less, you’re not alone. I see this every day in the women I coach.

Here are the top 5 nutrition mistakes I see midlife women making — and what you can do instead to feel energised, back in control and like your old self again.

1. Eating like you did in your 30s

The Mistake: Relying on old eating habits that used to “work.”

You might be eating less, skipping meals, or cutting carbs… and still not seeing results.
What’s Changed: Your hormones, muscle mass, metabolism, and stress load. Your body needs quality nutrition now not restriction and punishment. All those years of poor dietary habits catch up with you so midlife is time to create a sustainable way to eat so you can feel your best.

Try This Instead: Focus on nourishment, not restriction. Balance your meals with protein, fibre, healthy fats and slow carbs. Think: a salmon fillet, roasted veggies and quinoa — not a quick hit of caffeine and deprivation.

2. Not eating enough protein

The Mistake: Underestimating your protein needs.

Midlife is when we naturally start to lose some muscle mass. Muscle helps with metabolism, energy, strength and hormone balance.

Try This Instead: Aim for 20–30g of protein per meal. Eggs, Greek yoghurt, fish, chicken, lean red meat, tofu, tempeh, legumes — mix it up and prioritise it at every meal. And don’t forget resistance training to help build muscle!

3. Skipping meals or fasting too aggressively

The Mistake: Using prolonged intermittent fasting or skipping meals to control weight, but ending up tired, cranky or bingeing later.

Hormonal shifts mean your body may not cope as well with long fasts or calorie restriction.

Try This Instead: If you must fast use a gentle 12-14 hour fast and make meals count. Skipping breakfast doesn’t work for everyone — especially if it means you’re reaching for the sugar or wine at 5pm.

4. Ignoring blood sugar balance

The Mistake: Grabbing coffee and toast in the morning, grazing on snacks through the day, or ending dinner with a sugar hit.
This keeps you on a blood sugar rollercoaster: energy crashes, cravings, mood swings and poor sleep.

Try This Instead: Build balanced meals with protein, fibre, healthy fats and carbs in moderation. Add cinnamon to oats, swap crackers for veggie sticks with hummus, or add avocado to your toast to slow the spike.

5. Over-relying on supplements to fix it all

The Mistake: Spending hundreds on powders, pills and potions that have to little to no real research or evidence.

Try This Instead: Nail the foundations first — real food, water, movement, sleep, and stress management. Then, add supplements, under practitioner guidance, if absolutely necessary to fill specific gaps.

The Takeaway

Your body is changing — however, basic nutrition strategies still work . Often the missing piece is consistency and a few realistic tweaks here and there. Midlife isn’t the end of feeling good. It’s the start of listening to your body, fuelling yourself properly and regaining your confidence.

You don’t need to eat perfectly. You just need to eat in a way that supports you now — your hormones, your energy, your goals.

Feeling overwhelmed? That’s exactly why I created the 21-Day Reboot — a simple, step-by-step plan to help you feel like yourself again.