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From 4 videos

How many calories should I eat in menopause to lose weight?

Answered by Maggie Topham and WarriorBabe's coaches · Updated

The short answer

On The WarriorBabe Show, Maggie Topham says most women over 40 who lift weights three to four days a week need roughly 1,700 to 2,200 calories a day, not 1,200 or less. Eating more, with enough protein, is what lets muscle rebuild and your metabolism recover so fat loss can actually happen.

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  1. Maggie on why women lifting 3-4 days a week need 1,700 to 2,200 calories

    Plays from 2:20 · Video: 5 Changes to Lose Menopause Weight When Cardio Stops Working

  2. Maggie on going from 800 calories a day to eating almost triple

    Plays from 4:37 · Video: 4 Routine Changes to Balance Hormones and Lose Fat After 40

  3. Nilda on eating 900 to 1,000 calories and feeling hungry, tired and irritable

    Plays from 0:51 · Video: Postmenopausal at 54: Why 900 Calories Stopped Working

  4. A coach on clients stuck at 1,200 calories who lost fat once they ate more

    Plays from 0:58 · Video: 25-Minute Dumbbell Workout for Menopause Belly Fat

The full answer

If you've been living on 1,000 or 1,200 calories and still gaining, the show's position is that it's the plan, not you. Maggie explains that after 40 you're already losing muscle without resistance training, and that muscle is your metabolism. Eat too little and your body burns muscle for fuel, your metabolism slows, and you store more fat. She lived it: eating around 1,100 to 1,200 calories, training harder than ever, and getting heavier and softer every month. In another episode she says her goal at one point was about 800 calories a day. Today she eats almost triple that.

The pattern shows up in other women's stories too. Nilda, 54 and postmenopausal, was eating 900 to 1,000 calories a day while working out more, and says she was hungry, tired, irritable and her body wasn't functioning the way it used to. One WarriorBabe coach describes clients who were scared to eat over 1,200 calories and couldn't understand why they weren't losing fat; once they fed their metabolism, their bodies started letting go of it.

Calories are only part of the picture. What the episodes pair with eating more:

  • Protein: Maggie tracks about 150 grams a day; one coach aims for 1 gram per pound of body weight.
  • Strength training as a non-negotiable, since muscle is what makes fat loss possible without starving.
  • Walking instead of piling on intense cardio, which Maggie says can raise cortisol and work against you.
  • Mostly whole foods, without obsessing over every bite.

The 1,700 to 2,200 range is Maggie's general guide for women lifting three to four days a week, not a personal prescription. Your number depends on your body and activity, and if you have a medical condition or take medications that affect appetite or weight, work it out with your doctor.

From WarriorBabe's coaches (how we write our answers). For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.

Part of

Menopause & Perimenopause Weight Loss →

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