Healthy After 40 Starts With Spirit: Metabolism, Menopause & Sustainable Strength with Michelle Hayes

Women over 40 don’t need another crash diet—they need a spirit-first strategy. In this conversation, women’s nutrition coach and longtime nurse Michelle Hayes explains why lasting health begins with purpose, alignment, and compassionate habits that work with perimenopause/menopause, not against it. We cover metabolism-smart eating without restriction, strength training over endless cardio, and how environment and community beat “willpower.” Practical, culture-aware nutrition tweaks, vacation strategies, and a 60-day framework make change realistic—so you can feel stronger, clearer, and more you.

 

About the Guest  

Michelle Hayes is a women’s nutrition coach with 25+ years of nursing experience. She helps professional women 40+ rebuild energy, mood, and body confidence by starting with spirit, then aligning food, movement, and environment for sustainable results.

 

Key Takeaways :

• Spirit-first health creates durable motivation; habits stick when they serve purpose.

• After 40, hormones change; metabolism needs enough food, not chronic restriction.

• Build meals to support metabolism and hormone health; skip 1,100-cal “diets.”

• Use your current foods and culture; upgrade recipes instead of overhauling life.

• Prioritize strength training for body composition, bones, and confidence; cardio is adjunct.

• Plan for real life: preview restaurant menus/vacation foods; choose, don’t “cheat.”

• Environment beats willpower: community/accountability prevent the two-week quit.

• Reframe success from “perfect” to aligned actions; reduce all-or-nothing thinking.

• Start tiny (water, 500 extra steps); action → momentum → consistency → results.

• It’s never too late: Michelle lost 120 lbs in her late 40s and competes in powerlifting.

Connect with the Guest  

• Website: https://www.riseup2wellness.com/

• Instagram 

• Listen to her podcast - HerRise Women Over 40 on all streaming platforms

 

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• Jeevan Aastha:1800-233-3330 (suicide prevention & counseling). Disability Empowerment Dept

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