Cravings After 40 Are Not a Discipline Problem

If you feel like your cravings are out of control after 40 and you think it's a discipline problem, I need you to stop right there because cravings are not about willpower. They are about hormonal signals. And if you don't fix the signals, you're going to keep fighting your body and losing. Here's something I want you to get. Cravings, they are biological signals. They are not character flaws. Now, you've probably told yourself, I know I have, I just need more discipline. But you know what? Your body doesn't run on discipline. It runs on chemistry. So the brain's reward center, survival systems, the hypothalamus and dopamine, these drive food-seeking behavior. And these signals override conscious control. By the time you feel a craving, your biology has already decided what it wants. And it's overriding you. Hey, I'm JJ Virgin, PhD dropout— sorry, Mom— turned 4-time New York Times bestselling author. As a certified nutrition specialist, Fitness Hall of Famer, and globally recognized leader in health, I'm driven to keep asking the tough questions and use my podcast to simplify the science of health into actionable strategies that help you thrive. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on the show. And here's the fun part. When you send me your review, I'll reply to you using my on-demand virtual me. That's right. My team and I created a virtual JJ packed with my books, speeches, and wisdom so I can personally connect with you. Here's how you do it. Subscribe and leave an honest review of the podcast. Take a screenshot of your review. Text it to 813-565-2627. That's 813-565-2627. My virtual JJ will reply directly, and trust me, this will make your day. So subscribe now at SubscribeToJJ.com and text me your review. Let's keep thriving together.

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So let's dig into what's actually driving cravings. And I call these the 5 drivers of cravings after 40. The first one, insulin. It's that blood sugar instability. And you know how that feels. You eat something, you get this blood sugar spike, then you get a crash, and then what happens? Things. See, your body interprets that crash as an energy emergency. In fact, Blood sugar variability has been linked to hunger and cravings in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Hall study. So what does this feel like to your brain? Well, a blood sugar crash literally is going to feel like an emergency to your brain. The next big one is cortisol. Yep. Chronic stress. Because we know that cortisol raises glucose and then what comes up must come down and boom, when it does, guess what you're going to get? Cravings. And not cravings for broccoli and salmon. You're gonna get increased cravings for sugar and salt. In fact, there was a study that linked chronic stress to increased intake of those hyperpalatable foods, you know, the ultra-processed foods. That was in Physiology and Behavior by Adam and Eppel. Now, here's the reality. Cortisol doesn't care about your goals. It cares about survival. And we're not talking about the morning cortisol when you go out, look at the sunshine, and your cortisol goes up. That's good, that's what you need. We're talking about that chronic cortisol, being feeling like you're constantly being chased. That's gonna also keep your blood sugar elevated. Next up, sleep, ghrelin and leptin. So one poor night of sleep and you're hungrier. And again, not for salmon and broccoli. One poor night of sleep, you've got elevated ghrelin signaling hunger and lower leptin, which means that you're not gonna feel full. In fact, we know that sleep restriction increases hunger by 24%. This was shown in the Annals of Internal Medicine by Spiegel et al. And what does this mean for you? Just one poor night of sleep and you're hungrier, less satisfied for the next day. And that's just one poor night of sleep. And we know that usually one poor night of sleep starts a string of poor nights of sleep. Next one is muscle loss, because when you lose muscle, you also lose insulin sensitivity. In fact, there was a study that showed that one week of bedrest, you lost up to 37% of your whole body insulin sensitivity. And that one of the quickest ways to restore your insulin sensitivity is to improve your muscle quality. More on that in a bit. But here's the bottom line. Muscle is your sugar sponge. It is your glucose disposal system. When you have less muscle, guess what? You have more blood sugar swings. And when you have more blood sugar swings, you know what you have? More cravings. So the worst thing you can possibly do is lose muscle because it just makes your metabolism get louder and want more. That doesn't make any sense. So the worst thing you can do is lose muscle because when you lose muscle, those cravings get so much louder. And number 5, estrogen and progesterone, those hormone shifts. You know, that thing that starts to happen in your, usually in your 40s where estrogen starts to go down, progesterone starts to go down. What happens when estrogen goes down? Well, when estrogen goes down, insulin sensitivity drops, inflammation rises. You start gaining more fat around your visceral adipose tissue, your abdomen, and Cortisol goes up. Estrogen opposes cortisol. Lower progesterone means sleep is worse and anxiety is higher. All of this adds up to more cravings. You see, midlife changes the rules, but most women are still playing by the rules they had in their 20s and 30s. So if you've been saying, you know, I'm fine all day and then I just lose all control at night, or I barely eat, but I just can't lose weight. I just need more discipline. I want you to realize that this is not a mindset problem. It's a signaling problem. So let's dig into why cravings hit at night. I mean, it just doesn't happen. You wake up in the morning and think, "That's it. I'm gonna have some pie or a piece of cake and some cookies." Like, it just never happens, right? Your evil twin comes out at night. So why is this happening? Well, it's usually what you did throughout the day that set you up for the problems at night. Maybe you didn't eat much all day long. Maybe you ate very low protein. Maybe your blood sugar was unstable all day long, or you just had a really stressed, out day with lots of mental fatigue, lots of decision fatigue, and you never took time to just take a deep breath and relax. You know, nighttime cravings are not random. They're literally the bill coming due for how you fueled and how you lived throughout your day. So let me tell you a little bit about my story, 'cause I've been on both sides. I have been eating way too little, and then I've been eating way too much. And I've discovered my triggers, and my triggers, probably you can relate, are stress, sleep, and restriction. Now, personally, I've been with both extremes, eating too little, eating way too much, and it's taken a while, but I really know my triggers. And I think that when you track food, it helps you really, really see this. But basically mine really showed up when I first went away to college and I was under a tremendous amount of stress with not a lot of sleep. And then you add on some partying and alcohol and it was like gasoline on a forest fire. And we had all sorts of things in our dorm that were not the healthiest choices, like the vending machines with popcorn and the candy and the cookies. And then I moved into a sorority house and it was 10x with some of the stuff. And I would do okay during the day. In fact, that was probably part of the problem was I didn't eat much during the day, especially since I was on a very tight budget. And then nighttime would hit and there would be food out and food abundance and maybe some drinking going on and bam, overeating and binging. And it just started a really, really bad cycle. I'd be stressed out, I wouldn't eat, I wouldn't sleep, I'd then overeat, I'd then decide I'd never eat again, right? We've all done that. I'll never eat that again. And the whole cycle and cycle continued. And I just kept thinking like, I gotta get myself under control. But I was compensating every day for, again, undereating, over-restricting, overstressing, undersleeping. And it took me right up to that point where I had to realize, you know, my body's not broken. My body is just trying to survive what I was doing to it. So what I had to really look at is like, what's a craving? What's hunger? And what I look at are these 3 different types of eating signals. You know, there's hunger, there's real hunger, there's physical need. And ideally you are paying attention to this and eating the things that your body needs. And then there's appetite, there's desire, you know, the things that you don't need, but you want. And then there's the cravings. And think of those cravings as that hormonal urgency signal. And again, this is not a lack of control. They are that loud, message. So how do we quiet cravings at the source? Because again, I used to have terrible cravings and terrible issues with binging, and I got through it, so I know it can be done. And here's the probably single biggest hammer that will help you: eat protein first. Eat 30 to 40 grams of protein, especially make sure you're eating that at your first meal. We know that protein is going to improve satiety and reduce cravings. I always say it's satiety and satisfaction, right? There was a study that showed that protein increases satiety and reduces craving that was published in Obesity by Lydie et al. And the reality is protein is the fastest way to turn down that screaming food noise. You get those amino acids that you can make your brain chemicals from and everything just calms down. The next thing that I had to do was stop undereating. When you don't eat enough, your body is going to yell at you, raise cortisol, and cause rebound cravings. Your body doesn't reward restriction. It's gotta react to it, and it's not pretty when it does. And then protect sleep at all costs. I wish I'd known this when I was going through college. But if you want fewer cravings tomorrow, you've gotta sleep well today. And along with sleep, what goes hand in hand with sleep is of course managing stress. This is super important. And a couple things that can really work here. Take a walk after meals, get outside, breathe the air, see the sunlight. If you can get out into any kind of nature, do it. Do a little couple deep breaths before eating. Sit down when you eat, don't stand. Do a little resistance training or burst training. You know what's interesting about any kind of intense training is it teaches your nervous system how to handle stress better and recover. Get out with some friends, have some fun, or, you know, hug your dog if you have one. If you don't have one, get a doggie. I think of all of the things, probably my little dogs are probably my best stress reducer of all. And I'll tell you what, I'm playing around with one more thing is I have a little Pulsetto vagal nervous system trainer, and I've been using that to handle stress too. So there's a lot of things you can do from breathwork to getting out in nature to walking to dogs. But this is hugely important. One of the things I used to see with my clients with chronic stress is they would all have higher blood sugar. So, and that made them have more unstable blood sugar that would lead to cravings. And of course, you know, I'm gonna say this one, build muscle. You know, here's the thing with muscle. Muscle is truly your metabolic control center. Muscle gives your carbohydrates a place to land. Muscle helps control your blood sugar. Muscle helps keep you more insulin sensitive. So this makes Such a massive difference. So give yourself the gift of building some muscle because here's the reality. Cravings are predictable, but because of that, they're also trainable. When you fix the signals that are driving them, guess what? They can stop controlling you and you can control them. Now, if this has helped you, make sure you subscribe because I'm going to show you how to rebuild your metabolism, protect your muscle, and actually make fat loss easier after 40. And if you've been struggling with cravings, Drop cravings in the comments because I would love to hear what's been showing up for you. Be sure to join me next time for more tools, tips, and techniques you can use to look and feel your best and be built to last. Also, I'd love to connect with you and hear your thoughts on the podcast. Here's how. First, subscribe to the podcast and leave leave an honest review. Second, take a screenshot of your review. And third, text to 2-813-565-2627. That's 813-565-2627. When you do, I'll reply using my brand new Virtual JJ Virgin. It's my on-demand virtual self built from my books, talks, and years of experience so I can interact with you directly. You'll make my day and I can't wait to hear from you. Thanks for tuning in and I'll catch you on the next episode. Hey, JJ here. And just a reminder that the Well Beyond 40 Podcast offers health, wellness, fitness, and nutritional information that's designed for educational and entertainment purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for, nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional. Make sure that you do not disregard, avoid, or delay obtaining medical or health-related advice from your healthcare professional because of something you may have heard on the show or read in our show notes. The use of any information provided on the show is solely at your own risk.

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