THE JOURNAL

That Don’t Involve Training More + Eating Less Your metabolism is not just about how quickly you burn calories. It's an adaptive system that responds constantly to sleep, stress, food intake, muscle mass, hormones, movement and recovery. And for many women - particularly in their 30s, 40s and beyond - the body has shifted into conservation mode after years of stress, under-fuelling and overstimulation.  Metabolic health, properly defined, is how we create and process energy. Medically, we look for the absence of risk factors associated with Metabolic Syndrome: blood sugar control, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and waist-to-hip ratio. But the holistic picture goes further. We don't just want an absence of illness; we want to feel and function well, which means looking at gut health, nutrition, stress management, exercise and blood sugar regulation as the foundations of a healthy metabolism.  Here are 8 proven ways to support your metabolism at any age.   1. Stop the Weekday Under-Eat / Weekend Over-Eat Cycle  One of the most common modern eating patterns is chronic under-fuelling during the week followed by overeating at weekends. It often looks "healthy" on paper: skipping breakfast, small salads at lunch, caffeine to suppress appetite, then wine, takeaway and late-night snacking by Friday evening. The body reads this as inconsistency and stress.  Over time, this pattern dysregulates hunger cues, drives cravings and leaves energy chaotic. Restrictive weekday eating is associated with rebound overeating and poorer appetite regulation. (2) Metabolism responds well to predictable nourishment. Regular, adequate meals help stabilise blood sugar, support satiety signalling and reduce the biological drive to overeat later in the week. Eating enough, consistently, is often what helps people stop thinking about food all the time.  2. Treat Muscle as Metabolic Currency  When people think about metabolism, they often focus on cardio. But muscle tissue plays a major role in metabolic health.  Muscle is metabolically active, meaning it requires energy to maintain. It also improves insulin sensitivity, glucose regulation and long-term resilience as we age. Research consistently shows resistance training improves metabolic health markers independent of weight loss. (3) The benefits extend beyond the body. The brain runs on the same phosphocreatine energy system as muscle, and emerging research suggests creatine supports cognitive performance when that system is under pressure: poor sleep, long days, heavy mental load. Think of it as fuel for the demands modern life places on women who are doing a lot.  Creatine monohydrate is one of the most researched supplements out there and is particularly interesting for women. It supports strength, power output and lean muscle, and the evidence base in women is growing, particularly around perimenopause and beyond.   The goal is maintaining and building lean tissue over time, especially through perimenopause and beyond, when muscle becomes harder to retain.  3.  Movement Snacks: Increase your NEAT  One of the most underrated parts of metabolism is NEAT: non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This includes all the small movements you do outside structured workouts - walking, standing, cleaning, taking stairs or moving around during the day.  Research suggests NEAT can significantly influence daily energy expenditure and metabolic health. This is especially relevant in hybrid work culture, where many people can unintentionally remain sedentary for 8–10 hours despite exercising. (4)  Short movement “snacks” throughout the day - a 10-minute walk after meals, stretching between meetings, walking phone calls help regulate blood sugar, improve circulation and support energy levels without stressing the body further.  4. If you can’t sleep more, try non-sleep rest.   Poor sleep affects nearly every system involved in metabolic health. Even short-term sleep restriction has been linked to increased hunger hormones, reduced insulin sensitivity, higher cravings and altered appetite regulation.  Circadian rhythm matters too. Late-night eating, irregular bedtimes and excessive screen exposure disrupt the body's internal timing systems, influencing digestion, cortisol patterns and blood sugar regulation. (5)  Consistent sleep and wake times are one of the most evidence-backed metabolic tools available. The challenge is that for many women, particularly mothers and those with caring responsibilities, getting more sleep is simply not on the table. Two things help here:  Protect the sleep you do get. Consistent bed and wake times matter more than total hours for circadian regulation. Even a fragmented night anchored at the same time each day is more metabolically supportive than chasing longer sleep on inconsistent schedules. Reduce light exposure in the hour before bed, keep the bedroom cool and avoid eating within two hours of sleep where possible.  Use non-sleep rest. Practices like NSDR (non-sleep deep rest), yoga nidra and short meditation sessions have been shown to lower cortisol, support nervous system recovery and partially offset the metabolic cost of poor sleep. Ten to twenty minutes during the day, particularly in the afternoon when energy dips, can meaningfully change how the body recovers. These are not a replacement for sleep, but they are a real intervention for women who cannot reliably get more of it.  5.  Hit your Protein Targets.   Protein is one of the most powerful nutritional tools for supporting metabolism, appetite regulation and body composition, yet many women still under-eat it, particularly earlier in the day.  Protein has a higher thermic effect than carbohydrates or fats, meaning the body uses more energy digesting and processing it. It also helps preserve lean muscle mass, supports satiety hormones and stabilises energy levels between meals. Research shows higher-protein diets improve fullness and help regulate appetite throughout the day. (1)  Current guidelines recommend 1.2 to 1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, with the higher end better suited to active women and those over 40. Distribution matters as much as the total. Aim to spread intake evenly across meals rather than back-loading it at dinner, and prioritise a protein-rich breakfast. Front-loading protein supports muscle protein synthesis, blunts blood sugar swings and sets up better appetite regulation for the rest of the day. That looks like eggs and Greek yoghurt at breakfast, chicken or tofu at lunch, and fish, beans or lean meat at dinner.  6. Support your blood sugar  Blood sugar regulation sits underneath most of metabolic health. Stable blood sugar means steady energy, fewer cravings, better sleep and reduced cortisol demand. Erratic blood sugar drives the opposite: energy crashes, sugar cravings, poor recovery and abdominal fat storage over time.  Fibre is the most underused tool here. Soluble fibre in particular, found in oats, beans, lentils, chia seeds, flax and most vegetables, slows glucose absorption, and feeds the gut bacteria that influence insulin sensitivity and improves satiety. Most women in the UK eat around half the recommended 30g a day, so closing that gap is one of the highest-impact changes you can make.  A few practical ways to do this:  Anchor breakfast with fibre and protein. Oats with chia seeds and Greek yoghurt, or eggs with avocado and rye toast. If you struggle to hit over 30g of fibre each day, adding a supplement like Essential Fibre+ can be transformative.  Add a vegetable to every meal. Including breakfast. The variety matters as much as the volume.  Eat protein and fibre before refined carbohydrates. Order of eating influences glucose response. A handful of nuts or some vegetables before pasta blunts the blood sugar spike that follows.  Walk after meals. Ten minutes of gentle movement after eating reduces post-meal glucose meaningfully.  For women who need more targeted support, particularly through perimenopause or when blood sugar feels reactive despite good food choices, Metabolic Fix was formulated for this. Berberine has been traditionally used to support blood sugar regulation and has been shown in clinical trials to improve fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity. (10) Chromium supports glucose uptake into cells and contributes to healthy metabolism. Inositol, NAC and cinnamon round out the formula, supporting insulin signalling, microbial balance and cellular energy efficiency. 7. Get Serious About Chronic Stress   The body doesn’t distinguish particularly well between emotional stress and physiological stress. Under-eating, excessive HIIT sessions, poor sleep, relentless productivity and emotional load all draw on the same cortisol system. In the short term, that often feels energising, but over time, it leaves women feeling exhausted, inflamed, bloated and stuck.  Research links chronic stress with changes in appetite regulation, abdominal fat storage, insulin sensitivity and gut function. (8) This is particularly relevant for women who have spent years operating on the belief that they need to push harder. The metabolic cost of running on stress is real, and it compounds.  What helps:  Audit your training load honestly. If you are doing four or more high-intensity sessions a week alongside under-eating, poor sleep or a demanding job, your body is reading that as one continuous stressor. Swap one or two HIIT sessions for strength training, walking or Pilates. You will likely see better body composition results, not worse.  Eat enough on training days. Cortisol rises when the body senses energy scarcity. Training fasted or under-fuelled, particularly in the morning, compounds the stress response. A protein-rich breakfast before or after a workout is one of the simplest changes with the biggest return.  Prioritise sleep over a 6am workout. If you are choosing between seven hours of sleep and a workout, sleep wins for metabolic health every time. Poor sleep raises cortisol, drives hunger hormones in the wrong direction and impairs recovery.  Build in genuine recovery. Restorative movement (walking, yoga, mobility work) is not a consolation prize. It actively lowers cortisol and supports the recovery your strength and cardio work depends on.  Chronic stress also raises your body's nutrient demands. B vitamins, magnesium, vitamin C and key minerals are used up faster when cortisol is consistently elevated, which means food alone often fails to cover the deficit. This is where targeted supplementation matters, and the right combination depends on where the stress is showing up: sleep, energy, digestion, hormones or recovery. Take our quiz to get a personalised recommendation based on your body and stage.  The point is not to do less. It is to make sure what you are doing is producing returns rather than draining you.  8. Support your specific life stage   Women's metabolic needs change across the menstrual cycle, postpartum years, perimenopause and menopause. Working with these shifts, rather than against them, tends to produce better results than applying the same plan year-round.  A few practical adjustments that reflect this:  Across the menstrual cycle. Hormonal fluctuations influence recovery, appetite and stress resilience, but consistency matters more than periodisation for most women. What does help is paying attention to fuelling and recovery in the late luteal phase (the week before your period), when stress sensitivity and recovery demands increase. (9) That means eating enough, prioritising sleep and managing overall load, not stopping training. The Strength + Hydration stack combines Cellular Hydration and Essential Creatine, and  is a useful pairing through this phase: electrolytes address the mineral shifts that drive fatigue, cramping and poor recovery in the luteal phase, while creatine supports the energy output and cognitive stamina that often dip in the days before a period.  Through perimenopause. Falling oestrogen affects sleep, insulin sensitivity, muscle retention and body composition. Strength training becomes more important, not less. Protein needs increase. Blood sugar regulation often becomes more reactive, meaning meals that worked in your 30s may now leave you hungry or fatigued within two hours.  This is also where targeted supplementation earns its place. Metabolic Fix is formulated to support blood sugar regulation, which becomes increasingly relevant from perimenopause onward as insulin sensitivity shifts. For women noticing the cognitive side of these changes (brain fog, slower recovery, reduced mental stamina), Enhanced NAD+ Complex supports cellular energy production, which declines with age and is closely tied to how the brain and body generate fuel.  Sometimes Lifestyle Changes Aren’t the Whole Story  Lifestyle matters enormously but sometimes persistent symptoms deserve deeper investigation. If you're experiencing ongoing fatigue, rapid weight changes, severe digestive symptoms, hair loss, irregular cycles or consistently low energy despite supportive habits, it’s worth speaking with a qualified practitioner. SHOP ARTAH'S ENERGY + METABOLISM RANGE Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat any medical or psychological conditions. The information is not intended as medical advice, nor should it replace the advice from a doctor or qualified healthcare professional. Please do not stop, adjust, or modify your dose of any prescribed medications without the direct supervision of your healthcare practitioner.  References  Halton, T. L., & Hu, F. B. (2004). The Effects of High Protein Diets on Thermogenesis, Satiety and Weight Loss: A Critical Review. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 23(5), 373–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2004.10719381  Adnan D, Trinh J, Bishehsari F. Inconsistent eating time is associated with obesity: A prospective study. EXCLI J. 2022 Jan 14;21:300-306. doi: 10.17179/excli2021-4324. PMID: 35368461; PMCID: PMC8971321.  Taha M, AlNaam YA, Al Maqati T, Almusallam L, Altalib G, Alowfi D, Haider N. Impact of muscle mass on blood glucose level. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2021 Dec 3;33(6):779-787. doi: 10.1515/jbcpp-2021-0316. PMID: 34856088.  Chung N, Park MY, Kim J, Park HY, Hwang H, Lee CH, Han JS, So J, Park J, Lim K. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): a component of total daily energy expenditure. 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