My Nutrition Philosophy, Simplified (and Why It Works)
There is no shortage of nutrition advice online. There is, however, a shortage of clarity. Most women I work with aren’t confused because they’re unmotivated or inconsistent. They’re confused because for years, they’ve been handed conflicting advice. And now they are at a stage of life when their bodies are changing and require more support, not more discipline.
So here’s the simplest way to explain how I approach nutrition:
I focus on supporting energy first. Everything else follows.
Nutrition is not about control - it’s about capacity
Your body is not a calculator. It’s a living system that requires energy to function well. Digestion, hormone production, thyroid function, detoxification, sleep, mood, and metabolism all depend on one thing:
Adequate, reliable energy.
When the body doesn’t feel resourced (meaning it’s not getting enough energy), it adapts by slowing things down. This isn’t because it’s broken, it’s because it isn’t supported.
That’s why restriction, skipping meals, under-eating carbohydrates, or “pushing through” fatigue with caffeine backfires. Especially for women in perimenopause and menopause.
Where bio-energetics fits in
This is where a bio-energetic approach to nutrition comes in. Bio-energetics is the same thing as saying pro-metabolic, which is a term I’ve used many times in my blog, email, workshops, and within the Nourished Collective. Bio-energetics looks at how efficiently the body converts food into usable energy (ATP) at the cellular level. In simple terms, it asks:
Does your body have what it needs to produce energy consistently and safely?
This approach - and what I teach in my 28 Day Challenge - focuses on:
Eating enough food overall
Providing consistent carbohydrates for metabolic and thyroid support
Prioritizing high-quality, bioavailable protein
Supporting mineral balance
Reducing unnecessary stress on the system
When energy production improves, many issues women are struggling with - fatigue, weight resistance, sleep problems, hormonal symptoms - begin to dissipate without having to have committed to a rigorous training program or extreme diet.
Why “doing less” often works better
If you’ve spent any time trying to “eat right,” there’s a good chance you’re spending so much time trying to follow all the new “rules” that your body is confused. Nutrition advice has become increasingly loud, increasingly rigid, and oddly disconnected from how the female body actually functions.
Most of the women I work with aren’t lacking discipline. They’re tired of doing all the “right” things and still feeling flat, wired, exhausted, or stuck. That’s usually the moment they realize the problem isn’t effort. It’s either the framework they’ve been given OR it’s that they’ve jumped from one diet to another.
The simplest way to explain how I approach nutrition is this: I start with energy.
I make sure you’re getting ENOUGH food in order to support your body. It’s all about energy.
The human body is an energy-dependent system. Every function - digestion, hormone production, temperature regulation, detoxification, repair, sleep, mood, and metabolism - requires a steady and reliable supply of energy to work well. When energy production is supported, the body is remarkably capable. When it’s not, the body adapts by conserving, slowing down, and prioritizing survival over thriving.
This is not dysfunction. It’s physiology.
A large part of my nutrition philosophy is informed by bio-energetics, which is simply the study of how the body produces and uses energy at the cellular level. Food isn’t just fuel; it’s information and raw material that your cells convert into usable energy. When that process is efficient and supported, the body has capacity. When it’s impaired - by chronic stress, under-eating, excessive exercise, nutrient depletion, or inconsistent nourishment - the system becomes strained.
This is where many well-intentioned nutrition strategies begin to unravel, particularly for women in perimenopause and menopause.
Midlife is an energetically demanding phase. Hormonal shifts place increased demands on the nervous system, thyroid, liver, and adrenals. The body doesn’t necessarily need less food during this time; it needs reliable and consistent support. Yet many women respond to symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, or disrupted sleep by eating less, pushing harder, or tightening control. From a bio-energetic perspective, that often worsens the very issues they’re trying to solve.
When energy intake drops or becomes inconsistent, the body compensates. Metabolism slows. Stress hormones rise. Blood sugar becomes less stable. Recovery suffers. Over time, this can look like stubborn weight, poor sleep, low mood, digestive issues, or a general sense that the body is no longer cooperating.
My approach to nutrition works in the opposite direction.
Rather than asking how to force change, I ask what the body needs in order to feel safe enough to function well again. That usually means eating enough food, eating regularly, and removing unnecessary stressors rather than adding more rules. It means supporting blood sugar, thyroid function, and digestion so energy production can stabilize. It means recognizing that consistency matters more than perfection and nourishment matters more than restriction.
This is why I don’t believe in extreme diets, aggressive fasting, or chronic under-fuelling - especially for women in midlife. These approaches may produce short-term changes, but they often come at the expense of long-term metabolic health. A body that doesn’t feel supported will always protect itself first.
When nutrition is approached from an energy-first perspective, something interesting happens. The body becomes more resilient. Hunger cues normalize. Cravings soften. Sleep improves. Mood stabilizes. Weight regulation becomes less of a battle. Health becomes something you build, not something you manage with constant vigilance.
This doesn’t mean nutrition has to be complicated. In fact, it works best when it’s not.
I focus on simple, repeatable habits that support energy day after day. Real food. Regular meals. Adequate carbohydrates. Quality protein. Mineral support. Enough rest. Enough light. Enough margin.
The goal isn’t to control the body into submission. It’s to create the conditions where the body can do what it’s designed to do.
That’s the lens I use when I work with women. Not to override their biology, but to work with it. Especially in midlife, when the body is asking for a different kind of care - one rooted in nourishment, safety, and long-term sustainability.
Simple doesn’t mean simplistic.
It means aligned.
And at this stage of life, alignment tends to work far better than force.
