Trying to figure out how many calories to lose weight over 40 can be one of the most confusing parts for women over 40 wanting to lose weight. For many women, hitting their 40s, 50s, or 60s brings unexpected challenges when it comes to weight management.
We know how frustrating it is when what worked in your 20s and 30s like cutting carbs, skipping meals, endless cardio seems to no longer delivers results.
The truth is, your daily calorie needs change with age, hormones, and lifestyle. Understanding how to fuel your body the right way is the key to successful weight loss, and that doesn’t mean starving yourself or relying on quick fixes.
In this article, we’ll break down what calories really are, how to calculate your daily calorie intake, how many calories women over 40 should eat on average, and sustainable ways to reduce calories without wrecking your health.
We’ll also cover why approaches like 800-calorie diets, shakes, or weight loss jabs may seem tempting but ultimately backfire.
What Are Calories?
Calories are simply a unit of energy. Every bite of food and sip of drink contains energy that your body uses to function, whether that’s walking, thinking, digesting, or repairing cells.
The problem is that many women over 40 underestimate or overestimate their calorie intake.
A latte here, a handful of biscuits there, or a glass of wine at night might seem small, but these extras can add hundreds of calories per day without you realising.
On the flip side, some women go too far in the opposite direction and start slashing their daily calories to 1,200 or less. Both extremes can stall weight loss over 40, increase risk factors like bone loss and fatigue, and make you feel older than you are.
How to Calculate How Many Calories You Need a Day
The number of calories you need depends on several factors:
- Age – Metabolism slows naturally with age.
- Body mass index (BMI) – A measure of your height-to-weight ratio.
- Daily physical activity – Movement, exercise, and lifestyle habits.
- Hormonal status – Menopause and perimenopause affect metabolism and fat storage.
- Body composition – Muscle burns more calories than fat, even at rest.
A weight loss calculator can give you a rough starting point, but it won’t provide medical advice tailored to your unique situation. In fact, most calculators don’t account for hormone changes, stress, or sleep which are all crucial for women in menopause.
That’s why in our Fit Over 40 programme, we assess everything from dieting history to your current daily calorie needs to ensure you’re not eating too much or too little.
“I felt I knew enough about weight loss being related to more calories out than in, sensible exercise, and what a healthy diet entailed but I was pretty fed up with the way I felt in relation to my body – my weight had gradually crept up to nearly 80kg. Sleep quality was poor, things would be going through my head from the day, and I would struggle to drop off to sleep. In just over a year with Trinity, weight wise I have lost 13kg, clothes wise, I have dropped 1-2 dress sizes. I’ve had lots of comments about how well I look, with people noting that I have lost weight, look slim/toned-I feel able to confidentially wear a bikini and more fitted clothing. My mind-set has totally changed. I feel much happier, and satisfied with life.”
– Helen Huntington (57), Trinity Client
How Many Calories Should a 40+ Woman Eat on Average?
There’s no one-size-fits-all number, but research suggests most women over 40 maintain their weight on around 1,800–2,200 calories per day, depending on activity level.
To lose weight, you’ll need a calorie deficit, but the mistake most women make is cutting too hard, too fast. Eating 1,200 calories or relying on weight loss jabs might make the scale move quickly, but it comes at a cost:
- Muscle loss (leading to a softer, less toned body)
- Bone density loss (higher risk of osteoporosis)
- Slower metabolism (making future weight loss harder)
- Low energy, fatigue, and cravings
- Aches, pains, and hormonal disruption
Sustainable weight loss usually means eating just a little less than your daily calorie needs, which is enough to lose 1–2lbs per week without sacrificing your health, strength, or vibrancy.
7 Ways to Reduce Your Daily Calories (Without Starving Yourself)
Extreme dieting isn’t the answer to weight loss in your 40s and 50s. The key is making smart, sustainable changes that cut calories without leaving you hungry or drained.
Some of the most effective strategies are:
1. Focus on Strength Training
Cardio alone isn’t enough for sustainable results. Low-impact strength training (LIST) is far more effective for women in their 40s and 50s. Lifting weights in a controlled way burns calories whilst also building muscle, raising your metabolism and making you look firmer and more toned.
Strength training also supports bone health, lowers stress hormones, and keeps fat loss more consistent than endless cardio sessions. Think of LIST as the foundation of the cake, (the essential part), while cardio is just the sprinkles on top.
Three to four sessions per week, lasting 30–40 minutes, are enough to see significant results. Many Fit Over 40 clients lose one to two stone in 12 weeks through strength training alone.
2. Increase Your Daily Movement
Many women over 40 live highly sedentary lives, often sitting for long hours at a desk. This makes fat loss harder, as the fewer steps you take, the fewer calories you burn.
The good news is you don’t need to hit 10,000 steps. Even small increases matter. Walking an extra 5,000 steps burns around 200 calories a day which is enough to lose half a pound of fat per week.
Adding a walk after meals, taking the stairs, or pacing during calls can all make a noticeable difference. Regular movement is a low-stress way to burn calories and support fat loss without extreme effort.
3. Reduce Your Alcohol Intake
Alcohol can have a far bigger impact on fat loss than many people realise, as you don’t always think about the high number of calories you’re consuming when you’re drinking them.
When you drink, your liver switches to processing alcohol instead of burning fat. This slows metabolism, suppresses testosterone (important for fat burning), and makes your body more likely to store food as fat.
Around menopause, the body also becomes more sensitive to alcohol, so its effects are magnified.
And it’s not just the drink itself, alcohol also lowers inhibitions, increases appetite, and makes hangover cravings much harder to resist. A weekend of drinking, snacking, and skipping workouts can easily undo a week’s worth of progress.
Calorie comparison:
- Wine: 200–215 kcal per glass, 625 kcal per bottle
- Mojito: 200 kcal, 30g sugar (more than the daily allowance)
- Slimline G&T: 50 kcal
- 0% beer: 20 kcal vs 122 kcal regular
This isn’t to say never drink alcohol again, instead, try and choose lighter alternatives.
“I drank a bottle of wine a night, minimum, and easily 2 bottles a night on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I tried to abstain so many times and always failed, it was a habit, a really bad habit. Since Trinity I have lost 2 stone and 2lbs. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without Trinity Transformation, especially during a really hard period of my life of losing my friend. I no longer feel embarrassed walking into a room of people I am no longer the “fat one”.
– Suzanne Earl (44), Trinity Client
4. Rethink Your Drinks
And it’s not just alcohol. Liquid calories are one of the most common reasons weight loss stalls. Unlike food, drinks don’t fill you up, but they can still pack in hundreds of calories and large amounts of sugar.
Take coffee shop favourites, for example. A daily latte is 100 calories, which over a week equals two extra meals. A frappe from Starbucks contains over 300 calories and nine teaspoons of sugar.
Even orange juice, often seen as healthy, has as much sugar as a can of Coke.
Better swaps include:
- Black coffee: 5 kcal
- Tea with milk: 10–30 kcal
- Diet coke: less than 1 kcal
- Lemon water: 6 kcal
- Flavoured sparkling waters (unsweetened): 1 kcal
Making small swaps here can free up hundreds of calories a week without changing what you eat.
5. Sleep Like It Matters
Sleep is a hidden driver of weight gain. When you don’t sleep enough, hunger hormones rise (ghrelin) while fullness hormones drop (leptin). The result is stronger cravings, weaker willpower, and more calories consumed the next day.
In one study, participants sleeping five hours ate an extra 300 calories in a single sitting compared with those who slept eight. That’s more than enough to trigger weight gain over time.
Poor sleep also disrupts cortisol levels, making it harder for women in menopause to burn fat effectively.
Improving sleep isn’t always easy, but simple changes help: sticking to a routine, limiting caffeine after midday, avoiding screens before bed, and keeping your room cool and dark. Better sleep often leads to fewer cravings and faster fat loss.
6. Do a Diet Makeover
Sometimes the best way to break free from cravings and reset your habits is with a short-term diet makeover. Many women rely on foods that are highly calorific, addictive, and disruptive to hormones without realising how much they’re holding back progress.
We recommend cutting out what we call WADS foods for one to two weeks. WAD foods fall into the following categories: wheat, alcohol, dairy, and sugar. These foods are not only high in calories but also highly addictive and hormonally disruptive.
Removing them helps reset appetite, reduce cravings, and in many cases results in four to six pounds lost in just two weeks.
You don’t need to cut them out forever, but using the makeover to reset can help when your creating healthier habits going forward.
7. Break Free from Limiting Beliefs
Mindset plays a huge role in eating habits. Many women fall into the trap of “I deserve a treat” after a long day, or “I’ll never lose weight, so what’s the point?” when the scales don’t budge.
These thoughts lead to overeating and self-sabotage.
The reality is these beliefs aren’t facts. Everyone has weeks where the scales don’t move, even when doing everything right. And while a treat feels deserved, it doesn’t need to mean 1,000 calories of crisps and wine, instead it could be a protein brownie and slimline G&T instead.
At Fit Over 40, we use a process called the Thought Transformer to reframe beliefs and stop them driving unhealthy behaviours. This shift in mindset can be just as important as nutrition and exercise.
Watch How Isabel Lost 21 lbs at 50 With Trinity
How Trinity Can Help You Transform Your Body
At Trinity Transformation, we specialise in helping women over 40 lose weight without extreme diets or endless cardio. Our proven programme is designed around your body, hormones, and lifestyle, so you can finally see results that last.
Here’s how we help you succeed:
- Personalised Nutrition – Simple, sustainable meal plans tailored to your body and goals.
- Strength Training That Works – Short, effective workouts designed for women in menopause.
- Mindset Coaching – Tools to break free from cravings, stress eating, and self-sabotage.
- Accountability & Support – Daily guidance and expert coaching to keep you on track.
- Proven Results – 97% of women lose weight in their first 12 weeks with Trinity.
If you’re ready to drop 1–2 dress sizes, feel vibrant again, and finally understand how many calories to lose weight over 40 without the struggle, our Fit Over 40 programme is here to guide you every step of the way.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories should a 40 year old eat to lose weight?
It depends on height, weight, activity level, and hormones, but most women over 40 see safe fat loss eating around 1,500–1,800 calories per day.
Why am I not losing weight eating 1200 calories a day?
Eating too little can slow your metabolism, raise stress hormones, and cause your body to hold onto fat, especially during menopause.
Is burning 200 calories a day good for weight loss?
Burning 200 calories daily helps, but sustainable fat loss comes from combining exercise with smart nutrition and hormone balance.
