The real reason women put on weight after 45, according to a royal family nutritionist

Nutritionist Gabriela Peacock is a close friend of Princess Beatrice. Photo / Getty Images

At the age of 45, nutritionist Gabriela Peacock is back in the maelstrom of early motherhood. In January she gave birth to her fourth child, a boy named Felix.

And so the mother of four – she also has twins Iris and Casper, 8, and Maia, 13 – has found herself breastfeeding again at a time in life when women’s health can be more complex than ever before, facing the changes of peri-menopause and menopause, like many of her clients.

Princess Beatrice is not only a client of the nutritionist but is also a close friend. Originally from the Czech Republic, Peacock is the godmother of the Princess’ daughter, Sienna Mapelli Mozzi. In return, Princess Beatrice is the godmother of Peacock’s daughter, Iris. And the friends also just became new mothers again, almost at the same time.

“We had our babies only one day apart. We were almost synchronised!” exclaims Peacock, who is also the author of 2 Weeks to a Younger You.

Has she been advising the Princess, 36, on her nutrition during this time? “It’s lovely to be a nutritionist and to be able to help my friends. Although I don’t think my friends need to come to the clinic and sit in front of me while I’m telling them off,” she laughs.

With her first pregnancy, she admits to seeing it as an excuse to eat whatever she wanted. Chai lattes were her particular weakness. “It’s easy not to think about the empty calories from sugary drinks that will totally backfire on you.”

She gained 25kg with Maia. “It took me ages to lose the weight the first time. However, I don’t think you should ever stress after being pregnant. I don’t like drastic diets.”

This time she has gained around 12kg. “I was so busy running about after three children and I was also a lot more controlled. I kept active and overall I feel like I’m in much better shape in my 40s than when I first gave birth 13 years ago.”

The diet Peacock is following right now while breastfeeding, and presumably the advice she is sharing too, is to prioritise protein. Although it isn’t dissimilar to the advice she gives her non-pregnant and post-partum clients who are in their mid-40s.

“I do have a lot of clients coming to my clinic around this age and a little bit older. The children have grown up, work is still there, but they’ve recognised they need to start looking after themselves or they’re going to start having problems,” says Peacock.

Unbalanced sleep, poor energy levels, bad pre-menopause and menopause symptoms: “It all builds up,” she says.

And creeps up too. Weight loss is often a focus for her clients, although they are rarely obese. “It’s usually around 5-6kg that they want to lose. And it’s not difficult to lose it and be healthier,” she says, reassuringly.

Poor sleep is one factor that can lead to weight gain. Photo / 123rf

Why do women put on weight in their 40s?

This is the million-dollar question and one that Peacock gives a tough love answer to her clients.

“They are mainly putting on weight because of their diet getting worse,” she says. “That slower metabolism explanation we hear a lot? That doesn’t happen until you’re significantly older. All the studies point to it being at 60 plus, not 40 plus.”

The temptation to ease off and enjoy a bit more of what you fancy is something she knows personally. Peacock admits to being much less restricted with what she eats now than she was in her 30s. “It’s quite easy to slip down the comfortable approach,” she admits.

Of course, a decline in dietary quality isn’t because she has let herself “go”.

“If we think about women around the age of 45 you’re very likely busier than you were in your 20s with work and family to look after. We don’t tend to prioritise ourselves, we look after those around us.”

Our bodies are also older, and while they might not quite be falling apart, there are imbalances and potential vitamin deficiencies that can become more pronounced over time.

“Even if you were stressed at 20 your body will just deal with it. But in your 40s there’s this build-up factor so if you don’t look after yourselves you’ll start to see a detrimental effect on your body and health.”

Optimising protein and muscle mass

The metabolism might not be screeching to a halt, but it does need muscle to work well. This is an area where she sees clients in their mid-40s going wrong.

“You need to have good quality muscle in your body in order to regulate your metabolism because muscle mass is metabolically active.”

Not only is it harder to build muscle after the age of 30 as a result of sarcopenia (muscle loss that occurs with age) but in Peacock’s experience we start to exercise less. “Maybe it’s down to time, but I think we also get a bit more comfortable doing less. It’s then that you start losing your muscle mass so your metabolic rate slows down.”

Weight training is essential. “We’re not talking about yoga, but actually lifting something so that we keep muscle mass on us.”

High-protein diets can naturally suppress hunger by stabilising glucose levels and reducing cravings. Photo / 123RF

This is why she makes protein at the centre of her nutritional advice. Not only is it essential for building muscle, she says: “Protein is essential for every maintenance and repair within the body. Many of our hormones are proteins. It’s important for your skin, for your energy levels and sleep.”

Breakfast is a major missed opportunity time and again. “People don’t think about protein with every single breakfast. Think about your eggs, yoghurt, nut butters, smoked salmon, these sorts of things.”

Lunch tends to be easier for her clients: “We all know that we need some sort of protein in our salad.”

Peacock advises focusing on lean meats and eggs, as well as legumes, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds. “Not just burgers and sausages.” Dinner is a similar story. Peacock focuses on good quality protein such as fish or chicken.

Blood sugar belly

The second reason for middle-age spread is blood sugar balance, especially for women.

“That typical middle-age pattern of a belly is purely due to blood sugar imbalances,” says Peacock.

Her red flags are eating carbohydrates on an empty stomach, not having good quality protein with every single meal and massive gaps between meals.

“Once you spike the blood sugar levels you will have a big dinner you’re not going to feel like something healthy. You’ll have the bread, alcohol and the dessert. And then you have all these calories going around your bloodstream. It will also affect your sleep and cortisol levels, creating a bit of a vicious circle. We know that cortisol makes us store fat around the abdomen.”

Healthy snacking will help

So how do you get off the blood sugar roller-coaster? During our chat, Peacock has been munching on oat biscuits. “I am a huge fan of snacking, as you can probably tell,” she laughs.

Snacks might be associated with biscuits and cakes, but to Peacock, a snack is any type of food that you eat to keep your blood sugar levels nice and balanced.

“The weakness I have found in my clients is the mid-afternoon. That’s where people start gaining weight. They may have had a decent lunch, but by 3pm they’re a bit peckish and grab cake or something with minimal protein and high sugar levels.”

In a couple of hours, they are hit with low energy and Peacock says that’s when you over compensate with a massive dinner with lots of carbohydrates.

“In our 40s it’s not just that we’re eating more calories, but it’s also bad calorie timing. You really don’t want to have extra sugars before you go to sleep.”

To prevent this spiral, Peacock advises having a healthy snack three hours after lunch. Her go-to recommendations include protein shakes, protein-rich legume dips with crudites or crackers, a hard-boiled egg, two spoons of nut butter with some sliced apple or pear, or nuts and seeds.

“You can get nuts that are covered in tamari sauce so they’re a bit salty. They can have a bit of dark chocolate, I don’t care as long as there’s some protein associated with the snack.”

Choose snacks including protein, fat and carbohydrates to maintain energy levels. Photo / 123rf

If you want a convenient protein bar on the go, Peacock advises avoiding energy bars that are mostly sugar.

“I work from home and constantly snack from my fridge,” says Peacock. “I’ll have a few slices of ham with some avocado and crackers. Then if you do still want something nice as a treat you’re likely to have a much smaller amount.”

When building your healthy snack, look for a combination of macronutrients, advises Peacock. “Carbohydrate, a bit of protein and a bit of fat and it will take the body a bit of time to break it down. You want to slowly release all the energy into the bloodstream.”

Have a healthy dinner

Unless you’re dancing all night long and need the energy, then your evening meal should be healthy and relatively light compared to lunch. She recommends her clients have their white rice and pasta at lunchtime, rather than in the evenings.

A classic healthy dinner for Peacock and her clients is a protein such as fish or chicken with good quality carbohydrates: “And by that, I mean vegetables, particularly if weight management is your goal.”

Portions shouldn’t be small. Peacock doesn’t like herself, or her clients, to be deprived of that feeling of fullness after dinner. “It’s about focusing on healthier choices instead. If you want to lose a bit of weight, don’t have your white rice with your Deliveroo. Have some quinoa or brown rice; you can get really quick pre-cooked mixes. I wouldn’t go crazy on bread in the evening either.”

Her approach to nutrition is healthy swaps, not taking food or pleasure away from life.

“This is very much my ethos and why I like to think my clients come to see me because I never take anything away from them. I just always replace with healthier choices and I like to think I make my client’s life easier. If you are stressed, you have a job and family, whatever is causing the stress in your life, you don’t want to focus on your diet as well.

Supplementation in your 40s

There is no magic pill for resolving midlife symptoms from fatigue to weight gain. However, Peacock is a bigger believer in supporting hectic lifestyles with multivitamins.

The deficiencies she sees most commonly are of B vitamins such as 12, 5 and 6. “There are so many B vitamins and they’re all in different foods.”

Magnesium is another major deficiency. Eighty per cent of the UK population is deficient.

“You need it in great abundance to create the difference in your body. And we just don’t eat enough dark green leafy vegetables.” When it comes to altering body biochemistry quickly, supplementation is key. “I can talk about what you should be eating but if you don’t have time, you won’t do it.”

Rather than get hung up on specific vitamins, she recommends opting for a good all-rounder with good potency. Her own pregnancy multi-vitamin has just launched, alongside her existing range of supplements.

“The cheaper supplements have a claim of an expensive ingredient but it’s usually a minuscule amount,” she says. “£5.99 ($13) for one month’s supply of multivitamin is really too good to be true.”

Be kind, but don’t be blind

The mantra to adopt when trying to tackle midlife weight gain.

Peacock does not let her clients make excuses when they say they can’t lose weight. “There are reasons why you’re a certain weight and you need to take responsibility for them,” she says. “It’s not really about decreased metabolism. It’s mainly muscle mass, poor blood sugar balance and poor dietary choices in combination.”

However, everything you do needs to fit in with your lifestyle. And having a realistic expectation of what you can achieve is paramount. “If I tell you to cook three organic meals a day for you and your children, you’re going to become extremely stressed. And that’s completely detrimental,” says Peacock.

Instead, the best way to make change happen is through baby steps and tiny swaps. She is always amazed by how quickly small changes can make a difference.

“When you put those baby steps together the effect will become significant after a few weeks. This is an amazing weapon we have in our hands. We can change our health for the better.”