Insulin resistance
Cells stop hearing insulin. Fat storage accelerates, hunger increases, energy drops. Often invisible on a fasting glucose alone.
+ Symptom 05
Insulin · Cortisol · Hormones
I can't shift the weight.
The diet that worked in your twenties is the same diet that's failing now. You're moving more, eating less, sleeping less — and the scale either won't move or moves the wrong way. Belly fat that wasn't there last year. Stubborn. Frustrating. Confusing.
After 35, body composition stops responding to calorie maths and starts responding to insulin, cortisol, thyroid, oestrogen and inflammation. We test the system that's actually in charge — not the willpower one.
The Picture
If this is you,
it might sound like —
Read these the way you'd read a letter from someone who already knows. If three or more land hard, you're in the right place.
- The same diet stopped working at 35.
- Belly fat appeared and won't budge.
- Hungry all the time despite eating well.
- Cravings I never used to get.
- Bloated and "puffy" — not just fat.
- Tired after meals.
- Workouts feel harder for no reason.
- I've given up. I don't know what else to try.
+ Key Drivers
What's actually blocking it.
"Calories in, calories out" wasn't wrong — it was incomplete. After 35, hormones decide which calories your body burns and which it stores.
Cortisol-driven belly fat
Chronic stress signals the body to store visceral fat. Hard workouts can make it worse if the stress underneath isn't addressed.
Subclinical hypothyroidism
Slows metabolism by 10-20%. Even small thyroid undercurrents stall weight loss when the rest of the inputs look right.
Oestrogen excess + slow clearance
Holds water, drives fat storage in hips and thighs, worsens premenstrually.
Perimenopausal hormone shift
Progesterone falls first, oestrogen swings, body composition shifts to apple from pear. The same diet now spikes you.
Inflammation + leaky gut
Chronic low-grade inflammation blocks fat loss at the cellular level. Treat inflammation first; weight follows.
+ Key Tests
How we see the metabolism.
Behaviour changes the moment data lands. A real-time look at insulin, cortisol, thyroid and glucose typically resets the entire approach.
-
Bloods · Insulin + glycaemicFasting insulin, HbA1c, glucose. The earliest signs of insulin resistance, often years before fasting glucose is 'abnormal.'
-
DUTCH · Cortisol + hormonesFull picture of stress chemistry, oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, oestrogen clearance — across the day and the cycle.
-
Comprehensive thyroidFree T3, free T4, reverse T3, antibodies. T3 is the metabolic active form. TSH alone misses the slow-down.
-
CGM · Continuous glucose monitorTwo weeks of real-time data on which foods, meals and times of day spike you. Behaviour changes the moment data lands.
+ Foundational Must-Haves
What you can start today.
Six high-leverage daily moves. Most clients see meaningful body-composition changes inside 8-12 weeks just from these — before any prescription protocol begins.
- 30 g protein at breakfast within an hour of waking. The single most leveraged change for hunger, cravings and energy.
- Walk 10 minutes after every main meal. Drops the post-meal glucose spike by 20-30%.
- Carbs paired with protein, fat or fibre — never alone. This is most of 'glucose goddess' in one sentence.
- Strength train twice a week. Muscle is your metabolic engine. After 35, you lose it unless you train it.
- 8 hours in bed (not necessarily asleep). A single night under 6 hours raises insulin resistance the next day.
- Cap alcohol — especially in the evening. Alcohol blocks fat metabolism for 24-48 hours and crashes overnight glucose.
+ The Process with How It Heals
Not willpower. Not eat less.
The "calories in, calories out" model wasn't wrong — it was incomplete. After 35, hormones, insulin, cortisol and thyroid decide which calories your body burns, which it stores, and how hungry you are tomorrow. We test that system.
Most clients see body composition shift inside 8-12 weeks once insulin, cortisol and thyroid are addressed. Often the diet doesn't even need to change as much as you'd think.
+ From the women in front of us
What changed.
Selected from clients who started here — same diet, no longer working, scale stuck or climbing — and worked through the 22-week reset.
I dropped 6kg without dieting. I just ate breakfast properly and walked after dinner. The bloods told us why.
N.B. · 42 · Hawthorne
My CGM showed my 'healthy' breakfast was spiking me to 11. Changed one meal and lost the belly fat I'd had for two years.
R.T. · 39 · Telehealth