# @ciarafoyinc on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DTi2D_7kanD
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/61793371-ciarafoyinc-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/089dfc18ad.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-01-15T20:18:24.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Ciara Foy // Nutritionist • Hormone Expert • 20 Yrs (@ciarafoyinc) — https://gondola.cc/ciarafoyinc

## Caption

At 49, with 20+ years of clinical practice, I see this constantly: Women doing EVERYTHING right…hitting macros, lifting weights, staying in a deficit and their body composition won’t budge.

Here’s what’s actually happening:

Your body is in SURVIVAL MODE.
And a body fighting to survive will NEVER prioritize fat loss or muscle building.

Here’s what the research shows happens when you’re chronically exhausted:

🧬 Glucose clearance drops by 40%
Just ONE week of inadequate sleep makes your metabolism function like someone with prediabetes. (Cell Metabolism)

💪 Muscle breakdown accelerates
Without recovery, you can’t build. You’re breaking down faster than you can repair….especially in perimenopause when muscle loss already speeds up.

⚡ Hunger hormones hijack your willpower
Sleep deprivation increases ghrelin by up to 28% while crushing leptin by 18%. You wake up starving with zero control over cravings.

😶 Your “normal” isn’t normal
Many women in their late 30s and early 40s have depleted sex hormones and tanked neurotransmitters - low dopamine, low norepinephrine. They’ve lost their joy and vitality and don’t even realize it because exhaustion has become their baseline.

Here’s the truth: A calorie deficit won’t fix survival mode. Lifting weights won’t fix survival mode.

Your body cannot prioritize building muscle or burning fat when it thinks there’s an emergency.

I’ve never had a client who couldn’t lose weight. But I’ve had many who couldn’t….until they worked with me and stopped running on empty.

🔥 Comment “RESET” to REGISTER for my first FREE live Masterclass of 2026 on Saturday Jan 24th 11:30am EST/ 8:30am PST & learn exactly how hormones are driving the show and how to take back control of your energy, body composition, and vitality.

Drop a 🙌 if exhaustion has become your “normal”

👉 SAVE this

👉 FOLLOW for hormone truths that work for women in midlife

framefitness 

#exhaustion #perimenopausalhealth #womenover40 #hormonalhealth #burnout

## Stats

- **Views:** 3,866
- **Likes:** 55
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- **Comments:** 42

## Tags

hormonalhealth, exhaustion, burnout, womenover40, perimenopausalhealth

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