# @ciarafoyinc on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddgks82R_xt
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70587555-ciarafoyinc-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/a9c1bb534f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-20T12:24:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Ciara Foy // Nutritionist • Hormone Expert • 20 Yrs (@ciarafoyinc) — https://gondola.cc/ciarafoyinc

## Caption

I’m 50. And I eat more than most women half my age.

As a nutritionist specializing in women’s hormones and metabolic health for over 20 years. Here are the 5 things I do that get the most pushback.

1. I stop eating 3 hours before bed. For me that’s 7pm, because I’m asleep by 10. Not the clock, the gap. As it gets dark you produce melatonin, and in the presence of melatonin you become more insulin resistant. The same meal at 8pm spikes your blood sugar higher than at noon. Most of my clients aren’t stuck because they eat too much. They’re stuck because they’re insulin resistant. In a controlled trial, eating the same food earlier improved insulin sensitivity.

2. I never skip breakfast. I eat my biggest meal in the morning when I train, and a smaller balanced dinner. Enough protein at breakfast sets your blood sugar curve for the day. Fewer cravings means you’re making the choices, not your body.

3. I don’t count calories. But I’m not guessing. I’ve tracked macros, so I know what I need and can build a meal without thinking. Macros aren’t a lifestyle, they’re a tool for food literacy. Learning is what gave me freedom with food.

4. I don’t eat low carb. No restricting fruit or potatoes. I front load carbs around morning training, but I still have fibre and resistant starch at dinner, because carbs lower cortisol. High cortisol at night means low melatonin, which means worse sleep. Sleep has a huge impact on insulin sensitivity.

5. I leave 4 to 5 hours between meals, no snacking. Every time you eat, insulin rises. Insulin has to fall before your body can access stored fat. Grazing every 2 hours keeps it elevated all day. This isn’t 16 hour fasting, which raises cortisol in perimenopause. It’s spacing.

None of this is restriction. It eating with intention.

Comment PERI and I’ll send you my Perimenopause Guide to Hormone Balance. Works whether you’re on HRT, considering it, or doing this with food alone.

Save this for the next time someone tells you to “just”eat less and move more. There is so much more nuance that will make your life easier!

Follow ciarafoyinc for the science your trainer doesn’t know about.

#peri

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