I ate Oreos.

They are disgusting. Do you have any idea the kind of crap that goes into Oreos? If you haven’t already seen it, you should watch this video where a young father makes homemade Oreos. It’s scary.

Yet yesterday, I had to have them.

I woke up and immediately noticed that my energy level — both mental and physical — was low. I felt sad. Unmotivated. As I moved through my day, nothing was really working out.

I had my youngest son, Lozen, for the afternoon and I had no energy to do anything with him. I took him to the Orgánico café pool and it was closed. It was so hot. All I wanted to do was sit inside and watch a movie while the AC blasted on my skin.

So we bought a few movie snacks and spent the rest of the afternoon watching space movies.

At first, I gave myself two Oreos. Then I split the rest between him and me.

I am supposed to be eating clean — no refined sugar and definitely none of the lab-produced ingredients that Oreos contain. What happened? Why was I craving sugar so hard?

I did some research, and this is what I learned.

The day before yesterday, I had under-eaten.

Not intentionally. Just quietly.

High-protein. High-fiber. Clean. Controlled.

And too low.

By the time I hit the afternoon the next day, I had only eaten about 600 calories. I tried to “be healthy” and had avocado, sauerkraut, sesame, and olives.

Nourishing? Yes.
Fueling? No.

An hour later, I ate Oreos and a chocolate chip cookie.

And instead of spiraling, I stopped and asked:

What actually happened here?

The Physiology of “I Need Sugar”

When you under-eat — especially if you’re lifting weights and living a high-output life — your body compensates.

Here’s what likely happened:

• Liver glycogen dropped overnight
• Cortisol rose to keep blood sugar stable
• Dopamine dipped
• My brain asked for fast glucose

That “I need sugar so bad” feeling wasn’t weakness.

It was biology.

The brain runs on glucose. If you don’t provide it steadily, it will demand it urgently.

And when it demands it, it doesn’t ask for quinoa.

It asks for Oreos.

The Real Mistake Wasn’t the Cookie

The mistake was believing that rest days require less food.

I lift three days a week. I walk. I am building a company. I teach. I mother three boys. I wake up at 5 AM (sometimes).

Recovery days are not restriction days.

Recovery days are when:

• Muscle repairs
• Hormones recalibrate
• Glycogen replenishes
• Thyroid stays stable

If you under-eat on recovery days, your body doesn’t get leaner.

It gets stressed.

And stress chemistry feels like:

• Low mood
• Low energy
• Sugar cravings
• Irritability
• “Why am I like this?”

The answer is often simple: you are under-fueled.

Women Over 40 Cannot Live on Stress

For years, many of us trained our bodies to survive on less.

Less calories.
Less carbs.
More coffee.
More willpower.

But muscle is expensive tissue.

Hormonal balance requires energy availability.

If you are building muscle (and you should be), your body needs:

• Consistent protein
• Adequate carbohydrates
• Enough total calories to feel safe

Under-eating suppresses metabolism.
Adequate fueling restores it.

When your metabolism starts waking up, something interesting happens:

Your body stops tolerating deprivation quietly.

It protests.

Cravings get louder. Mood shifts become sharper.

That protest isn’t dysfunction.

It’s your system asking for stability.

The Part I’m Proud Of

I didn’t spiral.

I didn’t restrict the next meal (pizza).
I didn’t add punishment cardio.
I didn’t shame myself.

I ate. I got full. I went to bed.

And this morning, I feel great.

Instead of blaming the cookie, I looked at the pattern.

This is what transformation actually looks like.

Not perfection.

Pattern recognition.

What I’m Changing

From now on:

• No rest day below ~1,700 calories
• Minimum 30g carbs at breakfast
• Protein steady at 110–130g

Because a nervous system building a business, raising children, and lifting heavy weights cannot run on 600 calories.

The Takeaway

If you wake up sad and tired, do this first:

Before you diagnose yourself.
Before you blame hormones.
Before you question your discipline.

Eat an Oreo.

Just kidding. Don’t eat those disgusting and deliciously addictive things.

Ask yourself: Did I eat enough?

Sometimes the most radical act for women over 40 is not eating less.

It’s eating enough.

And trusting that strength requires fuel.