most of my female clients happen to be in their 40s, and its interesting most of them have this exact same problem. they get in good shape, they feel strong in the gym, their muscle starts to "pop" and look good,, but their weight stalls out and they can't get as lean as they would like

this is my advice

- you need to burn 'fat' not simply burn calories. your not trying to be in a calorie deficit just to be in a deficit all day.. the body is more complex then that .. yeah yeah I know all about thermodynamics and calories in vs calories out. but you can set things up to be a better 'fat burner' then simply a carb or calorie burner. this is done mainly through your diet and nutrient timing

- protein. MEAT . MEAT MEAT.. you need to eat more meat. most women your age struggle with this. meat is the most thermogenic food you can take in and in some ways can be more efficient then cardio. for every 100 cals of meat that you eat, your body requires 30 cals of energy to assimilate that (and yes your body can pull from fat stores as an energy source for assimilation of meat)..
so think about it.
lets say that your TDEE was 2000 cals per day . and you decided your entire diet would only consist of meat so all 2000 cals is meat.. well your automatically in a 600 calorie deficit (which is like 2 hours of cardio) without doing a thing other then eating meat. your at 1400 cals even though you ate 2000 , because thats how thermic the effect of eating meat is.

^ having said that.. I'm all for a well balanced diet. not meat only.. just making a point here. if your like most women you can benefit by eating a lot more meat.

- fasted cardio.. at a different time then your weight training workout. find 40 mins at least 4x per week and do some moderate intensity cardio that is separate from your weight training.
this works like magic for a lot of women.


- T3 at at least 25mcg per day, then up to 37.5.. this keeps your metabolism at a 'fixed' and set pace so you can better make diet adjustments without the yo yo effect.
Clen - 40mcg per day..
Yohimbe 5mg per day

women do extremely well on these compounds . and yes keep your Var in at 10-20mg per day to preserve muscle.


- nutrient timing .. if you workout later in the afternoon then go most the day eating mainly a 'keto' type diet with low carbs and high protein. then take in your carbs mainly post workout .
get your healthy fats in on your days off only.. on training days restrict your fats .


I could go on.. don't want to overwhelm you with one post .