At Brilliant Read Media, it is our constant endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. As part of this, we invited Renuka Tomar for an interview with Brilliant Read Media. To say it further, Renuka is a Nutrition, Fat Loss Coach and an Influencer. Let’s learn more about her background, inspiring journey so far and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Renuka:
Can you tell us about your journey and what inspired you to specialize in helping women over 40 achieve sustainable fat loss?
It wasn’t one specific moment; honestly, it was a pattern I kept seeing. Client after client would come to me after being let down by generic fitness and diet plans built around “eat less and move more,” high-intensity workouts, and detox diets.
What struck me was that nobody was really looking at what was happening in a woman’s body at this stage of life hormonally, physically, and emotionally. I realized that women over 40 needed much more than a workout plan. They needed someone who understood corrective exercise, hormonal changes, stress, nutrition, and the realities of their lifestyle, not just someone motivating them to sweat more and eat less.
That realization eventually led me to focus specifically on helping women over 40 achieve sustainable results while building strength, confidence, and a healthier relationship with their bodies.
Women often believe that losing weight becomes impossible after 40. What are the biggest myths you consistently help your clients overcome?
The biggest myth I hear is, “My metabolism is broken.” It isn’t broken. In many cases, women have simply spent years under-eating and not doing enough strength training.
Years of chronic dieting, even when disguised as “eating healthy,” can gradually cost you muscle. And muscle loss is a much bigger concern than many women realize.
Another common misconception is that more cardio automatically means more fat loss. I see women doing hours of cardio without consuming enough protein or incorporating progressive strength training. At this stage, that approach can contribute to further muscle loss, precisely when insulin sensitivity and bone health also need more attention.
And then there’s the classic fear: “Lifting weights will make me bulky.” For women over 40, building significant visible muscle requires consistent, deliberate training and nutrition. It doesn’t happen accidentally.
How do hormonal changes, nutrition, and strength training work together to create long-term fat-loss results for women in this age group?
This is really at the heart of how I coach.
As estrogen levels change through perimenopause and menopause, several things can be affected, including muscle maintenance, insulin sensitivity, and bone health. That means the traditional approach of simply eating less and doing more cardio may not be the most effective strategy.
Strength training becomes essential because it helps preserve and build muscle, supports bone health, and improves how the body handles glucose.
Nutrition is equally important. Protein becomes increasingly important for maintaining muscle, and I prefer to structure nutrition around the individual’s training, lifestyle, and goals rather than giving everyone one flat number every day.
Training and nutrition shouldn’t be treated as separate pieces. They work together to address the changes happening in the body and create results that can actually be maintained.
Having coached over 500 women, what are the most common challenges your clients face, and how do you help them stay consistent?
Interestingly, it’s rarely a lack of motivation.
Usually, I see one of three major challenges. The first is pain or an old injury that has made someone afraid to move. The second is the reality of this stage of life: careers, children, ageing parents, and countless responsibilities can leave very little time for themselves. The third is years of failed diets that have made women lose trust in the idea that another plan will actually work.
Consistency comes when the plan respects where your body is right now and fits into your real life rather than an idealized lifestyle.
I also believe in creating small wins early. When women start seeing positive changes, whether that’s improved strength, energy, confidence, or measurements, they begin to trust the process. That trust becomes much more powerful than motivation.
Your coaching focuses on sustainable results rather than quick fixes. What does a sustainable fat-loss journey actually look like in practice?
Honestly, it’s not particularly exciting, and that’s exactly why it works.
It looks like building meals around adequate protein, maintaining a calorie deficit that is small enough to sustain for months, and strength training three to four times a week with progressive overload.
There is no 21-day transformation or magical shortcut.
If the process is working properly, you’re not losing muscle along with the fat. Your energy and sleep shouldn’t be completely wrecked, and your plan should be simple enough that you can explain it in one sentence.
If the plan is too complicated to explain, it’s probably too complicated to maintain.
What role does mindset play in transforming health and fitness, especially for women balancing careers, family, and personal responsibilities?
For many of my clients, mindset isn’t about motivation quotes or simply “trying harder.” It’s about giving themselves permission.
A lot of women have spent 15 or 20 years putting everyone else first. So the real transformation often begins when they understand that spending 45 minutes taking care of their own health isn’t selfish.
Once that mindset changes, the problem becomes much more practical. It stops being a question of, “Why can’t I stay disciplined?” and becomes, “How can I schedule this into my life?”
A scheduling problem is much easier to solve than a self-worth problem.
Could you share a client transformation story that had a lasting impact on you and reinforces why you do this work?
One client in particular had a lasting impact on me. She was going through menopause while also dealing with several medical issues, which made everything considerably more challenging.
At the same time, she was managing her career and dealing with her parents’ health. She was carrying an enormous amount of responsibility while receiving very little support for the physical and emotional challenges associated with menopause.
Working with her made me realize just how many women go through this stage feeling like they have to manage everything on their own.
That experience was one of the moments that made me decide to focus fully on women over 40. Women at this stage of life often need someone who genuinely understands what they’re experiencing and can help them navigate it with a structured, realistic approach.
That’s the gap I wanted to fill.
What advice would you give to women over 40 who have tried multiple diets or fitness programs but still feel discouraged about achieving their health goals?
First, I would tell them: you didn’t fail the plan failed to account for what your body and life actually needed.
Before starting another diet or fitness program, I would ask yourself three questions:
1) Am I eating enough protein?
2) Am I actually strength training and progressively challenging myself, or am I simply repeating the same exercises with the same weights?
3) Is my calorie deficit small enough that I can realistically live with it for several months?
Most women haven’t failed at losing fat. They’ve simply never had a plan that truly understood their body, their stage of life, and their circumstances.
The goal isn’t to find another extreme plan. It’s to find an approach that you can follow consistently, build strength through, and continue long after you’ve reached your initial goal.
At BrilliantRead, we don’t just share startup stories; we bring you journeys that challenge perspectives, spark ideas, and fuel ambition. Every story we feature is carefully chosen to add real value, inspire action, and ignite possibility within our growing community of entrepreneurs and dreamers.
If you have a powerful story, one that can inspire, educate, or create impact we want to hear from you.
