Episode 6: From starving on 800 calories to lifting heavy over 40 with Maggie Topham.
5 June 2026
Are you doing everything "right" but still swimming upstream?
If you're over 40 and feel like you're ticking every single box, you're getting your steps in, lifting weights, obsessing over calories, and keeping your discipline dialed in, but the scale refuses to budge and you're still completely exhausted, this episode is your wake-up call.
Today, I'm joined by the absolutely incredible Maggie Topham, an Integrative Health Coach and author of the game-changing workbook Metabolic Me. Maggie has a jaw-dropping background: she was a marathon runner, a triathlete, and a dance studio owner, yet despite all that activity, she found herself at her largest size and pre-diabetic just as she was about to become a grandmother.
Maggie didn't starve her way back to health. Instead, she cracked the code by biohacking her own insulin resistance and shifting to a muscle-centric lifestyle, which is exactly what the Mind and Muscle Beyond 40 (MMB40) philosophy is all about.
Maggie's vulnerability, humour, and no-nonsense approach are exactly what we need as women navigating midlife and beyond. It's time to stop starving ourselves and start building the strong, vibrant bodies we deserve. Let's get into it.
Connect with Maggie:
- Website: https://www.integrative-health-coach.com/
- Instagram: @func_health
- Get her workbook: Metabolic Me
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Interested in 1:1 coaching with Anneli? Learn more about the Legacy Body Programme here: https://www.mindandmuscle40.com/the-legacy-body-programme
Episode 6: Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
SPEAKER_00 0:07
Welcome back to the Mind and Muscle Beyond 40 podcast. I'm Annalie, founder of MMB40, certified menopause coach and weight training junkie. If you're a woman navigating your 40s or beyond and you're ready to reclaim your energy, build strength and create a lifestyle that helps you thrive as you age, you've absolutely found your community. On this channel, I'm all about empowering you to take control of your health and wellness journey. By using the MMV40 framework, I give you a holistic roadmap for aging well. So we look at five pillars mindset, muscle, nutrition, biohacking, and menopause. On this show you can expect practical tips, myth busting discussions, some really eye-opening chats with wonderful guests, and even some follow-along content. Stick around. Welcome back to the Mind and Muscle Beyond 40 podcast. Today's episode is one that I'm so excited about. If you are over 40 and you feel like you are doing everything right, you are lifting your weights, you're getting your steps in, you're looking at your calories, your discipline is good, but the scale isn't moving and you are still tired all the time. This episode is for you. My guest today is the wonderful Maggie Toppham. She is an integrative health coach. She is also the author of Metabolic Me. And Maggie has just such a fascinating background. She used to be a marathon runner. She was also a triathlete and she owned a dance studio. Yet she found herself at her largest size just as she was about to become a grandmother. Now, Maggie didn't find her way back to herself by following yet another restrictive diet. She did it through biohacking her insulin resistance and shifting to a muscle-centric lifestyle, which is exactly what M and B40 is all about. Today we're going to dive into why 88% of us might actually have metabolic issues that we don't even realize. How to track what genuinely matters and why muscle is the ultimate currency for aging strong. Let's get into it. Amazing. Okay, Maggie, welcome. Thank you so much for joining me on the Mind and Muscle Beyond 40 podcast. It's an absolute honor to have you on here.
SPEAKER_01 2:20
Oh, it's such a pleasure to be here. And I've I was so excited when I saw your email come through and I started
The Athlete's Dilemma: Metabolic Health vs. Activity
SPEAKER_01 2:27
looking through because I get a lot of those invitations sometimes. Oh, you do. And when I actually look, I'm like, oh, yeah, I want to talk to her. Like I was just excited that it was someone legit that I actually wanted to spend some time with. Amazing. I am honored. That's amazing. Thank you. Thank you for reaching out.
SPEAKER_00 2:45
Good, good. Well, we have got such a great chat planned for today. Um, and a lot of the women um who listen to the podcast are in their 40s and far beyond. So I think this chat is going to be so valuable to them. Um, we have a lot of advice to give you ladies, so stick around. And if you're listening to this on Spotify, hit subscribe if you're watching on YouTube and enjoying our beautiful outfits that we've colour coordinated for you. Subconsciously. Like minds think alike. Look at us. Exactly across the phone across the pond with things up. I love it. Um, but if you're watching on YouTube, hit subscribe as well. Any questions, any comments, stick them in the comment section. So we are just gonna jump straight in. So um, Maggie, I'm curious. You used to be a high-level athlete. Like we're talking marathons, triathlete. Um, what so most people think that's the epitome of health, right? How is it that you were still what you refer to as metabolically sick, despite all of that activity? How is that possible?
SPEAKER_01 3:44
Okay, first of all, I love it that you called me a high-level athlete. I feel I feel really validated now. You're welcome. I love that. Yeah, let's just stay with that. What's wrong with it? It's great. So it's just amazing what men just have it so much easier than us. They do. They do. As what we're just taught, and when we're younger, when we're younger, it works. The more we move, we just can kind of keep our muscle, we can kind of just stay lean. We just keep moving, we kind of put our body through some horrible things. Like I look at some of the things I put my body through. I'm like, my, I want to go back and give that girl a hug. I'm like, thank you for trying to stick it out. You tried so hard. Good job.
SPEAKER_00 4:26
What was what was the worst thing you put your body through?
SPEAKER_01 4:29
Just the deprivation and just the punishment, like living off 800 calories and yet going for an hour swim and then a two-hour bike ride and then an hour jog. So, especially when you're training for triathlons, I mean, usually you do two disciplines a day. So I would I would go for a run and then I'd go for a bike ride, or I'd go for a bike ride and then a swim. So just planning my life around activity
The Search for Answers: Hormones and Health
SPEAKER_01 4:56
and then thinking, well, the smaller I am, the better it'll be. So trying to live off literally like 800 calories a day, thinking, yes, my body will still perform. And it tried really hard. It did. It did. And when you're younger, you can kind of get away with that. So how young were you at this point? That backfired on me. So I we really got into triathlons about in my, I think it was the year I turned 40, actually. Oh, wow. Okay. And and really, that was my thing for like five or six years. So, you know, I would sometimes I would do back-to-back races like weekend, weekend, weekend, not really even recovering, thinking, oh, if I'm just in this shape, I should just keep going, keep going, keep going. And it really started to backfire my hormones. I that was a hard time to be right in the middle of a you know, perimenopause and just imagine. And no one ever said the word hormone to me. You know, I was going to doctors, what's wrong with me? I'm getting really depressed, I'm not sleeping. I'm no one, no one, not one doctor ever said, Hey, you probably should be like upping your protein. That's crazy. And so this is about 12 years ago, right? Let's see.
SPEAKER_00 6:10
Ish, yeah, yeah. Ish about 12 years ago. So right at 12 years ago, the conversations around perimetables, metaboles weren't existing. So wow, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 6:21
And and yeah, just backfiring. Uh everything I was doing, like, why I should be like fit. Like, why am I gaining weight in my midsection? Why am I not sleeping? Why where's the definition in my legs? Like, my body just it started to really backfire. And I knew I knew something was off.
SPEAKER_00 6:38
Yeah, yeah. So you were training all the time, you're doing all this activity, you are surviving on an amount of calories that I think they had people on in the biggest loser. I think that was an 800 calorie experiment. Yeah, I think so. I think you're right. So you're doing all these things and you're still gaining weight, you're seeing belly fat increase, and you're wondering what is actually going on.
SPEAKER_01 6:58
Yeah, none of it made sense. That's not what I've been taught. That's that's not what the fitness industry says. I mean, we should be able to eat less, move more, and be the size we want to be. Right. So yeah, so I went on a deep search. I thought something's got to change. I actually I stopped racing, and of course, the month I stopped racing, like 20 pounds came on, like that month. And so boom, I just got hit. I got the biggest I'd ever been. The most metabolically unhealthy I'd ever been, uh, was pre-diabetic. My body just said, girl, you've it's time to slow down. We gotta figure some stuff out.
SPEAKER_00 7:36
Yeah. And so at this point, when you gained all that weight, were you still eating that amount of calories? Or had you just started eating more?
SPEAKER_01 7:43
I had I I of course was trying to eat that many calories, but my bot I was starving. I can't imagine I was so hungry for years. Well, my appetite was off the rails, and then and then you go through the whole mental part of it, you know, just punishing yourself. You know, why can't I stop myself from eating that pink cookie? What's wrong with me?
SPEAKER_00 8:03
Exactly. Yes, not understanding that your hormones are completely haywai now, anyways. You've got to find it. Absolutely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 8:11
So my yeah, no satiety hormones. Like when it comes to ghrelin and leptin, just like that was that was out the door. Yeah. Yeah. And I have to do that.
SPEAKER_00 8:20
So I just I'm just gonna quickly explain that leptin and ghrelin is your satiety and your hunger hormones. So when they go haywai, your body doesn't know when it's full, it doesn't know when it just keeps wanting to eat. So that makes total sense having been through what you went through.
SPEAKER_01 8:35
Yes. And and your body is going to continue to feel hungry till it gets what it needs. And I was not prioritizing protein. I mean, protein was something, no, that'll the protein's
The Journey to Understanding: Integrative Health Coaching
SPEAKER_01 8:49
got fat. I don't want to eat that. I'll just I'll get more fat. I was doing everything the opposite. Like that's really what satiety teaches or or society teaches us. Of course. What we need to be, yes.
SPEAKER_00 9:02
Exactly. For years and years, fat makes you fat, fear of fat, it's crazy. And that's what we need for healthy hormones. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 9:08
So I needed to completely change what I was doing and get it figured out.
SPEAKER_00 9:12
And you went on this journey on your own because you went to try and get help and there wasn't you didn't find help or exact.
SPEAKER_01 9:20
I've been to about six, six doctors or so that year just trying to figure out what was wrong. Not one mentioned the word hormone to me. Crazy. And kept putting me on more antidepressants and sleeping pills. So I walked out with a new antidepressant almost every time. And I knew innately I'm like that no one's speaking my language. No. So I just I went on a deep dive, deep dive. I thought I gotta figure this out myself. And that's the way I am anyway. I just I'll figure it out. I'll just leave it to me. I'll figure it out. And love that that's what I did. And I started understanding, oh, this is my like metabolism, and it's all tied together. Oh, gut health and mental health. Oh, like all of this, all of these functions work with each other. That was a light bulb moment. Like, wait, wait, our body's a whole, we're supposed to look at the whole thing. Wait, what? That's crazy. Yeah. So that was a light bulb moment. I'd never really considered I as obvious as it seems, I'd never really considered that before.
SPEAKER_00 10:24
But I think it's one of those scenarios where it's only when you sit down and you actually sit back and look at the bigger picture and realize, hang on, it has to be connected because surely, you know, nothing happens in isolation, but we're so just going, going, going that we need that mental headspace to just kind of regroup, which is what you then did. Wow. Yes. Yes. And how how long did the journey take for you for you to then figure out what the problem was and then getting on a road to recovery, so to speak?
SPEAKER_01 10:55
Well, I just started when I got that pre-diabetes uh diagnosis, I thought, I am wow, I am falling off a cliff fast. Like we've got to figure this out. And I was listening to a podcast one day, and they were speaking my language. I thought, wait, this is this this is making sense. And and the girl, I wish I had written down her name because I think about her all the time.
Advocating for Yourself: Navigating Healthcare
SPEAKER_01 11:17
I'm like, this girl changed my life. She said, I was like, This is why you need to listen to podcasts. I know you gotta listen. You might get that nugget that just makes the difference. And she said, she said, I went to the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and everything she was saying, I thought this is it. So that I'm going to that school. I I'm going there now. So I did the next week, I signed up. I thought I'm going, I'm gonna get certified. I want this is what I need to learn. These people are speaking my language. And then I started understanding functional health. And that that was a huge changed the game completely. Oh, there's different, there's conventional, then there's functional, then there's integrative. So that really I'd heard the term before, but didn't really understand what it meant. And that that was huge too. So so uh so many I can when I've had these light bulb moments, I can see them, I can see what I was wearing, I can see where I was because it made such a di it turned my life around. Changed my life.
SPEAKER_00 12:21
So and and you you are now an integrative health coach. Yes. So how do you explain that, what that is?
SPEAKER_01 12:28
Looking at the whole woman and not just looking forward, not just looking at today, looking at what happened in the past. That's it. So we look at it's the big picture. You look under the hood, you figure out where these symptoms are coming from, and you go to that. You don't just throw a band-aid on it, which I started to understand what conventional medicine, which I I'm grateful for conventional medicine. They're doing the best they can with what they're given. We we need that too. But I'm extremely grateful for those who are willing to look a little deeper, a little further upstream and a little further downstream.
SPEAKER_00 13:07
And it's I think it's a wonderful, wonderful quality to foster in yourself as a woman beyond 40. I always tell women to advocate for yourself. Very often, I mean, I remember when I when I started um with perimetopause sentence, I was 42. And I sat in front of the GP and she was like, You're too young. And I was kind of like, but like all these things, you know, and she's like, Hell, and I really had to push. And I remember walking out of the GP's office and thinking, it shouldn't have to be that hard. But unless you advocate for yourself and you push and and you do you kind of build that muscle of wanting to explore and finding answers for yourself, a lot of things will stay a mystery, and you are living proof of going, actually, I'm gonna just figure this out for myself. And it's also so rewarding, isn't it, going on that journey? Because you did that.
SPEAKER_01 13:58
Well, and you did it. Like, good for you that you sat there. Well, and that's another thing too. No one ever told me that I could like talk back to my doctor. Exactly. What did I say, God
Personal Experiences with Hormone Therapy
SPEAKER_01 14:11
is like we can question the doc, we can tell the doctor what to get pushed back by what?
SPEAKER_00 14:17
I can go on with the list and kind of make some odd demands. I literally, I went in with a little, I had a little journal that I had kept track of. And I remember her just looking at it and I was like, bear with. Yeah, just kind of wrap them down for you, but yeah, exactly. And you kind of feel a little bit judged, and I was like, you know what? I don't care, because we need to get to the bottom of this, you know? Good for deal. But that's I I love I love that you've that you've said that. And actually, you know, if you're a woman and listening to this podcast, and I hope that you'll learn a lot today. But if any of this lands in a way that it did for Maggie all those years ago, you need to go and do your research. You need to find people like Maggie, find people like me, or go on a hunt for more information because there's more to it than what we've been told. That's for sure. Definitely. Definitely. Definitely, and for you. How old are you now? Can I ask? I'm 43. See, I have to think about that. Yeah, so it's only it's only been mm, I hang on a second. So I went to see her for the first time when I was 41, actually. I'm lying. I was 41. Yeah, it was 41. And the journey has kind of been ongoing, and I've been I decided to go on HRT, and then I came off HRT, and currently I'm not on HRT. I'm kind of just seeing what my body needs right now and kind of rolling with it, and um pushing into the nutrition and the training and you know the other aspects that I can control, and then I'm in conversations with her, but it's a very long and drawn-out process, but you know, nothing happens fast. And I the one thing I have learned with HRT is that there is no quick fix, there's no one size fits all approach, and you have to give it time. And I think a lot of women fear it because we don't really understand what it might do, but ultimately, if you're open to exploring it as an option, I think you'll do better than being closed off or being really scared about it. I mean, we weren't we weren't gonna chat about HRT yet, but can you share a bit about your personal journey?
SPEAKER_01 16:21
Yeah, so I was so when I found finally a functional health team that I remember being on the call with them, and I remember started crying. I felt just so relieved that someone was actually speaking my my language. Said, we're gonna get labs, this is what we're gonna check. And I remember just feeling so relieved, like, oh answers, answers finally. And and so of course I got my lot labs back. They sat down with me for like 45 minutes to go over my that had never happened to me before. Oh, we're actually looking, like we're not just talking about my symptoms, we're actually looking to see what's going on.
SPEAKER_02 16:57
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 16:58
And and right off the bat, like my the first, the very first thing that that they put me on was testosterone. And and then she just like on a side note was like, that's probably why you've been depressed. And again, I was like, what? No, interesting. That's never been brought up to me. I'd been on antidepressants for 27 years.
SPEAKER_00 17:18
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01 17:20
Hormones had never been brought up to me. So I started to think, I bet I could get off these antidepressants. Yeah, I bet I can quit feeling so flat. I can't no one should feel flat. I've got great things going on in my life, and I feel flat and depressed. I feel medicated. I don't want to feel medicated. No, and so that that was one of the very
The Transformation: Embracing Weight Training
SPEAKER_01 17:41
first happiest things that happened to me is we very slowly just started a little testosterone, and within three months I was off my antidepressants. Wow. And I'm not telling this is not medical advice, this is what worked for me.
SPEAKER_03 17:53
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 17:54
Um, and and it made me realize that man, I bet my hormones have been a problem for most of my life, especially because what I had put my body through just with with athletics and and being as active as I like they should have been looked at 20 years ago.
SPEAKER_02 18:09
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 18:09
So that probably could have saved me a lot of grief because it was exactly what my body needed. So I lucked out and I my life turned around. Everything I I I would look at other people and think, man, they just look like they feel happy. Like they they want to get up and do they're not swimming upstream every single day. And that's how I that's how I finally felt. Wow. So it was it was just game changing to finally get there. I was doing the lifestyle things. Yeah. By that point, I'd figured out, yeah, I need to be actually giving my body nutrients. Yes, I need to be supporting muscle. Yes, I need to start lifting weights, I need to stop this chronic cardio. So all of that all kind of started to fall into place, and my mental health along with my physical health just kind of came together. The pieces started fitting. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 19:01
So at that point, um, when you started lifting weights, what was your physique like? Were you quite muscular anyway, or were you kind of starting from a basic weight training point of view?
SPEAKER_01 19:13
So I had been. Like in my my twenties, early 30s, I I would yeah, people would comment on my like thick legs, like I was always pretty muscular and could get fairly, fairly lean. By the time this point came on, I I was nearly 200 pounds. Um yeah, I I was I quit weighing myself, honestly. I'm 5'5, so it I was I was I was heavier than I'd I'd ever been, and nothing it wasn't making sense to me. Yeah, that's why and that's going to add to the depression. I mean, especially for someone who enjoys activity as much as I do. Yeah, and and I've always been a dancer too. People would ask me to come choreograph their routine. I'm like, no, like that, I'm not dancing in front of people. Oh, it's a whole problem. I just lost myself. Yeah, they're sometimes we can do other cute things too. So I just completely lost myself. So stepping into it was actually my son. He's like, Why don't you mom just come to the gym with me? Let's let's just go lift weights. Yeah, like you. I'm like, okay, I'll I'll go. So we we started, you know, he's a football player, so he I started lifting like a football player, and I'm not lying within two weeks. I'm like, huh, this feels different. Like I I feel different. I think I like this, you know, because I dabbled with with weights, you know. Yeah, the body sculpting classes that you lift just to tone, you don't lift to build, you just lift to tone, kind of thing. We're not building muscle weight tiny. Yes. So that's the first time I'd see a change, I'd seen a change in my body in years, like a good, you know, incredible five years. So I thought, I I think I'm gonna stick with this. And all the bodies that I've always liked, like growing up. I remember I used to watch Madonna and think, oh, does her body look different than everyone? Um she always had muscle. And I love, I'm
Building Strength and Identity
SPEAKER_01 21:13
like, I want her butt. Like she, I want her arms. Like how, like those are the bodies that appealed to me. Yeah, those strong, the little skinny body, it's the athletic, strong bodies. I thought, oh, I want to look like that.
SPEAKER_02 21:25
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 21:25
And I remember watching Terminator and thinking, oh, how does she have those arms?
SPEAKER_00 21:31
It's hilarious that you say this because my biggest thing when I was really, really overweight, when I first moved to London, I basically ate my feelings for about a solid year. And you know, because I left South Africa, the weather was crap, let's be honest. And then I was like, what fresh hell is this? I arrived in January as well. So the worst time to come to London. And I basically gained a lot of weight, was really unhappy. And I just remember always wearing cardigans because I was so embarrassed about my arms. And I remember saying to my husband, Husband one day, I just want to be one of those girls where people look at me and look at my arms and go, You work out, don't you? It's ridiculous to say, but it seems like such a small thing, but we all have these little um winds in our heads that we now look back at and think, you know what, that's all I really wanted. But there'll be something that each woman listening to this podcast thinks, Oh, you know, I just want, you know, a butt like that. Or but that doesn't happen unless you spend the time lifting the heavy weights, ladies. We're not talking about body pump. I'm not saying body pump is bad, but what I'm saying is you need to be lifting heavy consistently. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01 22:36
So Sarah Ocon was your arm inspiration. Oh, yes. Yes. I do, I I would just watch her over and over and just think, oh my gosh, how does she do that? And now when I see, like when I see you, I have instant respect. I know the time you spend in the gym. I know the kind of person you are. You're a dedicated, you're gonna show up, you're gonna get it done. And it's funny, and you probably have the same thing happen to you. You know, you'll you'll run into someone, we'll be like at an amusement park, and I'll have like this big muscly black guy come up to me and like give me knuckles and keep the language, you know. I'm like, yeah, I got you. I got you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 23:14
It's it's a fascinating thing. And I I do think the mental side of building the body that you deserve and love, and the body that you want as you get older and older, there's a mental win, and it makes you so strong, and and having the focus to commit to that, I think, is one of the things that will change you more than anything else in your life. And if you can commit to that, it is so rewarding. And it is just a matter of starting, because we all have to start somewhere. You started by going to the gym with your son, and then it clicked. And we all have, we all go through the process, but really you just have to start. That's the first thing you need to do.
SPEAKER_01 23:50
Oh, and you you nailed it because you completely just change your identity going through this. Like when I
Overcoming Gym Intimidation
SPEAKER_01 23:59
was going, I was going for my son. I thought this is a fun time we can spend together, we can chit-chat. We uh it hadn't clicked yet, and it hadn't become I feel like a poser. I was just going through the motions, just doing something my son told me to do. Yeah. And then slowly, ever so slowly, it became no, that's that's me. This is what this is what I do. This is what I'm doing. I'm the person who gets up, I walk into that gym, and I love it here, and that's part of who I who I am now. So we do our identity changes through the process.
SPEAKER_00 24:32
I have so much respect for that. And actually, I this is a question I was gonna ask you later, but since we're on the gym topic and we're talking about rolling into the gym, and this comes up all the time with women I work with, but I don't know how to walk into the weight section and what about all the guys standing around? I mean, there is a lot of you know, gym bro culture still around. And I, you know, if you for the listeners who might feel intimidated by that, and there are a lot, how can you how would you suggest, what would your advice be for them to start building muscle effectively at home or with minimal equipment? Like a top tip for that.
SPEAKER_01 25:07
It's amazing what you can do with a set of 10-pound dumbbells. You can do a a whole whole workout. Eventually you're going to need some heavier weights. But just starting out, if you've got a set of five, ten, and fifteen, you can get it done for a really long time and some bands probably. Yeah. And really what's available out there, especially with AI right now and YouTube, you can find, you can find a whole playbook, has some great trainers. There's so many options that you can just start in your basement at home and start start to feel that confidence. For me, I hate home workouts. I uh I'm down doing my push-ups and I can see under my couch. I'm like, I got a vacuum mat.
SPEAKER_00 25:50
I can't avoid. Go to the gym.
SPEAKER_01 25:55
Yeah, my brain can't get there. I'm switching the laundry in between sets. Like I like the process of getting dressed in my gym clothes, putting on shoes, getting sometimes it's fun. If I feel I want a new workout outfit, yeah, like that feels fun to me. It's part of the whole process to me. Exactly. And then you get your gym buddies. So you go to the gym, yeah, and you know there's people kind of that kind of helps me push a little harder sometimes. Yeah. When I know there's people there, I yeah. It it's great for my brain to get out, yes, get out of it. Like, I don't want to be in here anymore. Yes. Yeah. I want to be out, I want to feel my body move. I want to see people talk to people, which I used to be a hermit. Like I did, I thought I was an introvert. I thought I'm like, oh, I'm just an introvert. I I don't know an introvert. Oh my goodness. I still kind of think I am. I'm an introvert in hiding, I think. But I it I wasn't feeling like myself. So I don't I don't want to see people, I didn't want people to see me. Yeah. So so being able and being able to help women watch women's lives change just by making this, just by feeling stronger and confident in your body, it's gonna make me cry.
SPEAKER_00 27:16
This is this is why you are incredible and why you're such an inspiration. And if you don't follow Maggie, I'm gonna share all her links everywhere because I'm obsessed, okay? But you are such an inspiration. You you make it accessible, you make women look at it and go, I just want to be part of that, you know. And this is the thing. I'm in London, you're in Utah, we don't know each other, but we kind of do because the things that we believe in and how we feel about this. And this is, I'm gonna say, this is God's work, okay. Because getting stronger and aging well and being able to be independent and mobile and sharp and be there for your kids and your family when you're in your 80s, but it's important, and a lot of women just want that. So, yeah, I just yeah, I appreciate your vulnerability
The Journey to Muscle Building
SPEAKER_00 28:04
and your amazing heart being on here and sharing this. You're so sweet.
SPEAKER_01 28:08
Well, thank you. And that's and honestly, like when I started this, I just felt so good when all the puzzle pieces started fitting together. I wanted to scream up from the rooftops. And people started asking me, they're like, You like something's different. Yeah, this is what it is. You gotta know this, you gotta know this. And that's the hard part too, because some some people aren't ready for it yet, and you have to wait for them to be like you want to dish it to them, say, No, it can be so much better. But once they're ready, I'm here. Like, let's go change your life.
SPEAKER_00 28:38
Because on that topic, because I it's something that I um I come across a lot with the woman in my life, and it's and it's hard because you know what you know, and you kind of think if you just if you knew what I knew, then you would start today, but it's not that simple. What how do you help someone get there quicker?
SPEAKER_01 29:03
When they're ready, it's a blast. When they're not ready, you you have to wait for them to be ready. So it's hard. You have to give them quick wins. So when when a woman comes to me and she's like, I and they want to use all the excuses, you know, my my husband doesn't support me. I'm trying to make and it is hard. It is when you've got kids at home and you're and my kids are all out of, like, I have more time now. Granted, my kids are still everywhere and my grandkids are everywhere. We have to make it a a priority. We have to really work. It's such a mindset shift. Yes. Because you you've got to you've got to change, you're you've got to take responsibility for it. Once they can take that responsibility, once you can give them some small wins, just up your protein.
SPEAKER_02 29:54
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 29:55
Go to go to the gym three times a week and they start to see, oh, my body's responding. Oh, and the biggest thing, I just feel better.
SPEAKER_02 30:04
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 30:05
And once they start doing something for themselves and they feel that when that confidence starts to kick in, it's amazing the light that goes on inside of them. And and then you don't have to rely on motivation. They're just like, I feel so I want to feel this good every day. So if you can feed them that in the very beginning, that's that's magic, I think.
SPEAKER_00 30:28
I think it's it's I a lot of the women I work with as
Understanding Insulin Resistance
SPEAKER_00 30:31
well have kids, young kids. And this is the thing, you know, they'd love to go to the gym three times a week, but it's not gonna happen. And and a lot of the times we end up talking about what is it that you can do for now and at least commit to that, but commit to it for at least six weeks, four, six weeks. Like it's it's that mental understanding as well that you know you have to be able to commit to something for long enough for it take to take effect, like anything in life, you know, you don't change your habits by doing something for a week. So it's getting into that mindset as well. But you will you're right about the small wins because there are small everyday little things you can do that add that add up to big results. You just have to stick with it.
SPEAKER_01 31:12
Well, exactly. Yeah, if you can get them to hang on for six weeks and they are actually doing what they need to, yeah, they're they're gonna see it and they're going to feel it. So if you can get those if they're seeing and feeling, and then just what that does to their to their inner fire, it just lights it. Lights it up.
SPEAKER_00 31:30
I love that term. I love that. Um okay, so let's talk a little bit. I want to get into a little bit of insulin resistance chat, which might sound like complete Greek to, you know, if you're listening to this and you don't know what this. So let's jump into that. But um, there is a statistic that kind of talks about 88% of women not understanding that they actually have a metabolic situation brewing. Can we talk a little bit about insulin resistance and why, as a, you know, the root cause of it is kind of overlooked by doctors. Um, and obviously based on your experience as well, um, let's kind of like unpack that a little bit.
SPEAKER_01 32:11
Yeah, and it and it stays hidden for so long because a lot of the right labs aren't even ran. So I I think I was struggling with it for a long time. And they're looking at so when you go and you have your glucose levels checked, it's possible, you know, that you it comes back at nine, I don't know how it's measured where you are, but like 90 is is is a okay number. Yeah but if they're not looking at your insulin levels as well, it's possible your insulin's off the chart. That's why your glucose is maintained because your insulin's working over time. So if no one actually looks at your insulin levels, you're not gonna know this. Right. And of course, they you can look at triglycerides and your lipids, and and it starts to tell the story. Most doctors just look at that glucose number, and and if it looks okay, they're gonna send you on your way. When really thought, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 33:05
When really you're you're heading down a a pretty dark path of of metabolic uh so if you were to explain insulin resistance in a really basic description, explain to our listeners what that means.
SPEAKER_01 33:20
So your body has probably because of your diet and lack of muscle, you've got a lot of extra glucose floating throughout your system. So your body's trying to take care of it. Your insulin comes in to shuttle this extra glucose. And the glucose is blood sugar, right? Your blood sugar, yes. So and from the waist down, your body, or from the neck down, sorry, your body doesn't really know the difference between a piece of bread or a candy bar. Like glucose is is glucose. And a lot of people don't understand that. So you've got extra blood sugar, your body's trying to shuttle it, so it calls on extra insulin. So your instrument insulin, your pancreas is working overtime. So it starts to shuttle this when it runs out of muscle to store this glucose, which then we call it glycogen, when it is being stored, it runs out of places to store this because you're lacking muscle. So it starts shoving it into your liver, and that's when we get fatty liver disease. So fatty liver disease doesn't come from fat, it comes from excess glucose. And then it starts to find this adipose tissue at your fat. So it's going to store it. So you're going, fat isn't making you fat. That extra sugar is making you fat. Yeah. And then and then that visceral fat, the fat around those organs, so it really starts to cause the danger. Especially if your estrogen goes down, then you you lose that sensitivity to the to the insulin. So that that's when that stomach fat, every woman in menopause, they're like, why am I gaining weight here?
SPEAKER_00 35:01
And the minnow, they call it minnow belly over here. I don't know if they do you call it minnow belly as well.
SPEAKER_01 35:07
Yes, they call it the menobelly. And that's exactly where menobelly comes from.
SPEAKER_02 35:11
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 35:11
It's a biological, that's just what starts to happen. And without muscle, we don't have a place to store that extra glucose. And that's why that insulin becomes it it's just working over time. So that's when we become insulin resistant. Resistant. Because it's being called on too much.
SPEAKER_02 35:28
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 35:28
So it just keeps spiking throughout the day. And depending on what you're eating, when you're eating, and how active you are, how much if you if you actually carry any muscle. I mean, this by its very nature is the reason you need to be packing on muscle. Because your body will be a lot more insulin sensitive, which at the end of the day is exactly what we want to be as we get older, especially with the hormonal changes. So a lot
The Role of Protein in Muscle Growth
SPEAKER_00 35:54
of the women, I mean, I get this a lot asking me about the belly fat, and obviously the first consideration is right, okay, well, we can't really spot train fat, but you have to understand why this is happening more now than ever. And one of the biggest conversations there is actually having more muscle. But in terms of glucose and talking a little bit about carbohydrates and sugar and all those things, um, I always like to say, or I like to think that our bodies, as we get older, our bodies get really good at storing energy, not so good at burning energy. And that's one thing we need to wrap our heads around. Like, you know, we need to shift that and turn your body into an energy burning machine. And one of the best ways to do that is to build muscle. So, with in terms of insulin resistance though, um, talking a little bit about, you know, why the whole, you know, we've already covered why eating less and moving more doesn't necessarily work, but it really comes down to what you're eating. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 36:56
Yeah. Well, and protein is the only macronutrient that actually changes as we get older. Our need for protein. So our when you're young, you can you can eat 15, 16 grams of protein and you're going to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. As you're older, you might need 25, 30, 35 grams of protein with enough leucamine and amino acids to stimulate a lot more to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. So that's why your need for protein goes up if
Metabolic Signals and Energy Sources
SPEAKER_01 37:27
you want to intentionally put on muscle. And then also And that's what that means, right?
SPEAKER_00 37:33
Muscle protein synthesis means you're building muscle for your body to actually supporting that muscle growth. Yes. Yeah. So that doesn't happen, and it gets harder as we get older. So therefore, you need to really make sure that you're hitting your protein. As that's I always say that it's the star of the show. You know, the other two macronutrients, fat and carbohydrates, work together, but protein is the most important macronutrient. And obviously, as well, it keeps you fuller longer. Um, there's a lot of benefits. So um I want to kind of check in as well in terms of the subtle sort of biosignals, talking about metabolism, and that's another thing that women might not necessarily really understand metabolism. But for listeners at home, what are the subtle sort of biosignals for someone that their metabolism might be struggling? Sort of beyond just the number on the scale, what other little signals could there be?
SPEAKER_01 38:25
I for me, like the number one, when you hit that, when you hit that like two o'clock, like the blood sugar and everyone, oh my blood sugar dip, I I need to eat something. So we actually go about it the wrong way. Wrong way. Because we yes, yes. So that's uh which for the moment, yeah. If you need to get through the afternoon, do what you gotta do. Yeah, but if you look a little fresh upstream, yeah, you need to look upstream, you need to get that blood sugar under control. You need your body to be able to switch fuel sources. So I think people get in, they turn themselves into these sugar burners. And their body, once they're out of glucose, their body and brain says, I need it right now. Instead of shifting into fat burning, burning ketones, energy for your brain and body that's you're actually switching fuel sources. People's bodies, they hit that threshold, that sugar, and then they just refuel. So they stay up here. They never get past that threshold down into fat burning and using and fat's a great fuel source. People feel really their energy is sustained, their brain is less foggy, they they have uh much more satiety, less dips when they can when their body can switch fuel sources and burn fat for fuel instead of just that constant sugar. And that's where people live in that they just live in that sugar roller coaster. And they think, well, my body sugar is low. Yeah. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 40:04
Except your body fat for fuel. And then and then ride it out. Yeah. That's exactly why we have the deeper lying fact source, tap into it. Deplete the hell out of it and burn some fat. Yeah. So that's so then this is a good question. So then for someone listening to this going, okay, but how do I, how do I, how do I teach my body how to switch metabolically? So you've done Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 40:27
Yeah. That you well, you need muscle. We've talked about that. Yeah. You need muscle, you need the right nutrition. You need to quit letting your body, you've got to teach your body to burn fat for fuel. So if you keep giving it glute, if you keep glucose at the
The Benefits of Fasting for Women
SPEAKER_01 40:42
front of the bus, it's always going to burn the glucose. So you've got to get to times where you deplete your glucose and your glycogen and force your body to burn fat for fuel. And it can be uncomfortable at first. So so many people are like, I can't, I can't go more than three or four hours. If you can't go four hours without feeling horrible, you're probably a sugar burner. Your body's not able to switch to that fat burning. You should be able to feel just fine. A lot of us, and it took me a while to get here. When you become metabolically flexible and your body starts burning fat for fuel, you actually feel pretty, you almost get like a high. When you start bringing those ketones, your body switches that fuel source. You can you can you can go a full day and feel, yeah, you're gonna feel hungry, you're gonna want food, but your body's fine. Your blood sugar doesn't just dip and you're lost.
SPEAKER_00 41:30
Yeah. Your body has your body has all the tools it needs if you just let it sit for a while and and and ride out the storm. Now, what we're talking about here is fasting, aren't we? Pretty much. So we're talking about fasting. Now, I get I get sometimes I get a lot of slack because I am a coach that encourages women to fast. However, I teach women how to do it properly and to, you know, break their fast with protein and to listen to their bodies in terms of a lot of women in their 40s are obviously carrying a lot of stress and the cortisol is elevated because of perimenopause already. So trying to not make it worse with fasting. However, I'm a big fan of fasting because it has absolutely taught me that it's okay to feel hungry. You know, we it's it's totally normal to feel hungry. We don't always have to be, we're so scared of feeling hungry, and maybe it's the discomfort around it. Yeah. And actually, it's normal. And if we think about sort of like you know, the feast and famine mentality, I mean, we weren't built to be eating all day long, we weren't built to be stacking all day long, hence the glucose issues and the insulin resistance. This is why we are where we are. But I think fasting is a wonderful mental tool as well to push yourself into areas where you may not have gone before and actually go, oh, actually, I can handle this. Um so, in terms of um, I know that you're a fan of clean fasting, aren't you? Instead of fat fasting. Yes. Because I I over the years have have like tried both, and I will some days I will do I love a good fat fast, having NCT oil or salted butter in my coffee.
SPEAKER_02 43:12
I've done that too.
SPEAKER_00 43:13
And it's funny because I will do that, and if I'm fasting on a day like that, I will get to about I don't know, sort of noonish, and I will just feel sharp as a tack. It is like your brain, because your brain's preferred energy source for energy is fat, it's not glucose. Yes, it loves that. But that's the other thing. That's why you feel like you're wired, and it's that, so it's teaching women as well that fat is not the enemy, and in fact, it's the opposite. Sugar is the enemy.
SPEAKER_01 43:39
Yes. Oh my gosh, we are on so much of the same page. So much. Yes. And you you've now I know. There's not very many people who think about fasting the way we do, and it's because it is it is hard, it's so individual. Like You can't just go throw every single woman on a 20-hour fast, and there's it's so nuanced. There's so many different situations. And yes, if we have someone who's completely stressed out, their cortisol's off the roof, but then again, maybe they need to fast and get their body out of this inflamed, horrible state. So I think fasting is a magical tool when done correctly. So we are completely on the same page when it comes to that.
SPEAKER_00 44:28
And and one thing I will also, this is it's it's good for us to talk about this because you are a woman. I mean, what is your muscle mass percentage? Do you know? Oh gosh. I mean, it must be more than 40, 50%, surely.
SPEAKER_01 44:42
I don't see muscle. My body fat right now. I j I just did a show two weeks, three weeks ago? Yeah, congratulations. You looked incredible. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 44:53
Nothing is hard work, my goodness.
SPEAKER_01 44:55
Yeah, it was, but I was able to do it in a healthy way. That's it. So it works out okay. But yeah, I don't know what my actual I don't know. I haven't had a DEXA scan for like two years, and I need one. I need one right now. But as far as body fat goes, I'm I'm about it, I would say like nine or ten percent right now.
SPEAKER_00 45:15
Wow. And that's so so that your muscle mass will obviously be incredibly high. And the thing that I keep, you know, a lot of women think uh about, oh, but I I don't want to fast because I'll lose muscle. So that's obviously not the case if you do it right and if you prioritize protein. So let's can we talk a little bit about how maybe how you fast and how you make sure that you do it right so that you prioritize muscle
Fasting and Protein Intake
SPEAKER_00 45:41
and protein, et cetera.
SPEAKER_01 45:42
Yes. So I do, and and a lot of times I just change the way I talk about it so people don't get freaked out. So I will call it time restricted eating. Yes. Because the word fasting scares people. Yeah. And what what they don't what they don't people all the time, oh you can't fast, you can't do work fasted workouts. You Yeah. No, it does actually increase your human growth hormone, it actually increases your testosterone. I put on all this muscle and I I say this with a grain of salt doing fasted workouts.
SPEAKER_02 46:15
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 46:16
And no one believes me. There you can't you can't put on muscle. And and when I was show prepping, I did my coach said, you know, let's let's change this up a little bit. Let's I want you to eat a little. Let's just see if we can how your body responds to that. And and it was a fun experiment.
SPEAKER_03 46:33
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 46:33
Uh I don't know if I got great benefits. I know I didn't feel quite as good in my workout because my body, my body is fat adapted. My body knows how to switch fuel sources. So I feel great during fasted workouts. Other people might feel horrible doing faster workouts. That's fine. Don't don't do a don't do a fasted workout. But I know just from my own body that I
Eating Windows and Circadian Rhythms
SPEAKER_01 47:03
was able to put on plenty of muscle. I'm still fasting, but I also get in 150, 180 grams of protein. So it doesn't affect my protein intake. And that's the important thing.
SPEAKER_00 47:15
Yeah. Because I think a lot of women think, oh, I'm gonna fast for like 18 hours, and then they look at me and they go, Oh, but I'm not gonna how am I gonna hit my protein? I'm like, well, that's kind of your problem. You need to hit the protein. So, you know, you want to you want to fast for 20 hours, but you kind of need to hit, you know, your protein.
SPEAKER_01 47:31
So um if I have a woman that can't fit in her protein, then we're gonna cut down the fasting window. Yeah. Like I that needs to take priority until they they can figure it out. And yeah, it's just a great tool to use if you've got I started out really insulin resistant, and it really helped to uh I cured, it cured me of that and end up in my protein. So I just I enjoy that feeling. I enjoy ketones, I enjoy the way I feel. So,
The Importance of Muscle and Nutritional Flexibility
SPEAKER_01 48:00
and every woman's different.
SPEAKER_00 48:02
And I'm curious, how often do you fast or sorry, restrict your eating window?
SPEAKER_01 48:08
Really like I have to fight it not to. So I I I really time restrict pretty much every every day. If if there if there's days that like my my coach is like, no, we've gotta up your carbs too. Like we're gonna we're gonna hit like close to 300 carbs today. I'm like, okay, I gotta, I gotta break my fast earlier in the day. Yeah. So it depends on what my day looks like. Right. If I'm if I'm upping my intake, then I've got to eat longer. So but if this is the normal day, yeah. Yeah. I'm my window's about, I'm I'm about, I have like a six-hour eating window. So I'm about 18-6, pretty average. Okay.
unknown 48:50
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 48:50
And you stop eating. So this is also kind of just chatting about your circadian rhythm as well, if we talk about that. So are you a fan of not eating by the time that it gets dark, you're done? Yes. And this is because our bodies are wired with our bodies basically synced with our circadian rhythm. So can we talk a little bit about that? Do you want to jump into just a little bit of a description of what that means?
SPEAKER_01 49:13
Yeah, it's it's just our body's biological, it ebbs and flows all day. And it's supposed to, cortisol is supposed to rise, it's supposed to go back down.
SPEAKER_02 49:21
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 49:21
Uh melatonin. If you if you're seeing the sunlight in the morning, it tells your body, oh, in about 12 hours, we're gonna need to bring in some melatonin. So all day our body's getting these instructions from the universe, from the light, from the sunlight, from the exposure we have to our phones, it's getting information all day. So if we can control it and help it stay in a natural pattern as much as possible, our body's going to react a lot better to that.
SPEAKER_02 49:48
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 49:49
So if we're shutting off our eating when it gets dark outside, our body doesn't want to be digesting when it's dark outside. Our body's wanting to shut down, give it what it wants. So, especially if you've eaten enough during the day, yeah, it's very safe and very wise to shut down your eating window because your melatonin's not going to come in if your body's still trying to digest everything. Yeah. Your blood sugars through the roof. So you want that melatonin to come in. You want it to be able to help you fall asleep, help you stay asleep. Yes. So I it's very important to pay attention to that circadian rhythm. It will help with your sleep. So a lot of people just ignore it. So if we pay attention, give our body what it needs, let it ebb and flow as it wants to, we're going to get better sleep quality. So and that you know, that
Tracking Nutrition for Success
SPEAKER_01 50:40
of course, there's so there's so many things we can talk about. The blue light, how it stimulates, turns off your melatonin, you start I I waking up at night because your blood sugar is like there's so many things that go into that. But I I think protecting protecting that rhythm that your body naturally wants to be in and taking the steps to do that is important.
SPEAKER_00 51:04
I love that. And also just having that mindset of experimenting and seeing what works for you, um, and not getting stuck in a rut of doing the same thing every day, because that's the other thing I find. A lot of women that say to me, Oh, I fast 16, 8, done. That's me, done. That's what I do. And I'm like, Well, maybe just play around with it, and especially then if you're throat, if you're throwing training into the equation and I'm asking you to lift a little bit heavier weights and you have no energy, maybe you need to kind of dial the fasting back a little bit and then just see how you feel. But be open to exploring and not saying, Well, this is what I do. Well, that doesn't exist. You need to just try different things, definitely.
SPEAKER_01 51:40
Yes, and our body changes too. Yeah. When I first started this journey, I it was really important that I brought down my my blood sugar and that I really I had to really pull back my carbohydrates.
SPEAKER_02 51:52
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 51:52
Now my body, I can handle triple the amount of carbohydrates that actually helps to fuel my muscle and my workout.
SPEAKER_02 51:59
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 52:00
So my body's changed. If I would have stayed with that, there's no, there's no reason to stay. My body changed. My hormones changed. So we've got we've got to be able to make those adjustments.
SPEAKER_00 52:10
Yeah. And now, and again, like when we get back to the whole muscle equation, the more muscle you have, the the the more equipped your body is to handle carbohydrates because it's using it for muscle glycogen. So, you know, that's another reason to kind of focus on building muscle that you can be more flexible about what you eat. So that makes life more
Understanding Metabolic Health and Aging
SPEAKER_00 52:30
fun in general, really. So exactly.
SPEAKER_01 52:32
I never thought I would have this relationship with food. Like I it's such freedom to not be so obsessed every minute with what because my body can handle so much more now. I never, I never thought I'd be able to eat 2,000, 2200 calories a day and not have to think twice about it. Yes, it's such a better way to live without the mental freedom that you get.
SPEAKER_00 52:59
Now, now freedom because you can eat more and you can enjoy your food and you can be a bit more flexible if you go out with friends, or you know, it's not gonna, it's not gonna be the end of the world because you have your lifestyle, this is how you train, this is what you do. But can we talk a little bit about tracking? Because that again some sometimes can be a very sore topic. And I mean, I've I've spent most of I don't know, I don't know, for the last 10 years tracking my food. It's just something I do. I love data as well, so I love being able to go, oh, last year I was eating more carbs, this year I'm eating, you know, more fat, or I don't know, it's all information. But I think a lot of women look at tracking as a stick to beat themselves over the head with, and it's really just information, but it depends on which kind of lens you look at it through. But I think tracking is massively valuable too, and I think um specific specifically with protein, how will you know how much protein you're eating if you're not tracking your food? I don't know which other way you would know. Especially when first starting out.
SPEAKER_01 53:59
Like you could probably stop tracking right now and you would probably still, I bet, I bet you could get it within within 10 grams. Like you would know because you've done it for long enough. So I think that that's I think that's a healthy place for people to get to. Track long enough that you learn. You learn what's in food, you learn what makes you feel better, and then you can put it aside if you want. Some people enjoy, and I I still I went a long time and didn't didn't track, but I've been for the last little bit been been tracking really, really tightly. Well, I've been competing. So I've had to kind of had to kind of see, but it is I I'm just like you. I love the data. So I love looking back in pictures and say, oh, when I was really, when I was really pumped and like showing some good shoulders, oh, I was eating this. More calls. I love that data. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But if it becomes, if it becomes a an unhealthy place for you, like the skill can be, then you need to learn. You need to learn what you're feeling your body with, but then set it aside. And women who struggle with that, I at least want them to know their protein intake. Yes. So if they're like, I hate tracking, makes me feel horrible. I feel guilty. If I like just do your protein then, track your protein, learn, learn what use the eyeball method, like get as close as you can. Yeah. Yeah. So you at least know you're getting your protein and then and then set it aside. And that's just we're all we're all women who enjoy different things. You gotta do what works for you, yeah, or else it's not gonna stick. It's gotta be sustainable. What do we lifestyle you can do?
SPEAKER_00 55:36
So find a lot of it. It has to be sustainable. But I think the thing that I, for me personally, the biggest difference tracking made that I was fine, I was finally able to achieve my goals. And when I say goals, I'm talking about body composition. So, and that mostly would be because I was tracking my protein, but I was also eating more than I had before, and it scared me, it scared the living daylights out of me. But but the difference between eating so little food that your body actually is basically just surviving because you're so close to your basal metabolic rate, which is really the calories you need to be sitting on the sofa all day and survive. But when you're so close to that level, your body has nothing else to work with. So understanding that you have to eat more, if your goal is to build some muscle or even just maintain the muscle you have as you get older, the whole notion of just you know, eating less and moving more, it's probably the worst strategy out there. And also for women over 40 in particular, I mean, why is that such a bad strategy, would you say? The eat less, move more for women over 40. Well, everything's gonna backfire.
SPEAKER_01 56:40
You're you're if you're not getting enough fat, like your hormones are gonna be, they're already falling off a cliff. They're gonna tank even harder. You're gonna feel horrible mentally. Like your libido's out the door, and with your libido goes your drive for everything else. I uh just nothing good is going to come out of not getting the nutrients your body needs. Your hair's gonna start falling out, you're gonna lose your bone density. I mean, nothing good is going to come out of restricting that heart. Nothing. And I don't think women, that's why and you hit the nail on the head. I don't think they realize how little they're eating and how what they're asking their body to do. So when when they start to see that, oh wow, I thought I was eating more than that. It's uh, I think very eye-opening because then you can really start to support your body. If you want to age well, you've got to fuel your body well. And and it used to be like uh, I only ate 500 calories today, you know, and you go to bed feeling so proud of yourself because you had a good food day. Now I'm the opposite. Yeah, I go to bed, I'm like, dude, did I eat enough? I worked so hard for this muscle. Like, I I I better be in enough to keep this muscle because I worked damn hard for it.
SPEAKER_00 57:52
That's I love that so much. You work so hard to build the muscle, you have to maintain it. Like that's that's the most important thing. Because yes, none of us want to be frail old ladies. We want to be carrying our own shopping, we want to be doing our own stuff. Like, you have to just you have to change your mindset. And I'm I'm always really excited to get women to that point where they understand that it's no longer about yes, the aesthetics are important, of course. We all want to look good, but this is about longevity, this is about visualizing you at the age of 18, going, what does she look like? Is she independent? Can she, you know, move freely? Is she still able to go for a hike? Or, you know, and all of these things won't happen if you don't have muscle and it's and a strong bone structure.
SPEAKER_01 58:32
Um whether we like it or not, you know, people say, I only care about what luckily, aesthetics go with like if you look like you have muscle, you probably have muscle. And so my kid. Yeah. So you're
Introducing 'Metabolic Me' and Its Pillars
SPEAKER_01 58:50
probably doing you're probably doing okay. So you can tell from looking from the outside in, even though no one wants to admit it, you can tell if a person, if a person is fit and they're doing if someone has muscle, that means the other systems in their body are probably working well because their body's working well enough to put on muscle. It's got some extra things for your body.
SPEAKER_00 59:14
Yeah, that's amazing. I love that. Um, so I mean, we've we've we've talked about why muscle is the holy grail for insulin sensitivity. And I hope that makes sense. If you're listening to this, I hope it's giving you some insight into that. Um, but so ultimately, um, we've talked about tracking as well, which is great. But so let's talk a little bit about your book. Um, so you talk about, we've talked about the circadian health anyway, but one of the circadian health is one of the pillars in metabolic me. Um, do you want to chat a little bit about the book and what it's about and as a guide, what it provides, women?
SPEAKER_01 59:49
So I what this book is is pretty much so when I first started coaching, which I don't do as much one-on-one coaching right now, I just don't have the capacity for other projects are on the are on the rise. But I I there was six pillars that I felt were really important. And and uh they all have to do with metabolic health and being as metabolically healthy as possible. And these were the these were the six things that I felt accomplished that. So getting rid of sugar. Uh I mean not completely, but at first, like people, you've got to dive in and get your body functioning, burning the fuel sources it needs to. So that putting on muscle, so the muscle-centric, everything is geared, everything I do is geared toward putting on muscle because you're gonna be more metabolically healthy. Yeah, you're gonna be cognitively more healthy. Your your disease prevention skyrockets. So, so all of these things have to do with with functional health. So these six pillars thought this would just be so much easier, like in a book. And then if someone doesn't even want, they don't want coaching, they want to try and tackle it on their own. Here you go. And it gives you, yeah, there's there's two-week, there's goals to help you kind of line up online, learn these processes, start implementing a little bit at a time. And by and by the end of that, of that three months, you you have some really great tools that if you're sticking to it, you should be feeling so much better and looking so much better. So if those two things go hand in hand, people kind of get the fire to keep going. So that's really where that where that book came from and why it turned into a workbook. So people can just do it on their own. If of course it's nice to have a coach if you have questions, you have someone to be accountable to, but you don't, you don't this will give you the tools if you really follow it that that you don't have to have a coach. So that's where that came from.
SPEAKER_00 1:01:49
It's amazing as well. And I, you know, again, like even if you're not the kind of person you think, oh, I don't know if I'll be able to stick to it, but if you have that guide to hand, you can work through it at your own pace. You can learn as you go. And I'm all about women educating themselves and advocating for themselves and understanding how certain things work. And when it comes to things like biohacking, which is really just a fancy way of saying simple ways to hack your biology, and these aren't like you know, hacking your sleep, that's literally one thing, and which we know is the most important thing of all. But it doesn't have to be complicated. And I think having a guide like that is a good starting point for someone who's completely new to, you know, metabolism and understanding what is actually happening inside your body.
SPEAKER_01 1:02:32
Well, for uh it's too hard to just reply or just rely on willpower
Final Thoughts on Muscle, Nutrition, and Sleep
SPEAKER_01 1:02:36
if you have the knowledge behind it, you know what you're I'm eating this because it does this. Yes, it makes for me that helps me. So that's what I I assume other women it will help them too. Yeah understanding why we are doing what we're doing, not just doing it to do it.
SPEAKER_00 1:02:53
Exactly, exactly. And so the book is on sale on Amazon or anywhere or on Amazon, any anywhere you can order books.
SPEAKER_01 1:03:02
You can you can get it. But yeah, Amazon's probably the easiest. Fantastic. And it's called Metabolic Me. I love that. Yes, thanks for bringing that up.
SPEAKER_00 1:03:10
I forget about that book all the time. I love it. Um, okay, so in terms of I think we've talked a lot about you know biohacking for beginners. I think the biggest biohack you can do is to put on some muscle. Let's start with that. Like, you know, eat your protein, put your muscles on, yeah, try and limit or reduce your sugar, and then you know, fasting is a natural way where you'll give your body a break. Um, and actually, I think for me personally as well, like fasting helped me to get rid of a lot of my cravings. Yes. And making sure that I was eating enough fat. You know, I went through a period, I was keto for probably about three years, 2017 to 2020. Um, and that was an interesting experience. However, I lost a lot of muscle and hadn't quite realized the effect that eating 80% fat today wouldn't really leave a lot of mm room for protein. Yeah. But you don't know, you don't know. So it was an interesting experience, and I took a lot of that mindset with me into um, you know, where I now am a lot more open to fat and being quite liberal with fat. And I always say to women, try and stay stay clear of the low fat options because it'll just be riddled with sugar to compensate for the taste. Yeah, they thought they thought it was something else. Absolutely. And it tastes like something separate. Yeah, exactly. Um but yeah, so I I think we've covered so much today. It's been amazing talking to you. And um, forever. We are on so much of the same page. I love it. Yeah, definitely. It's incredible. I love it. Um, so just if we ended on, I think one thing, you know, if MNB40 podcast listeners do just one thing after listening to this episode to help improve their insulin sensitivity, and I already know what you're gonna say. What would it be?
SPEAKER_01 1:05:03
Now I want to say something different. Now I want to throw you off. Especially, especially through menopause, you need to intentionally move in a way that you're going to put on muscle. So spending all of your time doing all of this car, it's great. Yes, get out and move. That's I I'm never gonna do the exercise you love to do. But you're going to be able to so if you love running, if you just love that's fine. Maybe replace it just a couple days with lifting heavy and go ahead, keep keep your run, but also feel your body in a way that will support that muscle. So I would say that is the easiest. And you gotta sleep. You got to sleep. You have to. You have to muscle one bull without sleep. Yes, you've got to sleep. And just as far as blood sugar, like if I I slept three and a half hours through the night, we had a late flight the next day. I had I been wearing a CGM, I know would have said that I was a diabetic because you're starving. Yeah, yeah. Your cortisol is through the roof, so then your blood sugar's through the roof, then your insulin's through the roof. Like it's just just one day of that, what that did to me. I'm these women who are living day to day to day like this and just not letting their bodies recover, like that's just a horrific trap that a cage you get yourself into with no key. So you've got to start. None of this is gonna work if you're not sleeping, honestly.
SPEAKER_00 1:06:35
Yeah, you've got to sleep. Exactly. I love that. That is a great note to end on because I always talk about sleep. Um, thank you so much for joining me. It's been an absolute pleasure. Um, where can people find you?
SPEAKER_01 1:06:49
Instagram. So I'm funk f unc, so functional, f-n-c underscore health. That's where I am most of the time. Uh I'm on TikTok a little bit, and and I should probably keep my website updated a little bit more. If you want to get a hold of, but really, Instagram's where I am most of the time.
SPEAKER_00 1:07:12
Amazing.
SPEAKER_01 1:07:13
Well, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00 1:07:15
It was such a I am so glad I found you as well. And I absolutely love your content. I love the realness. And if you go and follow Maggie, you'll be as hooked as I am. So um, but thank you so much for today's chat. It's been so much fun. And um, yeah, stay tuned for the next episode. And if you've enjoyed this one, like and subscribe, hit the comment section with any questions, and we will see you in the next episode. Alright, we got just stunning, such a pleasure. I feel like we need to do one more NUX. Yeah, Nux. Wow. I don't know about you, but I'm walking away from that conversation with Maggie, feeling so incredibly inspired, validated, and ready to pick up some heavy weights. If there's one major takeaway from today's episode, it's this. Stop starving your body on low calories and punishing it with endless cardio. Your body over 40 doesn't need less support, it needs more of the right ingredients, so more protein, more muscle, and a real understanding of your blood sugar. You are not broken. Your metabolism is just waiting for you to change the strategy. If Maggie's story resonated with you today, please do me a huge favor. Head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave us a five-star review. It literally takes less than 30 seconds, but it helps me to get this very small show to grow and get discovered by more women just like you who need to hear this exact message. And all of Maggie's links, including her fantastic workbook, Metabolic Me, are waiting for you right down in the show notes. I'm Anneli, this is Mind and Muscle Beyond 40. Thank you so much for spending your valuable time with me today. Keep lifting heavy, keep fueling that beautiful body, and I will see you in the next episode.