Menopause Boosters vs. Disruptors

Menopause Boosters vs. Disruptors

Getting older means often what used to work no longer does.

And especially with the hormonal changes of menopause, you can’t just keep training and eating the way you always have.

Frustrating?

Sure.

But we’ve got to face reality.

And the more we embrace this and the faster we adjust, the more we realize how many symptoms of menopause are actually within our power to control.

Now if you’re thinking…

But I train so hard…

I eat so clean…

That doesn’t mean you don’t have some boosters and disruptors in your diet that need to be addressed if you want to look, feel and move your best.

Yup.

Look, feel and move like your most fabulous fit self…

Because adjusting our diet isn’t just about fitting back into those slacks that have been hanging in our closet gathering dust because that top button just won’t close…

Nope!

Nutritional changes don’t just have an impact on weight loss or muscle gains…

Addressing those boosters and disruptors in our diet can help alleviate those hot flashes that make you want to stick your head in a bucket of ice…

…Or the aches and pains that make you feel like you’re a 1000 years old just getting up off the couch…

…Or the fatigue you feel that makes you feel like a zombie that could power through two family sized bags of candy in one sitting and still go back to sleep…

Our nutrition, and the adjustments we make can have a huge impact.

Which is why I remind clients, you can’t stop menopause…

But you CAN focus on controlling what you can control…and how you fuel is just one of those things you have so much power over!

So let me go over what boosters and disruptors are before I cover some common foods and lifestyle habits in each category.

I’ll then give you tips to help make adjustments to find your balance!

WHAT ARE BOOSTERS AND DISRUPTORS?

The foods we consume can have either a positive or negative impact on the results we get and how we feel.

This isn’t as simple as clean or dirty, healthy or unhealthy.

Because you may find that you develop intolerances to healthy foods you used to include.

Like this sparkling water you used to drink and enjoy now leads to excess gas and bloating during menopause because of the changes to our GI system that can occur. 

This doesn’t mean we just have to eliminate all of the things we love, BUT it is why we need to be aware of what may be a booster or disruptor to be able to balance everything out.

Boosters are foods and behaviors that can help improve the symptoms of menopause.

Disruptors on the other hand are foods and behaviors that can exacerbate menopausal symptoms and have a negative effect on overall health.

During menopause, you have to think of this scale as automatically skewed toward the disruptor side. Our hormones aren’t working for us like they did when we were younger.

When we’re younger, we can get away with a ton of improper practices. Of course these are part of why we tend to struggle to see results as we get older…

But the point is…they work at the time.

A weeklong Summer vacation filled with pina coladas, margaritas, chips and all the BBQ we can find could be counteracted with an extra gym session or two the next week. 

But now…

Well now you look at a cookie and your pants no longer close. 

It seems like we have to work three times as hard to see worse results.

And this is why paying attention to our booster-disruptor balance is so key.

So the more we can focus on boosters in our diet, the more we counteract the inflammation, brain fog and insulin resistance we may have found appear with menopause.

Now the more disruptors we have in our diet, the worse those symptoms become and the more we even knock the scale completely out of balance.

Of course your brain probably right now is automatically jumping to a ton of foods you know aren’t the best for you…

And you’re thinking, “BUT…I don’t want to cut out these things! I love them!” 

Just because something is a booster, doesn’t mean it needs to be included. Just like just because something is a disruptor doesn’t mean we have to avoid it.

We may find specific foods have more or less of an impact.

And the dose makes the “poison” so to speak. 

You may find that your cup of morning coffee doesn’t interrupt your sleep, but a sip more of caffeine after 10 am and you’re up up all night.

The key is finding our balance through small additions of boosters and elimination or reduction in those disruptors.

Ok so now I want to share some fundamental boosters and disruptors that I feel have the biggest, farthest reaching impact not only on how we feel but also how we look while being the overall easiest changes to make to our diet.

When it comes to the most powerful boosters these things are those unsexy, boring basics…

So stop avoiding them searching for a magic food that will cure all your problems.

If there was one, trust me I’d be happy to share it.

But these boosters are protein, water and omega-3s.

You may be groaning to yourself thinking, “Ugh. I know I should increase my protein and water but it’s sooooo freaking hard!”

Well let me let you in on the easiest way to create these habits…

Start by stacking small changes…

Like even just making sure you’re getting 20 grams of protein at breakfast or in your first meal of the day. Find one small change that is not only closer to what you’re doing currently but also something you can do EARLY ON in your day. 

Because when something isn’t a priority, we aren’t going to do it the more worn out we get. The more other priorities press on us.

So if you aren’t finding yourself prioritizing protein, start by adding just a little bit more to that very first meal of your day!

Because increasing protein is one of the BEST things we can do for ourselves to feel our most fabulous in menopause. 

During menopause, and as we get older, we are less able to utilize protein as efficiently. But protein keeps all of the tissues of our body, including our brain, health and strong!

So we need more if we want to function optimally and even look and feel younger!

By increasing our protein portion at each meal, we can create that optimal environment for muscle growth…mimicking what we naturally had when we were younger and didn’t even give protein a thought. 

This muscle mass retention and even growth helps us stay functionally more fit to conquer any challenges that come our way while also being metabolically magical.

It can help us lose that stubborn fat that our body seems to believe it needs to not sink during menopause…like a floaty around our middle in the deep end. 

Protein also improves our bone health, recovery and even our hormonal balance. Yup…it directly fights against those hormones going haywire!

It can be especially key to help regulate insulin. During menopause we can become more likely to develop insulin resistance and even type 2 diabetes.

A focus on protein helps us reduce our risk and even balance our blood sugar levels to manage mood swings and improve our energy levels.

So even if you don’t care about rocking that tank to say “suns out guns out,” you need to be increasing your protein to feel extra fabulous.

And as you increase your protein, you’ll want to stack on the habit of increasing your water.

Maybe you even set that water bottle out by the coffee machine to drink your water as you brew your coffee and prep your protein rich breakfast! 

Because not only does water help with the digestion of protein and assist in better fat loss (it plays a key role in the lipolysis process!) 

But as we go through menopause we may notice that we become drier…

Our joints become creekier and we may feel like the tinman…

And our skin and eyes may sometimes feel like all of the moisture was just sucked out of them the second after our last sip of water.

Improper hydration can hinder our recovery and well…make us look older and more wrinkled…which is actually the opposite of what most of us want…

Most of us feel like extra wrinkles are really only cute on those adorable little dogs! 

Now you may be thinking “But I don’t FEEL thirsty ever! So how can my hydration be the problem?”

This weird phenomenon is due to the fact that as we get older we lose our bodies’ natural thirst cues.

So you may not feel thirsty, you may be drinking a decent amount of water and still need MORE currently! 

And then as you increase your water and protein, don’t fear fats.

Fats do not make you fat, and increase your fat intake, specifically your Omega-3 intake may not only help you look leaner, look leaner but also keep your heart, brain and skin healthier as you go through menopause.

Getting more omega-3s can help reduce the increased inflammation that often occurs with menopause and negatively impacts our sleep, recovery and even muscle gains.

So increasing our omega-3 intake can improve our recovery and joint health, not to mention there have even been some recent interesting studies showing that omega-3s may lead to better strength and muscle building results from our training.

So consider including even an omega-3 source stacked in that breakfast, maybe in the form of smoked salmon on your eggs or even chia seeds in your antioxidant rich, berry packed smoothie (with some greek yogurt for that protein boost!)! 

You may find even just stacking in these 3 boosters starts to positively impact your symptoms.

But if you’re making these changes and feel like you can still see more improvements, you may want to address some disruptors in your lifestyle as well…

If you’re getting nervous that I’m about to shame you and tell you to cut out all of the things you love…you’d be wrong.

While two of these disruptors will come as no surprise, you don’t have to eliminate them.

And probably jumping right to eliminating them completely will only backfire.

Instead, decide to maybe reduce your intake by a serving. Or eliminate the easiest one first.

Or even just set an experiment for yourself to remove them for 14-21 days and see how you feel. If it helps and feels worth it, great! 

If not, slowly introduce them and see at what dose they go from ok to poison!

So first on the disruptor list…DUN DUN DUUUUUN

Is alcohol.

You know that nightly glass of wine that you feel makes you sleep better? 

It doesn’t.

Alcohol has a negative impact on our sleep, recovery, fat loss, muscle gains, inflammation…

Yes even your glass of wine you don’t really drink, but tell yourself you drink, for the antioxidants. 

Alcohol is a toxin…at every age.

And it can have a bigger impact on our symptoms of menopause, even making night sweats worse.

Alcohol is its own macro and has a high thermic effect, which means it can raise our body temperature. 

So if you’re really consistently drinking alcohol, even in moderation but seriously OVER the symptoms of menopause, this single disruptor can outweigh a ton of boosters.

Consider cutting out just one serving of alcohol from your week this next week!

Now this next disruptor may have even more loyal daily drinkers, and just as many connoisseurs….

Coffee or more specifically caffeine.

Caffeine is part of a viscous cycle…

Menopause leads to poopy sleep.

Poopy nights of sleep make us want coffee to function even more. Coffee and the caffeine we consume to function ends up making it harder for us to get that quality sleep. And around we go. 

To break that vicious cycle, we may have to tell ousrelves to “Suck it up buttercup” and embrace one very horrible no good very bad day.

We may also not want to go cold turkey, but start by reducing our caffeine intake a serving at a time.

Or we may even first start by adjusting when we drink it, making sure we drink it only at the start of our day.

But being aware of this cycle, even if we didn’t feel that caffeine used to impact our sleep, can be key.

Again, our body is changing and what used to slide may no longer work.

I also want to mention the impact of caffeine because it is tempting to turn to pre-workouts and even fat burners as we not only struggle to feel motivated to do our workouts but become increasingly frustrated when our hard work in the gym doesn’t pay off.

Here we don’t even want to workout yet we’re making ourselves at times only to not see those results snowball! 

But those fat burners and pre-workout drinks will not only make symptoms worse, they often backfire further.

So don’t dig yourself more of a hole you’re going to have to crawl out of. Stick with adjusting those macros and fueling well as you meet yourself where you’re at with your training.

Now this final disruptor isn’t anything unhealthy.

It’s actually something many of us not only enjoy but include for its metabolism boosting properties…

It’s spicy foods, like hot sauces!

Spicy foods, or foods with capsaicin, are something that can be added to our diets for extra flavor as we may be looking to lean down and boost our metabolism even that 1%. 

And there is nothing wrong with including hot sauces BUT we do want to note that even these “little” things can make certain symptoms worse.

While this disruptor may not be something you eliminate, especially as you add a booster….

If you’re having horrible hot flashes that make you feel like you’re sweating worse than that meme all over social media… 

You may want to recognize that those spicy dishes you love are only making things worse.

Track and see if symptoms flare up more after meals with spice.

If they do, you may cut back on the spice at least for a little bit, until the symptoms calm down.

The key is recognizing all of the boosters and disruptors you’re consuming to be able to adjust by adding where you can, and reducing where you need.

FINDING YOUR BALANCE:

Because it truly is all about finding YOUR balance.

Each of these boosters and disruptors will have a different weight for us.

So we may find that an addition of a big booster, or one that really addresses our deficiencies, has an impact to balance things out.

While we may find by adding a smaller booster as we reduce a disruptor creates the balance right for us.

So don’t just feel like you now can’t have things you love or have to overwhelm yourself with changes.

Start small and realize that you’re in control and can truly manage your menopausal experience to move and feel your best.

You are not doomed!

To learn more about your boosters and disruptors…

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The Best Bodyweight Exercise (Everyone Hates)

The Best Bodyweight Exercise (Everyone Hates)

Unpopular opinion…

I think Burpees are underrated.

You may be like, “WHAAAAT!? I see burpees in everything. They’re overdone!”

And while I agree they can be overused, misused and simply put in a workout just to make it harder…

I also think they aren’t given their due credit for being more than just a hard move, but an amazing full-body cardio move to improve your mind-body connection and functional fitness.

Burpees are an exercise that too often don’t get enough respect for being a move that has to be EARNED, but that can, and should, also be done in some form at EVERY age.

Yup…EVERY age…

That’s why in this video I want to explain WHY burpees can be so valuable to do even as we get older, but also why this move can be such a challenge and how we can break it down and modify it to fit our needs and goals!

And if you’re right now shaking your head saying, “NOPE! Burpees aren’t for me!”

I’d urge you to hear me out on WHY they can be so beneficial and then check out the modifications I share!

So…how and why are burpees so beneficial to include?

I’ll be the first to admit…I don’t like burpees.

They stink.

They’re hard.

They’re uncomfortable. 

They never seem to get easier…especially if we do them correctly with intention and focus.

And because they are a very advanced move, I’m very careful with how I program them into progressions for clients.

They are a complicated, full-body, explosive movement.

They challenge your mind-body connection, requiring you to perform multiple joint actions and engage muscle groups down your entire body efficiently in sequence to move quickly and powerfully.

Lose tension in one area and your burpee looks like the worm. Your push up becomes a belly flop. 

And not only do they require a strong mind-body connection and great full body strength and stability, they also require more MOBILITY than we realize.

To be able to jump your feet fully in close enough to your hands to jump up at the top, requires more hip and even ankle mobility than we recognize! 

But what makes them a hard and complicated movement we need to often regress to progress and truly EARN, is also what makes them a valuable exercise that I want every client to build up to as much as possible.

Breaking down the burpee to build up this movement will help you improve your ability to recruit muscles correctly quickly.

It will help you be able to engage muscles throughout your body in sequence to perform functional everyday activities that have us squatting and reaching and bracing all at once.

It will teach you to brace and stabilize while still reacting quickly.

And it will help you maintain the mobility to get down and up easily off the ground. 

While you may never do the exact burpee movement in every day life, it can really help us build functional strength through the fact we ask our body to do so many things as once and quickly.

That ability to engage things to stabilize and power movement FAST is what helps us react in everyday life to stay injury free and functionally fit.

It helps us react quickly to catch that glass when it gets knocked off the table.

To avoid slipping and falling when we trip on the curb.

It’s all about that mind-body connection.

And burpees are exceptional at helping us build that.

They are also a great move to improve our conditioning, especially when we are short on time. Working so many areas at once with this fast paced movement is going to get your blood pumping. And even just intervals of 20 seconds of work can be killer!

And while this may sound weird…

They even help us become more comfortable being uncomfortable which is truly invaluable to growth in life and success.

This ability to be comfortable being uncomfortable helps us conquer new challenges, which builds confidence. And the more confident we become, the more we will embrace learning and growth and rock those results as we get older!

Now if you’re starting to be sold on burpees and considering adding them in, you need to make sure you’ve truly EARNED the full variation.

And just because you can “do” a burpee, doesn’t mean that full variation is right for you…YET.

If your burpees look sloppy, like you’re a fish kind of flopping out of the water on dry land, it’s time to check your ego and regress. 

Build that core stability. Build that strength.

Build that mobility.

Regress to progress!

Get everything truly working together efficiently so you aren’t just working harder with this move, but actually seeing amazing full-body strength and conditioning gains from it!

So…How Can We Break Down And Modify The Burpee?

I want to break down some key modifications for this move based on some reasons why the burpee is so challenging….

Starting with the fact that it requires more mobility than we recognize.

Challenge #1: I don’t have the mobility to easily get down into the plank and stand back up.

I love using a bench or low box for clients starting out who may not yet have the mobility to easily step or jump back into a high plank and stand back up.

If you notice when you do burpees that you don’t put your hands flat on the ground or you can’t jump your feet in close enough to your hands to easily shift your weight back and stand up, using a bench or box will help. 

The incline helps create more “space” so you can more easily jump or step your feet into your hands.

This modification can also be key if you struggle with challenge #2…

Challenge #2: You don’t have the core stability or upper body strength.

The incline can also help reduce the resistance or load on your upper body and core as you move into that plank position and perform the push up.

Because the burpee shouldn’t be a belly flop onto the ground.

There should be a jump or step back into plank then a lower into a push up before you press back up and stand up.

By using an incline you modify the push up and plank, which can help you slow build that core and upper body strength.

As you build up, you can lower the incline slowly toward the ground, increasing the resistance and load on your upper body and core! 

And even starting out, if you don’t have a proper incline to use, try taking out the push up even and just focus on that nice plank position to start. Or even consider a knee push up variation. 

But focus not only on moving quickly but also proper form with each component of the move.

I mention this because SPEED and moving quickly with exercises has to be earned!

Which brings me to Challenge #3: Not having the neuromuscular efficiency aka the speed or power.

We can move faster while performing a movement correctly because we’ve built up that mind-body connection.

And that takes time.

To start, you may need to step with the burpee over jumping. 

Or you may need to slow things down.

I know often we don’t want to do that with the burpee because we are using it as a cardio move.

This is why modifying it to allow ourselves to move quickly and get our blood pumping is key.

BUT always modifying may also be why you feel “stuck,” unable to progress to a harder variation.

Sometimes we also need to progress and slow things down.

Then as we master that new movement pattern, we can slowly speed things up!

So consider including both burpees slightly broken down into components as you build up, removing the push up or only doing a half burpee without the jump up while also taking time to do longer intervals of conditioning work where you can slow things down to focus on the full movement! 

Now the final challenge I want to address and help you work around is…

Challenge #4: Modifying around aches and pains.

I’m going to tell you right now, the burpee may not be right for you in the starting phases of rehab.

But your goal should ALWAYS be to build back and retrain whatever movement patterns and exercises you can.

The key is to find ways to reduce mobility or strength demands whenever possible in that rebuilding phase.

If you have a wrist injury, that may mean using a bench to reduce the load on your upper body.

It may mean slowing down to place your hands on dumbbells instead to keep a neutral wrist position. 

It may even mean using an incline to modify into a forearm plank as you step back. 

But you want to find ways to embrace the components of an exercise you can train while avoiding overload.

Same can be said for knee or hip injuries. 

Maybe you remove all jumping and instead step back. Or you even use sliders to reduce impact more. 

Maybe you use the incline to give yourself space so you don’t need as much hip or ankle mobility to step back up and stand up.

Or maybe you even do a bulldog variation to target those quads more while putting less stress on your core. 

Again it is about considering what you need to eliminate, but what you can still do in a move to use as much as possible!

While the burpee may not be right for you at your current fitness level or phase of rehab…

While it may not be right for you YET…

I think too often we just demonize moves or write them off over thinking…

“How can I regress to progress?”

“How can I build back?”

We don’t break moves down, slow down the speed and RETRAIN movement and recruitment patterns to function optimally…

We just AVOID.

And this doesn’t help us stay functionally fit till our final day on this planet.

It honestly puts us at greater risk for injury in everyday life!

The more we can retrain and the less we have to FEAR movements, the stronger and more independent we will be till our final day on this earth!

So if you’ve been just hating on burpees, avoiding them thinking they’re hard and pointless…

Think again!

Find ways to include this amazing move in your workout routine using my tips to modify around your challenges and see your strength and conditioning improve dramatically when you’ve earned this killer exercise!

Ready for some fun workouts that will challenge you no matter your fitness level?

Take your training to the next level with my Dynamic Strength Program.

–> LEARN MORE

FHP 618 – Intermittent Fasting – worth it or not?

FHP 618 – Intermittent Fasting – worth it or not?

LISTEN HERE

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WATCH HERE

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TRANSCRIPT

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OPEN TRANSCRIPT

Cori (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating or even better share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone. So let’s jump right in.

(00:29):
Let’s talk intermittent fasting, whether you’ve considered seven day water fast because they become popular recently. A doing more intermittent fasting with a longer fast and shorter eating window on a day five and two. All the different options out there. We want to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. So welcome Michelle. Let’s dive into what is intermittent fasting in general.

Michelle (00:52):
So the biggest thing with intermittent fasting is it’s really just about the timing of when you eat. It’s not really necessarily changing your eating behavior as far as your diet goes, but actually the eating behavior of when you’re going to eat versus when you’re not going to eat. And a lot of times people like to couple multiple diets on top of it, but when it comes to intermittent fasting, the simplest form of it is just restricting when your eating windows are.

Cori (01:22):
And you can do a lot of different eating windows as I mentioned already. It could be that you skip breakfast and have that shorter eating window each day and a longer extended time without eating. So like 16, eight, it can be full days, it can be many extended days. But I love that you brought up that intermittent fasting isn’t a diet. We really do talk about it like it’s a diet, but it is a meal timing that can be implemented with so many different ways of eating, whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, paleo, even carnivore, and on top of that it can be used with a variety of different macros. Now we’re going to dive into some of the benefits. The downside is who it works best for. I do want to start though with the fact that all of this really depends and you have to experiment with what works for you because ultimately whether you hit your macros or not is going to make the biggest impact. Correct. So we can’t use this to restrict our eating too much or we’re going to end up binging later. We can’t sort of out fast our macros. There has to be that underlying macro focus to make the meal timing really work for us. Can you go over a little bit about that, the fundamentals of it?

Michelle (02:28):
Yeah, so when it comes down to it, this really is just a tool and it’s a tool that can help some people be able to have some calorie restriction. If they happen to really struggle during certain times during the day where they overconsume calories, having a more shut off time can allow them to be like, okay, I know that these are my times that I typically overdo things. I’m going to stop eating here and that will keep me from over consuming calories. And then there’s that benefit of, or I should say, but you have to couple it with healthy eating. This does not mean that you have an excuse to binge during that time period that you’re allowed to eat, nor does it mean that we are consuming less during that window. You still need to consume the same amount of calories and the same amount of macro just possibly in a shorter window

Cori (03:22):
And diving into some of the research and what it shows. I do just want to preface this with the fact that a lot of these different things can be accomplished in a lot of different ways. Just like you don’t have to eat one specific food to get micronutrients. There are a lot of foods that have those micros. Intermittent fasting can help you accomplish these benefits. And if it’s right for you, which we’ll sort of dive into as well, what might make it right for you, what might make it wrong for you? The upsides downsides again mentioned that. I just want to say as much as the research can be positive, we can think these things can be beneficial. There are other ways to do it if this doesn’t feel right for you. So experimentation is also always key. Diving into the research, what have been some of the benefits shown of intermittent fasting?

Michelle (04:02):
So some of the biggest benefits have been improved metabolic syndrome, so that’s like multiple facets. So that’s lowering blood pressure, lowering triglyceride levels, being able to reduce some of that waste circumference. It’s shown that we can really target some of that fat on our abdominal. We’re also looking at, of course decreasing the risk of obesity. But some things that are a little bit more unique to intermittent fasting itself compared to other items is that it does show an increase in cellular autophagy, so you actually have more cellular turnover, which is a good thing especially for women as we age. Sometimes that kind of slows down and it’s not going to be a night and day difference, but if you are promoting cellular turnover, you can actually improve your skin. And sometimes those wrinkles, some more of those superficial aspects that sometimes we do kind of stress about as we age. So there’s definitely some positives. And another big thing is it does show a decrease in inflammation that can actually lower risk and slow down both the aging process but progression of diseases as well.

Cori (05:11):
And if someone were looking to implement intermittent fasting, what are some different options for them to use fasting to their benefits?

Michelle (05:19):
So it’s really going to come down to of course the windows, like you mentioned earlier, what is going to work for them and their lifestyle? If you are an active individual having a very restricted window that you do daily, like let’s say the 16 eight where you’re fasting for 16 hours, you’re eating for eight hours out of the day, which is really not, if you look at a normal eating pattern, that’s really not that extreme, right? You’re really just extending that period just so slightly. Most of us, we stop eating 12 hours, we are awake, we’re eating for 12 hours. So you’re just making those slight adjustments. And if you’re someone that trains in the morning, you’re doing training for something very specific, like if you were a marathon runner, an endurance athlete training for an Ironman, doing something like that where you’re fasting during those period, that’s probably not the best option for you.

(06:10):
But if you’re someone that has days that you train and days that you have more rest, you could potentially do a more five to two option where you have five days that are more regular, two days that you’re kind of implementing more of this fasting state. So it really is going to depend on you and what your activity level is, what you’re kind of doing and even where you are kind of in the life cycle as well. And to go into that a little bit more, it’s not going to be something that we’re going to recommend for pregnant women, lactating women, and I’m going to focus on the women specifically because men don’t have, quite frankly, men just don’t have as much going on as we do. But for women we are seeing that for perimenopause and menopausal women, they actually respond very well to intermittent fasting.

(06:57):
And it used to be that this was more of an unknown because all the research was actually done in men. So we were trying to force women into this eating pattern and what we have found is women who are having more pre meno and are having regular hormone fluctuations, they can have fasting if they’re taking it to an extreme. So we’re going past that 16 hour fasting period, we can actually affect our hormone or hormone production and our hormone levels. So that is something to kind of consider too is we do want to make sure that we are keeping our hormone levels regulated because that’s something we want. It’s not a good thing if all of a sudden our hormone production is being shut off and that is going to be something that will be affected if we are doing extreme levels. Now, if you’re doing something more like a regular eating window, you can and your exercise isn’t an extreme where you’re doing lots of endurance activity, lots of cardio, you can still probably implement intermittent fasting in a more easier ratio to follow.

Cori (08:07):
I love that you brought up earlier that intermittent fasting is a tool. I also like that you brought up that at different stages of our life we might find it’s more beneficial or less beneficial because it’s even with goals. If you’re training for a marathon and the timing of your workouts don’t work for it, it might not be as good. However, if you’re in that fat loss phase, maybe it’s better, but maybe if you’re transitioning to muscle gaining based on when you’re working out, it’s not as beneficial. And I say this as someone who I found intermittent fasting and loved it to start, I thought it was a great experience having that eating window, learning my actual hunger cues versus being very conditioned to eat at certain times and get hungry around those. So for me it was a way to learn to listen to my body and once I did it a little bit stricter at the start, I then was like, okay, this is when it works for me, this is when it doesn’t.

(08:49):
As my schedule changed, I even found that there were days I wasn’t doing it or periods in my life where I wasn’t doing it as much. It’s learning how this can impact you when it might be beneficial to experiment with having the experiment but not forcing it as well. And there are the different meal timings you might find that you are a person that is really good about hitting your macros during the week and on the weekends you let things go a little bit more. So maybe you do find that you even do a five and two where two of those days are the weekend days and during the week you do two lower calorie days where you have that extended fast and lower calories so that everything balances out and you can sort of balance out the higher calorie weekends a little bit or maybe you have that eating window because you do train in the afternoon and you can fast in the morning and that makes meal prep easier.

(09:34):
So there’s lots of different reasons to use these strategies to make something sustainable for us. We just want to make sure that the underlying nutrition is there and we’re following our macros. We’re really still tracking that calorie deficit. A lot of the times we ignore the fact that intermittent fasting does recommend really understanding the calories you’re consuming and we just think of it as the meal timing, but we also don’t want to force something that doesn’t work. If you’re trying to train in the morning and trying to fast the afternoon, that’s not going to be beneficial. No matter how much you say there are these benefits of it and research have shown great potential for it, it’s not going to work for you, it’s not going to be sustainable, you’re not going to be using it in the correct ways with your schedule. So you want to think about your schedule and what’s realistic for you and then recognize if you’re doing something that is detrimental, like if fasting till the afternoon is making you hungrier and you’re binging because of that, that’s not a good thing despite the benefits. Now going into who it really works for, who it doesn’t work for as well. I know there’s even some nuance based on health concerns that people have. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Michelle (10:30):
Yeah, so some people that this is not really recommended for is going to be anyone that is going to have any metabolic conditions. So diabetes where we do want to make sure that we’re eating more regularly or if you’re on medications that do of course require you to have food while you’re taking those medications, that’s going to obviously be more important than your eating window. So those are going to be some for instances why we wouldn’t recommend if. Now something that I think people sometimes kind of force into this eating habit, and you kind of touched on this a little bit is this is a tool, this is a meal timing tool. However, if you are looking at it as this is a fad diet that I’m going to do this until I hit X weight or I’m going to do this for this long before this vacation, this is not going to work for you.

(11:22):
And I say that and I would say that with any diet that you’re trying to incorporate, any eating behavior you’re trying to do, if you’re looking at an end date, this isn’t going to be sustainable because you’re already having your exit plan. But the issue is this is teaching you how to incorporate it continuously. If you’re only going to do it for a short amount of time and you get off of it, you haven’t learned to be able to maintain the progress that you have gotten with another tool or another method. So oftentimes if you’re doing this for a short period of time, just like any diet, anything out there, you will oftentimes rebound and usually overshoot where you were at before you even started and it’s really just because you’re like, oh, I’m done, I’ve done it, I’ve completed myself. Everything’s free game now.

(12:12):
And that’s the behavior that we see with anyone that’s going to incorporate any diet. So you need to look at this as you are going to do this forever. This is going to be something that you employ for the rest of your life. Now other people that I would highly discourage from ever doing this would be anyone that has a history of an eating disorder or even has some of those eating disorder behaviors. And I’m going to even specifically call out orthorexia here because so oftentimes it’s one of those conditions that people get praised for being healthy. They do things in the name of health, but if you are constantly thinking about your food, you’re stressed about your food, this is causing more stress in your life because all you can think about is when you are fasting is the food that you’re going to eat and it’s going to cause that obsessive behavior that’s not a good relationship with food.

(13:08):
For some people, like you mentioned, it allowed you to notice those hunger cues. It allowed you to be able to see those things and be able to improve your relationship with food. For others this could be detrimental and this is really the important thing. There’s tons of research out there on lots of different options that you can kind of do and not everyone fits in that box and intermittent fasting is definitely one of them. There’s lots of different ways that you can utilize this tool because there’s different eating patterns, but that doesn’t mean that you have to force yourself into that box if it’s not right for you.

Cori (13:43):
And when you mention using something long-term, it’s about designing systems that all work together based on our goals. It’s not that you will be doing intermittent fasting in one form for the rest of your life. It’s having the attitude though of what is this experiment? Why am I doing it? What’s the purpose? How does it work with everything else? Too often we just say, oh, this is a good thing and I’m going to try it without thinking about how it really impacts our lifestyle. And ultimately we were potentially designing something that is a short-term fix that doesn’t really teach us what we need to ultimately make lasting habit changes. So if you’re using this and you’re like, Hey, I don’t know if it’ll be long-term, that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be something where you’re like, I’m doing this for the rest of my life needs your goals, everything will change.

(14:23):
But you do have to go in being like, this is why I’m strategically using it. I’m using because it works with my schedule. I don’t like meal prepping for breakfast or hey, I like the five and two because the lower calorie days work with my days off and I’m not as hungry and they allow me more food flexibility on other days. The one thing we don’t want to do though is jump to that seven day water fast, which I’ve seen these really push. And the only reason I’m bringing this up is because so often the three day, the seven day fast are turned to not even just for health benefits or someone wanting to experiment with how they feel and wanting that challenge, but because they want to drop weight quicker on the scale. And I want to caution against this because a lot of times, well not a lot of times that is fake weight and what I mean by that is it’s true weight changes on the scale, but it’s glycogen depletion is water weight being lost?

(15:08):
It’s potentially even muscle being lost as much as it is fat and the second you rehydrate the second you refill those diodes stores afterwards, you’re going to gain some. So it’s not a quick fix as much as that scale might change very quickly. And if you’re not implementing and learning the good habits, which you could do with intermittent fasting windows of five and two, you are not ultimately making a change that’s going to sustain anything you even built up potentially during that time. So please don’t use this as a quick fix. Please use this as a strategy to learn more about your body and how you feel. Now I did want to touch on some of the side effects of it because anytime we make a dietary change whether or not it’s a change to macros to calories to meal timing, there is a response.

(15:46):
I can tell you personally when I first started intermittent fasting because I was very rigid on meal timings before I got a little hangry at times I felt a little off at times, but ultimately when I started to do that and get off of having these set meal times, I was so conditioned to them. Now there’s a lot more flexibility when I can eat and I don’t feel like I’m die if I don’t ride away. Can make the travel day a lot easier. But talk a little bit about the side effects that people might experience and when you really have to pay attention to ’em and say this is not just my body adapting to something new but something that means this really isn’t right for me.

Michelle (16:17):
Yeah, so very common side effects. Of course you already mentioned the one being irritable. So when we’re hungry, if we’re constantly thinking about food, we can be a little hangry and snap at people sometimes. And then of course there’s headaches, there’s nausea, there’s fatigue. So those are kind of the most common ones and typically your body’s going to adjust. Everyone is a little bit different because we adjust a little bit differently whenever we’re going to change that metabolic state. So it could be a little bit longer, it could be shorter, but if you are still experiencing these things after, if you’re going into it two weeks a month and you’re still having these issues, it may just not be a right tool for you to implement. And some big things that are really going to be issues if you are doing a workout and all of a sudden you are dizzy, you are seeing black spots, your vision is blurred, that is a major sign you need to eat and you need to get some specifically you need some carbs right away because it’s most likely that you have had a major drop. So this is something that we really want to pay attention to, especially if you are working out, again, it’s one thing to implement this, but it’s a whole other layer. If we’re adding workouts and depending on how long those workouts are, how hard you’re pushing yourself in those workouts, that’s going to also cause an adjustment to that meal timing or if you’re willing to move your workouts around. So that’s something to consider as you are if you’re looking into this as well.

Cori (17:47):
And even fasted training itself, I know that’s a very popular thing to ask about, but it can really depend. It can depend on your goals. If you’re focused on building muscle, you might want that fuel beforehand, but of course if you’re training first thing in the morning and it’s just not possible for you to eat, it really doesn’t feel comfortable for you to eat, you can work around that. So if facet training feels right for you when you’re doing it to do it, but you do want to know when you’re forcing fasted training to try and get the fat burning benefits and then your workouts are subpar and you’re not able to push as hard because then the supposed benefits you’re getting aren’t really going to benefit you because you’re not able to push it at a hundred percent intensity. So it’s always sort of weighing the cost and reward and seeing how you respond and the other ways you time everything because again, if you do like training fast in the morning and that just feels better, focus on that pre-bed meal to make sure that you’re prepared for your workout session so you can have that quality session.

(18:36):
If you don’t like training fast at all and you don’t feel like you can push as hard or maybe you experiment to see what works, take that meal beforehand. There’s no one way to get a lot of the benefits that we do see with these different systems. It’s about all the systems that you implement really working together. Which brings me to something I want you to go over is the three myths that you actually find floating around about intermittent fasting.

Michelle (18:59):
Yeah, so I mean there’s obviously a lot, but one is it’s going to put you into starvation mode, which is going to cause muscle loss and lower metabolism. And we talk about metabolism quite a bit. I talk to my clients all the time, we need you eating more because we’re going to have metabolic adaptation. Now remember, intermittent fasting is just a meal tiny tool. It is not a we’re going to limit your calories, you’re still supposed to eat the same amount of calories just in a shorter window. So that right there is why it’s not going to potentially affect that metabolism or cause that muscle loss because you should still be eating healthy high quality foods when you are allowed to eat. What intermittent fasting does do is during that exercise, like you said, if you’re going to do in a fasted state or what we’re kind of mimicking is actually we’re getting the body into a little bit more of a ketosis state.

(19:57):
So kind of why people love the keto diet is because it burns fat a little bit faster. So we’re actually able to get there without actually following a strict diet like keto. So that is actually the big benefit is you’re going to burn through that fat because you’re not going to have the glucose so your body’s going to turn to the fat to burn energy, but we are still going to eat later. So you’re still going to have the adequate amount of carbs, the adequate amount of protein to make sure that we are protecting and ensuring that muscle mass that we’re not going to burn it because that of course is always an issue whenever we’re dieting is the body likes to turn to muscle for energy, but making sure that we are getting that adequate amount of calories, adequate amount of macro appropriate macros for your needs are going to keep that covered.

Cori (20:50):
And this is why even recognizing, hey, as much as you might want the fat burning benefits of training fasted, if you are looking to gain muscle, our systems have to change. If you are training for that endurance sport and carbs are the fuel that you need, being depleted might not be as beneficial. So it’s always remembering that tools are only as good as their implementation and they have to be utilized based on your goals and what you use to get to one goal will not necessarily be what you use. To get to the next off of that too, I think it’s really important to note that with intermittent fasting it’s not just restricting calories. Yes, you have that restricted window and it can help you restrict calories and with certain forms of it like five and two, there will be lower calorie days and higher calorie days, but it’s really just impacting your calorie distribution over the week. If you’re still trying to make sure you’re eating enough, you still have to eat enough to build that lean muscle. If you’re trying to create that calorie deficit, you still have to create that calorie deficit to lose fat. So it does come back to macros and calories need to be hit no matter the meal timing you use. Myth number two, hit me with it.

Michelle (21:48):
So intermittent fasting will make you feel weak, lightheaded and foggy brained, and we kind of talked about that is initially when you’re first starting you can kind of have some of those side effects where you do feel a little fatigued, maybe a little nauseated, but as your body becomes accustomed to it and as you adjust, there’s actually a lot of research and even the Society of Neuroscience has discovered that intermittent fasting actually improves our learning and memory and can actually lead to growth of neurons in our brain. So it’s actually something that they recommend as a preventative diet shouldn’t, I’m calling it a diet, but as a preventative meal timing tool to actually be able to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. So that’s not what the science is showing. A lot of people think that they’re going to have fogged brain, I want to say foggy brain, I was trying to say foggy brained and mental clarity at the same time. So they think that they are going to have a fog brained and not be able to think, but what Ashley is happening is oftentimes they’re going to have mental clarity and be able to think a little bit better

Cori (23:02):
Going back to those side effects even I think it’s really key to highlight that you never want to ignore your body’s response to something and the more dramatic the change, the more you have to expect a response. But it is good to realize that our body wants to do what it’s always done. It feels comfortable, it feels safe with those things. So anytime we make a change, there is going to be an adaptation period. So giving your body time to adjust is important, but if you find that you are very sensitive to any changes and you’ve been very rigid in your specific systems, whether it’s a specific MAC or breakdown for a long time, calories meal timing, make smaller adjustments to start. Maybe that just means even moving breakfast back an hour from where you usually have it, maybe it means moving dinner up an hour earlier, but make smaller adjustments if you know you’re sensitive and going to have a bigger response just so that you can sort of mitigate some of those side effects to see if it’s right for you and if it really fits you for meal timing. Now, myth number three.

Michelle (24:00):
So the last one is it just doesn’t really work and again, that’s just not what the research is actually showing. So we have recently they’ve had a systemic review of over 40 research studies. So they’ve looked at 40 different research studies on intermittent fasting and all of ’em did find that there was typically a weight loss of seven to 11 pounds and that’s in about 10 weeks. So it definitely is helping people achieve weight loss. Now the biggest issue with all diets is it sustainable and that’s really dependent on the person is how did they implement, and I know we mentioned this a lot just even in what we’ve discussed previously, but your mindset really matters. Your mindset matters on anything that you’re going to employ or going to use when it comes to your eating behavior or your diet. It’s really what you are putting into it is going to depend on what you’re going to get out of it. So as you mentioned, we don’t want anyone to jump in thinking this is going to be a short term solution. You can always pivot and you can always try a different fasting ratio or be like, oh no, this really wasn’t for me. But you need to enter it thinking this is going to be a long-term solution for you

Cori (25:14):
And recognizing that tools only really work if they’re focused on our needs and goals and actual lifestyle. We need something we can be consistent with. So you might find that intermittent fasting is not for you because you train first thing in the morning, you get up early, you don’t want to eat dinner any earlier, so you can’t adjust your eating window that way. Or maybe you find that you don’t feel good with it. You like breakfast, you like breaking down your meals because you struggle to fit in the calories. Otherwise there are lots of reasons this might not be right for you and there are lots of reasons it might be right for you. But even running the experiment if you are fascinated by some of the benefits can be important or key to do because you might even find that, hey, I fast now on days that I do have something come up but I don’t fast on other days or days I train.

(25:55):
You’ll find different variations of it that might not be the traditional ways of using it that really help you stay more consistent. So think of meal timing as this option to get better results from hitting your macros and hitting your calories. If you don’t hit your macros, if you don’t hit your calories, you’re not going to see the changes that you want no matter how amazing the other potential benefits of something could be, especially long-term, right? They might provide some short-term benefits because we’re making changes and you start adding in more vegetables, you cut your calories a little bit, you’re going to see initial progress, but if you don’t learn how to truly make habit changes, implement the foods you love, find your lifestyle balance, you’re not going to sustain those habits and it’s why something can work, but we ultimately fall back. So just recognize the opportunity in this and realize that there are benefits, there are benefits to all the systems we can implement, but they have to fit us and work all together. So closing thoughts, if someone’s like, Hey, I’m really interested in trying intermittent fasting. I want to see if it can benefit me, if it feels good for my schedule, how would they go about starting to do that, Michelle?

Michelle (26:54):
So go into it with a plan. Actually sit down, lay out, look at your calendar, be like, this is when I’m working out, this is how I’m going to start that or implement that plan whether it is I am going to try working out fasted or I’m not ready for that, so I’m just going to shorten my window a little bit as you mentioned. So really sometimes just kind of easing into it and even having something that maybe just as simple as you’re going to fast from seven to 11:00 AM or maybe you’re going from 8:00 PM to 12:00 PM and that’s just going to be kind of where you start. That is typically going to be an easier route to go. Another big thing is make sure that you are drinking while you fast. If you are going to intermittent fast, you still need to make sure that you are drinking and staying hydrated throughout the day.

(27:45):
Now there are some things that you can still consume that’s not going to ruin that fast, and some of those items are going to be things like herbal teas, electrolytes, as long as they’re no sugar added to it, black coffee is a great option. Anything with BCAAs, those are all going to be zero calorie options that you can kind of help. And oftentimes even the electrolytes can actually decrease the side effects of the headaches that you may suffer from when you first start. And really, really when you are getting going, you still need to focus on whole foods. Your diet needs to be coming from Whole Foods first. I would even argue to say if you don’t have that foundation down yet, that’s where you start before you actually implement fasting is improving your diet a little bit. Make sure you’re hitting your calories and macros that you need before all of a sudden we try to jump in and make it a little bit harder by changing up your eating window.

(28:44):
And really final thing is just make sure you actually are working out to that. I know oftentimes we are like, okay, I’m going to fix this and I’m going to focus on my diet and that is all great. Don’t get me wrong, nutrition is a big part, but if you’re doing that and you’re not also adding in the workout where we are really going to see the biggest benefits of intermittent fasting, which is body recomposition because it allows you to burn a little bit more fat so you can kind of take advantage with that body recomp and focusing on that weightlifting, we want you to get the most out of it. So making sure you’re adding that workout is also going to be a huge part of it.

Cori (29:20):
And I just wanted to add in that as you go through this experiment, set a certain amount of time, 10 to 14 days that you’re going to commit no matter how you feel, watch for different signals and symptoms because you don’t want to push your body to a limit that you’re not comfortable with, that there are negative side effects really impacting your functioning. But just to give yourself the time to adjust and then over that time, track how you feel with it, track the changes, track your body’s response from how are you sleeping, how are your training sessions feel not just your weight change on the scale because in that you might notice that you feel better if you get a big meal right after your workout if you’ve trained fasted and you want to time more carbs there. Or I can tell you, especially if you are skipping breakfast and then you are training fasted, you might want to time a lot more calories and a bigger dinner even though we’ve potentially feared in the past eating a big late dinner.

(30:09):
And that can have negative effects, which you won’t gain fat just from eating later, but you might need that big meal to feel really energized to do your training, especially if you are having that fasting window and not breaking it until after the workout. So you have to let go potentially of some of the things you’ve always even feared in the past or thought in the past, but play around with how you’re using that window and really record things as you’re running this experiment to see what works for you to adjust and tweak because that meal timing within the meal timing can have an impact in how you’re breaking down those macros as well. Any last thoughts, Michelle?

Michelle (30:44):
I’m just going to add this. I know we’ve kind of talked about a lot of positives that intermittent fasting has and it does. And if it’s right for you, it can really be that kind of that magic sauce for you to get your results. But I am going to add for a lot of those positive things that we said, anyone can achieve that as long as they are having a diet and are achieving weight loss. So you can still get a lot of those benefits and not actually use this as a tool to help you get there. It is a tool that can help some and may get to the results faster, but if it’s not for you, it’s not like all of a sudden all the benefits we just listed are out of your reach. It just may mean that you need to get there using a different tool and implement something else for you to have the same results,

Cori (31:31):
Opportunity and all the different options. Well, thank you so much Michelle. I’d love to hear are you guys intermittent fasting? How do you feel with it? Are you going to be testing it out? And if so, what type of fast are you going to be doing?

(31:43):
Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hacks podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free work out and nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a rating review or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone I.

*Please Note: this transcript is auto-generated and there may be some errors in the transcript

The Diets That Hurt Our Metabolism

The Diets That Hurt Our Metabolism

Fad diet are keeping us stuck in this horrible yo-yo dieting cycle…

A cycle where we oddly become really good at losing the weight…

But also really good at regaining it.

And over time we only feel more and more frustrated not seeing the results we want while working harder and harder.

It’s all because these diets with labels overcomplicate things by oversimplifying things.

Let me say that again…

They suck you in making things seem easy and simple, but really they’re making things complicated and unsustainable.

And I don’t give a flying fart in space how you want to defend your diet with a label…

A diet you’re super excited by because you’re seeing initial results after just starting a month ago while being super motivated…

But, talk to me the second life gets in the way and you’re tempted by that basket of chips and salsa…

The first time you travel and it isn’t easy to hit the arbitrary standards of clean eating your diet recommends…

Because most fad diets…those diets with a label you almost attach yourself to as a badge of honor…

Keto, Carnivore, Paleo, Raw Food…

Promise fast results and make things seemingly simple to start.

BUT…they never truly help you create lasting change or shift your lifestyle.

They create restriction…not understanding.

They actually bank on the fact that you’re not truly learning what you need…

because it means you’ll buy into another label probably only months later when someone else posts on social media it’s magical and POOF the weight just disappeared…

But lasting results are not overnight results.

And we don’t often want to look and feel good just for a day.

That’s why I want to show you the Change Loop you’re keeping yourself stuck in jumping from label to label – repeating the same mistake over and over again just packed with a different bow on top…

And why you not only need to SIMPLIFY things but also embrace the HARD LEARNING PROCESS that seems far more complicated to start if you truly want a change.

I’ve done the label hopping…

Always thinking, “This next change will be it!”

I’d pick something that seemed like it would work fast.

That seemed simple to do…

I mean…I just need to cut out THIS ONE THING right and it will all work!?

Yes!

I’d go all in.

Restricting whatever I was told, even if I loved it.

And sometimes, I’d see fast results…to start.

I’d even try to convince myself, “This isn’t so bad! I didn’t like dessert that much anyway.”

But slowly it would feel like the restrictions tightened more and more.

I felt haunted by the foods I wanted and the cravings would increase.

And worse of all…The results would stop.

I’d hit a fast plateau. And began to DREAD the diet.

The overwhelm would hit and I’d start to whine and tell myself it wasn’t worth it.

So I’d quit. I’d go straight to my craving and BOOM a month later I’d be worse off than where I started…

Sluggish on the couch nursing a food hangover, I’d start to think…“I need to make a change! And I’d go search for the next label to fall for….

This right there is the change loop.

We find a program, get caught up in the promise of it.

We go all in, never really considering if the habits match what we need or are sustainable.

And in the process of making changes, we create habit overload.

We can embrace the restriction and sacrifice it for a bit if the results happen fast.

It feels worth it.

But then we always hit that point where results slow.

Where we start to feel like we just don’t have the willpower or self control.

We do that walk to the cabinet 17 times trying to talk ourselves out of having just ONE of those mini candy bars…

We do this until we hit that emotional sabotage point of this isn’t working anyway…

And we have the whole bag.

Once the seal is broken, it can take us days if not weeks or months of “I quit” before we again get motivated and jump right back into this loop…

Being swept up in the promise of another program…

What we don’t realize is that each and every time, we’re truly repeating the EXACT same mistakes.

Sure one time we’re cutting out carbs. Or nightshades or cooking…

But what we don’t realize is that by trying to keep things SIMPLE, we’re just constantly repeating the same mistake of restricting.

We’re drawing arbitrary lines of what foods we can and can’t have.

We’re not truly learning our balance or the fundamentals of nutrition.

The stuff that is hard and complicated and SLOWER changes to start.

Sorry.

But let’s be real…

No results worth having EVER came easy…

That’s why if you want to get out of this cycle and see lasting results to feel, look and move your best at ANY age…

You need to embrace the sucky fact that you’ve got to do the HARD process of creating a balance through a slow habit stack and learning!

This hard process starts with learning about your current lifestyle and finding one small change you can make today.

And…very unpopular opinion, but busting out of this loop to see the body recomp you want and feel your best, also comes with learning about macros.

Yup macros – the breakdown of the portions of proteins, carbs and fats you consume.

Now how you learn about macros, and how you track your food may vary.

But the more we truly learn what we need, the more we can control to adjust while including the foods we love.

Many of us have heard, heck I’ve even SAID, the line “Eat whatever you want and see results.”

“See results without cutting out the foods you love.”

And while this line sounds too good to be true…

While it sounds like just another diet with a label is coming your way…

It isn’t.

This statement is true.

It’s the power of macros.

Now note, I didn’t say whatever you want whenever you want in whatever quantity you want.

Sorry that’s not the case with anything in life.

But this is the power of learning the portions of each you need to see results while not having to label things as good or bad, off limits or ok!

And this is also what helps you create a lifestyle.

One size doesn’t fit all – yet we force ourselves to fit a diet label.

We force ourselves to not embrace that food is no longer just fuel.

That we have so many things in our diet we just include because we enjoy them.

And this isn’t a bad thing.

We shouldn’t feel guilty for just ENJOYING certain things and even the events that come with those foods.

We just need to learn our balance.

And the more we assess our current lifestyle, make one change to move forward while we learn about those macros and their impact, the more we can see those results snowball.

As we then stack more and more habit changes, we will see those results build. But not only build, actually LAST.

So as unsexy as this process is…

As hard and complicated and overwhelming as it is to start…

It’s ultimately easier.

It demystifies what works.

Because those diets that make it seem so simple, are really just not showing you HOW to do it on your own. They’re not teaching you so you stay stuck.

So today, if you haven’t before, just write down what you’re currently eating.

Then pick one really easy change to make.

Don’t cut out the food you love most.

Even consider adding in.

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FHP 617 – Light Weights vs Heavy Weights (High vs Low Reps)

FHP 617 – Light Weights vs Heavy Weights (High vs Low Reps)

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TRANSCRIPT

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OPEN TRANSCRIPT

Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is a show where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating or even better share with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know. So let’s jump right in.

What’s best if I want to gain muscle and lose fat, lower reps and heavier weights or higher reps and lighter weights? The first annoying answer is it depends because really exactly what our training experience is, how we’re designing our workouts in terms of other cardio we’re including is going to impact what we really need. But on top of that, it’s usually not either or. It’s not just, oh, do lower reps, or, oh, just do higher reps. The best results often happen when we use a combination and how we exactly combine those things will be based on our training experience, our schedule, exactly what we want to achieve in terms of that muscle growth or that fat loss. But you need a diversity of ranges in your workout routines if you want to see the best results as fast as possible because they drive muscle growth generally in different ways.

Not to mention, the stronger we make ourself with some of that lower rep work, the more loads we can lift with those higher reps to really challenge ourself, take our muscles closer to failure and see results build. Now when I’m talking about failure, I’m not talking about leaving yourself destroyed and slaughtered and so sore. You can’t move the next day. That’s not necessary from muscular failure. You want to recover from your training. You want to create that slow progression week over week because if you’re constantly destroying yourself and you’re not able to recover fast enough to train hard the next session, you’re going to see a point of diminishing returns. You’re probably going to get injured. Soreness is not the best indicator of growth. It generally means that something is off in our recovery even so while you’re trying to use the diversity of ranges, it’s not just to destroy yourself, but you want to include a diversity of ranges to use all three drivers of muscle growth.

Because in trying to use different rep ranges, you’re going to use the diversity of movements and different tools as well, but you’re going to drive muscle growth through using muscle tissue damage, mechanical tension, and metabolic stress, which are all three drivers. So when we’re talking about using a diversity of rep ranges, you want to use lower reps and heavier weights with compound moves, and then you might even want to use higher reps with lighter loads than the heavy loads, but still challenging. No loads should ever feel light, but you’re going to use potentially more isolated movements. And when we often think about using a diversity of rep ranges, we think about over the week, not just in a single workout, but you do sometimes want to in the same workout, use multiple different rep ranges. You might do one to five with maximal strength, six to 12 with hypertrophy, and then that 15 to 20 strength endurance rep range.

And all those can have benefit. And often when we do include them in a single session, we do so in a very traditional way of putting the lower rep compound, move heavier lifts at the start, and then the more isolated exercises at the end. So maybe we do our barbell row at the start of the workout and that bicep curl at the end of the workout, and then more isolated movement. We do higher reps because we can isolate the muscle with that, and it’s not as strong or big a muscle group as potentially we’re using with the compound lift to start like the ben over row. But this is only one way you can combine ranges. Another great way is, especially if you’re going through perimenopause or menopause or even post-menopausal, and you’re struggling to see the same muscle gains that you did when you were younger because our hormone levels just aren’t as optimal as they used to be, and we aren’t as able to use protein as efficiently for muscle growth, you might want to consider something that helps you take those muscles closer to failure and helps create that extra stress, which is that stimulus for muscle growth.

And again, we’re not seeking to be sore or just kill ourselves with our sessions, but you do need to strain muscles and create that extra stimulus when you want to see that same anabolic environment, that same stimulus for muscle growth. So this is where things like the compound burner sets or the 6, 12 25 technique can come into play because you’re using that more compound heavier lift followed up by a movement that isolates one of the muscle groups involved to take it closer to fatigue, but in a way that uses a different driver of muscle growth and in a way that doesn’t leave you just feeling so destroyed from all this muscle tissue damage that you can’t train hard the next day. So if you’re using compound burners, you might use something like a lunge for eight to 12 reps with heavier loads. And then if you’re doing a front lunge and you want to target your quads, you might do a leg extension or some sort of quad isolation movement as the 15 to 20 reps.

And when you’re doing this, you can even push a little bit past failure, which I know sounds weird, but sometimes we get caught in between loads where we can’t necessarily do all the reps with the load, but if we pause for 15 seconds even, we can then pick that weight back up and complete it. That especially for the 15 to 20 rep, more isolated movement can be a great way to really push past that fatigue, recruit more muscle fibers and see better muscle growth. So that’s how you would use it with a compound burner set versus if you use 6, 12, 25, you’re using the low end of that hypertrophy in towards maximal strength for that first move. Again, doing a compound exercise, this is where you can use things like heavy bar ball, hip thrusters, and then maybe for that 12 reps where you’re in that hypertrophy rep range towards the upper end of it, you can even use something like more of a lunge or something that you can still go really heavy on, but not necessarily as heavy as you could with that first compound movement.

And then for the last exercise, the 25 reps, maybe you do something like a kickback to really isolate your glutes even more, but you’re getting more isolated over the movements to target the muscle and push it past fatigue by sort of stepping down in the intensity of the move that you’re doing while still being able to work that area. But this stimulus is great if we really want to see those faster muscle gains. Now note, all of these tools are only as good as our implementation, and if we’re not truly pushing yourself to maximize that time and earn the rest so that we want a minute, 90 seconds, even two minutes between rounds, we shouldn’t feel like the rest is too short. We should feel like I crave this rest. To be able to go at the same intensity, you need to push yourself. So if you’re not pushing yourself at each of these rep ranges to max out even a rep or two before the rep range actually ends, you’re not going to see the same stimulus, you’re not going to see the same results.

But if you are interested in implementing either the techniques I mentioned, I will link to more information on both the 6, 12, 25 and the compound burner sets in the show notes. But remember to use a diversity of ranges in your training if you want to see this best results as fast as possible. And even when you’re doing higher rep or lower rep, no weight should ever feel light. It should always challenge you for the reps assigned and make you want to stop before you hit the top end of the rep range. And if you can hit that top end of the rep range, go heavier and work down in that rep range to really challenge yourself to create that progression week after week to see that muscle growth and ultimately help yourself look leaner, lose that body fat, have a healthier metabolic rate.

Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a rating review or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know.

*Please Note: this transcript is auto-generated and there may be some errors in the transcript