The Truth About Menopause and What Works After 40
Learn what menopause awareness gets wrong about weight gain, and get the six-part playbook for building muscle and managing hormones after 40, on this episode of the Get Sculpted podcast.
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You’re doing the same workouts, eating the same way, and putting in the same effort you did fifteen years ago, and your body just isn’t changing. Then one day you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, and don’t recognize the woman staring back at you. If that sounds familiar, then this is the episode you don't want to miss.
Tijana, Jordanna, and Marilynn get specific about what's happening during perimenopause and menopause, and why the old "eat less, move more" strategy isn’t working for you anymore. They start with the muscle loss nobody tells you about (3 to 8 percent per decade after 30), clear up the metabolism myth (research shows it doesn't really change between ages 20 and 60), and explain why fat starts settling around your midsection even if it never used to. Then they walk through a real client story: a woman doing everything right, still stuck, until she added HRT and started losing fat again within three weeks.
Here's what’s covered:
Why "I eat healthy, and I work out" doesn't tell you anything, and the specific numbers (protein grams, sleep hours, weekend habits, even how much you're drinking) that predict whether your plan is working
The muscle loss timeline most women don't know is already happening, and why building and preserving muscle is the first thing to fix
The metabolism myth versus what's shifting your fat distribution during this stage
Why there's no magic belly fat workout, and what it takes to get leaner around the midsection
How exhaustion during perimenopause undercuts even the most disciplined plan, and why sleep has to come before you can execute anything else
The six-part playbook that ties muscle, food, movement, and recovery together, so you know exactly what to focus on and what to let go of
This one's for the woman who's frustrated that the plan that used to work has stopped working, the one who's been told to just accept the weight gain, and the one who's ready to ask for real support instead of pushing through another year.
"If you want to look tight and sculpted, shrinking yourself is not going to be the answer."- Coach Tijana
Your hormones are part of the story. They're not the whole story.
Ready to figure out what your body needs right now instead of guessing? Head to getsculpted.ca/contact and let's build a plan around your data, not your age.
This podcast is brought to you in partnership with Leah Bryant Co.
More about the Get Sculpted Podcast
Welcome to Get Sculpted, the podcast for women who want to gain muscle and lose belly fat, improve their metabolism, and create real results using science-based fat loss strategies and practical coaching.
We go beyond quick fixes and fad diets to give you sustainable fat loss, strength training for weight loss, and fitness tips for women who want results without burning out. You’ll learn how lifting weights supports fat loss, how to train smarter instead of longer, and how to build habits that fit your lifestyle. Think less about guessing, more about clarity, and about progress you can maintain.
Whether you’re getting started or focused on building muscle after 30, this podcast gives women the tools to lose fat, gain muscle, and feel stronger, without relying on endless cardio or restrictive plans. We emphasize fat loss without cardio extremes, so you can train with confidence and consistency.
We’re your hosts, Jordanna, Marilynn, and Tijana, fitness professionals with over 20 years of combined experience and 1,000+ client transformations. With a strong focus on helping women 30 and older, we specialize in strength training, improving metabolism, and weight training for sustainable, realistic weight loss.
We’ll cover questions like:
Can you build muscle and lose belly fat at the same time?
How does strength training support weight loss?
What’s the best way to lose fat without losing muscle?
What’s the best way to lose fat without relying on cardio?
How can lifting weights improve my metabolism?
Why am I not losing weight even though I’m working out and eating healthy?
How can I stop yo-yo dieting for good?
If you’ve been searching for sustainable fat loss, women’s nutrition, and weight training that actually works, you’re in the right place. Join us every week for practical guidance, honest conversations, and tools to sculpt a stronger body and a more confident life.
Connect with us on Instagram at @getsculted.ca
The unedited podcast transcript for this episode of the Get Sculpted podcast follows:
Jordanna [00:00:20]: It's a good one.
Tijana [00:00:21]: Yeah. So what we want to talk about actually is what Menopause Awareness Month gets wrong about women over 40 and just the topic of menopause in general, because Here's the thing. This has been a topic that has not been studied enough, just women's health in general. There has not been enough light shone on it. I think now women are more and more realizing in recent years about how this is affecting their body and hormones and how just— we're not just little men. We're not just men with boobs, as I've heard before.
Marilynn [00:00:45]: Yeah.
Tijana [00:00:46]: Literally, it's more complex than that.
Marilynn [00:00:49]: Of course.
Tijana [00:00:49]: And it really impacts your life in profound ways. And we've seen this firsthand, which is cool about what we do because We're not medical professionals, but we work with women in this life stage so closely on their fitness and their health. And we see the direct impact on their energy and their body composition and all the rest. So I think I'm really excited to speak to this. I don't know if you guys knew this, but my mom went through menopause when she was 40.
Marilynn [00:01:09]: Wow.
Real Symptoms of Perimenopause and Menopause
Tijana [00:01:10]: And I think about that just naturally. Here's what we hear a lot to kick it off with. Women will come to us and they're entering perimenopause, because perimenopause can start 10 years ahead of actual menopause. And they say, oh, my metabolism slowed down so much. I have all this belly fat and that was never there before. And, you know, I think I'm tired. I think it's my hormones. And, you know, nothing's working and it's just where I'm at.Tijana [00:01:32]: Yeah, this is very valid, right? Like, we want to validate that, like, what they're going through is a real thing. And it's not this or that. What I want to start with is the word and. So you're going through this and there's things we can do here to move the needle. And a lot of this, it's exacerbated by lifestyle.
Jordanna [00:01:48]: Yes.
Tijana [00:01:48]: I think when we have the conversation around hormones, it's— the conversation, first of all, isn't like our hormone impacts of hormones real. Like, you felt it.
Marilynn [00:01:55]: When I was feeling—
Tijana [00:01:56]: Exactly. Like, I mean, I haven't gone through menopause, but I know the most powerful example is I remember when I had my kids, the postpartum hormones were insane. And I remember thinking, holy crap, I've never had such an up and down in hormones. And of course, the teenage years. So every stage is like, it affects you. But it's more like, is that the root cause or is that just exacerbating what's happening here? So here's the thing. It's rarely one thing when you're in your late 30s or 40s or even your 50s. It's like the sleep, number one.
Tijana [00:02:23]: That's a big one that kind of cascades everything. You're not sleeping well. And then, you know, your sex drive can drop significantly. Your body just is getting softer. You're getting more of that fat around the midsection, just recovering slower. Like, it takes you, you know, 3 to 5 business days after, like, doing an activity or something like that. Like, you ran for the bus and you're like, I need a long weekend now.
Marilynn [00:02:47]: Yeah, yeah.
Tijana [00:02:49]: But I'm laughing, but it doesn't need to be that way. But maybe, you know, you feel like you're doing all the things that you used to be able to do and you're like, who is this? Who is this looking at me in the mirror? That's what we hear a lot. Do you girls have anything to add? Anything else that you've kind of heard to throw out there?
Why Every Woman's Menopause Experience Is Unique
Jordanna [00:03:01]: I would just say what's wild is that there are so many symptoms that women are experiencing that I think have been brushed aside by the medical community that are actually a part of perimenopause experience and menopause, and that everybody's experience is going to feel somewhat unique. And I think that's been the struggle for many years. Like, there's been such a narrow lens of how to define a disease or a change in life, and it has to qualify with these very specific things, otherwise it is not, and you are not categorized in that way, and therefore you don't qualify for help and support. And that's abandoned so many women. And I think now what we're starting to understand, as there's more and more research is that there's dozens of perimenopause symptoms. There's 35 documented ones, and there's actually many, many more that are starting to be added to that list. And what I love about this conversation and being in perimenopause and now on HRT myself, there is such a difference that you feel like— I do feel different in my body, and I think that's an important thing to recognize. And whether that is a change because something's going on differently in my brain or something's going on differently with my hormones.Jordanna [00:04:21]: Either way, that's a real experience and how we show up in that experience and in our life needs to be met with a different approach and a different plan. And that you are not destined to be in this like awful place forever. There's things that we can do, which is great.
Tijana [00:04:37]: Exactly. And I love the way you framed that, Jord, cuz that's exactly what I wanted to kind of segue into is like these experiences are real and they're valid.
Marilynn [00:04:43]: That's right.
Tijana [00:04:44]: And instead of just saying, well, that's just menopause, it's just my age, we want to talk about what's actually going on and what you can do about it. Because that puts you in the driver's seat, and that's really powerful. And, um, it's funny because I want to start with like, we were at, um, this event together. We were like, uh, building a house. Do you remember that, Maryam?
Marilynn [00:05:03]: Yes.
Tijana [00:05:03]: Yeah. Yeah.
Jordanna [00:05:05]: Yeah. You were over there. We built the playground. We all—
Tijana [00:05:07]: Yeah. I just overheard a conversation. Someone was saying like, oh, we were talking and she's like, I'm gaining so much weight around the midsection and like, I was kind of starting to give her like some light advice and just as much as she would receive, right? And then some other lady kind of chimed in and she was like, oh, you know, yeah, just accept you're going to gain weight. And I remember I was like, well, that might be your experience, but it doesn't need to be everybody's. And it kind of made me think of why we need more education, because that is very disempowering to hear, oh, you're too fat.
Marilynn [00:05:34]: Completely.
Jordanna [00:05:35]: You suck.
How Hormones Shift Body Composition After 40
Tijana [00:05:36]: Yeah, that's what we want to flip here. So let's talk about your body feeling different, right? Because, Jorde, like you said, this is a very real thing. You know, you might be noticing like, Like, I hear this a lot if someone didn't really store more fat around the midsection. Yes, your hormones shifting are going to cause more of your body fat to go around your midsection. And now here's, here's the thing though, I do want to say about fat storage, we talked about this in previous episodes, it does relate to your genetics and your hormones. So like, for example, some people have always stored more fat around the midsection, and unfortunately you might notice even more around menopause, perimenopause. But if you didn't before, that can even shift for you. Your clothes are going to fit different because your body composition could be changing.Tijana [00:06:12]: That means you are losing muscle mass, and that's why your body composition is shifting in the wrong direction. More fat around the midsection, you have less definition. You're like, you know, I'm the same weight, but it's just not looking like the same weight. Your body's different. Yeah. You know, and then you feel like all the things that worked in your 20s, because I know what we hear a lot, you know, let's talk about like the millennials, the Gen X. It's like the, oh, you just cut a meal out, you just cut your calories, you just eat salads, just shave everything in half. And then you just do more cardio.
Tijana [00:06:39]: And you're like, why isn't that working? helping. It's just making me more exhausted and, and all that. So what's really happening, which we want to talk about kind of at the hormonal level, is like these shifts are happening because number one, the hormones shift where your fat is distributed, right? So I want to clarify one thing actually. This is a very important stat. Recent research has shown that between the age of 20 and 60, your metabolism actually doesn't change because of your age. So, and then whenever people say that, I remember my sister-in-law was like, that's not true. And I was like, I'm not saying that it hasn't shifted for you though. But it's not because you hit a magical time on the clock and you're like, time to slow down.
The Truth About Slowed Metabolism and Aging
Tijana [00:07:10]: That's a good thing. That's like, thank God. That's not a blame game, but it's just showing you you're going to lose, I think, 3 to 8% of your muscle mass per decade when you're after 30. So anyway, that's already begun to happen when it's perimenopause. So here's the thing, like, it's not just that you got older, it's that you're losing muscle and now the fat distribution is more around the midsection. So don't think that like, oh, I'm just looking at a donut and gaining weight. It's also the lifestyle, right? I mean, I've always lived a very active lifestyle, but it's more intentional now where like in my 20s, I was just on the go. Like I never had a step tracker.Tijana [00:07:42]: It was probably sky high 'cause I was like, oh, I'm here, I'm there, I'm walking there. I wasn't like driving to work and sitting all day, which a lot of people are doing at this age. And then you're sitting and doing that all day long. And then all these habits kind of snowball in the wrong way. Aging, menopause, they're both happening at the same time. Muscle mass is declining and now your shape is changing in the wrong direction. So the good news is though, I mean, that sounds negative, but like it's something we can change. You could change your body composition.
Tijana [00:08:07]: And heck, our clients that come to us, they're typically like mid-30s to mid-50s, like in and around. Sometimes we have younger and older, but they can get in the best shape of their life. And I think—
Marilynn [00:08:17]: Absolutely. And that's why—
Tijana [00:08:18]: They do it every day too. They do. And I think that there's something special to be said for like, you know, the women who are like, my kids are not little anymore. Like, it's me season.
Marilynn [00:08:27]: It's absolutely you season.
Tijana [00:08:28]: Right? Like, that's when they go into it. And that drive and intention paired with like you executing the strategy, is going to get you the best body ever.
Marilynn [00:08:37]: That it absolutely will.
Tijana [00:08:38]: So get it out of your head that like, oh well, if I don't have my metabolism of my 20s, yeah, I'm not going to get lean. Well, that's garbage.
Jordanna [00:08:44]: That's not true.
Tijana [00:08:45]: No. So don't worry about your age, don't worry about your stage. What we want to understand though is like how, how we actually do that. If you want to look tight and sculpted, shrinking yourself is not going to be the answer. Mare, I want you to talk to us about like why women feel like they are doing the right things but they're not the right things and why they're not working.
Why Old Workout Routines Stop Working
Marilynn [00:09:02]: And we hear this a lot, or some version of this, right, where women are saying like, oh, I've always done this and it worked, but now it's not working anymore. And then when we do a deep dive, we're like, okay, they tell us they're doing the same workouts they've always done, they're eating the same way they've always eaten, but their body composition is changing in a way that they don't like and they don't know. And I get that because that can feel so frustrating.Jordanna [00:09:22]: Yeah.
Marilynn [00:09:22]: They will also tell us, I'm more exhausted than ever, my recovery is slower, and they're frustrated because they're like, I just don't know what's wrong. The truth is, and I think we've said this many times on many episodes, the old approach isn't working. This stage, your body has changed, right? You're not the same person you were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, but it isn't a bad thing. And I'm glad you said that, T, because it's not a bad thing. This can actually be the most empowering phase of your life. It just means that things have shifted and you might not be aware of how to work with your body in the right way.
Jordanna [00:09:52]: Right.
Marilynn [00:09:52]: Which is, which is also where we come in. But let's dive into, you know, like what might be happening without you realizing. So You mentioned this first, muscle. That is a big one, right? You are not maintaining as much muscle as you might think. So if you haven't been progressing your strength training week over week, month after month, you have slowly been losing muscle for at least the last decade or more. That's not like a maybe. That's absolutely happening. That's physiology.
Marilynn [00:10:17]: That's what your body is doing. So of course, it's going to change your body composition.
Tijana [00:10:21]: Some people that talk to me, they're like, I'm doing all the right things. I'm strength training, but it's like at 45.
Jordanna [00:10:25]: Yes.
Marilynn [00:10:26]: Yes.
Jordanna [00:10:26]: It's definitely not the same thing.
Marilynn [00:10:27]: No. We're talking about progressive overload. And again, this is— we've talked about this in other episodes as well, like what it actually takes to build muscle. And so we're not talking about group fitness classes where you're doing something different every single day of every single week. We're talking about a strategic, structured, intentional training plan that, first of all, is designed for you. And second of all, is doing the same exercises week after week, progressing the weights, The reps, the sets. Like, we're talking about intentional movement, the difference between I work out and actually I train with intention.
Tijana [00:10:58]: Yes.
Marilynn [00:10:58]: So, you know, we have to make that distinction. You're absolutely right, because a lot of women will do those things. They'll, you know, do Pilates, they'll do F45, they'll go for walks, which all of those things are great, but that is not going to build and maintain your muscle the way resistance training does, which is also why when we program for our clients, that is like resistance training is queen. That is the bulk of what we do.
Strength Training vs. Everything Else
Jordanna [00:11:19]: And I think women have to— I don't want to say it in this way, but I will— resign themselves to the fact that you need to strength train, period.Marilynn [00:11:27]: Yeah.
Jordanna [00:11:27]: You can't replace that by doing the Pilates or by doing the F45. You are using weights in those scenarios, but you are not getting the same benefit of actually lifting the weight with intentionality, with mind-muscle connection, with appropriate tempo, with progressions of reps and sets over time. You really do need that in order to make the progress. Marilynn [00:11:49]: 100%.
Jordanna [00:11:50]: And then minimum, minimum twice per week is going to get you there, but it should be 3 or 4 times a week.
Marilynn [00:11:57]: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And again, we're not saying you can't do those things kind of like cherry on top to the resistance training you're doing. But you're absolutely right. It has to be the bulk of what you're doing.
Tijana [00:12:07]: Well, this is where I like to put in the stat that one of the ladies was saying this in the Momentum call about muscle. And I said, look, here's the hard truth. But if you're doing the best that you can with the best possible strategy, and you're someone who's like an intermediate lifter, not brand new, you're, you're lucky to build 4 to 6 pounds of muscle a year. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's, it's significant, right? But I'm saying that like if you're like wanting to look and feel your best and improve your metabolism, like it doesn't cut it to very sporadically attend classes where it's like you just— it has to be a very, very intentional process, period.
Marilynn [00:12:37]: Agreed, agreed.
Jordanna [00:12:38]: It's a journey of years, not weeks.
Marilynn [00:12:40]: Exactly.
Tijana [00:12:41]: Months and years, not days and weeks.
Sedentary Lifestyles and Hidden Weight Gain
Marilynn [00:12:43]: Definitely. And T, you already touched on this too, but like daily movement is another one. A lot of women don't realize just how sedentary they have become compared to like 10, 20 years ago, right? Like a lot of us have desk jobs, and if you're not being intentional about getting movement outside of that time that you're sitting, it's like your steps are going to be quite low, your movement's going to be low. Um, we are using screens way more now than we ever have, which means you're doing a lot more sitting and scrolling than you did in the past. So, you know, like in general, you're just getting a lot less activity, whether you realize it or not. And that impacts your, your body, your body composition, and all of the other things we talked about. 2 other big ones, sleep and stress. Sleep patterns are not the same as they used to be.Marilynn [00:13:23]: Your stress load isn't either. It's different. But for a lot of women, this is a tricky time because they've got their kids. They've also now got aging parents. It's just a different ballgame. And both of those things impact your body composition tremendously. And finally, the workouts, like we've already talked about, you just may not be working out as much as you did. Also, in a lot of cases, women aren't working out at all.
Marilynn [00:13:46]: Like, we speak to a lot of women who— and again, this is not like to— it's not a blame, it's not a guilt, it's just creating the awareness that if you're not moving your body at all, that's problematic.
Tijana [00:13:56]: Yeah. And then that's when I see a lot, uh, women saying, I was always a skinny girl, I was the it girl in, in your 20s, right? And, and they think it's the metabolism, but it's like They might have come off of doing a lot of varsity sports, and then they just had more muscle mass that they were maintaining back then.
Marilynn [00:14:12]: Yeah.
Tijana [00:14:12]: Then all of a sudden, it just doesn't happen overnight either. I think that's where everyone's like, oh, I'm eating the same. And I'm like, you know what? It's like the 300 or 400 calories a day, it's adding up.
Marilynn [00:14:22]: Adds up.
Tijana [00:14:22]: And you don't notice it. It's not like a drastic change, but the body keeps the score. And all of a sudden, the nighttime snacking, the stress eating, Poor sleep, so you have more cravings, and then the fat distribution, and then all of it, all of it is compounding together. And then you're like, who is this person?
Muscle Loss and Why It Matters Most
Marilynn [00:14:38]: If anything from this episode hits you the hardest, it's that like muscle and muscle building is incredibly important. It is gonna give you the lean sculpted shape you want, because let's be honest, we still have these body composition goals that we want to achieve and maintain, but it's also useful, right? Like it's gonna help your body handle carbohydrates better. It contributes to how much energy your body uses at rest. So that's literally how many calories your body's burning doing absolutely nothing. We want to maximize that. And of course, it maximizes your strength and independence as you age. So when we hear women say, like, oh, I get winded going upstairs, or my knees hurt, my hips hurt, that doesn't have to be your fate. Oh, God, no.Jordanna [00:15:15]: Absolutely doesn't.
Tijana [00:15:16]: No way. I was just going to say, it annoys me when everyone's like, oh, everything hurts and is creaky after 35. I'm like, speak for yourself. If you don't use it, you lose it.
Marilynn [00:15:24]: Well, exactly. It just doesn't need to be that way. So the big takeaway is that resistance training needs to be the priority.
Jordanna [00:15:30]: It cannot be just like, I work out with no plan, no strategy.
Marilynn [00:15:33]: I do a class here and there.
Tijana [00:15:34]: When I can.
Marilynn [00:15:35]: Yeah, you need to be so strategic. You need to be tracking the weight you're lifting. You need to be progressing the weight, like we said, from week to week, month to month. You need to train hard enough to actually create the adaptation. That's a whole other conversation, right? The intensity that you're actually lifting the weights, because if you're not challenging your body, then it has zero reason to change, and it will feel like you're going downhill.
Tijana [00:15:55]: The thing that came to mind, 'cause, you know, Dolly Parton just passed away, RIP Dolly. She always said that, and I liked her little quote that was like, you know, I think of myself like a show dog. She's like, she's like, I always got to be investing in my upkeep. And she's talking about her, her plastic surgeries. But it led me thinking about like, we are those top show dogs. Like, we have to keep, keep ourselves in top shape.
Jordanna [00:16:16]: Yeah.
Marilynn [00:16:16]: Yeah. But why don't you want to, right? You know, I, I read a stat too that like, as women, we spend the bulk of our time in the perimenopause, menopause years. Like, if you look at the lifeline of a woman, And I'm thinking, true, when you hear of all of these things that women are saying about the ailments and this and that, it's like, why do I want to spend the bulk of my life feeling like the worst garbage? Yeah, yeah, like it doesn't make any sense to me. So yeah, like let's be that show horse or show dog. Let's, let's do it because I want to enjoy these years.
Tijana [00:16:44]: Amen.
Marilynn [00:16:45]: Anyway, let's segue. So Jor, talk to us about the belly fat piece because we hear that all the time about the belly fat being a problem.
Jordanna [00:16:52]: Yeah, this is probably the one that gets women to take Action, I will say, is when they see the belly weight shifting and they don't fit in their clothes, or they have the belly hanging over their pants, and they're like, "I didn't have this a year ago or two years ago. I was still wearing my bikini." And I feel like similar to the things that you guys have been saying, I haven't changed anything that I've been eating, or my workouts have remained the same. And it's like that is actually the problem, and that is. Part of the reason why your belly fat has expanded or has shifted from your hips and bum to your waist. Because what you're noticing— the more fat around your waist, less of an hourglass shape, feeling puffy through the middle— that's a symptom of the greater problem that you're experiencing. That's what's the aftermath of not taking action earlier in the journey. And so underneath what's happening on all of that is when estrogen is declining in those perimenopause years, The fat is shifting on your body. So it's moving typically from the hips and bum into the waist.
How Estrogen Loss Changes Fat Distribution
Jordanna [00:18:03]: And that's where we're adding things like visceral fat, which we don't want because it is fat accumulating around our organs that is essentially making you far unhealthier and have less of a lifespan overall. That is then compounding— those hormonal shifts are then compounding to poor sleep because of the symptoms that you're experiencing. And that compound effect then impacts your hunger hormones. And those hunger hormones will make you want to eat more and eat more carbs and fat because that's what it's satiating. When we're not rested, our body is responding by saying, feed me some more so that I have the energy that I need, because sleep restores energy. When we don't have that energy, our body's going to go and look for it elsewhere, which is in food. And as Mare mentioned earlier, when we have lower muscle mass and less activity, that's going to contribute to a softer appearance. So put all that together, you're already feeling stressed out about your body and how you're feeling feels a little more out of control.Jordanna [00:19:06]: Your stress levels are going to increase even higher. And so when we have those reactions in our lives, most people, like when I see it from like an eating psychology standpoint, We see then people are having adverse reactions around food, movement, and sleep even more so. So they'll eat more, they'll move less because they're so tired, and then their sleep continues to be impacted.
Breaking the Cycle: Sleep, Stress, and Weight Gain
Marilynn [00:19:27]: And it's like— Perfect storm. I call it the perfect storm.Jordanna [00:19:29]: It is, it's a perfect storm. So you're not imagining what is going on. Fat distribution is actually shifting, and that is what is part of the hormonal relationship happening there. But it doesn't mean that menopause actually created this scenario for you and that that type of fat doesn't respond to anything. It does. Anybody can gain visceral fat. Anybody can gain a belly. It doesn't have to only happen in menopause.
Jordanna [00:19:55]: And just because it's happening in menopause doesn't mean that there's no solution for it.
Marilynn [00:19:58]: That's right.
Jordanna [00:19:59]: I think what's really key here is you can't have a spot-reducing plan or a menopause-specific plan that is only going to address you because you're in menopause. But you do need to do things differently. And so the things that we want you to be focusing on in your plan are going to be the things that we've built in inside of Get Sculpted, because you wanna be focusing on your overall body composition, not just what's going on in your belly. A belly is part of that.
Marilynn [00:20:27]: Yep.
Jordanna [00:20:27]: Like you said, Mare and T, in deep detail around strength training.
Marilynn [00:20:30]: Yeah. We need that.
Jordanna [00:20:31]: That is a bare minimum to making progress. We need to take a look at the overall calorie intake because what you think was your maintenance 2 years ago, if you've continued to lose muscle, your maintenance has now decreased and not moving, and you need fewer calories in order to lose weight now. Helpful to know that— Nothing quote unquote has changed.
Marilynn [00:20:54]: That also a lot of women cut calories because when these things happen, right, their go-to is like, oh, I have the belly fat, let me eat less. So now you've made those maintenance calories even lower.
Why Spot-Reducing Belly Fat Doesn't Work
Jordanna [00:21:05]: Yeah, exactly. And then you compound that with the fact that protein, fiber, carbs, like there's so much misnomer and faulty beliefs still around how much we need of each one that you really need to step back and reassess the whole plan. T, did you want to add something?Tijana [00:21:22]: Yeah, just what we were talking about. I think, like, in my experience, I don't know about you guys, but a lot of the time women can have a skewed view of how much body fat they really need to lose to get as lean as they need to. What's funny when someone's like, oh, I'm a fitness coach, and they're like, can you help me lose this? Or like, can you help me lose this? Just jokingly, right? But I think people do think that like, okay, well, what's going to melt the belly fat?
Marilynn [00:21:41]: They do. They do.
Tijana [00:21:41]: But then it's like, here's the bad news. Like, I always tell people, I can't give you something magic for just belly fat. And if I did, I would be a total snake oil salesman, which we're not. It's like, you got to get leaner overall and you might lose it from the boobs first. I'm sorry. You know, the places you don't want to lose it. But at the end of the day, you might need to get significantly leaner because guess what? It's not going to go first from the belly. It doesn't work that way.
Jordanna [00:22:03]: No, no, exactly. I love that you clarified that. Because it's so true what you're saying, T. Like, there isn't a magic menopause belly burning workout or program or plan. And if somebody is selling you that specifically, like, I'm telling you right now, please run, right? Because that isn't the truth. You need to look at everything holistically and tackle it in that way. And we don't want women wasting time doing hundreds of crunches because they think that's what's going to work, or to cut out all their carbs because—
Tijana [00:22:36]: Oh God.
Jordanna [00:22:36]: The water from the carbs is what's making them feel bloated.
Tijana [00:22:39]: Yes.
Jordanna [00:22:39]: Even though that's temporary.
Tijana [00:22:40]: Yeah.
Jordanna [00:22:41]: So there's so many things that we can be looking at, but what we do need to focus on is the specific habits that we can take. And that is an awesome thing that there are actions to be taken. And the most common thing that will get in the way of us taking those actions is how tired we feel.
Marilynn [00:22:56]: Yeah.
Jordanna [00:22:56]: And the exhaustion that can come with being in perimenopause and eventually menopause. T, can you walk us through how to tackle it in the best way possible so that women know, here's the plan, but here's how I'm gonna understand my exhaustion better? Yeah.
How Exhaustion Impacts Fat Loss
Tijana [00:23:12]: This is a near and dear thing to my heart because I think we've all had periods where we've been really exhausted. Like I remember when I had my newborn. Yeah. The first one, I was like, I didn't know you could actually live off this little sleep.Jordanna [00:23:22]: Yeah.
Tijana [00:23:22]: And now that's, oh God.
Jordanna [00:23:24]: That's why I'm like, isn't that wild?
Tijana [00:23:25]: I don't know how people have like 8 kids or anything like that. Like I just, Anyway, that's a sidebar. But like, nature is not intending you to live that way for a long time, right? Which is why you run on adrenaline. I remember my midwife saying that. She's like, oh, the first few weeks you can kind of run on adrenaline, but then you really need to prioritize sleep. And I was like, yeah, like one bad night of sleep, it's fine. I'll get through it.
Marilynn [00:23:44]: Yeah.
Tijana [00:23:44]: 2, it's like, okay, I'll power through. But when it's your norm, here's the thing. I am such a believer. And we did an episode about this, by the way, so check that out. We also did one on belly fat, so check that out because a lot of these things will go deeper. But a lot of the things are in our control, okay? So we wanna start there. So for example, like, we wanna check all our boxes here of like sleep hygiene, making sure that you're getting to bed on time, that you're not screen sucking for like late into the evening and all that, and then your bedtime routine and all that. So I just wanna preface with that.
Tijana [00:24:12]: That being said, that's not the magic solution for a lot of women, 'cause here's the interesting thing about the perimenopause, menopause symptoms. A lot of women are vastly differently affected. Yeah, that's fair. Some women are like, my sleep has always been great. And I'm hoping I'm one of those, 'cause I need my sleep. Some women, the sleep is absolutely terrible, and that cascades into everything. So, you know, the hormonal changes are very real. Surprise, surprise.
Tijana [00:24:31]: Like, sometimes if you're doing the best you can and you're still not able to sleep through the night, that's gonna have an effect. And what I've seen is, like, you know, a lot of women who are, like, incredibly disciplined and have the right desire, they're just not able to go full tilt into, like, making these changes because they're not sleeping properly. And that affects your hunger, your energy, your patience, your recovery. Right? Even if you're— just trying harder isn't the answer. Your mental and physical motivation and your training quality. So this is where there's more nuance. And what I want to really highlight for people here is like, Jordi, you touched on this earlier, but like, don't be afraid to reach out for support. This is where like, you know, we always say it's not like go to your medical team or us, for example, about anything, right? About weight loss or menopause or anything.
When to Seek Medical Help for Menopause Symptoms
Tijana [00:25:14]: It's like this and that. When we combine things synergistically, that's when the magic happens.Marilynn [00:25:19]: Yes. Couldn't agree more.
Tijana [00:25:20]: Totally agree. Like, then you get the HRT, you get the right dose, and then you're just— Oh my God, I'm a different person. I'm sleeping better. And then you can make better decisions. And like, you know, we've talked about this too with even like GLP-1s and food. It's like, now I can actually execute the plan the right way I'm supposed to.
Jordanna [00:25:35]: I have a client that she was literally doing everything right. She was tracking every bite of food. She was executing her workouts. We had form checks going with Francesca. We had all the stress management tools. We had her working from home a couple of days a week. We had her walking. Like, she had all of those main buckets addressed, and her perimenopause symptoms were still quite elevated, especially when it came to sleep.
Jordanna [00:26:02]: And that was one of her major disruptors. And I said to her, I think it's time that we invest going and getting this looked at and seeing if HRT is a solution for you. And she went to go talk to her doctor. She did the blood work. They had some really good discussions. She started HRT and within 3 weeks she was losing fat again and her sleep was completely normalized again. And listen, this is a best case scenario for somebody. Not everyone is gonna all of a sudden start HRT and then poof, all their problems disappear.
Jordanna [00:26:35]: It takes time. But for her, because I'm a firm believer, and I don't know if I have any data to back this up, but just from my lived experience with my clients and myself, When you have all of the basics taken care of to the best of your ability, and then you need to add in the support of your medication, that is going to amplify and optimize things for you in a way that you might not have been able to achieve on your own. And I saw this with this particular client, and now it's basically like a straight line towards her goals. And it is just such a beautiful thing because now she's like, I feel rested. I feel happier. I'm not feeling like I'm fighting myself when I'm making food choices. Like I was doing it before, but now I'm able to like do it with confidence and feel good about those choices. So it's like she's not white-knuckling the process anymore.
Jordanna [00:27:24]: And it just had me step back for a sec to be like, wow, like it can really make such a big difference. But if she didn't have all those other pieces in place, this would still be an uphill battle for her because— The progress wouldn't have been happening as quickly.
Tijana [00:27:39]: Yeah, I love that you shared that, Jorde. It's so important. And like, you don't need to white-knuckle it, 100%. Mira, I'd love if you just touch a little bit— I know we talked about this earlier, but like, just about the women who say that they eat healthy and they work out, and like, what advice would you give them if they already feel like they're doing the right things?
"I Eat Healthy and Work Out" - Why That's Not Enough
Marilynn [00:27:52]: Yes, this one I feel like is probably near and dear to our hearts because we do get a lot of women who come to us and say like, I eat clean, I eat healthy, I work out. And I'm like, okay. And they're like, but I'm still not getting the results I want. So there is a big difference between, again, like we talked about working out and training. And eating clean and eating in a structured way with intention and the plan. So we do have to dig deeper when women say that to us. We can't just take it at surface level. We have to go deeper with it because those things, eating healthy, working out, do not necessarily equate to doing the things we need to actually see change, right?Tijana [00:28:26]: Yes.
Marilynn [00:28:26]: So we've got to look at data. We're also very big on separate fact from feeling. We got to look at the data. So first, it's like, how much protein are you eating? Not like, oh, I'm eating a few meals with— no, how many grams of protein are you eating? We need to be specific.
Tijana [00:28:39]: Yeah.
Marilynn [00:28:39]: And then again, the strength training piece, right? We're not talking about Pilates at 45. How much actual resistance training are you doing? Are you progressing your workouts? Like we talked about, are you progressing the weight, the reps, et cetera? How much are you moving, right? Some women have no idea how much movement they're getting or not during a day. How much sleep are you getting? We touched on this. And we're talking about actual quality sleep, not just like I'm laying in bed scrolling my phone. How much sleep are you getting? This is a big one. What are your weekends like? Because we do have some women who will be like, I'm good Monday to Friday, and then they're undoing everything on the weekends. So we have to look at that data.
Jordanna [00:29:13]: Totally.
Tracking Progress: Data-Driven Body Composition Change
Marilynn [00:29:14]: Another big one is the drinking piece. Do you even know how much you're drinking? It's actually so funny. My husband— I just have to segue. This is obviously not about menopause, but just how drinking affects you. My husband went out for dinner with some friends the other day, and he had one drink, like a small drink, and he never drinks. And he came home and he's like, oh, my head. And I, oh, I feel so bad. And I was like, well, dude, like, you're almost 50.Marilynn [00:29:34]: Like, it's— your body is processing that way different than it did when you were 20. So same to all of you ladies listening. It's like, how often are you drinking? How are you feeling when you're drinking?
Tijana [00:29:43]: Yeah, you don't know how good you could feel without it if you've normalized that wine. That's a very low-hanging fruit.
Marilynn [00:29:48]: Yeah, and I do love seeing that with our clients because, again, we're not anti-alcohol. If you've listened to our alcohol episodes, it's just about empowering you about like what it's doing and what the alternative could look like. But also dieting, that's another big one, right? If you've been in a deficit for for, I'm going to say years, but like for some women their entire lives, then your body has adapted to that. Like we mentioned, you are surviving on less calories, so your body needs even less to make more change. Gathering all of this info, just those as an example, it's not to, you know, fault you or prove you wrong or to make you feel bad. It's just about getting specific about what you're doing, because if you're vague, then that's not going to move the needle. Like I always tell my clients, like if you're on plan-ish, then you're going to get progress-ish. Like, you're not, you're not going to get the progress that you want or need.
Marilynn [00:30:34]: We are all about data, measuring and gathering data about what actually matters, because I eat healthy, I work out doesn't tell us much at all. Before you say, my body stopped responding, I'm broken, this and that, let's actually look at what you're asking it to respond to. And if we were to ask you right now, like, how much protein are you consuming? Like, Have your lifts gone up? How many steps are you averaging? And you can't answer any of that because you've never tracked those numbers. This is where we need to start, and this is what we do with our clients. Like I said, we really get laser-focused on the data. We get specific so we can help you get the change you want. So if you want help with this, our applications are open, and you can find the link to our application in the show notes. And we would love to dig into this with you.
Marilynn [00:31:18]: This is like— we get totally lit up when we talk data. So Jiwara, take us through now, cuz we talked about all this stuff. So what should women actually be focusing on? That's the big question, right? It's like, now what?
The Menopause Fitness Playbook: Key Actions to Take
Jordanna [00:31:28]: This is your playbook, ladies. Yeah. So if you've been listening along this far and you're like, damn, this sounds like a lot of work. Like, what am I doing here? First of all, let us know that this is a challenge for you. Like you said, Mar, like this is exactly what we do with our clients. But if you're wanting to do a self-assessment first, this is what you need to be focusing on. The first and foremost is building and preserving muscle. If you haven't gotten that clear message from today's episode, this is a number one for you.Jordanna [00:31:56]: So please, please be working out with progressive overload, training consistently, and making that a priority. You will fall in love with it, and there is nobody that I know that has ever outgrown the gym. So there's a lot of places to continue to grow there. Eating enough protein, but I'm also going to pair that with eating enough fiber. I think we might have even gone Too far on the protein train. I really want people to be thinking about not just what their plate looks like with protein or adding in enough protein in their day, but really thinking about the fiber mix as well, because that is going to help you stay fuller longer. It's gonna be giving you the macronutrients, some of the micronutrients that you need. And the third one is, you said it, Mare, before about stop living in a diet.
Jordanna [00:32:40]: This is why it's great to have an expert's eye on what you're doing. Because we can make an assessment as your overall dieting history when we should be doing another fat-loss phase and when we might need to be protecting you from yourself a little bit and saying, hey, we might want to take a little dieting break here. We might want to bring you up to maintenance. We might want to let your body recover a little bit more and prepare it for a fat-loss phase that you can actually be responding within. The fourth one is moving outside of the gym. We don't wanna take you away from Pilates or your walks with the girlfriends or, you know, any of those fun activities that you do like to do, but doing them in conjunction with your strength training and making them feel more fun is going to bring joy into your life. And that is what movement is supposed to be doing while also supporting you with your lifestyle habits and your fat loss goals and feeling amazing in your body. The fifth one is taking sleep and recovery seriously.
Sleep, Recovery, and Medical Support Strategies
Jordanna [00:33:38]: We did just a whole deep dive on that, so I won't repeat anything there. And then the last one, which to me was a game changer for me, was getting medical help when it's appropriate. When sleep is severely disrupted, if you're up for hours in the night, if you have insomnia, if you have significant symptoms where your night sweats or your hot flashes are literally taking you away from doing the things that you need to be doing, if you have frozen shoulder, if you have these if you have insane mood swings, these are not things that the basics are going to solve for you. You need to get more support than that, and that often comes from a medical intervention. So don't be afraid to be the youngest person in the office asking for support. That's how I felt, and I was turned away from a couple of medical offices 'cause they said I was too young. But you need to continue that path and get the support that you need. I will forever be an advocate of that because of my own personal experience.
Combining Lifestyle Changes with Medical Support
Jordanna [00:34:33]: And you don't have to choose between a lifestyle and medical support. The whole conversation you started, T, was about, and you can have both and you can explore both. And what you decide to implement is obviously your choice, but be informed and have all the information so you know, you feel in your heart what is the best thing for you.Marilynn [00:34:51]: Yeah.
Jordanna [00:34:52]: T, can you take us through and just give us the Coles Notes and wrap us up for the day?
Key Takeaways: Controlling What You Can Control
Tijana [00:34:56]: Yes, absolutely. So the big takeaway here, like you said, Jord, like, Get the support. We're here for you. Your medical team is there for you. Like, don't be afraid to ask for it. And also the takeaway is like menopause is real and perimenopause is real and all your symptoms, but it's not the whole story. So you're noticing the changes in your body and your sleep and your composition and all the rest. And, you know, hormones do play a role here, absolutely, but your lifestyle plays an enormous role.Tijana [00:35:18]: So control your controllables, as we always say, um, and the fundamentals are the most important, like Jord mentioned. So We hope you guys got value out of our episode. If you did, please give this a like, a share, consider giving us a 5-star review. It helps us reach more women like you, and we'll see you guys in the next one.