Unexplained weight gain?Sluggish metabolism?Struggling to shift your midsection?

Sluggish metabolism?

Struggling to shift your midsection?

Cortisol or insulin too high?

If you’re doing all the right things but struggling for results

Here are my go-to supps and recommendations to address any metabolic or hormone imbalance

________ 

Youre doing the cardio, choosing the salads, reducing sugar and carbs, training hard…

But the progress just isnt showing for it…

I hear you and it is FRUSTRATING as hell when you are following the advice and tips

The internet then makes it easier for you to think its your cortisol that’s too high, you need a gut protocol, cycle syncing approach metabolic reset or hormone balancing supplements

Here is what I find to be the biggest issues & my go to supps for thriving hormones & metabolism!

underfuelling

You could be overeating but still guilty of this

1. meal timing; top fasting and skipping meals. Stop grazing, nibbling & snacking.

Eat WHOLE BALANCED MEALS throughout the day at regular times

= balanced blood sugar = happy hormones

2. PERFORMANCE NUTRITION; ENOUGH carbs & calories (including in a fat loss phase) & fuelling training, recovery and your lifestyle demands

3. STOP. CHRONICALLY. DIETING. Stop chasing calorie deficits and trying to eat as little as possible

Eating to hit your macros/calories but under nourishing

1. QUALITY FOOD!!!

More WHOLE FOODS!!!! Fibre. Protein. Wholegrains. Complex carbs. Healthy fats

Minimize sat fats, fast food and alcohol

2. micronutrients matter a lot for healthy hormones & metabolism. WHAT you eat impacts how you feel, perform, digest…etc.

How’s your sleep? Stress management? Movement?

Life outside of the kitchen & gym impacts what you do in the kitchen & gym thus results from it.

Sleep & stress management are VITAL in building your ultimate physique and losing body fat

They have a massive flow on effect!

Movement. Is. Key. If you aren’t prioritizing walking and movement, you are suppressing your metabolic capacity and your hormones wont be happy

TRAINING & RECOVERY

Do you respect your rest days?

Are you training HARD and to failure?

Train HARD but recover hard.

More =/= better and most often I find people who struggle with seeing changes, doing too much low quality work and just creating more fatigue without impactful stimulus for results.

NUTRITION through the year….

Do you only pay close attention to your tracking & nutrition when shredding for summer? Or on a 12 week challenge? Or wanting to lean down?

The result of this = adding more bodyfat and having less muscle year after year

= spinning your wheels, lowering your metabolism, motivation and overall health.

Your mindset & approach matter

Nail the basics and then care for supplements. Now that being say, YES, food & lifestyle FIRST, but not ONLY

Here are some I recommend…..

GO-TO SUPPS

1. MAGNESIUM GLYCINATE; best taken before bed. Increase dosage around your period/PMS if needed

2. VIT D; dosage depends on where you live. 2000-5000iu is a good range

3. CREATINE; especially as women and even more so in perimenopause and beyond.

4. A high quality multi is a great insurance policy.

5. PROTEIN POWDER to SUPPLEMENT your diet. Not be the only source of protein you have.

—->

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
– how are you sleeping?  7-9 hours a night?

– how do you manage your life stress? work stress?

– do you get outside in natural night?

– what are your coffee habits like?

– do you skip meals?

– get a lot of takeaways or restaurant meals?

– how much & how often do you drink alcohol?

– are you diligently tracking your calories & mindful to snacking?

– are you tracking your steps? getting in hard training & recovering from it?

– do you respect your rest days?

I hear you

Theres so much information out there that leaves you confused, hungry, and wondering if your body is even cut out for it…

its a lot isnt it?

Take a swipe through, save it for reference later & follow @transformxruby for more

If you have Qs, leave them below

Hormonal imbalance is a marketing plot as hormones are in a constant state of flux. HOWEVER you can have a dysregulated system which leads to protection mechanisms with your hormones & metabolism responding to that

The fix? looking at your current lifestyle and seeing where you need to start making some changes.

one thing at a time and be patient with it because you can put in all the right actions but there can be a decent timelag to you noticing the difference, especially if you overrid or forced the signals too long

Worry first about your lifestyle and habits…

Diligently track the food you are eating & the movement you do outside of the gym before you blame your hormones or cortisol.

& get a full blood panel from an MD before you buy the next unicorn potion online 🙂

Its why I will always recommend seeking out a qualified coach & nutritionist (hello) to help you with YOUR circumstances as its easy to feel like a message is for US when it plays with our emotions.

THIS MISTAKE is ruining your goals of building the strong, sculpted & fit AF physique that you want

I learnt this the hard way…. Swipe through these and let me know if anything resonates

• From forcing the gym numbers up… to letting them simply come to you 👏
• So the idea is to be okay with the fact that we might stall on some lifts for a couple weeks? And as long as Im close enough to failure then its alright if Ididn’t add a rep?

What many think is the way to build muscle

1/ adding more reps or weight in the gym each week

2/ increasing training volume

3/ just eating more food

My body didn’t start changing, nor my glutes start growing until I did this….

First…. what is actually needed to build the body you want?

1/ a sufficient stress from your training that you can progress & recover from

2/ a conducive environment with your nutrition & lifestyle

Lets break it down

TRAINING:

Lots of training can be hard… but it doesn’t = muscle growth

More sets, super sets, circuits, having your heart pumping can feel hard, but doesn’t = muscle growth

So what is HARD, EFFECTIVE TRAINING?

1/ hits & loads the TARGET MUSCLE well

2/ full range of motion

3/ the TARGET MUSCLE is the limiter

4/ you can easily progress it & push load

5/ PS; keep sets safe!

– pick effective exercises for your goals. Stable exercises should be a STAPLE in muscle focused training. Smith machine & other machines, cables, bench work etc… are ones you can safely push until form gives out! Yes include the other work too, but THIS should be a good chunk of your program.

It may FEEL hard and ouchy, but you don’t stop when it starts to hurt, the mental & physical effort needs to be here (see all 5 points above)

– train until your form fails. Learn to PUSH beyond comfort for this but make sure your BRACING is locked & technique dialled in. foundations first.

Most people think theyre pushing hard but find they actually had 3-5 reps left

– progressive stimulus! Things like kickbacks and banded or BW work simply don’t allow you to TRULY push big weights on it – there are more effective choices here. If you only train 3-4x a week, your selection matters more

– don’t chase PRs every week. On MOST weeks progress is keeping the same weight & having it feel better, making them LOOK better, adding reps, controlling it and hitting range of motion. Yes MOST weeks. From forcing the gym numbers up… to letting them simply come to you 👏

The EFFORT you put in = hitting stimulative thresholds. Then OVER TIME youll see #s follow

– respect the quirks of the muscle group – things like delts & arms are NOT going to progress at the same rate. Pulldowns and rows, presses… they will all be a fight each week to keep the same weight. That is PROGRESS. Stop chasing numbers at expensive of tempo or range of motion. STANDARDIZE YOUR REPS (back to the hard =/= conducive. Tame the ego)

NUTRITION: are you eating ENOUGH?

Most people aren’t eating enough but snacking too much

I know this scares the 💩 out of a lot of women who fear eating more will result in undesirable weight gain. So in turn we gravitate to snacking here and there, random pantry trips after dinner… wondering why we aren’t seeing the results we want.

MOST WOMEN are severely undereating protein

Having some eggs here, maybe some Greek yoghurt or cheese, some milk, perhaps a chicken salad and then your dinner meat is NOT enough for the physique you say you want

Its SO RARE for someone to come to me hitting their minimum protein requirements.

“not dieting” doesn’t = build muscle

“eating more” doesn’t = build muscle

You cannot force feed muscle growth & simple guzzling down more protein doesn’t just make muscle appear

Building muscle is all about YOUR TRAINING. Training HARD ENOUGH for LONG ENOUGH without flip flopping back into a diet when you get uncomfy.

you don’t need more than a 5% surplus, and if you have higher body fat level, you can see some changes at maintenance – you just got to make the trade off with the time it will take for real change.

• Forcing progress on your training logs is a sure fire way to REGRESS (maybe injure yourself & burn out)
• Many women cant grasp the idea of “NOT BULKING AND CUTTING IN CYCLES” which im so against. Yes you want DISTINCT building and fat loss cycles, but following the “bro” norms is almost like yoyo dieting where you end up with more fat mass & less muscle.

Accept that it WILL COME WITH TIGHTER PANTS, the scale fluctuating up!!

Stop chasing diets. Start chasing body composition, muscle & metabolism

You want a LOOK! Not a number that might mean a worse shape, no energy & weak metabolism!

Chase WELL FED, WELL FUELLED & STRONG

The SHAPE YOU WANT demands you to perform like you mean it!

It makes fatloss easier

It makes living lean easier

BUILDING is more about training than food, but if your nutrition isnt in check, you wont see the results you want, perform as you want, or feel geared up for a long-ass building phase. Which you need if you care for impressive physique change. NOT jumping into a diet when you feel fluffy or the scale goes up.

Your obsession with the scale is the #1 reason you are NOT at the physique you desire.

Smaller clothes are leaving you trapped in the old lifestyle you badly want to escape

You are not letting yourself go

You are NOT going to gain the pounds of fat

You are going to gain life, a lifestyle change, strength and a way of TRAINING, EATING & LIVING that creates the body you have always wanted.

Maintenance is where you should spend MOST of your tie

Get OBSESSED with living your best life and CREATING the best version of you. One habit at a time, one workout at a time, one day at a time!!

Want more tips like this or need some clear direction to achieve your goals? Slide into my DMs and we can see if I can help 👊🏼 OR comment RESULTS below

Follow @transformxruby for more

The best fatloss advice, some you’ve most likely never heard before, some contradictory

#nogatekeeping

(DON’T ignore #9)

• LOOK AHEAD, PLAN AHEAD, HAVE A TIMEFRAME

For fat loss to be EFFECTIVE AF, you need to have a set timeframe and plan. It. Is. A. phase.

Check for social events, travel, work load etc… this matters!

“This helps you understand when it will get more challenging, when the friction can be expected and allows you to PLAN. Once the timeline is set, Don’t fuck with it. Get in, stay dialed in and get out…that will be hard AF. My experience with this is that you will slip up. You will derail even with the best plans but if you allow yourself to think: “Oh well, I will just keep this deficit going longer” every time you overeat, indulge, can’t track well, etc. then you will end up in a trap. What’s helped me on the days I lose it is to think “just stick to the plan”, this is temporary so do better with the next choice, but also allow for the grace and care for yourself to look at WHY”

• CONTRARY TO MOST; FOOD CHOICES MATTER

The “you shouldn’t have diet food” or “eat the same as usual but less” is what will hold you back

Eat MORE at home, eat LESS processed food. Don’t just fit whatever into your macros. It’s easy to do that when you’re dragging….

• PLAN YOUR FOOD AHEAD & keep it as routine as possible. Limit the variety!! The more variety, the more youll eat. The more flavour palettes, the harder your brain works for satiety.

Make sure you NAIL your protein & fruit + veg targets. Less meals usually works better than tiny meals for satiety. PRE PLAN your small dessert & have it with wholesome foods to help satiety – brush your teeth after. Its OKAY to swap them for more macro friendly options. NOT EVERYTHING IS DIET CULTURE. (ohno, blasphemy!)

• Energy does fall, some hunger will be there. PRIORITIZE AND PROTECT YOUR PERFORMANCE if you care about a badass physique. THAT matters most.

Gym sessions WILL be harder – your pre & post workout meals matter a lot. PRE for energy & feeling fueled mentally and physically, POST so that you don’t then dig too deep a hole that youre raiding the pantry at night. PLAN it so you can REST & EAT to PERFORM.

• Schedule down time. Figure out how to spend a bit of extra time doing shit you love that doesn’t involve food.

• Switch from fullfat to low fat options. Higher calorie to lower calorie options ie with lean meats & dairy)
• Get GOOD SLEEP. It’s essential to prioritize FAT LOSS vs muscle loss plus help you stay consistent with your nutrition, training and movement goals.
• If you use a scale, stop caring about your daily weighins let along the weekly weighins… track the trend over the whole month. As a female, you may need to use both months data as some are highly susceptible to water fluctuations over your cycle (that’s okay)
• Stop aiming for X loss a week. You wont see linear loss on the scale, it can fluctuate up and down, especially as a female
• I DO highly suggest tracking your food more closely in a fatloss phase, the hardest thing to do is to be putting in all the effort but not seeing the results you want. Don’t make it longer than it needs to be. (I do guide a few clients through fatloss without tracking food, but we have steps to it)
• Drink plenty of water – hydration helps.
• CHEWING helps. The more you need to chew your food & the slower you eat, it helps satiety! (im not a fan of protein shakes, juices & liquid soups for this reason – opt for thickshake smoothies with non blended fruit also added. Make her thiccc)
• Be mindful not to ‘waste’ calories on things like alcohol, sugary/caloric drinks & coffees, and elaborate dressings, butter or oils.
• Keep stress in check. Journal, breathe, walk more outside. Sometimes therapy is needed
• HIGHER protein than usual can benefit you so much more here. 2.2-2.5kg even. Satiety 😉
• Aim for 90%+ minimally processed foods and 30g+ fibre.
• Stop focusing on macros only. Focus on food quality. They both matter even more here.
• Do NOT aim to be in a calorie deficit indefinitely. You need a cut off as per #1. If you ended up lacking the consistency you wanted or not getting the results you wanted, pushing it further WILL NOT serve you. You still were mentally dieting & fatiguing yourself. Take a REAL break, then attempt again later
• Pay attention to your body’s biofeedback. Don’t force fatloss harder when you are hangry, tired & feeling super restricted. (this is where setting up your fatloss phase the right way matters so much. How you approach your journey will determine your success & trajectory)
• GIVE YOURSELF RANGES vs absolutes.
• TBH most of it is all so simple; really simple. Everyone online overcomplicates it and confuses you. The thing is that its HARD – a coach is the greatest asset you can have through your health & fitness journey to your strongest and best body composition
• Hunger is one of the greatest set backs (& lack of energy). A well fuelled breakfast can make a huge difference BUT for some a condensed BUT PLANNED eating window helps. DON’T skip meals or try to undershoot your calories. It will work against you
• STOP trying to flex that you can eat this or that and lose weight. Don’t make a hard process, harder than it needs to be
• Fatloss is 90% managing your environment & planning ahead
• Consistency isn’t 100% or perfect, its not every day smashing it. Its about showing up to whatever your best looks like for that day, 80% all the time is better than 95-100% sometimes & building resentment (that’s more like prison)
• Having a good relationship with food, yourself & body, and the process will make it much easier to SUCCEED & get PERMANENT progress. Building and maintaining this is important. The magic happens in maintenance +

Which ones did you relate to the most? SHARE them with a friend & save this ultimate fat loss bible to refer to. Any thoughts? Let me know below!

Comment RESULTS if you want some 1:1 help so you can STOP spinning your wheels feeling stuck. BUILD muscle, LOSE fat, build a #strongandsculpted rig at any age!

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE GAINED A BUNCH OF WEIGHT as they’ve aged or struggle to lean down

ill start off by saying its not your metabolism, it didn’t slow down`
it wouldn’t be CAUSED by your hormones either ((** caveat at end))

1. 3-4x a week PROPER strength training
2. track your steps (i have a whole blueprint on this on my IG somewhere free of access)
3. eat more protein and veg
4. sleep & hydration
5. increase your steps (most people avg 3-5k a day
   and track your calories

social media makes it seem more complicated than it is, like its our metabolism or hormones that are broken
its so so simple, but not easy to do consistently when we are bombarded by flashy things

• lifestyle & behaviours influence hormones
• hormones then influence behaviours, energy, mood, performance… which CAN make things harder… which CAN put you into a surplus
• you lose collagen incrementally from about 30yo… which is what makes skin TIGHT/TAUT
• lack of estrogen SHIFTS body fat to the midsection but it doesn’t add it without a surplus…

Have you ever met anyone, upset they had strength and vitality?
Muscle changes everything.
STOP chasing small and skinny.
Start chasing strong.

This is when I notice my clients & my own body and LIFE change!!
YOU CANT GO WRONG WITH STRONG

• if you qualify, i recommend HRT/MHT

Myth: As you get older, your metabolism inevitably slows down.
Reality: Age does not affect our metabolism up to about 65-70yo.
The decrease in energy expenditure people often experience is due to reduced activity and loss of fat-free mass, notably muscle mass.

If you set yourself up right & have a SMART approach with the MINDSET & LIFESTYLE support…
You can change the trajectory of your life and FINALLY free yourself of the yoyo and struggles!

If you need help with this, comment RESULTS below and ill see how I can help

(recovery is most important here as is how you approach your LIFESTYLE & nutrition)… you dont have anything to worry about until your 60s

WHY isn’t my body responding? Why cant I see results?

Well it could do with the fact:
• You don’t take rest & recovery seriously
• You think adding in more things will speed it up
• You do excessive cardio
• You chase more and more calories burned
• You freak out everytime you see the scale go up/’feel fluffy’
• You undereat your calories to speed it up
• You’ve been eating <1500 calories for months on end
• You don’t have any consistency in your intake
• You don’t remember the last time you weren’t been TRYING to diet or lose weight
• You treat yourself like 💩
• You drink often – especially at night
• Youre an 🍆 to yourself (self-berating)
• You don’t plan for protein or eat enough veggies
• Youre running on empty all the time
• You drink coffee into the afternoon
• Your only goal is scale loss not muscle gain
• You neglect your health
• You don’t remember the last time you weren’t eating rabbit food
• You eat like a bird during the day
• You think your exercise & cardio make you active
• You care more about macro checks VS your body response
• You continue to try harder vs get a coach\
• You subscribe to generic plans but hope for specific results that last

HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS
5 steps
1️⃣ assess where you are currently at. (If you’re not assessing, you’re guessing
2️⃣ build foundation, set habits, set actions.
3️⃣ apply stress – specific to the adaptation (result) you want
4️⃣ RECOVER from said stress
5️⃣ keep applying progressively MORE intense stress in the direction of your goals.
6️⃣ RECOVER JUST AS HARD from said stress.

Simple, not easy
Your blueprint is waiting in the caption; save this one for later & share it to help a friend out!

YOUR ULTIMATE BLUEPRINT!
✅Recovery: Great sleep & 2-3 rest days!
✅Patience, consistency & realistic expectations
✅Accountability & support

✅Hydration! Limit alcohol
✅600g+ veggies/day
✅EAT YOUR PROTEIN (2.2G/kg)

✅MOVE YOUR FEET. 8-12k steps/day
✅Cardio is for health

✅Focus on habits & the process over the outcome, fuel your activity.
✅Focus on getting stronger vs the calories you burn in the gym.
✅Enjoy life, enjoy the process, realise it expands & enhances your life and SHOULD NOT CONSUME YOUR EVERY BEING!
✅FVCK THE SCALE OFF; for at least 6 months

Again. Simple. Not easy
The hard part is questioning your beliefs & self talk.

Learn what it feels like to:
-Have a proven plan in place
-Have the process broken down into action steps
-Healthy habits, sleep & MOVEMENT are the glue
-Do the things, repeat the things… have less x’s than ticks, keep improving the ratio
-Get better at the things
-Focus on BODY COMPOSITION & METABOLISM > scales & PMS feels
-Your clothes from your 20s & 30s may not serve you right now either – but we want to look s3xy nak3d here

AND REMEMBER
-Training is the only thing, THE ONLY THING that will enhance your body composition

-If you cared as much about the important factors that you SHOULD around your training…
Your body will change in ways you wouldn’t imagine

-If you aren’t seeing the changes you think you should
Maybe its time you shifted gears
Want to learn how to empower yourself to YOUR BEST & MOST CONFIDENT?
Comment TRANSFORM below and lets have a chat

not getting results?

Has your metabolism
slowed down?

OR are you forgetting
this important piece…..

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1/ The MAIN determinant of your metabolism
Is. Your. Overall. Movement.

NEAT:
Training “For fat loss/burning calories”
Doing “more work” impacts your metabolism here through NEAT

STEPS:
It’s easy to think youre busy or active if youre running around all day
But steps?
Do you use a watch?

Your energy is impacted by everything you do in a day AS WELL as what you eat
Your sleep, hormones (espesh perimeno) impact energy too
__
TRAINING PERFORMANCE
Change your training? Not resting enough & doing circuits?
Doing metabolic bootcamps? More HIIT classes? Changes to pilates to look “long and lean”
Not training hard (& smart) enough?

Lose muscle, lose metabolism
Drop performance, lose metabolism
PERFORMANCE IS PHYSIQUE
So fuelling fatloss is ESSENTIAL

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2/ Constantly dieting… living in a deficit….constantly underfuelling yourself is detrimental
You are suppressing your metabolism & your ability to re-compose your body

Too often I see women thinking that the thing they need to achieve their goals…. is to just
“lose a couple more kilos”

You find yourself in a situation of attempting low-calorie diets for so long….
— now your adherence & consistency become sh*t — motivation tanks

..kinda dieting,
but having days of kinda not dieting,
getting back on track,
never really intentionally eating enough to optimise
training performance & actually change
your physique & body comp

---

3/UNDEREATING in general

HOARDING CALORIES
Even if they all equate by the end of day or week
Its not the same, youre suppressing your metabolism and impacting body composition goals

Cool if all you care about is a number tracking down…not caring about the end physique, your energy etc…

CUTTING CALORIES TOO LOW/trying to rush the process

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Undereating
makes it harder to stay consistent
you’re more likely to mindlessly nibble
weekends count
so does anything you eat after 7pm even though the sun cant see you
you move less, underperform in sessions & put your body in survival mode where it just wants to be lazy
you resent the process
you create an ELASTIC effect that will make you rebound or stay stuck in a lose & gain the same weight cycle
take it too long & now youll start to lose muscle & be more predisposed to fat gain

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4/ PROTEIN & MUSCLE

• you don’t accidently hit your protein each day
• protein burns more calories to digest
• its most satiating
• if you don’t hit minimal requirements for YOU, youll have more hunger and cravings and overeat until you meet it
• if you don’t plan for protein, youll end up over on calories, carbs and fats and under on protein

The average range I prefer for body comp is 2.2-2.4g/kg

• in a deficit I would aim for the higher range of that
• studies show high protein diets to be beneficial for body comp!

MUSCLE is metabolism, health and so much more
adding muscle lowers your bf%, it helps you keep fat off.
Without focusing on building & keeping muscle, you wont get the shape/body you want

---

LIFESTYLE AND HABITS:
your metabolism hasn’t slowed down, you just aren’t as active as you think, you eat calorie dense food even if it doesn’t feel like you eat much
and/or you drink alcohol weekly

READ THE CAPTION FOR MORE

So many women are in this place where they have been eating 1500 calories – low calories for years and they’re wondering why nothing changes and why they probably feel like like crap all the time
you got to give your body some fuel to make those changes it doesn’t just happen from nothing

we really need to separate these goals
don’t expect much foryour muscle if you are in calorie deficit
stop living in the endless cycle of “I should be losing fat but also like looking tone” MUSCLE is tone, BUILDING is for muscle
trying to chase and be the smallest level of you isn’t it

they’re expecting to look like a bikini competitor after one dieting session and it’s like sorry it it doesn’t really work like that like nothing’s wrong with you it just takes this long

You can build muscle at any age. You can lose fat at any age. The research shows your metabolism doesn’t slow until around age 70 (yes this includes every phase of menopause) & that’s likely just because most people become less spontaneously active (PMID: 34385400 if you care)

Hack your metabolism for fat loss
Sorry, that’s not really a thing BUT I will tell you how to optimize it!
1 – prioritize strength training over cardio
2 – get as much quality sleep as you can (7-9 hours)
3 – STOP BEING IN A CALORIE DEFICIT ALL YEAR
4 – have extended periods of time eating in maintenance
5 – increase your NEAT aka MOVING MORE during the day
6 – HYDRATE! So many people do not drink enough water!
7 – EAT MORE DAMN PROTEIN (and veggies)
8 – Stress. This will be one of the BIGGEST things to hold you back, make fat loss AND building some muscle, an even BIGGER struggle

Consistently hitting the gym but don’t look like you lift weights?unhappy with your results?

Is it your training program?
Or HOW you are training?
Is it your nutrition?
does it match your training & what you say you want?
If you’re training 5-7 days a week
It isn’t just about the program here….
there’s alot to unpack starting with HOW are you training?

---

are you pushing to failure (of form)?
Are you recovering enough?
Are you doing too much?
Are you cutting you doing FULL reps?
Are you RUSHING your reps?

Feel like youre doing everything right?

Walking to a gym & lifting weights =/= training hard
Nor does it guarantee results.

Muscle is built as a response to your body being challenged beyond its current norm
AKA
FIGHTING for reps, pushing as hard as you can to get stronger…
It’s a skill you learn over time

THIS is KEY for looking lean!
Its how you BUILD muscle
Its how you KEEP muscle
Its how you also train for fat loss

Want to know how to lose body fat & live leaner with more ease
Without living on peasant calories?
TRAIN HARDER TO BUILD MUCSLE

Your last rep SHOULD look questionable!!!
If you get bored, don’t know what to do with your rest times or feel you don’t need them
You aren’t training hard enough.

Training with intensity is something you LEARN
The discomfort you push through is a SKILL
It’s a PRACTICE

This process BUILDS CONFIDENCE

The greatest 2 hacks?
1/ FILM YOUR LIFTS
2/ use your training log for MORE than #s, WRITE how things feel & notes to self

are you giving your best HONEST effort?
It’s about giving your best you have for THAT day.

Which. Always. Fluctuates

NUTRITION to match!

Hate to break it
But if you are SO FOCUSED on downsizing and the # on the scale
You are focusing on the wrong puzzle pieces

Tell me about how your training logs look over the last 4, 6, 8 weeks…
or do you change workouts every week or 3?

Many of you are always training & dieting for fatloss
then wonder why you aren’t seeing the results that you want…

I “wasted” years chasing muscle gains
But refused to give up my desire for melting my stubborn belly fat and trying to be as lean as possible
I see this constantly with so many others
You say you want muscles about your actions during align with that?
do you keep using “dieting” or “restricting” as a safety net? a comfort zone?

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MINDSET
You can be holding yourself back
sabotaging your true progress
Even if you aren’t actively dieting
Simply because your mindset hasn’t shifted

You’re still so focused on the muffin top
The fact the scale isn’t going down….
It’s keeping you in a dieters mentality!!

It doesn’t mean get fat!!! I’m trying to walk the talk…
“You’re lean enough already…easy for you to say”
But I didn’t wake up lean by chance
I built this
I did the work
I ditched the diet after trying to get lean on 1600 calories, minimal real carbs, all the cardio and over exercising…

So that when I DID do a 6 week fatloss phase…
It was damn fkn effective

REAL change isn’t happening as quick as you think
Stop changing things up because you don’t see a change after 6 or 12 wks! Not to say nothing is happening in that amount of time,
but your expectations for it are unrealistic
….
So tell me…
Are you really fat loss resistant
Or have you just not shifted your approach and mindset yet?
There are multiple paths from A to B but if you want to make it to C and D, you better choose wisely.
If you try to build something without a solid foundation, it will likely collapse.

You say you want more muscle but you panic when the scale goes up
Or when your pants fit tight

• muscle EXPANDS with blood, glycogen & water. Especially 1-2 days after leg day. Many of you do 2-3 of those a week… expect it * muscle has the RIGHT curves, the RIGHT shape & it looks $EXY NAK3D
  .
  You’re frustrated with how slow your progress is so you add in more training, more sets, more work…
  And end up moving in the opposite direction

You hyperfocus on calories, but miss out on actual NUTRITION, lifestyle & what YOUR body needs
Which is different from joe, sally & sue

STOP feeding your own confusing & self doubt pushing a faulty system harder
Spinning around in circles…
And start making KICKA$$ progress with an approach that fits YOU
So you KEEP the results that you get, feel confident & empowered in the process
And start to see your body take the shape that you want it to

13 Things many “trainers” dont want to tell you

** There are no fatloss workouts
there’s no fat-blasting or metabolic-boosting method with training

** How you train to build muscle is how you train to lose fat
to get the best results in a diet, you need to train to build muscle
don’t train to burn more, sweat more or keep your HR up
fat loss training is a myth & can have you LOSE muscle

** Train to get strong and build muscle; use around the same volume, account for recovery (which is lower in a deficit) to have higher chances of keeping muscle

** Rest periods are important!
Stop the circuit-style weights or doing things in between your strength sets!
You will struggle to get the stimulus needed to build a “defined” body

** YOU DON’T NEED MARATHON WORKOUTS
you shouldn’t have 6+ exercises for the same muscles!

If you want to be economical then use a smart program with hypertrophy because you can be in and out in 60 mins tops

Ways to cut workout time – superset opposing muscle groups – quads/hams, back/chest

Don’t have 60 mins?
use movements that don’t require much skill
go for compounds
and minimize single-limb work.

** Meal frequency matters but not the way you think
similar meal times each day help with consistency

• training your appetite

snacking often or eating lots off small meals is a great way to overeat without ever really feeling full (+ adding MORE meals to think about)

eat bigger balanced meals

** YOU WONT ALWAYS HAVE A FLAT STOMACH
regardless of what you do

• menstrual cycle, food in your belly, drinking water…

** YOU DONT NEED TO CHANGE YOUR WORKOUTS OR DIET FOR YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE

** you NEED a system to manage calories if you want to keep any results you get…
TRACKING YOUR FOOD for even a short period of time helps you step away from the app & use other flexy methods…
like balanced plates, hand portions, eating similar meals each day
because you KNOW whats in your food

** YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT AND LOSE WEIGHT….
YES BUT NO
food quality is essential
we dont eat calories, we eat food
everything comes with tradeoffs
calorie tradeoffs, fullness, hunger, cravings, performance, health, digestion, performance, energy… etc

focus on adding more protein, fibre & veg but you gotta be smart with the rest…

** metabolism boosters….
MUSCLE & WALKING are the best metabolism boosters

** nailing protein carb fats every day…
allow a RANGE for your calories between ~100

• aim for your MINIMUM protein
• then aim for fruit, veg, fibre
• target your carbs to FUEL your training & day
• allow the numbers to fall around your “ideal” but stop aiming to be 100%
  Protein, calories, produce & fuelling enough matter more.

SOMETIMES YOU MAY need to get more meticulous with your tracking
its not obsessive
what IS obsessive is you hopping to more restrictive plans
pinching your belly every night and just staring at the parts you ‘want to change’
bc because you either ‘cant get your sh*t together
OR you’re working hard/trying everything and nothings working

2 bonus pointers

YES; It’s easier for some people…
how can you make it easier on yourself?

**STOP COMPARING YOURSELF
Many people have health and fitness as part of their background
which can make it easier to gain back

Many may not deal with the same PMS symptoms as you or have the same stressors/life demands

You may just have to be more mindful
to stop comparing your now to their current
the start is hard
new habits arent easy to form

**YOUR ENVIRONMENT MATTERS
and sometimes you need to create structure before you allow more flexibility

DONT RELY ON WILLPOWER
make AUTOPILOT work for you
force the chain until it gets easier yes, but set up your environment for more success

**FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL

2/ photos & measurements weekly
IS NOT NEEDED for you to get your best results…

photos & measurements hardly change within weeks let alone months on a path to sustainable change (maybe in a harder fatloss phase if you have alot to lose; monthly is more feasible…. but then what???

Building ain’t so. especially if you are trying to lose fat and build muscle
be prepared to sabotage every month you see “not much”

2. process>outcome. get really good at the habits that keep you lean for life.. VS fixating on the scale going down
   realise that fat loss is a PHASE so you need a drive outside of that #

Measure success by mindset, actions *& behaviour change over time
Slowly stretch & move your comfort zone so you make the habits that lead to the outcomes more autopilot

PRACTICE
Everything is practice
Easy wins over time.

“IM IN PERIMENOPAUSE.CALORIE DEFICIT DOESN’T WORK”

TRUE… what worked for you before won’t work for you now but whats the truth here?

75% of women gain ~10kg during this time… mostly around their bellys
let me break down WHY & what you can do based on #science

So many women are fast to blame hormones or their metabolism for their “lack of results”
“I’ve gained so much weight and i havent changed my routine” is another common one

OR they play victim to their age, not think its possible for them, so they don’t really give it 100%
Most likely before theyve struggled in the past, only gained weight back etc..

Sound familiar?

• Fatigued? Tired? Sore & niggly?
  Lacking your usual OOMPH?

Theres a ROOT CAUSE to this. A
What worked before, wont work now
Your body IS going to slow down AS YOU DO

the way you most likely treated your body in the past has ALOT to do with it.
The emotional and mental effects of this life stage make eating less and doing more near impossible
It hits harder, stress & cortisol hit you more..
RECOVERY is such an important factor!

If you keep trying to go back to your OLD body or compare yourself to 20yos online..
You are doing yourself a disservice

BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN you cant create an epic fkn physique
I assure you you can
It just needs MORE INTENT and a proper strategy
This is where coaching comes in

Learning where to focus,
Shifting from SCALES & #s to body composition, strength, purpose & meaning
CONFIDENCE as you age

‘

[1] HORMONES
Estrogen falling = more of your fat is DISTRIBUTED differently
Aka you gain more fat around the middle section

Collagen production decreases as we age, giving rise to wrinkled and sagging skin that disturbs many middle-agers as they contemplate their reflection in a mirror.

METABOLISM & MUSCLE
Your metabolism DOES NOT slow down until you are in your 60s where there is a SLIGHT GRADUAL DECLINE over time… this is equated for MUSCLE MASS so your muscle is important

Muscle is what gives bodies the strong & athletic shape
Muscle is metabolism
You lose muscle, you lose up 100-400 calories per day
More muscle lifting more & heavier loads & moving around in life burns more calories

WHY ‘CALORIE DEFICIT’ DOESN’T WORK
Well..first ill state the obvious

• most women have tried to lose weight at some time with many doing cyclical dieting bouts, yoyoing or chronically in a diet mind frame.

Most have spent YEARS feeding it like crap, restricting it,
while our bodies do change, we make it worse than it needs to be by not treating and fueling it correctly

• most things targeted at women are about being smaller, losing weight, shrinking etc…
• so many haven’t been in LONG, DEDICATED & SPECIFIC periods attempting to BUILD MUSCLE & STRENGTH
• more exercise or cardio is even MORE detrimental as you age. You need to prioritize more recovery!
• what we THINK we need to do is far from reality
  Active women need at least 3g/kg carbs up to 7g/kg for MODERATE exercise not to mention we all have different stress and obligations in our lives. While I’m not saying this is the case for OP here, some people don’t have the time, mental energy or ability to “eat in restriction and meticulously track everything that passes their lips” when they’re caring for children, grandchildren, aging parents, working full time, etc.

Tons of variables.
But the common denominator is it doesnt have to be that way
Having a coach in your corner during this period is honestly the best investment you can ever make into your health (a good coach)

Bcos you lose estrogen, you have to do all you can to protect your muscle and bone mass and THUS metabolism.
The way most people diet puts this more at risk -as well as increasing chronic levels of cortisol
Every time you attempt to diet to only put the weight back on, your metabolism gets slower and slower as you lose muscle and Gain more body fat, most likely with a higher Drive for carbs and sweets

Most women are already trying to lose weight on less than 1500 calories
this isn’t healthy or sustainable nor will it get you any closer to your goal. Where do you go from that? Remember that your diet approach impacts your mood, energy and performance… increases stress (mental AND physical), and can impact sleep quality

all of these impacts your ability to get results.

THE FIX

• switch from cardio to strength and resistance training
• get your macros & micros in check.
• HIGHER PROTEIN is even more important 35yo +
• food quality is more important
• LIMIT OR REMOVE ALCOHOL – as you age, your body is slower to eliminate it.
• walking is more important than ever
• protein is more important than ever (40g+ in a meal which you do)
• less frequent feeding of higher quality meals helps for this reason
• strength training is more important
• self awareness even more important bc peri is a very mental game

You don’t want to be skinny & weak right?

Yes, you can like the reflection in the mirror.

Yes, you can enjoy shopping for clothes.

Yes, you can command attention when you walk in a room.

None of that comes from chasing skinny.

Do it the right way so you optimize body composition & feel better. You’ll want to do more, not less. You’ll also want to go sleeveless or carry your own darn dog food bag.

A reasonable calorie deficit doesn’t disrupt your hormones. It puts your body into a fat burning state that comes from expending more energy during exercise. And you also get to enjoy food again instead of thinking of it as the enemy.

DO YOU FIND TRACKING TOO OBSESSIVE? restrictive? Too hard & ovewhelming

Failing to track your macros for longer than a week straight?

“It takes too much time”

“I don’t want to count every gram of chicken”

“I keep missing my numbers and feeling like I’m failing”

Do any of these sound familiar?

Here’s how to get back in control and stop having food rule your life… so you can feel more food freedom, peace & enjoy life at the same time.

1/ So many women hate the idea of tracking or find it too time consuming

they force themselves into what they think they NEED to or SHOULD do to get results

 if you have only seen nutrition or monitoring food with “weight loss” or solely “calorie focused” “burning calories” etc…

you only ever dieted with restrictions, extremes or <1400 calorie plans

with good or bad foods…

it makes it even harder

when you are red taped with all these forbidden foods, trying to fit everything into tiny calories… 

falling off track so often… it gets hard to create the momentum you need without facing “failure” over and over

2/ you make meals so complicated and try to Michelin star 5 every meal…

Keep it simple, stop changing it up or winging it every meal, every day

When you keep your diet SIMPLE, tracking your meals is so much easier – thus your consistency, confidence & results 10fold… making you want to KEEP doing the thing.

** this doesn’t mean flavourless

Nor a carbon copy every single meal and day

Once you gain more nutritional awareness and knowledge, you have tools to sub similar calorie/carb/protein things in and out

Ie. Lean protein sources on rotation; change up your fruit & veg… although its essentially the same meal, same meal different way of cooking.. or flavour/spice profile… swapping carbs out for similar calorie carbs (rice VS pasta VS potato VS noodles… but same meal)

3/ the reason MOST people find it so hard to track food or resent the process

Is because either YOU believe or you had a coach encroach on you to track everything to the exact gram, that EVERYTHING must be counted… 

Maybe you yourself dragged your scale to social events or felt any guilt if you couldn’t track the food

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You CAN guestimate & make choices that make it easier for you to track something similar. Too many people think every single grain needs to be tracked, if you miss.. youre doomed

If you eat out.. well that’s blown it for the day

I got some news for you. Tracking doesn’t have to be as rigid as you think. Especially if you’re not in some competition. This is for LIFE after all.

There is a spectrum for tracking… and if you dont want to track forever, you dont have to… but its the extensive background of gaining knowledge of nutrition via tracking in different phases… and not just for calories or macros but to actually understand what is in the food you are eating macros, nutrition, fibre – how it also makes you feel and how quickly some things add up (oils, butters, nut butters, cheese, condiments, drinks, alcohol) and how they also make you feel

There’s more to nutrition than weightloss

And more to tracking than getting into a deficit

Different tools for different people

Heres some ways to approach tracking with more flexibility

THINK RANGES not numbers

Ie; hit at least X grams of protein, X grams of carbs +/-20g

OR hit X calories and X protein with X amount of fruit/veg/fibre and fill in the rest

OR X cals, X protein, X carbs around your workout, hit plants & fibre goal and whatever for the rest

You can create a system for the same meals in the week so you don’t bother with tracking and then have flexibility on weekends and only track then

Plan your food ahead of time so you know what you can sub in & out of the app without needing to log things in

** to note

If you are struggling to see results, you may need less flexibility in your tracking OR to reexamine your approach

** the scale is the most accurate guide… but there are more flexible options – it all depends on your immediate goal – if you are fatigued from it all, you MAY need a step back to move forward 

You don’t need to count calories to lose weight… but they will always count..

You don’t know what you don’t know, and many of us think we have a good diet or are eating for fatloss… when in reality – numbers say otherwise

Most people don’t have a great deal of nutritional education outside of just “following a meal plan” or juggling the conflicting information online

Tracking food isn’t just about controlling weight. it can be used for health, performance, preventing or helping disease/ill health….

focus more on the food scale and less on the bathroom scale and you automatically put yourself in more control

If your past approaches were based in restriction, all or nothing, perfectionism, nailing macros to the T It may take a while of deloading from that and focusing in other areas that push your forward so that you can start to feel & see progress

To recognise your growth in other areas

The goal is to be able to have flexibility in your lifestyle but that doesn’t come without nutrition awareness, and some form of restraint.

Building the habits of a lean, healthy & strong person

Training and eating like an athlete that also lives a fulfilling life

There are always hard times

Youll lack motivation, Youll have to force it many times

And thats where your inner character and strength grows. Your confidence in showing up in the tough times. This is where long term habit change = the results you KEEP. no more rebound

there is a SCALE of flexibility. diet phases require MORE planning MORE measuring & more meticulous data. outside of that – you have MORE flexibility but you cant have that without restraint.

the food environment is pro-obesity these days

“I thought my diet was pretty good until I started tracking. I then realised it REALLY wasn’t”

Its like trying to get out of debt without looking and numbers but just hoping it all works out…

The knowledge of food and food choices that comes from tracking is priceless

When you build up that tool box & knowledge bank, it is so much easier to keep your results, enhance your HEALTH & PHYSIQUE and make food choices without guilt or fear & more with intent