The Flipping 50 Show

Still holding onto eat less, exercise more? I think, as a product of the 80’s fitness and diet teaching, we still need lots of debunking of what we learned! I still go back to “exercise more and eat less” as a mantra and I know it’s incorrect! How do I replace that thinking? What would that new mantra be?  Dixie Watch this first First… if you haven’t seen my TEDx talk, I suggest you watch it. Two stories of clients I shared will illustrate the benefits the right exercise can have. I also shared my own story, so whether you’re asking as someone whose very active and has always been and loves it, someone who doesn’t necessarily love it but believes more exercise is the path to weight loss, or it’s easy for you to become addicted to habits there’s something there for you. Then, let me share the Flipping 50 After 50 Fitness Formula foundation. The Flipping 50 Tenants are: Restore Before More Interval Early Light Late Exercise Less, Eat More Sleep Deep Rest Best Go Pro Find Fatigue Get Breathless Do It for Joy (not for calories) The other question I have is what would a typical workout schedule look like? Including 2 strength training work outs and at least 2 intervals? What do I do on the other days? And how intense should those other exercise sessions be?  Dixie Great question. I gave a live Facebook session on this and I’ll share the link with you in the show notes. If you want to go really deep, fast flip coaching right now may be perfect, if you’re lucky enough to find any spots open, I’m offering a Fast Flip mini private coaching session to help women who want to learn how to use intermittent fasting with their exercise and want 90 days of support through quick, easy calls to keep you on track. The limited number of spots will go fast at $297 (comparing this easy-access coaching to VIP coaching you’re getting it for a small fraction of the complete coaching package). I have to let you know, I record episodes in batches, so the fast flip coaching sessions may be gone. I’ll remove the link from the show notes when they’re gone in case you’re listening to this episode later. And there’s never been a better time while you’re quarantined. If you’d like to talk about a “Fast Flip” opportunity available right now for a limited number of women. You can work with me on your own fast + exercise for 12 weeks… respond now before spots are taken. This is usually reserved for current program participants and coaching clients. I’m opening up a limited number of spots for others right now. There’s never been a better time to work on your health habits and exercise. FAST FLIP Once these spots are gone they’re gone. Check show notes at flippingfifty.com/eat-more for the order. Resources mentioned in this episode: Facebook live

Wonder about intermittent fasting and exercise ? This is for you. Today’s question about intermittent fasting from Elizabeth “I get the 16/8 thing, but can I drink coffee before my fast ends? What about matcha latte with coconut milk? I’d be fine to exercise fasted if I could do a pre-workout matcha latte. Can I/should I intermittent fast every day or how often? Should I try to fit 3 meals into the 8-hour eating window? She goes on to say, I’m thinking I should because with just 2 meals I’m pretty sure I’d be quite hungry.” Points in this episode:  Fasting and eating The 16:8 she’s referring to is 16 hours of fasting and an 8-hour eating window. For example, you could eat dinner by 6pm and eat breakfast at 10am. What I’ve been doing is eating closer to 11am and having dinner around 5 on most days, that’s not always possible. Breaking fast Anything with calories, or otherwise changes your blood sugar, breaks your fast so technically a matcha latte with coconut milk is breaking fast. Combining keto However, if you’re seeking fat burning, the next closest thing is to remain ketogenic by having high fat and not carb. You’d be doing that with the coconut milk latte as long as you don’t sweeten it. The question of three meals is one you’ll have to assess yourself. You also want to prioritize your goals for fasting. More on that in a minute. The goal is not restricted eating during your window, but if you have adequate protein and fiber within your window you may find you’re less hungry than you anticipate. Cravings seem to disappear not increase for people who fast. You want the highest quality foods all the time. A forever practice The 16:8 is a fairly easy fasting practice for many. So doing it most days is fine… as long as it’s working. You only know by monitoring weight, body composition, energy, other intangibles like sleep, skin. Activity needs If you are being active for good health intermittent fasting regularly can work wonderfully. If you’re an athlete who trains or is an exercise enthusiast, you may need to fuel around your workouts carefully, so you don’t lose muscle mass. Intermittent fasting and exercise can co-exist as long as you plan and monitor carefully. Monitor muscle and fat Track your progress during workouts – you don’t ever want to be doing random workouts. There should be some level of assessing from one week to the next, the weight you lifted, the number of repetitions you were able to do, the speed or distance you were able to reach or the difficulty of the same measurable exercise. If you find you’re not able to exert as much and you’re not expending as much energy, the quality of exercise is suffering. You want to reconsider the timing of your fasting and exercise. Make it Right Fasting has such a wide continuum and done wrong can backfire on a woman in menopause already under stress and at risk for loss of muscle and bone. Done properly with a plan to change and monitor your personal plan as needed it can be an amazing health & longevity tool. If you have a history of chronic dieting, disordered eating, over exercise, body image challenges, proceed with caution. I don’t recommend intermittent fasting for anyone with disordered eating history. Become a fat burner Fasting can be a good time to shift from being a sugar burner to a fat burner with lower intensity exercise. Gradually you increase your level of intensity while fasting. The body naturally wants to burn carbohydrates. This shift takes time. And there’s never been a better time while you’re quarantined. If you’d like to talk about a “Fast Flip” opportunity available right now for a limited number of women. You can work with me on your own fast + exercise for 12 weeks… respond now before spots are taken. This is usually reserved for current program participants and coaching clients. I’m opening up a limited number of spots for others right now. There’s never been a better time to work on your health habits, including intermittent fasting and exercise. FAST FLIP   Once these spots are gone they’re gone. Check show notes at flippingfifty.com/fast-flip for the order link. I’ll remove this offer when spots are taken. The last time I did this… we sold out in less than 24 hours. If you don’t see the link I’m out of time. If you want a little support working on your intermittent fasting and exercise this is perfect timing.

Is your after 50 exercise routine working for you? A new study in the Menopause Journal confirms it. The more physical activity you do, the better you feel during menopause. An earlier study published in April confirmed the relationship. This one confirmed there’s a threshold where you’re really supported. You probably didn’t need a study to tell you this. If you’re already active you know it. Did you know how much? And that low-to-moderate may not cut it? After 50 Exercise Routine Starting Point If you’re not active, the knowledge alone is not enough, is it? The question for you is… how do I stay with it? Long enough to feel better? The study also clearly showed two other interesting points: Depressive symptoms increased in postmenopause compared to perimenopause. The Facts About an Optimal After 50 Exercise Routine Menopausal women with medium Physical Activity (PA) scored higher on life satisfaction than women with low levels of PA. Even in the presence of depressive symptoms, life satisfaction scores were not affected. However, with adequate Physical Activity life satisfaction scores increased. The take-away? Don’t wait to feel better to exercise. The exercise will make you feel better. As you feel better, you will gradually increase your level of exercise. Depressive symptoms respond better to exercise than to cognitive or prescriptions (that come with negative side effects). Exercise is Medicine When you’re in the moment of depression or the grips of anxiety it is pushing the base of a snowman uphill in sticky snow. (Iowa girl analogy) Still, applying principles of an effective after 50 exercise routine will work if you add a little more insurance. Namely, these two things: Don’t do it alone Know that with medicine or without you’ll still have obstacles: expect them so you’re able to say, “I saw you coming” and have a plan that keeps you on track – call a friend, report to your coach after the walk/workout you’ve got in your plan that day. Telling someone is level two. Having an accountability call to report it is level 3, hitting the home run. Want support with your after 50 exercise routine? Join the 5 Day Flip (and there’s a knee-friendly version if that’s a better option for you). References: https://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/fulltext/2020/04000/the_role_of_physical_activity_in_the_link_between.6.aspx https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845641/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3674785/ Resources: Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist Flipping 50 Facebook Insiders group – Join! Other Episodes you may enjoy: 5 Walking Workouts You’ll Run to For Results Is Moderate Exercise Really What You Need Right Now? Full Body or Body Part Training ? Reader Q and A show notes: flippingfifty.com/exercise-routine  

What if you build up your strengths instead of focusing on your weaknesses? It's not a new concept. Yet, limiting beliefs added to a focus on our weaknesses compound the negative feedback loop you have about them.  Today's podcast is about looking for opportunities. Right now if the moment of your life or the moment of history, things have been shaken up enough. You have opportunities all around you. Your Strengths Episode We’re doing something a little different today. Still related to thriving after 50 and very timely during the aftermath of COVID when everything is more than just a little unique and different for each of us. You may be looking at any number of choices… health, career, relationship… through a new lens. So I invited a Flipping 50 community member to come on and share her story, and potentially get some help, and to simultaneously share with you what it’s like to work with a coach to accelerate your progress and breakthrough barriers you create and might not even see yourself. My Guests Pamela Sevino is host of the Live Authentically podcast where I met her, and she’s here to actually coach my second guest Allison. Pamela is pursuing her spiritual calling with an unparalleled fervor. She relentlessly helps others find their voice, speak their truth, and live authentically via several modalities.  She is the founder of Live Authentically, a life-coaching business, author of SOAR, and her podcast Live Authentically guests include people who are also committed to playing a role in raising collective consciousness and helping people discover the essence of who they are.  I’m going to set the stage and want you audience members to know as I introduce them to you, I’m also introducing them to each other for the first time. In coaching I sometimes call this spot coaching where from a presentation I’ll coach audience members around something on the spot. Our coaching client is Allison. Allison shared with me she has a HS diploma and feels like her education has held her back your whole life. You were a preschool teacher for 15-years. It closed. You’re 58. Questions we addressed in this episode: What is coaching? How does it work? Where does the conversation start? What can happen in 30 minutes? Connect with Pamela: website: liveauthentically.today Private Facebook group: liveauthentically.today/fb instagram: pamelavsavino LinkedIn: Pamela Savino Join the Flipping 50 podcast Insider Group on Facebook   

Hormone balancing exercise has consumed me for 8 years. The 29 before that I was laying a foundation and didn’t even realize it. One of my top values is learning and another teaching. It’s been a privilege and pleasure to learn and teach so much to help so many. Today I’m reading to you from You Still Got It, Girl! I look forward to years more with you! Preface from You Still Got It, Girl! If you’re tired of the weight-loss weight-gain roller coaster, overwhelmed with diet and exercise advice and you want to avoid menopause weight gain or find a solution to low energy, high stress, stubborn pounds, and implement a smarter complete action plan that works and lasts, you’re holding that action plan in your hands right now. How many of these problems can you identify with? “It’s doesn’t matter if I eat “good” or “bad” nothing seems to change.” “I’m putting weight on in places I never had problems before.” “I know I need to exercise I just don’t know what to do … and I don’t want to get hurt.” “Every trainer or nutritionist I see gives me different advice –who do I believe?” “When I couldn’t lose weight my trainer said, well, you’re getting old.” “I’m willing to do it, it if I knew what it is!” This book will be different in two ways. First, the book brings together seven essential areas that science knows can no longer be addressed in isolation. Wonderful resource books exist for weight training, cardio, diet, sleep, stress, and hormones. Yet, none of the existing titles help you understand the integration of these pieces so you can create a whole-person fitness plan. It's Not Your Mama's Diet Book Second, the book will be unique from other diet or exercise books in the way it is written and formatted. It features easy-to-read type, short paragraphs and quick-read lists and sidebars so you can absorb the information quickly. Each chapter features a different contributing expert, or case studies and success stories. You don’t have to read this book front to back. You can take the a-stressment at the beginning of the book and then jump to the chapter you need most. Dump your thoughts of January Resolutions when you’ve tried and failed to change everything at once. There is one thing that will have the greatest impact on your success. That’s where you should begin. Filled with stories The book is written in a conversational style with insightful anecdotes, checklists and self-assessment forms. Don’t let the amount of research cited scare you. This is a blend of science and boomer-to-boomer over-the-fence conversation.  Imagine you and I having a glass of wine or cup of tea while you read. We’re going to talk about cortisol as if she’s not even in the room.  She’s not your diva. Research on aging and every topic included in this book is exploding. My inbox is groaning. We’ve learned more in the last five years than in the last 30. Researchers and fitness professionals are aging too. We want answers as much as you do. Hormone balancing exercise logic Logic will have you nodding in agreement to new information. Habit gravity will have you pushing the same speed and incline on the treadmill as yesterday. This book provides interactive components to help you change your actions to change your results. What a waste if you only read this book and don’t know what to do. I’ve written this book as if you are my coaching client and we’re about change. That said; you’re an expert. I am going to encourage you to start listening to your body again. Women in particular have accepted symptoms and signs something is wrong as normal. The book focuses on reaching solutions naturally by defining “right” in each area. When in doubt I encourage you to visit your local hormonitarian. Assess: don’t guess. The problem with some of the things we want to test is nothing will show until you’ve got 90% damage. Trust your gut. No pun intended. Overnight Success There’s a Steve Jobs quote that makes regular rounds on social media. When you look closely, most overnight successes were years in the making. Reality is, the fatologue of belly bulge, bat wings, and kankles you’re gathering didn’t arrive by FedEx. It too was years in the making. What we learned and became our habits in the last 30 or more years doesn’t work any more. It never did. We were just too young, and too busy to notice or to do anything about it. We just bought a bigger sweater, more elastic waistbands and carpooled and climbed the ladder onward. Chances are if you’re reading this you’re not just frustrated with overweight or extra pounds. You suffer from infobesity. This book will help you spot seductive cover headlines that blindside you when you’re vulnerable and show you to what really works. It's Conversational Grammar is not always followed, on purpose. You’ll find a vocabulary unique to fatpedia for females. This is intended to be informal and more useful than proper. I hope if you’re a stickler for grammar you’ll forgive me. Someone suggested I write this like I’m talking to a friend. I did. I don’t let her off the hook too often. I’m kind of a pain like that. If she’s crazy-making with excuses or sabotaging herself it’s bad enough if she believes it. I don’t get in there with her. You too are going to get the science, and the support, along with unbiased truth and tough love. If you’re ready to put yourself first and put old ideas aside, you can feel better in your second fifty than you’ve ever felt in your life. Resources: You Still Got It, Girl! Flippingfifty.com My TEDx talk Hormone balancing blogs  

Would taking Cortisol Manager or Maca offset my coffee habit? That was the real question from a reader. Do you have a coffee habit? Love it and don’t really want to give it up? Out of control a coffee habit could elevate your cortisol. Cortisol and insulin can combine forces for belly fat deposit. You may not have to kick that habit entirely but here’s how to decide. Caffeine is an ergogenic aid. For that reason caffeinated gels and gu-type supplements (which I don’t recommend) are often used during races to supply not only sugar but give a legal kick of energy. A little caffeine timed right can give you a fat burning boost, and help you exercise harder or longer without it feeling so. Test yourself though, because some feel anxious and jittery instead of having a better workout. And only do that in the morning. If you’re exercising late in the day… I hope it’s not intense then anyway for hormone balance … the caffeine is more likely to disrupt sleep, something you and I don’t need. Can I Do Something I Know Isn’t Good for Me as Long as I Take a Fix for It? Here’s the thing… if you appreciate the world of functional medicine and functional fitness and getting to the root cause of why you’re sick/don’t feel good, or why a movement causes you pain… then you’ll appreciate this. Why do you want or need the coffee in the first place? Before I go too far here, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Cliché yes, but I love my… sometimes coffee more often matcha, too. In fact, I’ll share my two clean triple screened matcha source so you can avoid the mold, and heavy metals found to be significant in most matcha on the shelves… and my mushroom coffee from Foursigmatic plus a 10% off code as a subscriber of Flipping 50. My Coffee Habit And my coffee habit has been known to get out of control. I’m not actually seeking the energy – I’ve got that, but it is such a habit while I’m working the first few hours in the morning that I can easily be reaching for a third mug and not even realize it. But if you are reaching for it because you don’t have energy, you are trying to avoid eating and – in which case if you are fasting you need to be sure it’s black coffee and clear tea, and check to see how it affects your blood sugar levels. Even black coffee if your cortisol is already whacky might increase blood sugar. It certainly could if you’re having more than two cups and having them all morning into afternoon. Regardless, it’s acidic and too much of that isn’t good for your gut. The Question So, should you do something that you know overall is not good for your health, and can you just cancel it out, or erase it by taking Cortisol Manager, or something like Macapause (which I will also link to in the show notes? I recently did a podcast interview with Mona Fahoum about Femminssence’s Maca products for women in midlife. It’s been a lifesaver for me. My energy and morning mojo were back within a week.) Maca is an adaptogen – meaning it is not a hormone but supports natural hormone balance as works with your body on a as-needed basis. Perfect. I’m not opposed to taking bio-identical hormones. But keeping them on a low-dose and allowing my body to do what it can naturally are the way I want to go. What It’s Not I don’t think it’s like a contraceptive though, you know? Or like the morning after pill. If you know you shouldn’t be doing it anyway, figure out why you are doing it. Drinking tons of coffee is not overall good for your health. If you choose safely sourced coffee or matcha some is fine – actually has health benefits. But more is not better. You wouldn’t take two doses of vitamins or of a prescription med on the same day. We used to think of exercise and eating this way too, didn’t we? I can eat donuts or an extra serving of chips because I workout all the time. Or, have the dessert, you can spare the calories. Without including the damage the sugar, chemicals, and wasted calories have done, as we know now this thinking led to a lot of unhealthy active adults. One good habit doesn’t cancel a bad habit the way your daily habits (epigenetics) matter more than genetics. (By the way matcha has caffeine in it too, but there’s are autoimmune benefits and it has a combination of alertness with chill-pill effect that is distinctly different from the anxiousness sometimes experienced from drinking coffee).  A Better Way to Energy than Your Coffee Habit So, let’s get you energy from sources that offer benefits. Drink more water- hydration will keep your coffee habit in check. Exercise regularly – shorter bouts more frequently for energy boosting. Kick those long sessions to the curb. Especially now that a strong immune system is just about the healthiest thing you can do for yourself. Resources: My Clean Matcha choice Mushroom Coffee (use Flipping-50) Femmenessence Macapause (also available if you’re in perimenopause) Podcast about Maca with Dr. Mona Fahoum show notes: Flippingfifty.com/coffee-habit

How can you decrease cortisol? Does exercise help or hurt?  Are there studies showing exercise elevates cortisol? (Because someone else said exercise reduces cortisol). -Sandrama heynemana Two considerations The type and timing of the exercise The population studied.. was it you? The question to ask is whether or not your exercise has a positive or negative effect on stress for you. It’s whether or not the type AND the timing of your exercise has a positive or negative effect on stress. You’ll have to give up that old dogma, more is better. Longer sessions of moderate exercise, that “steady state” you learned decades ago, actually increase cortisol with less of a positive post exercise cortisol reduction A few points to keep in mind: High intensity exercise is associated with reduced hot flashes but yoga and light exercise is not. Reduced Body Mass Index (BMI) is associated with reduced menopause symptoms. (In a recent episode I described BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, and body fat – I’ll link to that if you’re unsure of the difference). . steady state exercise increases cortisol secretion 150% -and for females in midlife that could halt weight loss Late day exercise of high intensity can be detrimental due to a “pregnenelone steal” and a negative effect of elevated cortisol, then lack of desired result: decrease cortisol High intensity exercise early doesn’t cause a negative rise in cortisol because it’s already elevated, but does give a positive reduction late day to help relaxation and sleep. Choose your objective before you choose your exercise. Bone density? Decrease cortisol? Yoga may be fantastic for you if you’re most in need of rest and relaxation before you go on for more. And always, if what you’re doing is working, don’t fix it. But if it’s not, you have to make a change to see and feel a change. Also, if you can successfully lose weight from your exercise you will reduce menopause symptoms. For weight loss, specifically fat loss, to occur: Optimize cortisol Increase fat oxidation during and after exercise Those two things only happen with the right type and timing of exercise. You’ve been brainwashed for decades to believe more exercise is better and any time you do exercise is better than not doing exercise. During menopause, just as your hormones have changed the way your body responds to many things, it also changes the way you respond to exercise. Do short sessions of High Intensity Interval Training and short strength training sessions where you reach muscular fatigue to provide exercise stimulus to offset the negative effects of stress. Do them in the morning. That way you can decrease cortisol. You do use cortisol during those exercise sessions and elevate it higher, AND… you have the appropriate desired decrease of cortisol AFTER. Time your exercise early when you’re doing intense exercise. Or if you have to exercise late in the day reduce your intensity. Remember you use cortisol for exercise. Your cortisol levels are declining throughout the day which is what should happen so you’re relaxed and ready to sleep. Early intense exercise that elevates cortisol rewards you later with the desired drop in cortisol. Late day exercise does not. And you’ve done something called a “pregnenolone steal” which means you got through the workout, but you may not sleep well because that calm, chill feeling supplied by pregnenolone is missing… you’ve used it up. That all backfires on you. Without sleep, you can’t have optimal cortisol, testosterone, growth hormone, and checking off that box for intervals late in the afternoon may keep you fat and tired. You’ve heard it before, timing is everything. Especially to decrease cortisol. You might get away with strength training late day. It doesn’t quite rev you up the way a HIIT does. Low to moderate exercise intensity of various durations are also helpful. The important part? Enjoy it. Focus less on the number of calories you’re burning than the number of smiles during the movement. Resources & Acces Please leave a rating in iTunes, it really helps! Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist Join the Flipping 50 Insiders Community on Facebook to keep the conversation going, add a question, and connect with other women just like you.

I’ll challenge that you don’t have or really know your ideal weight. What you may have is a number in your head based on a body composition you didn’t know when you were at that weight. What we have is an ideal body comp0sition. We have an ideal waist-to-hip ratio. We have a waist circumference that is healthy or on the side that lends itself to greater health issues. Weight, however? That’s not an easy or desirable goal. For most women the number on the scale won’t give you the toned energetic body you want to do the things you love to do. It will leave you a slave to the scale and rob you of energy and make you ignorant of the things that really matter. Just as my friend JJ Virgin will say, it’s not the calories you eat, it’s what those calories do to your hormones, I say, it’s not the calories you burn it’s what those calories do to your hormones. You are much better off tracking your body composition. Body Composition To get a better idea of what you’re made of, lean muscle, fat or adipose tissue, and bone, you want to track your body composition. Simply, that is your percent body fat. But more sophisticated measures allow you to understand even more about left and right limbs and trunk and visceral fat numbers. For the basics, never buy a scale for your home again that doesn’t measure body fat as well as weight. I have two I recommend and will link to where to find them. Many women get concerned about whether it’s right or not. There are a lot of reasons it can be off. If a scale is off dramatically it’s a problem. But a scale that is not calibrated perfectly is not the problem as long as you weigh pre and post on that scale. You want to measure change. Is it going in the right direction? Is that right? Knowing with absolute certainty is not the issue, especially if you didn’t know yesterday or last week what it was. You have a benchmark to track – two of them. You watch weight and the body fat. If weight goes down and body fat stays the same or increases, you are losing muscle and girlfriend, we have a problem. If you lose muscle now long term you set yourself up for weight regain, due to a slowed metabolism. The “skinny fat” situation now leads to frailty later. Don’t choose your skinny jeans over your next 40 years. Can you have both? I don’t know that. Shoot for health. You can find the flattering fashion trend that suits you along the way. Body Fat Numbers to Know Waist Circumference Your waist circumference becomes a health risk if it’s 35 or greater for women. (for men it’s 40 inches). The risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease increases significantly. If you’re a midlife woman who is gaining weight in the belly, it’s not just not desirable and irritating to lose that hourglass shape, you’ve got a serious health motivator.  Body Mass Index (BMI) BMI by the way is often used by doctors but does not tell the whole story. The simple weight to height ratio goes wrong for athletic bodies with more muscle mass especially for those who are vertically challenged. And it will underestimate fat for those who have lost muscle. A BMI calculation gives you a rating of underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. Link to BMI calculator  Waist to Hip ratio (WTH ratio) A healthy WTH ratio (according to World Health Organization – WHO) is .85 or less for women. I prefer to see women at .80 or less which is low risk. Waist-to-Hip ratio leaves much room for error due to the fact you’re measuring two times with room to not be at the exact right spot, not be parallel to the floor all around, or to be holding the tension exactly similar. A simple waist circumference is preferred to a WTH measure. But all the way around, know your numbers. How to Measure & Determine WTH Waist-to-Hip ratio is taken by measuring the smallest area around your waist and the largest area around your hips. Divide waist by your hip circumference to find the ratio. Chasing Your Ideal Weight? No woman I’ve ever worked with in 36 years who has chased a weight, or reached an ideal weight, has been happy doing it, or happy once she reached it. Once she reaches it she’s constantly in fear of losing it. She’s a slave to a scale, to points, to calories, to counting, and can and can’t haves. In my opinion it’s no way to live. The problem isn’t the weight or reaching your ideal weight. It’s why you want and need to and what you think is going to happen when you do. Additional resources: For our Flipping 50 virtual members we have expert interviews around emotional eating and the placebo effect along with an entire mini course on weight loss and the difference after 50 and menopause. Flippingfifty.com/ideal-weight  

The questions about metabolism, specifically menopause metabolism, pour in at Flippingfifty.com. The questions and the answers today come from a recent 6 session Menopause Metabolism Makeover that was once of the juicy bonuses for new course members and will be available inside our Café members area. Over 130 women took the live course. The questions kept us on those live sessions for over 90 minutes. This is clearly a topic you want to know more about and so I’m sharing this with you. But first I want to share this since during this at home sheltering with opens and closes and masks, no masks, your challenges and temptations may have been greater. This came from one of my Flipping 50 members. In Her Words I’m so excited, I just have to SHOUT! I’m totally blown out of the water! I’d had a tough fall and early winter, so was dedicated to STRONGER, (some limited hip modification, HIIT twice a week and walks. Plus I was following [Flipping 50] Food Flip eating habits. I knew my shorts were looser, but resolved not to measure until I finished STRONGER I. Well, the results are in and if the tape measure doesn’t lie, I’m down 12 inches overall and down 1.5% body fat! … So pumped to keep up this dedication and start STRONGER 4. Who’s going to be my workout buddy??? The Flipping 50 Virtual Membership is open through July 15, 2020. At a special make-it-easy for you COVID rate. I’m meeting you part way and funding $80 of your membership. Plus enrollees get the ½ day virtual retreat with me later this month. If you’re looking for menopause metabolism support, exercise options for safe at home, and want access to the first and only membership to programs and coaching designed for women in menopause based on research on you… then you’re home. You’re not a small man, nor a 20-something woman. Your hormones, metabolism, body composition all mean you need a specific exercise blueprint to adjust to changing hormones. It’s here. You should be here. Doors close July 15. If you’re joining me tomorrow night… at the Flipping 50 Master Class – I’m talking about something indirectly related to today’s episode… and that is Fascia- and what it’s got to do with your fit or fat What would you say is the single biggest metabolism booster? - Debra Exercise. The right kind of exercise at the right time. What are strategies for keeping metabolism up even when under stress? (I hit a 5-month plateau compounded by COVID and serious aging parent stress) - Leslee Water, sleep, deep breathing, gratitude, keep up but change your exercise slightly, help your gut health with collagen (there’s some in my Paleo Power protein, or bone broth, lemon, or ACV) What factors other than exercise help to rev up metabolism and are those factors different for 50 and 60+ women? - Connie The factors working against you are definitely different. If you’re not exercising with intensity and in short, not long sessions because of the way you once learned decades ago; and timing it right; prioritizing sleep; eating adequate protein – and timing that right; How do I know what my metabolism rate is – is it high, low, or where it should be? Can metabolism be improved without taking a supplement? - Diane The short answer is yes, and no both. Depending on how you use the word supplement. Taking a metabolism supplement like those dangerous ones in diet pills of decades ago is not the way to go. However, your body needs adequate micronutrients and vitamins to work. So if you are tired all the time, you haven’t been taking a high quality multivitamin at the very least, I would test. Vitamin D, B12, iron, magnesium are just a few that can be related to fatigue and to metabolism for women in midlife. Few of us who want to thrive and be full of energy are going to do so from food. It’s a myth you can eat healthy and get all you need. Testing You can have a test done to determine your basal or resting metabolic rate. That’s the most accurate way and then from it you can either do a test to determine how many calories you burn during exercise at increasing levels. However, that’s truly uncomfortable. It unfortunately will bring you back to calories in and forgetting your hormones rule your metabolism. You’re at optimal weight, you have lots of energy, a good appetite, sleep well, wake refreshed, good muscle tone. Your hormones change. Estrogen drops and cortisol goes up during menopause. That makes it harder to hold on to lean muscle and easier to add fat. Insulin response can change. Ghrelin and leptin can work against you. Testosterone and growth hormone production goes down and will be reduced if you’re not sleeping. So while there are things that can see to stack the deck against you… that’s only if you choose to lie down, drink your wine, eat sugar, not exercise correctly – over exercise or under exercise, count calories and think if you eat fewer and burn more that will work. Disaster That is just not your game plan for success. Once you’re in menopause that’s not even a short-term win. You’re much more likely to feel worse faster. You want the Flipping 50 lifestyle -especially now. Short, more frequent exercise sessions – two of them strength training, two high intensity intervals, and then fill in with short low to moderate movement. Be an active person. Who then gets hungry for whole food and has very few cravings because she isn’t depriving herself and trying to exercise more constantly.  Is fatigue the best immediate signal that your metabolism is low? - Catherine Not just fatigue, but an “always tired” feeling. Though fatigue can be due to many things – not prioritizing sleep, wrong dietary choices – even if you’re eating healthy if your body isn’t digesting those foods and absorbing the micronutrients… Dry skin, brittle nails, hair loss, frequent headaches, cold, low libido, depression, low pulse rate, you’re constipated or have a slow transit time. You’re gaining weight or your weight is clearly fat not muscle. And you can’t lose it doing the right things. Is it myth someone can have a fast or slow metabolism? How much is metabolism tied to our DNA/genetics? - Melanie Your epigenetics control everything about you. Your mindset is also a big factor. If you’re unfamiliar with the power of placebo, get acquainted. If you’re telling yourself and saying out loud your metabolism is slow and you’ve ruined it by dieting for years, your body is listening. You can change the expression of your DNA. That is you can help certain genes express and other be suppressed by your thoughts and your habits.  How do I know if my years of dieting has totally ruined my metabolism and can I get it back? - Donna Yes. It probably did some damage. Yes, you can get it back. As long as you’re willing to let go of trying to exercise more and eat less. That’s one foot on the gas and one on the accelerator. There’s probably nothing worse than exercising more and harder and not eating enough to fuel that body. From one of my Flipping 50 virtual members - What is the formula for continuing on this journey (since we’re all doing some type of strength training program designed for women in menopause in the member’s area) – what’s the formula for optimizing metabolism as we continue? -Tobie Keep strength training once you start. Never stop! Continue to overload your muscles with adequate intensity. You may go through different injuries from falls or repetitive stressors from your work, but you can always do something. Never stop. Keep getting breathless for short periods of time regularly. Two or three short interval sessions a week is a must. Exercise – do it hard make it count, don’t overdo it. Food – eat whole foods, don’t overdo it. Sleep – do it, make sure you prioritize it. Hydrate – every cell in your body needs water Supplement to reach nutrient sufficiency Get a micronutrient test. Find out where you are. Fix levels that aren’t optimal- I didn’t say normal. There’s a difference. Work with a health coach on a plan. Last, but not least.. you may want to consider Hormone Replacement. Your hormones control your fat storage and fat burning. If you've made the lifestyle changes to influence your hormones naturally, you may still need a boost.  Resources: Flipping 50 Online Membership  (enrollment closes July 15) July Master Class – Fascia | Your Fat and Your Fit   Books: Dr Anna Cabeca KetoGreen16    Dr Alan Christianson – Metabolic Reset  

Is it Carbs or Keto? The Confusion About What to Eat for Menopause Fitness It's a subscriber Q and A episode today.  Is the right kind of carbs – resistant carbs – and cycling them during the day, and during your week or keto? I've done Flipping 50 programs where you emphasized carbs. So why would you share a Keto program? It’s so different and seems opposite, I’m confused! This episode answers Stephanie’s question posted after a recent podcast episode I did with Dr Anna Cabeca. I recently did Keto Green 16 – my friend Doctor Anna Cabeca’s program outlined in her book by the same title. She made Keto female friendly. Her tricks for optimizing alkalinity (on what is typically a highly acidic diet) create the right environment for your body to thrive. The Question So, a reader question from Stephanie asked, why I’d share something so contradictory to my own programs. I completely understand why you might think that too and it’s important to clear the confusion. Key Points in this Episode First, I would always start with you. What’s happening for you right now? How’s your energy, your gut, your digestion, elimination, your sleep and how well are you dealing with stress? How have you been eating regularly in the last 3-4 weeks? What we do next is an “if this, then that” step-by-step process. Look, full disclaimer, I’m not a nutritionist, or a Registered Dietitian. I don’t play one on TV or on the internet. I do have 36 years working with clients on their exercise nutrition. Inevitably their relationship with food, cravings, energy crashes, all of this combined either hurt or help the results they get with even the very best exercise prescription. So we each need to know how to interpret messages our body sends, and do some investigating on our own behalf. Sometimes we need to test and pull in experts on the gut or microbiome. First though we owe it to ourselves to do some homework. Where are you starting? Most women coming to me at Flipping 50 can’t sleep and have high stress levels. Look you don’t need a lab test to tell you that you’re not losing weight, in fact you’re gaining it, you’re putting it on around your belly, you’re unable to sleep, and you have cravings even shortly after meals. Those are signs your cortisol levels are not dialed in to help you with energy and optimal weight. I start with reducing cortisol by getting the right carbs at the right time. If you’ve all but cut them out, your body is potentially craving them. We produce serotonin with carbs. We can stabilize blood sugar with the right carbs. That can help you relax, have energy again, get a better night sleep, and be more likely to want to exercise in the morning and kick cravings and crashes to the curb. If it's cortisol Doing that along with using a blueprint to find the foods that work for you now is foundational. Your hormones change your gut health. So does stress. So rather than a lab test, or in combination with one, I suggest you remove foods and then reintroduce them. Inside our Flipping 50 Virtual Gymbership.. it’s exercise for women in menopause and SO MUCH More… We have programs and challenges that you can do to feel so much better fast. You can stop tolerating bloating, gas, constipation or diarrhea. Keto or Carbs may never be a question For many women that’s enough. For me it was, for 7 years, from 2013 through 2019 and then… it wasn’t. Perfect storm. More stress, more cortisol, and I gained weight even during training for an Ironman (which you’ll come to think of as because I was training for an Ironman). So KetoGreen16 came at just the right time for me to make a pivot for my body. During COVID19 I lost 5 pounds overall, gained 2 lbs of muscle, and improved my body composition by 5%. That’s’ the power of changing the strategy when what you’re doing isn’t working. Less Exercise and Keto During COVID19 Read more about less exercise when cortisol is the problem -as it so often is for midlife women. How did I lose 5% fat and 5 lbs during the first 12 weeks of COVID19? But the best point is that you have a set of habits to return to. During COVID19 I’m doing a small fraction of what I was doing 7 months ago. I haven’t gone for a bike ride, let alone a 3, 4 5, or 6-hour ride since. I haven’t done a 12 or 18-mile run. I’ve walked. I’ve done 20-minute intervals and strength trained twice a week – all timed right. A Lifestyle or a Temporary Reset? So now as I or as you might after a short time on a new program, move back into your best eating plan, we continue to feel great, maintain that optimal body comp and energy. I know you get panicked about changing things when it’s working. But it’s important to keep feeding your body and listening to what it’s telling you. For a short time a change may work. You can also find yourself getting tired, more hungry, bored and need to make a change for optimal health long term. There you have it. How to use Carbs or Keto, or when, to support your exercise results. Can I answer your question? If you’ve got a question, leave it in the new Flipping 50 Insiders Facebook group for our listeners and our blog readers and YouTube channel subscribers. It’s where we keep the conversation going and I answer your questions every week. It’s opening soon… or may be open when you listen to this episode. We’re shooting for the 4th of July weekend!! Literally the end weekend… so see you on the flip side in the Insider’s community. Resources: Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist Dr Anna Cabeca’s KetoGreen-16 Flipping 50 Virtual Gymbership