EP 41: My Top 10 Tips That Transformed My Body at Age 46

0:00Hello, welcome back to Becoming Her, fitter, better, and stronger over 40. I'm your host and coach, Shauna. I am 46, a wife, a boy, mom, and a fitness and nutrition coach helping women over 40 become their best. Today's episode, I am going to share the top 10 things that I did to completely transform my body at age 46. And when I say transform, I mean, I went from spinning my wheels, feeling skinny fat, feeling frustrated to building real muscle, dropping body fat, and finally revealing a toned, strong, and confident body. But more importantly, these 10 things aren't just my story. They're the exact strategies that I use and help hundreds of other women in their 40s build their own best bodies.

0:42Because the truth is, your body is absolutely capable of changing in this stage of life. You just need the right tools and the right mindset. So grab a coffee, get comfy, and let's dive right in because I'm gonna take you through each one in detail. So number one is that I walked daily. This is one of the simplest but most transformative things that I have done is to include walking daily. And before you roll your eyes and think, yes, yes, yes, walking, we get it, but that's too basic. Let me explain why walking is one of the most underrated fat loss tools for women over 40. First and foremost, walking helps to manage your stress levels and your cortisol levels.

1:18That's your stress hormone. So when it's constantly elevated, it can make it a lot harder for you to lose fat because it's going to impact your hunger, your cravings. It's going to keep you inflamed. And we all know after 40, stress management is half of the battle. Secondly, walking helps to improve your metabolism without adding stress to your body or spiking your hunger. Things like HIIT cardio and running, yeah, they burn more calories, but they can add stress to your body and they will definitely impact your hunger. Switching from that to walking not only is going to keep you less stressed, it's not going to impact your hunger, especially important if you are in a calorie deficit.

1:59And it's going to be very restorative to your body and your central nervous system. You're going to be able to burn more calories without feeling exhausted or overly stressed at the end of the day. All I do now is I get up, I wake up, I have my hydration, I have a little coffee, I pray, and then I walk. Now, do you have to get 10 ,000 steps a day? No, but I think it's a good idea for you to get to a goal of being more active, which is 7 ,000 to 8 ,000 steps a day is considered highly active. But if you're not close to that, don't necessarily worry about that. If you're not tracking your steps now, start doing that and start to add a goal of maybe adding 10 minutes to little chunks of your day.

2:41That's the other nice thing about walking. You don't have to go to a gym to do it. You don't have to put on any special equipment or go to a certain class. You get to walk any time of the day, whenever it's convenient for you. You can get a walking pad, you can go outside, you can do it with your family. It's so easy to do and it's so beneficial. And it's something that you don't necessarily have to recover from. In fact, when I have a hard lifting session, walking really helps me to just get more blood flow into my muscles and it really can help with recovery in general. But don't feel overwhelmed.

3:12Like I said, start small. Add a walk to your day. Even if it's just 15 or 20 minutes, I promise you're going to notice positive changes with your energy, your mood, and your fat loss over time. Tip number two is that I started to properly strength train. For years, I thought training just meant holding dumbbells. And I would do lots of circuit training, lots of supersets. I would do lots of programs like insanity, P90X, but just holding dumbbells does not mean your strength training optimally to grow muscle. And as we know, having more muscle over 40 is the key to having a better metabolism, longevity, being able to lose fat and keep it off.

3:50So it's a must do and a must have over 40. So what changed for me was following a program that focused on progressive overload, kind of understanding and knowing what that looked like. Lifting with intensity, meaning using weights that were challenging for me, and then striving to get better with each workout over time. Strength training is the fountain of youth for women over 40 because we naturally start to lose muscle after 30. And every year we lose a little bit more unless we are actively fighting to keep it. Less muscle means slower metabolism, weaker bones, less strength. And honestly, it just makes us feel older before our time.

4:29More muscle means better hormone profile, which will impact your energy, your mood, just how you show up in life. So when I started to train seriously, when I stopped chasing calorie burden, started to chase strength, things like how much weight I was using, can I push for another rep? Can I push up in weight? Can I do a pull-up or a push-up? My body started to change in ways that I had never seen before. I mean sculpted arms, lifted and rounded glutes, a tighter midsection without endless cardio sessions. So if you are looking to have a lean and toned body over 40, strength training is not optional.

5:11It is a non-negotiable. Tip number three is that I stopped working out fasted. And this one was a hard one for me. I used to swear by fasted workouts. I thought if I didn't eat, I would be torching more fat, but that's just not true. The only thing I was torching was my energy and making it impossible for me to see progress. So when you go into a workout fasted, especially at this age, over 40, your cortisol is already high in the morning. Adding lifting or intense workouts on top of that is only going to stress your body more. Plus without fuel, your body will often break down muscle tissue for energy.

5:49That's exactly what we don't want. Once I started to eat before my workouts, I saw a massive change with my strength, my progress, and my recovery. I actually started to build muscle. I actually started to feel strong. I didn't feel depleted and exhausted. And it has been a game changer. I will never work out fasted again. When you are thinking about your workouts, we have to remember that the gym is where we build. The kitchen is where we reveal. So I don't want you to go into these workouts thinking I have to burn as many calories as possible. And if I'm eating less, I'll be able to burn even more fat.

6:24That's just not how we want to view things. Your gym sessions are to build the body, the kitchen is going to be where you reveal the body. So give your body what it needs to perform its best. What I would do if you are training first thing in the morning is something quick and easy to digest. So something like a whey protein shake, a banana or a rice cake, all of those digest very quickly within 30 minutes or so. So that way you have something on board to protect your lean muscle and to give you more energy. So you perform your workouts your best. Remember you want to think about performance, not necessarily fat burning here.

7:01I want you to think of it as giving your body the tools it needs to do the job. Well, tip number four was that I ate 30 to 50 grams of protein three times a day. This is hands down one of the biggest levers I've ever pulled. A lot of women that I talk to are eating maybe 50 to 60 grams of protein a day. I was the same, but once I prioritize protein at each meal, everything shifted. And here's why. Protein is just a powerful macronutrient. It's going to help support, repair, and muscle growth, which gives you that toned, lean look. It's going to help you stay full and satisfied so you're not constantly battling cravings.

7:37It's going to stabilize blood sugar, which is going to help with your energy, your hormones, and your cravings. And your body actually burns more calories just to digest protein. So it really does help with your overall metabolism. In terms of what this might look like, for me, I keep it very simple. I do protein oats every single morning. Lunch is usually like a ground beef bowl with some sweet potatoes and some veggies. And then dinner is chicken with rice for vegetables or sometimes we do a wrap. It depends on the mood. Sometimes I even have breakfast for dinner, which is eggs and chicken sausage and sourdough toast with cottage cheese, honey, and some red pepper flake.

8:14If you have not tried that meal, it is so good. But if you're not sure where to start, simply aim to have a good protein source at every meal. When you're thinking about a meal, I want you to think first, what is my protein? And then build your meals from that. If you want certain ideas, I will leave in the show notes a link to my easy protein meals. You can download and check out some ideas, but make sure to prioritize protein. That alone will be so transformative. Tip number five was that I started to focus more on fiber. So things like fruits, vegetables, and grains. I used to fear carbs. I thought they were the reason I wasn't losing weight.

8:52But when I restricted carbs, I felt tired, cranky, constipated, and I honestly was unable to grow muscle. Now that I am prioritizing carbs or just having a balanced diet, muscle growth is completely different for me. Also, when you're having more fiber, it's going to help with digestion, it's going to help you stay fuller longer, it's going to feed the good bacteria in your gut, it's going to help regulate your hormones. And so adding things like oats, berries, beans, lots of vegetables, they are all going to make a big difference in how you perform, how you feel, and your gut health overall. And when you pair protein with fiber, you create meals that satisfy you.

9:32No more crashes in the afternoon or late night binges. You will feel fueled, not deprived, and you're going to be nice and regular, which is always a good thing. Okay, now on to number six, which I think is my absolute favorite tip. This is a mindset tip, but it's a powerful one. And that is, I started to think of myself as an athlete, not a dieter. I want to pause for one second and I want you to say this to yourself right now. I am an athlete, not a dieter. This is so empowering. So for years I considered myself just a dieter. Everything was about trying to get small. It was about restriction, guilt, chasing the scale.

10:11But when I shifted my identity to an athlete, it changed how I show up. I want you to think about what an athlete does. They fuel their body. They train with purpose. They rest and recover and they don't beat themselves up over one bad performance, one bad meal. They get curious about it. What went wrong? How can I improve the next time? And then they get back on course. When you see yourself as an athlete, you stop asking yourself how little I can eat and you start asking yourself, how can I fuel myself to perform? It's such a healthier approach to your fitness journey and it's going to make it so much more empowering and fun.

10:49And that's what this should be. Tip number seven was that I stopped chasing fat loss and I started to chase strength. So the scale is just one tool, but it does not tell you if you are getting stronger, if your clothes are fitting better, or if your body composition is changing. So once I started to focus on things like how well I was doing in the gym, how much stronger I was getting every week, everything became more exciting because progress wasn't just about that number on the scale. It was about my performance, what my body could do. Going back to that athlete mindset, when you start to chase those strength goals, that loss and looking toned usually follows as a byproduct.

11:31Plus, it's so much more motivating to celebrate a new personal best in the gym than stressing over that spike on the scale. So really focus on getting stronger. Not only is it going to help you build your best body, but it is just the best feeling in the world. to see yourself get stronger and to have those moments in the gym is unlike anything else. All right, now on to tip number eight is that I use bad days as opportunities to learn. So I used to be that all or nothing person and a bad day meant throwing in the towel. If I missed a workout, if I ate off plan, well, that's it. I ruined it. Might as well just start over on Monday.

12:06Let me know if that sounds familiar. But the shift happened when I started to see those moments as opportunities to learn and not necessarily just failures. So why did I skip the workout? Why did I overeat? I got curious about those things and started to come up with strategies to support myself the next time something like that happened. So bad days became feedback, not failure. And the quicker that you can look at a slip up and ask, what can I learn from this? The quicker you'll keep moving forward. And that's what leads to long-term success. The people that you see that have had success in any arena, especially fitness, have been willing to fail over and over and over again, and then get back up and learn from their mistakes and keep going.

12:53So just use your bad days as opportunities to learn and then apply that wisdom to the next day and get right back in it. Tip number nine is that I stayed consistent instead of trying to be perfect. If there is one lesson I wish every woman could tattoo on her brain, it is that consistency beats perfection. Perfection is a trap and you will never, never hit it. The second that you miss, you'll feel like quitting. But consistency is showing up most days, even if that means you're 70 % showing up. That's where results happen. My progress didn't come from perfect weeks. It came from stacking average weeks on top of one another.

13:31And over time, those add up to transformation. When I first started this workout journey back when I was 39 years old, I had just had my son. Nothing was perfect. Of course it wasn't. I was a brand new mom trying to navigate sleepless nights, but I did what I could when I could. And I started to just stack those habits and I looked for ways that I could improve. And little by little, I just kept going, kept going. And if I had not had that mentality of like, even just a 10 minute workout will matter, I wouldn't be here. So just don't discredit those small steps that you're making. They will all add up over time.

14:11So stop trying to be perfect. There will always be something in life that will make it challenging for you to show up, but do what you can when you can and let those little wins stack up over time because trust me, it will matter. And finally on to our last tip, which is I stopped relying on motivation and instead I built habits and values. So I often get the question of how do you stay motivated? And the truth is I don't. No one has motivation every single day. I talked about this, I think it was in last week's episode, but when we break down the word motivation, that first part of it is motive.

14:48Like what is the reason that you are wanting this change? And so when you break that down, when you start to examine why you want to do this, you have to ask yourself, like, why do you want this change? Who is it that you're trying to become? And then from there, you can start to imagine what the habits and the values are of that woman that you want to be. When you do that, it helps you show up as that person because the truth is motivation is fleeting. Motivation is like that flaky friend and it shows up when it wants to, but you can't count on it. What you can count on though are habits and values.

15:22So I started to build habits like prepping protein ahead of time, keeping my workout clothes ready the night before, walking first thing in the morning or after dinner. And then I started to connect everything with my values for being strong, for my son, for modeling health, for him and for other women and wanting to age powerfully. So when your actions are tied to who you want to become, you don't need motivation. You just do it because it's who you are. And yes, this is not something that's an overnight process. It's something that takes some intention and takes some practice, but it is truly life changing when you do it because you're building your house on a solid foundation.

16:04Motivation is not going to be there, but your habits and values will always be there. That wraps up the 10 things I did to change my body at age 46. None of them are magical. None of them are exciting, but they really are what helped me have my biggest transformation in my 40s. And it's what I also teach on women that are inside my membership or my one-on-one coaching to do the same. So I hope that you found value in this episode. I also wanted to remind you today is the last day to join my eight-week challenge. inside that challenge you're going to get a full eight-week strength program built for women over 40 you have home or gym options a guide to help you set your calories and your macros a protein recipe guide with over 40 different easy recipes plus sample meal plans and best of all a private community of women who are just like you so that you never feel alone on this journey and yes real change takes longer than eight weeks but this challenge is where you can lay the foundation build the habit and start to become that woman that you want to be.

17:06And remember, you get to keep this challenge forever. It's a one-time purchase of$49, but then you have lifetime access. Run it as many times as you want so that you can build that best version of you. I will leave all the details in the show notes and I would love to see you there. If this episode was helpful, please take a second to leave a rating or a review. It really means so much to me and it helps other women find the show. And also shoot me a message on Instagram. I would love to hear what you think of the podcast. And if you have other topics you'd love me to cover in the future, I would love to hear about that too.

17:38Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. Keep showing up, keep building strength and remember you are so much more capable than you think until next week. Keep getting stronger.