EP 59: Your Blueprint for a Successful Fat Loss Phase Over 40

0:00Hello and 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. Happy New Year. I'm so glad that you're here today because if you pressed play on this episode, I'm guessing you're standing in that familiar place that so many women find themselves in at the start of a new year. You're ready to make changes. You want to feel better in your body. You want to feel more confident and you want to do it in a way that actually lasts. What I want you to know right away is that this episode is not about quick fixes or motivation.

0:36This is about strategy. This episode is your blueprint for how to approach fat loss over 40 in a way that works with your body instead of against it. And what I love about having this conversation now is that many women come into January feeling ready to rush, to undo the holidays, to get back on track immediately, to eat less, to move more, and to push harder. but over 40 that approach almost always backfires. So today I want to slow everything down and walk you through this the same way I would if you were sitting across from me as a client step by step intentionally with clarity and with purpose.

1:13By the end of this episode you will know exactly where you are in the process, what your next focus should be, and how to move forward without guessing. This is the exact framework I use for myself, what I teach my one-on-one clients, and what we're following inside the Soft to Sculpted Challenge that kicks off officially today if you're listening in real time. And if you're not inside that challenge and you want to be, please check the show notes and come join us. So let's start where most people don't, not with calories or workouts, but with where your body is. Before you even think about fat loss, it's important to understand whether or not your body is actually ready for it.

1:47And readiness has nothing to do with how motivated you feel, but it has everything to do with the environment inside your body. If you've spent years dieting on and off, skipping meals, eating very low calories, your body likely has adapted. Not in a way that it's broken, but in a protective way. When food is inconsistent, the body learns to conserve. It holds on. It becomes more efficient with what it has. That's why fat loss often feels harder now than it used to. So instead of assuming you're ready, the smartest thing you can do is collect data and then assess. If you're not currently tracking your food, that's where I want you to start.

2:26Not with the intention of dieting, just for awareness. So for one to two weeks, I want you to track what you normally eat. Don't try to clean it up. Don't try to be perfect. Just gather information that's accurate. This step is incredibly powerful because most women realize they're not consistently overeating, but they're likely under eating most of the time and then over eating to compensate. And that pattern alone will keep our body stressed. So once you have that awareness, compare it to your estimated maintenance calories. And I'll put a calorie calculator in the show notes and you can get that number.

2:57And here's where we pause and then make an informed decision. If you're already eating close to maintenance or even a little bit above and you're feeling relatively stable, then you're likely in a good place to move forward with fat loss. But if you're significantly under maintenance or you know you've just been chronically dieting for years, the most strategic move is not to jump straight into a deficit. It's actually to stabilize your body first. This is where a priming phase comes in, a period of four to six weeks, sometimes even longer, where calories are brought up to maintenance, meals are consistent, hunger normalizes, energy improves, and the nervous system relaxes.

3:33Especially if your goal is to look more toned and sculpted, this step sets the stage for everything that comes next. And once your body feels supported, fat loss becomes far more predictable. So if you are in that place where you know you have to start with a priming phase, I don't want you to feel discouraged. I don't want you to feel like it's a step back. In fact, it is a step forward. You're setting yourself up for a future more successful fat loss phase. And taking the time to do this is going to help you in that fat loss phase. Not only that, you're likely going to see some body composition improvements, meaning you're losing body fat and gaining lean muscle tissue.

4:07So while the scale won't necessarily change dramatically during this phase, your body will, the way your clothes fit is going to change, your energy, your mood, your libido, your digestion, your sleep, all of that's going to get into a better place. And those are real wins. We don't want to just rely on the scale to be the measure of success. All of those things are also true markers that we are having transformation, and then you'll be in a better place for fat loss. Now, once you have that foundation in place, or if you're already there, this is where we can finally talk about the calorie deficit itself.

4:40There are many methods people use to create a calorie deficit. We have keto, intermittent fasting, cutting carbs, eliminating sugar, smaller portions, meal replacement shakes, tracking numbers, tracking points. All of those can technically work, not because they're special, but because they reduce calories in some way. Those approaches are not fat loss mechanisms. They are methods for creating a calorie deficit. The only problem with those is that when you rely on a method without understanding the underlying mechanism, you lose control. You're either on the plan or off the plan. There is no flexibility.

5:17There's no awareness. There's no way to control it. This is why I prefer calorie tracking as a tool for fat loss, not because it's obsessive, but because it puts you in the driver's seat. I want you to think of it like managing your finances. You could say, I'm never eating out again, and that might help you save money. or you could understand your income, your expenses, and decide how to spend intentionally so you can budget in the things that you wanna do. Tracking calories works the same way. When you know your calorie target, you're not guessing, you're choosing. You can include carbs. You can include the foods you enjoy.

5:51You can just adjust based on your life, based on your goals. So instead of feeling like you failed because you broke a rule, you can make informed, smart decisions. And that flexibility is what makes fat loss sustainable over 40. A calorie deficit simply means you're eating less than your body needs so that it uses your stored fat for energy. And the word slightly matters. Overly aggressive deficits tend to backfire at this stage of life. We can lose muscle, our stress is going to increase, our hunger is going to increase, and our adherence is just going to drop off. So we want to aim for controlled and intentional calorie deficits.

6:27A simple starting point I like to use with clients is taking your goal weight and multiply by 12, or you can use the calorie calculator in the show notes, but that gives you a realistic fat loss calorie target. From there, protein is going to become our anchor because it's going to help us preserve and build lean muscle. So we want to have at least 0.8 to one gram per pound of our goal body weight to help preserve that muscle tissue, manage our hunger, and support our metabolism. Now, the other thing that we want to make sure is we're including fats and carbs. Yes, I said carbs. Carbs are included strategically to support our training, recovery, our thyroid function, and our cortisol regulation.

7:04And then fats need to be there to support hormones and our satiety. A well-set deficit should feel noticeable but manageable. You might feel mild hunger at times, but you shouldn't feel depleted or like you're constantly fighting yourself. And when you do things like prioritize protein and keep most of your food choices whole foods, you're going to have higher protein, higher fiber, and those two are game changers when it comes to managing hunger in a calorie deficit. However, you are going to still have some level of hunger that is normal, but having protein and fiber as two things that you're relying on are really going to help offset that so that it's manageable.

7:42Now, once those numbers are clear, the next question becomes how to actually live inside them consistently. So now you know your calories and your protein, how do you execute them in real life with your meals? And this is where a lot of people struggle, not because they don't care, but it's just about making those decisions and trying to incorporate them into busy life. And decision fatigue is real. Like we all have a lot of decisions we need to make every single day. So trying to figure out, especially when you're in a deficit, what you can eat, what fits, what doesn't in real time is not the way to go.

8:16You want to make sure you're planning ahead of time. This is one of the best things you can do to make sure you have success. One of the highest value habits you can build is to pre-log your meals. So either the night before or the morning of, map out your day in your tracker. This just makes your meals like a little checklist. So you already know ahead of time if you're going to be in your calorie target and hitting your protein. And when you do this, the day becomes an execution instead of constant negotiation. Then you can simplify it even further. Repeating meals is going to be a game changer and it's a great strategy.

8:51So prep your meals, which is something that I do. Prep out your breakfast, your lunch, have a simple snack that you go to, and then copy and paste those meals from one day to the next. That way it makes it so much easier. Dinner for me is my variable because I have it with my family. But as long as I reserve calories for dinner and I know I've hit my protein for breakfast and lunch, it's easy for me to do that and have some flexibility. So repeat your meals, food prep on the weekend, copy paste from day to day. That's going to allow you to stay consistent and consistency creates momentum and success.

9:25The other thing I want to mention is that meal prep doesn't need to be complicated. Make it as simple as possible. Think in terms of components, cook your protein, prep up some vegetables, have easy carbs available, and then mix and match with different condiments. I have a simple meal planning article that I wrote on my blog that I will also include in the show notes. So make sure you check that out, but keep it as simple as possible. The other thing that's important is you want to front load your day with protein. You don't wanna be trying to catch up with your protein at the end of the day.

9:54When women do this, it tends to lead to big hunger swings and you could spiral at night. So a solid breakfast and lunch with 30 to 50 grams of protein will help you set the tone for the day. It helps you meet your protein target and it keeps your hunger levels stable. And the last thing I want to touch upon here is weekends because it's very easy for us to have a plan Monday through Friday. Then the weekend rolls around. If we don't have a plan, it's very easy to slip up. Instead of going into weekends hoping for the best, create some intentional flexibility there as well. Make sure that you are continuing to support yourself with high protein meals.

10:28One thing I like to do on the weekends to allow a little bit more flexibility is I'll have low calorie, high protein meals for breakfast and lunch. What that does is allow me to almost hit my protein goal, but still have tons of calories left. So if we have a party, if we're going out somewhere, I can then make a still mindful choice, but have some calories left over to do that. We want to maintain some structure through the weekend because structure doesn't remove freedom. It actually creates it long term and we want to have results. We want to be efficient with this calorie deficit so we can get back to maintenance where we have more flexibility.

11:01So now we have the nutrition piece covered. Let's talk about what training and cardio should look like when you're in a deficit, because I think this is where a lot of women accidentally work against themselves. When calories drop, when we go into a deficit, the first instinct that we have is to do more, more cardio, more sweat, more exhaustion. But when you're eating less, your body is already under stress. Training is not about burning more calories. It's about sending a signal to your body to preserve muscle. Strength training during a deficit tells your body that you need that muscle, that muscle matters.

11:36That means lifting with intention, choosing weights that still challenge you, and getting close to failure, meaning those last one to two reps are hard. That's what's going to help preserve your muscle and keep your shape. Things like movement, like daily steps and cardio, are tools that we can use, but they should not just be something we throw at our plan right from the gate. When you enter a calorie deficit, your body naturally tries to conserve energy by reducing subconscious movement. That's why tracking your steps and having an awareness of them helps to control that variable. So the best thing to do is establish your baseline, then at minimum, try to maintain that.

12:15So if you get an average of 5 ,000 to 6 ,000 steps a day, make sure you maintain that in your deficit so your output stays consistent. Now if you want to increase your deficit slightly you can bump up your daily target so instead of doing five to six thousand steps a day you can bump that up to seven to eight thousand steps a day. Now as we're talking about steps and cardio what I do want to mention quickly is my preferred method of activity during a calorie deficit in general is walking. During a deficit I'm not a fan of adding moderate or high intensity cardio mainly because it will spike your hunger.

12:51So my favorite method of becoming lean, staying lean is walking. You can add some intensity with either a weighted vest or add incline to a treadmill. But those are my preferred methods of adding activity without impacting hunger or even stress levels, which are something that we need to be cognizant of and protective of at 40 and older. not to mention it is really easy to do extra steps like any other form of cardio whether it's a class if you're doing running if you're doing a you know some sort of hit you need to go to a special place you need to have a special outfit on walking you can do any time of the day so when you're in a calorie deficit if you have some extra time at lunch go get some extra steps you know if you are at a store park further away those are easy ways for you to add more activity add more caloric output without overtaxing your day.

13:45And like I said, it's going to protect your hunger, which is so important when we're in a calorie deficit. That's one of the number one reasons that people fail in a calorie deficit is because of hunger. So we wanna protect that at all costs. We also wanna protect our muscle at all costs. So my favorite preferred method for getting the best body composition possible is walking and incline walking. One important thing that I wanna touch upon here is that we wanna do the most with the least. Now our bodies can become adaptive. So we want to leave ourselves some runway to use some tools if and when we need them, if we have a fat loss stall.

14:18Cardio follows the same principle. Use the minimum effective dose. So maybe two to three sessions of zone two cardio. But the goal is to leave runway. So when you start out conservatively, you always have levers to pull if progress slows. Now, speaking of progress, it's important to understand what to expect during this phase so you don't panic. One thing I want you to understand is that fat loss is never linear. The scale will fluctuate. Water retention happens. Hormones come into play. That's why we want to look at trends and weekly averages, measurements, photos, strength, energy, and how clothes fit instead of just relying on a random weigh-in.

14:57Fat loss is never linear. The scale will fluctuate. Hormones matter. Water retention happens. That's why we look at trends. We look at weekly averages with your scale weight. Is it trending up, down, or staying the same? We're looking at measurements, especially your waist, photos, strength, energy, and how your clothes are fitting. A true weight loss stall isn't just a few days of no change. It's two to three weeks with no change across multiple markers, knowing you have been 95 to 100 % adherent. When that happens, we don't react emotionally. We assess calmly. We look at adherence. We look at our steps, our sleep, our stress, and weekends.

15:37And then we make small intentional adjustments. Fat loss works best when you guide your body instead of fighting it. So if you actually have a true stall, what you can do is either take away 100 to 150 calories or increase steps or add in a little cardio. That's why I said, make sure we're starting with doing the most with the least. Don't drop calories as low as possible. Don't jump steps up to 12 ,000 a day. Don't add in three additional days of cardio. Do the most with the least so that you have levers to pull if and when your body stalls. Now, finally, knowing when to stop matters just as much as knowing when and how to start.

16:21You're done with a deficit when you reach a goal or when you clearly just need a break. It is normal to experience some diet fatigue after a period of time. For most people, this is gonna be anywhere from like week 12 to 16, but it is possible to go longer. But rising fatigue, constant hunger, your adherence dropping off, all of those are kind of signs that you might be ready for a break. Exiting your deficit properly matters. We don't wanna just jump back up to what we were doing before. if you've lost weight, this means you have a smaller vessel and you are going to require different calorie needs.

16:58So we want to transition intentionally, stabilize our metabolism so that we can maintain our results. And that's how fat loss becomes sustainable. So if you have lost body fat during this deficit, what you'll do is use the same calorie calculator in the show notes below, calculate your new maintenance level of calories, and slowly reverse diet up to those new level of calories. A reverse diet is just kind of a bridge to take you from a deficit into maintenance. And then you're just going to hang tight at maintenance. Depending on your goals, you can stay in maintenance for a set amount of months so that you can maybe build some more muscle, or you can just enter it for a period of two to three months and then go back into a fat loss phase if you still have fat that you want to lose.

17:45But that should kind of be the cadence that you have. Fat loss should be a temporary phase and then you move back into maintenance. Whether that's temporary or permanent is really just going to depend on your goals. So if fat loss has felt confusing for you or frustrating for you in your 40s, I hope this episode brought you some clarity. I hope you understand now the steps to walk yourself through a fat loss phase. And remember, you don't need more discipline, but you just need the right plan that's working with your body and not against it. You need a muscle-centric plan. When muscle is at the center of your plan, whether it's fat loss or maintenance, you cannot go wrong.

18:21I promise you it's going to build the best aesthetic, but also the healthiest body over 40. And if you want structure, accountability, and workouts designed for women over 40, I would love to have you inside the Soft to Sculptive Challenge. We are kicking that off today. This is the exact blueprint that all of the members inside are following. They have guides, they have meal plans, they have the workouts, they have the community to keep themselves accountable and motivated. And we would love to see you inside. I will leave all the information in the show notes. The community is very special. It's one of my favorite things about my challenges.

18:57My membership is just the women that are inside because they are so supportive of each other. They are making friendships and relationships. And that's what really helps. You know, when you are walking through a challenge, it helps to have support, especially the support of someone who knows exactly what you're going through. It makes such a difference with having success on your journey. You don't have to walk this alone. So we are here if you want to join us. But either way, I want to wish you a very, very happy and healthy 2026. Thank you so much for being here. And until next week, keep getting stronger.