Not Losing Fat After 40? It May Not Be Your Hormones

Nikkiey: Perimenopause is not an excuse. It is also not nothing. Both things are true. And so the women who get the best results in this chapter of their lives are the ones who address them both simultaneously. They get their hormones tested. They have the conversation about HRT. And then those women that get results rebuild their plan. They eat more protein. They do their lifting. They get better sleep. They have a strategy that is designed for the body that they have now, not the one that they had 15 years ago.

Hey, hey, hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with your host, Nikkiey Stott. In today's episode, guys, I'm going to do a hot take. What I mean by that is I'm going to say something today that some of you guys may push back on, and that's totally okay, because I think this conversation needs to happen. I would rather have it honestly than not have it at all.

So here's my hot take. Perimenopause is real. I'm experiencing that right now. Hormonal changes are real. People say that they start experiencing them in their early 40s. Guys, I'm 36, and I'm already starting to feel it. They affect your body composition, your results, your energy, your metabolism, your sleep. All of it is real. All of it is true. All of it is documented. And it is totally not in your head. And some of what women are blaming on perimenopause is actually their plan, like their workout, their nutrition plan. So these two things are both true at the same time, and the inability to tell them apart is what is keeping a lot of women stuck in a story that feels so true, but it's not complete. So that's what I want to really get at with you guys today, and figure out which one you are actually dealing with.

Okay, so before I get into the full-blown hot take, I want to give perimenopause its full credit, because I'm not here to minimize it at all. What is happening hormonally, I have gone through it. I'm going to probably do a life update podcast, because in the last year and a half, really, when I started taking... I'm not on HRT, but I'm on testosterone support. I take progesterone because my periods started to get crazy wicked in that luteal phase: pain, breast tenderness, moody, all the things. So progesterone really helped me out on that. But all that to say, side rant, I'll probably do an update, because in the last year and a half I have been experiencing perimenopause.

And regardless of all the things I was doing right leading me up to this point, I was so struggling. So I'm saying it is real. It is real. I'm not here to minimize what is happening hormonally. I'm here to make sure that we're actually accurate about it. Just to elaborate a little bit more, perimenopause is a transition phase that can start as early as your mid-30s, and typically spans four to 10, maybe even 15 years before menopause actually hits. And it is so true. It's like you wake up and you're like, what happened? I woke up and I'm like, what happened?

It produces these real, measurable physiological changes that directly affect your body composition, your metabolism, your results, so many things. Because what's happening is estrogen is declining, and that reduces your body's ability to protect muscle, even when you're eating less. Estrogen is declining behind the scenes while you guys are so worried about eating less. This is the hormonal side that I want to talk about and make known to people: this is happening simultaneously. So if you're eating less and you're also having your estrogen tank, this is why that same restriction that produced fat loss at 30 now burns muscle alongside it. And it's why you could be gaining weight even though you're doing the work, because you're not giving your body enough of what it needs, and so you're losing muscle in the process. Does that make sense? Your estrogen is no longer there to defend your muscle mass.

Progesterone fluctuates, and that will disrupt your sleep. That's why I think I also had to get on support. If you listened to the early days of The WarriorBabe Show, you know: don't mess with my sleep. I'm for real about that. And once my sleep started getting messed with and nothing that I was doing had changed, I was like, these are all hormonal signs. And not getting enough sleep can be the start of a hormonal cascade, one change that ripples throughout your entire body composition environment.

Testosterone declines. I mean, geez, mine hit a wall. I was at a wall when I got my lab work done. When that declines, the small amount that women have that supports muscle building and fat burning becomes less available. So the muscle-building signal from training gets less efficient, and recovery takes way longer. That's what I was experiencing in my recovery. It would take me like four days to recover from lifting. I'm like, this is not normal.

Another thing is insulin sensitivity decreases. So the same carbohydrate that your body used to handle really well at 30, or even younger, now produces a more significant insulin response, which makes fat storage around the midsection more likely. And then the one that most women describe experiencing is the fat redistribution.

So fat that used to go to your hips and your thighs, under estrogen's direction, the places you wanted it to go, is now, because estrogen is declining, going to the abdomen, around your organs. You have the same body, but since there's less estrogen, the fat is being redistributed to a different part. Think about it like a different address for your fat on your body. And all of this is real.

All of this is documented. All of it makes body composition work genuinely harder. Women say things just changed and it doesn't feel like my body yet. It's real. This is what's happening. So I'm not disputing any of that. What I am disputing is that these hormonal changes actually explain everything. Honing in on that, they can explain things to a degree, let me say that, but they don't fully show you the overall picture. So let me just get into the hot take. Here's where I need you guys to stay with me, because this part is maybe going to sting a little bit.

And I'm saying it because I care about your results, and because I love you guys, not to be harsh. A significant portion of what women over 40 are attributing to perimenopause is actually the result of a plan that was never going to work, regardless of your hormones. So let me be specific about what I mean by that. One is under-eating protein. I know this is just a common thing for women. It's under-eating, but it's also just not knowing how much protein we're actually eating. And perimenopause will increase your protein requirement, because anabolic resistance means that your body needs more protein to get the same muscle-preserving response.

So if you're only eating 40, 50, 60 grams of protein a day, and your muscles are disappearing and your metabolism is slowing, that is a protein problem that's compounded by you being in perimenopause, not a perimenopausal problem alone. So the hormones aren't the only problem. It is also the plan that you are following. And let me also just say this point blank, because this is a hot take. I've talked to friends, and my friends are like, well, yeah, I'm in a mini cut. But then they slide in, well, I haven't been consistent. I'm like, well, then it's not a cut.

You guys have got to be honest with yourselves. If you are in a cut, and you are, quote unquote, tracking your macros and paying attention to what you're eating, which is the only way that you are going to be able to produce results, you cannot consistently get the result that you want when you are inconsistently following a plan. It just doesn't make sense. It doesn't compute. Even when I say it out loud like that, think about that, you guys. If you're like, yeah, well, I'm trying to diet, I'm trying to follow this plan. What does trying mean? Because trying means you're not actually doing it. So the hot take is, you may be going through this and experiencing perimenopause and all these hormonal shifts happening.

And you may have a plan that is actually aligned for you, or maybe it's not. But regardless of whether it is or it's not, if you're not being consistent with it, it's not going to produce a consistent outcome for you. So out of the hot take: whatever plan you are following, you've got to apply consistency to it. There are multiple episodes I've done in this podcast series, in the life of The WarriorBabe Show to The WarriorBabe Show, where I've talked about the difference between consistency and perfection. You do not have to be OCD, perfect all the time, all or nothing. That is not what I'm asking of you when you're on a plan.

What consistency looks like is being consistent the majority of the time. You are consistent 80% to 85% of the week. That is where we can at least take real data, real numbers, look at it, and adjust the plan according to what may be working or what may not be working. So that's just my little rant there. But to be more specific about what I mean by following a plan that may never work for you: you're under-eating protein, and you're not lifting.

I know women are out there moving their bodies, getting out to these strength classes, doing boot camp classes, doing XYZ, signing up for Hyrox. You're doing these things, but lifting is not the main priority for you. Guys, estrogen was protecting your muscle back in the day. When estrogen leaves, the protection leaves. The replacement for that protection is a mechanical signal from strength training, lifting heavy enough to tell your body the muscle is actually needed. If you are doing cardio and Pilates and boot camps and walking and running with no real progressive resistance training, the muscle loss that you are experiencing is not just, well, it's just my perimenopause or it's just my hormones. It's the absence of the one thing that fights back against it, which is lifting.

So lifting can't take a back seat on this journey that you're on. You have to make it a priority. And then all the other things that you want to do, if you want to do Pilates and boot camps and Hyrox, do that. I'm not saying to take out things that you love or things you want to try, but you have to build them around the lifting, because lifting is what's going to protect your muscle.

Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show.

And then I've talked about sleep. So those are the obvious things. You've got to feed your body enough. You've got to get out of this world. I know I've talked about it. The shift that we need is a narrative change from "if I eat too much, I'm going to get fat."

That is not true. First of all, I've talked about this before: I'm a coach at the end of the day. Yes, I own a company and build a company, and I'm in the background of the company, but I'm also the face of the company, and I have the methodology and the coaching experience, and I've coached women for over a decade. So when it comes to you focusing on this, I want you guys to succeed. I'm a coach at the end of the day. So if I have you eat more food, my goal is not to make you fat.

My goal is to get you the body that you want. So you've got to put a little trust in changing the narrative: if I actually eat more food, and I do it in the right way, and I'm consistent with it over time, I will get X results. It will happen. You just have to allow yourself to rewrite the narrative. Have you actually tried to eat more food? Have you done that in a consistent timeframe? Have you allowed your body to eat more protein for four weeks straight? Right? And the narrative will change when you get the results that you want to see by taking said action.

Now, the core of the hot take too is that there's no adjustment to the approach. If your body has changed hormonally and you have not changed your approach, if you are doing what you did at 35 and expecting it to work the same at 48 or 52, then the results you are getting are not purely a hormone story. They are a strategy story. So yes, perimenopause will change the rules. Most women are still playing by the old rules and the old narratives and the old talk track and the old diet culture, and, and, and.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting different results. If you're still doing the same thing that you were doing at 30 or 28 and expecting to get the same results, that's going to drive you insane. Something needs to change. The strategy needs to change. And this is the strategy. Over 400 episodes of this podcast, I have always stayed true and consistent in my message to you guys, which is eating more, not less; training less, not overtraining; and getting strength training into play.

Okay. So the practical framework: these are the questions that will help you figure out whether what you're experiencing is primarily hormonal or primarily the plan that you're following, or it could be both. Question one: are you eating enough protein? If you do not know your daily protein intake, then get the app out and track honestly for a week. If you are consistently hitting one gram per pound of body weight, then you can rule out protein as a primary driver. If you are eating 40 to 60 grams a day, that gap is doing significant damage.

That has nothing to do with your hormones. Question two: are you lifting progressively? Not moving, not taking classes, not the boot camps, not using resistance bands. Are you doing progressive strength training with external load? Are you doing compound movements? Are you using weights that are genuinely challenging? Are you increasing them over time? If the answer is no, the muscle loss and the metabolic slowdown that you are experiencing cannot be fully attributed to perimenopause. The training signal is missing. So this narrative of, well, it's just my hormones and it's just me getting older...

Is it? Is it? That's where I want to challenge you guys, because I want you to get to the truth. Question three: have you had your hormones actually tested? Here's the thing that surprises a lot of women. Listen, many who believe that they are in perimenopause have not had a comprehensive hormonal panel done. They're experiencing symptoms and attributing them to hormone changes without actually having the data. So have you had your estradiol checked? Have you had progesterone checked? Testosterone, thyroid, fasting insulin tested recently?

You do not actually know what your hormones are doing unless you have that data. So get that data before you build the story in your mind that, oh, my hormones are changing. How do you actually know that? And then another question: what approach are you actually doing? This is the most honest question. If you're doing the same thing that you did at 35 or 30 or 25, the same calorie target because it worked before, the same training because it worked before, the same approach, and you're not seeing the same results, the answer is not just that your hormones changed. It is that the approach has not caught up to the body that it is supposed to serve.

So if you answer those questions honestly and your plan is fully optimized, if you have adequate protein, progressive strength training, your sleep addressed, your hormones actually checked, and you're still struggling, then yes, the hormones are likely the primary factor, and medical intervention deserves serious consideration, right? But most women who go through these questions honestly find at least two or three areas where the plan has room to improve. And I will guarantee you there's room to improve in eating protein.

And I don't want to hear, well, Nikkiey, I eat protein. What does that even mean? Do you know how much protein you're eating in a day? You've got to get to the data, you guys. You've got to track. You've got to bring that awareness into the picture. Because people will be like, well, yeah, I eat protein. Okay, what does that mean? What does that look like for you? They'll run me through a day, and I'm like, God, that's 80 grams of protein, maybe. So do you actually know that number? You know what I mean? I'm challenging you guys in this respect. Here's how I want this to land, because I don't want this episode to feel like I'm dismissing what you are experiencing or how hard you're trying.

Perimenopause is not an excuse. It is also not nothing. Both things are true. And so the women who get the best results in this chapter of their lives are the ones who address them both simultaneously. They get their hormones tested. They have the conversation about HRT, and with an informed physician, not someone like me. I would recommend a functional doctor. Not someone having the 1990s version of that conversation. With HRT, doctors are now coming to the surface and saying, yeah, actually HRT doesn't cause breast cancer, and actually it's good, and actually it serves a purpose, right? Conversations are changing, as they always do. And women I've talked to in their 70s are like, I wish I got on HRT 20 years ago. I would talk to somebody who has a current, research-backed conversation.

And then they take these hormonal pieces very seriously, as real as the body composition changes that they factor into. These deserve real attention. And then those women that get results rebuild their plan.

They eat more protein. They do the lifting. They get better sleep. They have a strategy that is designed for the body that they have now, not the one that they had 15 years ago. So those two tracks running simultaneously are what produce results in this season. Not one or the other, but both. Yes, perimenopause changed the rules, but the plan has to change with them. And when it does, dude, your results are absolutely possible. I've seen it in over 100,000 women that have come through WarriorBabe. I've seen it in thousands, over and over and over again, on our coaches' rosters, in the babes that they coach. Women in their 50s, their 60s, even in their 40s are changing their bodies in a way better and faster fashion than they did in their 20s and their 30s. You getting into your 50s and being able to build the strongest, leanest and most capable version of you is absolutely possible. And it's you having the right plan and also understanding where your hormones are at, and addressing both of them. All right?

And every Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern, I'm live. I talk about this in a two-and-a-half-hour training. I even open up three hot seats where I'm talking to women specifically about their journey, where they're at, what they're struggling with, and giving them some real takeaways that they can go and start doing after that training. Every Thursday, 7 p.m. Eastern. That link is below this podcast episode. I highly recommend that you register for it and just come hang out. This is me in a 20- or 30-minute podcast.

Think about two and a half hours' worth of training that you'll be able to absorb, and hopefully have even more light bulbs going off. All right? So I hope to see you guys there, and I hope that you enjoyed this podcast. Because if there's anything, it's getting real and honest with where you're at in your journey and bringing awareness to it. Awareness and honesty. When you have those two and you can take the constructive criticism to change, you will be able to change. All right. Love you guys. I'll see you in the next episode. Peace out.

Hey, really quick, before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all the difference, helping more women discover the tools they need to transform their fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.