
If you are a GenX woman you get the mentality around BURNING off all the extra indulgences you participated in over the holidays. Are you experiencing this now? Thinking you just need to do a bunch of cardio and starve yourself to make it right? I want this to change for you! This next year is your year to make it happen. Focus on changing your body composition. Adding muscle so that you operate in a completely different way!
I am not tracking this season. I’m enjoying meals with family! I will add that I still do not consume alcohol ever and I don’t do processed sugars. I enjoy foods sweetened with honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, stevia and monkfruit. This is where I feel my absolute best with mental and physical energy and clarity. I choose this way of life because it makes me feel amazing. Who doesn’t want to wake up every day feeling amazing?
When you have muscle on your body, your body utilizes extra calories differently compared to when you have less muscle.
HERE’S HOW!
- Higher Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): Muscle tissue requires more energy to maintain than fat tissue. Even at rest, muscle burns more calories. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your BMR, meaning you’ll burn more calories even when you’re not active. This is one of the reasons why people with more muscle tend to have an easier time maintaining or losing weight compared to those with less muscle.
- Caloric Usage During Activity: When you’re active, muscle mass contributes to a greater calorie burn. More muscle means your body can exert more force during physical activity, which increases your energy expenditure during both strength training and aerobic exercises. A person with more muscle will burn more calories when doing the same activity as someone with less muscle.
- Storage of Excess Calories: When you eat extra calories, if you’re in a calorie surplus (i.e., you’re consuming more calories than your body needs), the body will store the excess as fat if it doesn’t have enough muscle mass to put it to use. However, if you have more muscle, some of those extra calories can be directed to support muscle growth or repair, rather than being stored as fat. This is why people with more muscle can tolerate higher calorie intakes without gaining as much fat.
- Post-Exercise Calorie Burn: After a strength training session, the body enters a period known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), during which the body continues to burn calories at an elevated rate as it repairs muscles and restores energy levels. More muscle means a greater EPOC, so people with more muscle tend to burn more calories after a workout compared to those with less muscle.
In contrast, if you have little muscle, your body burns fewer calories both at rest and during activity. Extra calories consumed will be more likely to be stored as fat because there’s less muscle mass to use them for maintenance, repair, or growth.
Change your body, change your life! Add muscle, eat delicious food, build confidence and strength. Run like a fine tuned machine. YES you can do this in your 40’s, 50’s and beyond. It is never ever too late. Get your mind right and lock in! Give it an entire year and see where you’re at next holiday season! You just might shock yourself!
My goal is for you to feel strong, empowered, powerful, properly fueled and crushing it in midlife! This next year is going to be one of change and transformation for you I just know it!
I would love for you to join me in my app and start a lifting program, enjoy some delicious recipes and learn how to thrive in midlife. You can CHECK IT OUT HERE!!
Love you big!