Post-Diet Recovery and Maintenance

Lindsay shares how she completed an eight-week fat loss phase.

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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Why We Yo-Yo Diet
03:03 Simple Macro Strategy
06:39 Scale Fluctuations Explained
10:52 Post Diet Recovery
11:33 Metabolic Adaptations
16:07 Maintenance Overshoot Trap
20:44 Hormones and Hunger Rebound
23:33 Defining Post Diet Recovery
26:39 Lower Steps Increase Fuel
30:12 Perimenopause Sleep Chaos
35:37 Practical Sleep Fixes
41:10 Scale Gain After Diet
45:21 Strength Recovery Solidify Results

Lindsay shares how she completed an eight-week fat loss phase—six weeks before Mexico, one untracked week on vacation, and two weeks after—by focusing only on calories and protein (about 1640–1725 calories with a 120g protein minimum) plus a 14,000-step minimum, creating roughly a 25% deficit and losing about 4.5 pounds. She explains why scale weight fluctuates, why she kept the same plan except for a brief refeed to improve sleep, and why most people regain weight by ending the diet too soon and overshooting maintenance. She breaks down metabolic and hormonal adaptations (NEAT, efficiency, leptin/ghrelin, thyroid) and outlines “post-diet recovery” as a controlled transition to maintenance (her plan: 1950 calories, reduced steps to 8–10k, prioritize sleep) while tracking seriously and judging success by body composition, performance, and recovery rather than the scale.

Creators and Guests

Host

Lindsay

Wife and mother of three. I have a deep passion for learning and teaching. I also really love lifting weights and fitness.

What is LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness?

Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.

Speaker: Hey guys.

Welcome.

Welcome to the Lifting Lindsay podcast.

So my cut is over and I am gonna walk
you guys through the science of keeping

your results and why many of you
aren't and why some of you are right.

So I'm really excited.

First off, it was a
great, it was a great cut.

Um, I was super on point.

I saw some great fat loss.

So that was, that was really exciting.

but whenever I do a fat loss
phase, uh, women are oftentimes

like, well, how can we keep it?

I've lost five pounds numerous times.

I keep, you know, losing it, putting
back on, losing it, putting back on,

and, and they get, they get frustrated.

So I completely understand that.

You know, I did a cut last year and
then I moved into a surplus because,

I was excited to put on more muscle.

And so, uh, to really maximize that, we do
need to go into a little bit of a surplus.

And when you go into a little
bit of surplus, a little bit

of body fat comes on too.

So last year I spent majority of
my time eating in a little bit

of a surplus and in maintenance.

So because I was doing that and I
wasn't constantly, constantly just.

Trying to yo-yo diet kind of thing.

It really does put your body in a really,
really good position to respond well.

So I'm gonna walk you through, kind
of my fat loss phase and what I did.

this was an eight week process,
so I started it, uh, six

weeks leading up to Mexico.

And the whole reason, uh, why I
wanted to do it is I really did want

to tighten up, lose some body fat
on my abs, lose some body fat on my

arms, so that I just kind of, I was
healthy, I was lean, I looked fine.

I just really wanted to
look fricking awesome.

So it's okay.

You can do a, a diet just to look awesome.

Um, we don't necessarily need
necessarily like some deep, um,

spiritual experience that told you to.

I don't know.

That was weird, but do
you know what I'm saying?

Sometimes I feel like women almost don't
feel like it's okay to just want to lose.

Five pounds and they have to explain
it in like a way that sounds really

like cool or righteous or whatever.

Do you know what I'm saying?

So it is okay to just be like,
look, I wanted to look better.

I wanted to be a little leaner.

It.

That's actually perfectly okay.

So I did six weeks leading up to Mexico.

I did one week in Mexico
where I didn't track.

And then I came back and I
did two more weeks back in a

deficit just to finish it off.

My approach was actually pretty simple.

It always blows people away.

I only focused on calories and protein.

I was eating, uh, round 1640 calories, on.

Non-training days and upper body days.

And then on my lower body days, because
there was a little bit more volume,

I wanted a little bit more carbs.

And so those training days,
which were three times a week.

I was eating 1725 calories on those days.

And then protein, my minimum was 120.

So I, I gave myself a minimum and some
days I overshot it like one 30 some days,

1 25 some days, one 20 kind of thing.

But yeah, that's, that's it.

So that is it.

As far as energy in that was the plan.

That was it.

I wasn't, um, freaking out about
finding some magic macro ratio.

I was just focusing on, the big
rocks, which are protein and calories.

Calories really are king
when it comes to fat loss.

They really are.

And then, uh, protein is going to
help you maintain muscle tissue

and, um, you know, help you recover
from your training and stuff.

So that was what I was doing for
energy and, and then energy out.

Another lever that I was pulling
I gave myself a minimum, again,

a minimum of 14,000 steps.

Now that could be achieved through walking
around my neighborhood, through walking

on my walking pad, during work, through
cardio, after, you know, training day,

if I'm being really honest, I only did
two cardio sessions the entire time.

Two cardio.

So the combined energy in and energy
out, that actually gave me a 25% deficit.

So I, I do wanna go back to this and, and
try to explain this really, really well.

So if you're, if you think about,
um, right now I'm holding up my

hands to kind of this line, my right
hand and my left hand are even, and

that's, that's maintenance, right?

And in order to lose body fat, we
need to create an energy deficit.

Now that can be done by lowering calories.

So, so my, my right hand is now
lowering and there's now a gap

between my right and left hand.

Right now, if I raise my left hand because
I'm increasing energy out, that is going

to make the energy deficit even greater.

Even bigger, right?

So between the two, between bringing
energy in, well below, you know, my

maintenance at 16, 45 four times a
week, and then 17 25, 3 times a week.

and then increasing energy
out a minimum of 14,000 steps.

But honestly, with my walking pad,
I was getting anywhere between

14 and 18,000 steps per day.

So that combination put me
in an energy deficit of 25%.

That's not extreme.

It's not it, but it is starting to lean
into, okay, this is gonna be aggressive,

but I can be very consistent here.

I can do this.

25% calorie deficit or energy deficit.

Awesome.

I'm gonna see some results.

Um, I loved sharing my results every
single week with my Be Strong community

because I loved showing them how the scale
did not drop at this like linear rate.

So I lost four and a half pounds.

I started averaging about 130 pounds.

I finished averaging, so I
weighed myself every day.

And we take the average, right?

Some days it's higher, some days
it's lower, and we take the average.

So I finished averaging
around 1 25 and a half.

So roughly I lost four and a half pounds.

Now it, we did not see this
perfect linear every single week.

I'm down half a pound, 2.75.

It wasn't like that, and I loved
showing that to my community.

I loved that they could see.

Some weeks it went down.

Some weeks it went up.

In fact, I'm just gonna
kind of pull up my, scale.

I use the Fitbit scale, um,
because I, I have a Fitbit.

Alex keeps trying to get me to do
Apple, and I honestly see no need.

I really don't, but he insists.

It's amazing 'cause he has one.

But anyways, so when I go back I
was averaging, you know, 130 pounds

and then, Week one of fat loss.

I was averaging 1 29 0.6.

My second week 1, 28 0.1, my third
week, it went down to 1 26 0.3, so,

and then my fourth week it went up
to 1 27 0.5, so it actually went up.

But this entire time, yeah, the
first three weeks on average

it was going down, but this is
what it looked like day to day.

It was 1 28, then 1 27 0.8, then 1 27,
then 1 29, then 1 28 0.4, then one.

27.6, then 1 28, like it's
like going up and down, right?

So that is why it's really, really
good if you can to, to weigh daily.

But don't pay attention to the daily.

The daily isn't actually what matters.

It's.

The weekly average over time, is
it going in the right direction?

But there was one week where
it went in the wrong direction.

It, the week before it was 1 26 0.3.

And then, uh, March eight through
14th, it went up to 1 27 0.5.

I didn't freak out, and it's okay.

This sometimes happens fluctuations
due to, uh, menstruation.

This happens, right?

So my period started,
so my weight went up.

And then, um, I didn't
change anything on the plan.

In fact, the entire eight weeks
I did not change the plan.

This was the plan, and I just followed it.

Um, wait, that's a lie.

Week five, I did two day refeed, where
I just bumped my calories up to 19.

95 I think, or was it?

No, no, no.

It was 1950 in all carbs because
I noticed that my sleep started

getting impacted and that was just,
uh, I did that for two, three days.

I'd have to look back and see, and my
sleep went back up and I was able to

finish off the week, uh, the next, that
week and the next week strong and seeing

some really good, Weight loss and fat
loss, right before I went to Mexico.

here's another thing that's really
important when you're already lean.

Cutting down four pounds, man, that
can, it may not sound like a big deal,

but for those of you who've seen my
pictures, it did actually make a huge

impact on my arms and my stomach.

So those really leaned back up.

There was a huge visual difference and
that really is because at that point

when you're already really lean, like
yeah, just losing a little bit more.

From areas that really change how
your physique looks, that it's just

going to look like a huge impact.

But it was just four and a half
pounds and that was, that was awesome.

So after I do a fat loss phase though
on social media, I always get the

question, okay, but can you keep it off?

And the answer is yes, but not.

By continuing to diet, this is where
we really need to shift into something

that I call the post diet recovery.

So let's, let's break this down a
little bit before we really talk

about what I'm going to be doing next.

I think that you need to understand
what just happened to the body, because

your body doesn't just lose weight
and then it's like, okay, I'm done.

It actually adapts the whole entire time.

When you're in a calorie deficit,
we have great studies showing

a few consistent things happen.

Uh, one total daily energy expenditure
drops, and this isn't just because

you weigh less, your body also
reduces NAET, which stands for

non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

So this includes things like
fidgeting, posture, changes,

general movement throughout the day.

I've talked about this a lot.

I'm a huge hands talker.

When I'm in a cut, you know, I'm
in a cut because I'm not talking

with my hands so much, right?

So general movement and everything
throughout the day just kind of settles

down, and that's actually one of the
reasons why in a fat loss phase, it's

important not to just say, well, I'm
going to eat less and do some cardio.

It's important to give yourself
a daily kind of step count.

And the step count really is just
kind of monitoring overall movement.

We don't want, uh, the total daily
energy expenditure to drop too much,

and we can mitigate some of that by
just kind of controlling overall steps.

Now, I don't really care how many steps.

Once again, it's just kind of a
number where we can really just

see how much are you moving?

Right.

Are you moving relatively
the same this whole time.

and, and these are things like
fidgeting, posture changes, general

movement that you don't really
notice, but it does kind of add up.

And some study studies show any at
can or neat is what people call it.

Neat can vary by possibly
hundreds of calories per day,

just depending on energy intake.

So there, that's one thing.

Okay.

The second thing is metabolic
efficiency increases.

So this is a good and bad kind of thing.

the, and this is often
called metabolic adaptation.

So your body actually becomes
more efficient at using energy.

This is awesome when it comes to.

Surviving are species surviving.

This is amazing.

Eat less but still be able to
work efficiently and almost

do more or about the same.

That's awesome.

That is awesome.

But.

It's not awesome when you're
trying to lose body fat.

It can kind of, this adaptation can
kind of work against you in a way.

But this isn't, this is not
to say that the body's broken

body's just doing its job.

It's trying to conserve energy.

So now your body can do,
like I said, the same work.

Fewer calories.

Another thing that that shifts and happens
is during a deficit, leptin decreases.

So this affects fullness
and energy balance.

Hunger is ghrelin, so that increases.

So you have these hormonal
changes, and then thyroid.

Thyroid is, I mean, this really,
when you're looking at metabolism,

thyroid is where it's at, right?

Thyroid output can slightly
decrease during a cut.

In fact, when people try to live
in a calorie deficit, this is

oftentimes when we see kind of a
self-induced hypothyroidism because

the thyroid begins to just it, it's
function, it's output decreases.

Now, these changes don't
shut your metabolism down.

But they make your body a little
bit more sensitive to increases in

calories at the end of your, your cut.

And this is kind of where the idea of,
okay, then we need to reverse and we need

to do it really, really, really slowly.

Now, the problem with that
is you're going too slow.

You're just staying in
the cut longer like it.

But the whole point of a. Post
diet recovery is so that we can

actually get the body back up
regulated and thriving again.

All of these changes that we
just barely went through, we

can get the body shifting back.

and we want to do it relatively quickly
so that we feel good and that we

can train harder and we're sleeping
well and our energy levels, uh, go

back up and all of those things.

Right.

Now what happens if you just
jump back up to maintenance?

And this is kind of where
a lot of people mess up.

So they finish a cut and immediately
go back to what they think is

maintenance, which is fine.

There's nothing wrong with
that, but, but what maintenance?

The new perceived
maintenance from the slight.

Uh, shifts that your body has
taken or are you trying to go

back to some old maintenance?

what is maintenance here?

And that's where everybody gets
really confused because remember,

maintenance has slightly shifted.

We do see a bit of a dip.

Even if you haven't lost tons of body fat,
for example, or weight, I should say, for

example, I lost four and a half pounds.

My overall metabolism isn't going
to be dropping by 200 calories.

My overall maintenance, it
could shift down maybe 35, 50,

but honestly, that's just like.

A thousand more steps or 500 more steps
and bam, that's made up for, right.

So that's like next to nothing.

But keep in mind, because the body
has made some adjustments during

this fat loss phase, and how much
adjustments can depend on the length and

aggressiveness too of the fat loss phase.

And also just genetic disposition
of the individual too.

So.

Like I said, maintenance
has shifted a little bit.

We do see this slight dip down a
little bit lower than what their, their

maintenance technically should be.

For body weight activity,
we see a tiny bit of a dip.

Now, we know from studies that this
actually, we used to think that this

was just forever, but we know now
that that's not necessarily true.

It's not just kind of a forever thing.

And with increases of muscle tissue with
the body just regulating itself, again, it

can go back to kind of where it should be,
but initially there's a few things People

can jump back too quickly to too high
of what they think maintenance is, and

that might actually be a slight surplus.

And then they say, oh, I
gained everything back.

No, you just kind of overshot it.

There's a few ways that we can
actually overshoot, and I'm gonna

tell you the most common one.

The most common one is actually
somebody saying, okay, I'm

going back up to maintenance.

And they can even do it conservatively.

Like, let's say their cut was at, you
know, 1500 calories and, and they think

that their new maintenance is at 2000.

So then they, they say, okay, I'm gonna
put in my tracker 1900, so I'm just

going to go up just below maintenance.

I'm gonna be conservative, and
then slowly move up to maintenance.

Okay.

It sounds like a great plan.

It does.

But in reality, what they're doing
is yes, their, their tracker now

says that they're shooting for 1900,
but what they're doing is mentally,

they've kind of made this shift of,
Hmm, I don't, I'm not dieting anymore.

I can take that.

I can eat this and I don't need to plug
it in my tracker and I can do this,

and I can, and all of a sudden, BLTs.

They've overshot their maintenance
because they think, oh, the cut's over.

So mentally they're shifting to kind
of their pre-cut lifestyle, you know,

that, that, that one lifestyle that
got them to where they wanted to cut.

They switch back to that, but because they
have this goal in their tracker, they're

like, oh, like I, I was eating 1900.

No you weren't.

It just said it in your tracker.

But in reality, you were eating like
2200 calories, and if maintenance

was at 2000, then every single day
you're overeating by 200 calories.

So, yeah, after two months
you probably did go back.

You know, if you lost five pounds,
you probably did gain that all back.

The main problem was actually
you thought the cut was over.

When really the diet is not over until
you've been eating at maintenance for

a few months and you restore energy,
you repro improve your recovery,

you normalize your hunger hormones.

That's a huge one.

So remember what we talked
about with ghrelin and leptin?

How during a deficit, leptin
decreases, this affects fullness.

You don't feel full anymore, and ghrelin
increases, meaning you're hungry a lot.

I, I think sometimes people think
well after the cut, when I move

calories back up immediately that
is solved because I'm eating more.

It's actually not, and can
take a few months to regulate.

Once again, depending on how aggressive
and how long the person was in it.

So those hunger and fullness hormones,
like I said, can take months to regulate.

So just because you get to eat more,
people will often say to me, like,

I just felt so ravenous, I felt
so much more hungry in the kind

of that post diet recovery phase.

Yes.

Your body with.

More calories coming in, it kind
of can almost feel like, okay,

I'm gonna rev up, I'm gonna start,
um, getting my meat back up.

Increased efficiency, things are
starting to move and so you may even

feel initially an increase in hunger.

What does that do?

It makes you overeat.

So that's why I say the diet is not over
until you are eating at maintenance and

that, and for a few months, tracking
just as hardcore as you were in the fat

loss phase, taking it just as seriously.

As the fat loss phase, but people
do this, they, they take the fat

loss phase, the the fat loss part,
the cut calories part of this.

that's where they have to be strict.

That's where they have to be restrictive.

That's how they have to
be all of these things.

And then as soon as they hit a body
weight that that is their goal or a

timeframe, then the cuts over and then
they just start loosely kind of tracking.

It doesn't work for 99%
of people out there.

Well, if we're going strictly by, uh,
studies, 80% gain it all and some back.

So we have to take the post
diet recovery as serious.

Just as serious.

Okay.

Now, what exactly is post diet recovery?

What?

What is this?

Well, it is a controlled transition
out of the energy deficit.

So I mentioned this earlier, but the
goal is to restore energy, improve

recovery, normalized hunger hormones,
uh, get thyroid functioning optimally

again, and maintain body composition.

I want to really emphasize that
we are not maintaining the scale,

we're maintaining body composition.

That means keeping the muscle and
leanness that you built, maybe

even adding more muscle to it.

So technically maybe not keep the
same body composition 'cause we're

okay with the muscle mass going up.

Right.

So now let me share what I'm doing.

'cause this is what I'm doing.

I'm, I'm focusing on, okay, we've
got to, we've got to restore energy.

I have to be careful with my thyroid, uh,
because I have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism.

I only have half of my thyroid.

and so for me, getting.

To eating app maintenance relatively
quickly, especially is very, very

important to increase thyroid function
and get that where it needs to be.

But everybody should be concerned
with that one, not just me.

I'm just hyper aware because I'm
constantly getting blood work and looking

at my thyroid numbers because of that.

So let me lay out the plan for you.

Here's what I'm doing.

Calories.

I have already started.

I started, today is Monday,
April 27th, and on um, Friday

I started eating 1950 calories.

So immediately increase that
my protein is minimum, right?

Because I like doing minimums, that
gives me a little bit more flexibility.

Minimum is 120, and some days
I may overshoot and hit one 40.

I don't care.

That's fine.

Some days hit one 20.

That's great too.

I do minimums.

So right now my maximum is 1950
calories and my minimum protein is 120.

And then I'm just gonna let carbs
and fats fall where they may.

Just like I did during my cut, this
helps me, uh, have flexibility and

focus on the things that matter most.

And yeah, so 1950 though, that
is just below what I believe

my actual maintenance is.

'cause remember, we see this slight
dip, this ever so slight dip.

So this approach can help us
not overshoot our maintenance.

Too quickly, right?

Um, so this is just below what I believe
my actual maintenance is, and I'm,

like I said, I'm doing this on purpose.

Giving my body more energy, letting
systems recover, avoiding overshooting,

and then I'm just gonna watch it over
the next week and adjust from there.

So that's as far as energy
in what I'm changing.

Energy out is also changing.

'cause remember how I showed my hands?

One of 'em was going down,
creating an, uh, energy deficit.

One of them was going up, you
know, the, the steps were going up,

creating that en energy deficit.

I'm lowering my steps back to
what I think is my lifestyle

and when I look at my steps.

From before my, cut my steps
were around eight to 10,000.

Like that was kind of my
normal lifestyle range.

So I'm reducing energy out
while increasing energy.

And so this is first week,
that's what I'm gonna be doing.

I'm gonna be showing a lot of this
on social media, on Instagram.

Um, and then this is where
I feel like it gets fun.

Because, uh, now I'm gonna have more
fuel so I can expect, uh, strength to

continue going in the right direction,
better recovery, better performance.

and like I said, I have the
minimums of protein round 120.

I naturally hit 1 20, 1 40.

That's just kind of a lifestyle for me.

Um, and that helps preserve
muscle and support recovery too.

Sleep is also very important.

I'm aiming for seven and a
half plus hours of sleep.

So remember I kind of
like focusing on minimums.

For me sleep, the minimum
is seven and a half hours.

I just don't function, I don't
function very well on anything

lower than seven and a half.

and, and sleep really is one of the
biggest recovery tools we have now.

It's frustrating because I'm also going
through perimenopause and so every

month I may experience a little bit of
insomnia and that can be frustrating.

I'm not saying this is your
solution, but, uh, I will take

some thine when this happens.

Um, I'll take, uh.

Some magnesium, some theanine,
some ol and some glycine.

Um, that seemed to help, um, all
take a little bit of melatonin.

Not a ton, just a little bit.

The gummies that I use has
theanine and I enjoy that.

that's kind of what I do to help
get that, that depth and the time

when I do, Because of perimenopause,
start feeling a little bit.

Uh, I don't feel it every single night.

Like I said, a few times, like sometimes
it will be like three to four nights a

month, uh, sometimes maybe four to five.

And it, it gets frustrating.

And so I'll make these adjustments.

They seem to help.

Doesn't completely go away.

It seems to help some women.

Uh, it when it gets bad enough.

They may go in and, and work with a
provider and progesterone seems to

really help, uh, the calming effect.

Um, so that can help.

But sometimes too, sometimes lifestyle
factors, they've kind of set them up

for themselves, up for kind of this, uh.

A bad position.

A lot of times women have been told
in perimenopause that carbs are bad,

so then they reduce them, which can
actually make sleep worse, not better.

Um, and they don't focus a
lot on natural sleep cycles.

They try to, uh, just kind of, I'm
not gonna change anything with it,

just gimme a supplement to solve it.

And there's still a lot of
lifestyle stuff that we can do.

Um.

So I, I didn't have any intentions on
going into that today, but maybe I should

just touch on that a little bit because
I, I do find it very in important.

so in perimenopause, It's important
to kind of understand the decline in

hormones and what they kind of, the
chaos at times that they can impact.

So you can have high estrogen one
week, low estrogen the next week,

and then a random spike again.

And at the same time, progesterone
is generally declining a little bit

more steadily throughout all this.

So instead of having kind of
this predictable hormonal rhythm,

you have a lot of instability.

Um, your brain really doesn't
like that instability.

now estrogen's role in sleep.

This is, this is kind of a big one.

Estrogen is not just a
reproductive hormone.

It does directly impact brain chemistry.

So estrogen does help regulate serotonin,
gaba, and then melatonin signaling too.

So serotonin influences mood.

And also acts as kind of a, a
precursor to melatonin, and GABA is

your primary calming neurotransmitter.

So it's what helps your
brain kind of slow down.

So when estrogen fluctuates, serotonin
signaling becomes less stable.

GABA activity can decrease
melatonin timing can get disrupted.

And so this is why sleep can feel
lighter and almost more fragmented.

Um, you're not getting that,
that deep restorative sleep.

And it's not just, you can't sleep, right?

It, it's, it is weird when
you're experiencing it.

Your, your brain literally has less
support for kind of calming down.

And then let's talk about progesterone in
this, um, I. Progesterone has a calming

almost s uh, sedative like effect.

So it enhances gal activity in the brain.

And when progesterone drops during
perimenopause, we talk about kind

of how it naturally, uh, has a
little bit more of a steady decline.

You lose that natural combing effect,
your brain becomes more easily

stimulated and you may feel kind
of more anxious or wired at night.

Um, this is why so many women
will actually say, I'm tired, but

I just can't shut my brain off.

And it's not in your head that
it's, it really is neurochemistry.

So.

Here's another thing too.

Cortisol can get dysregulated and cause
some of those, like two, 3:00 AM wake up.

I think those are the most frustrating
for me when I experience them.

I feel like I've been able to develop
a lot of things that keep me calm and

put me into like this calming state
and I can fall asleep even when I

feel that that's a little bit shifted.

But waking up in the middle of the
night and not being able to fall back

asleep, I seriously just sit there.

And some nights I literally want to
cry, and then the next morning I just

feel like I can't give it my all.

I can't show up for myself,
uh, let alone somebody else.

And that can be really frustrating.

Um, and now this is often
tied to cortisol, so cortisol

really should follow a rhythm.

Now, keep in mind, this isn't strictly.

Perimenopause.

This can be anybody experiencing
dysregulation with cortisol.

But like I said, cortisol
does follow like a rhythm.

So it's low at night and it starts
rising early in the morning, right?

You rise up, you're ready to
take on the day kind of thing.

But during perimenopause or even just
really stressful periods, that rhythm

just really becomes dysregulated.

So you start seeing things like, um.

Elevated nighttime cortisol,
or early spikes in cortisol.

And cortisol really is
that wake up signal now.

Now layer on top of that blood sugar,
and if blood sugar drops overnight,

then your body releases cortisol to
bring it back up and you wake up.

So now you have hormonal changes put
plus cortisol in instability, plus blood

sugar swings, and it's just this awful
yet perfect storm for a broken sleep.

And then on top of that we have
temperature regulation and night sweats.

So estrogen does play a role
in regulating body temperature.

And when estrogen becomes unstable,
your brain becomes a little bit more

sensitive to small temperature changes,
so your thermostat now gets dysregulated.

This is actually one of the reasons why
I take glycine, me personally, because

it can help with this a little bit.

Um, but that's why, uh, you have
the, the night sweats, the waking

up hot and it can definitely
contribute to the restless sleep.

Like I will wake up and I am sopping
like wet and I actually like, will

peel off my pajamas, but I'm so tired.

I'm just like, ah.

Right.

It's like, oh, great.

Anyways, so here's a few things.

Um, your body does need to cool down
to enter that really deep sleep, so.

If your temperature regulation is
off, um, yeah, your sleep death

depth is just gonna really suffer.

so all of this, what what can
help, and this is kind of what I

was talking about with the carbs.

I don't wanna turn this into a really
long list, but I just, I wanna connect

the physiology to, To possible solutions,
not the solution for everybody, but

just throwing it out there possible
things that can help because now

you understand kind of the why.

And so this all kind of make sense.

So one, eating enough, especially,
believe it or not, carbs at night supports

serotonin and helps stabilize blood sugar.

So a lot of times that can help
prevent nighttime cortisol spikes.

So sometimes when I'm looking at my
clients and we're talking about, uh,

sleep and I will look at their dinner,
their last meal, and is this a balanced

meal that includes carbs, right?

That 'cause that will help, um,
believe it or not, strength training.

I, I mean it, it is massive.

It, it improves insulin sensitivity
and cortisol regulation.

So another win for why strength
training can be so good.

Um, and then morning light exposure.

Remember we talked about that
circadian rhythm that helps

melatonin release at night.

I'm not saying like
throughout your entire.

You can't make it to work on time
because you're trying to get this morning

light, but it does help to get out.

So find a time earlier on in the day when
you can get this, this light exposure.

And then, managing body
temperature at night.

my husband.

It is hilarious how cold,
actually now he's happy.

He's happy.

I always thought things
were too cold before.

Now they can't get cold enough at night,
so I guess we're all happy on that, on

that front, at least in, in my house.

I, I always thought it was funny.

During the summer, I'm
always wearing a sweater.

It's like during the winter
I'm wearing a sweater.

During my Instagram stories during
summer, I'm wearing a sweater

during my Instagram stories because
my house is just always cold.

Alex just loves it that way.

Um, so managing body temperature,
making sure it's really cool.

nervous system down shifting, because
like that's important to kind of monitor.

Um, it's important that
we really be careful about

watching our screens at night.

Things that we could get away
with five years ago, guys.

We just really can't anymore turn
off screens a few hours before.

Read, a book instead of watch,
you know, reels or a movie

to put you to sleep at night.

Focus on setting up a routine at
night that you just really enjoy and

love and puts you in a calming mood.

Whether that's sipping on.

Cha milk tea.

That can really help just kind
of creating this, this beautiful

nighttime routine that calms your mind.

I, I said supplements, like magnesium
is gonna be great, glycine and ol.

Um, look into each one of them and make
sure that it, it, it's right for you.

Um, I will have, uh,
magnesium, uh, glycine.

In oal.

I will, I'll do all three of those.

Um, that, that really helps me.

But here's, here's kind of the truth
too, is you can do everything right

and sleep might not still be perfect.

And that's not a failure.

It's it sometimes I will still
experience that if it is so consistent.

So impactful.

I invite you to talk with a doctor
or, sometimes doctors can ignore

all of these things and so talk and
find someone, someone who really

understands hormones that can, can
take not just blood work but symptoms.

Blood work and sys symptoms
together need to be addressed.

Both of them need to be looked at.

Okay?

So if you've been struggling with sleep
during perimenopause, I hope that this

is just given a little help, a little
guidance, um, it's hard for me to address

everybody and all of their concerns.

Hopefully that has helped a little bit.

Sleep is, is very, very important to me.

Like I said, I talk about it a lot,
not because I get perfect sleep, but

because I understand how important it is.

And not to stress about it too,
like can we talk about that one too?

Have you ever been told to do something
and then all of a sudden you stress more

about it and do it worse because you've
been told to care so much about it?

I actually think sleep is one of those.

So if we can make it fun, enjoyable,
relaxing, and then if sleep dips under

a night, it's not the end of the world.

It's normal.

We all experience it.

It's okay, but we're just trying to
make it a good experience however we

can, and almost accepting the fact that
some nights are good and some nights

aren't, can help relieve us so that
we're not putting so much pressure.

Now going back to what I was saying about
uh, post diet recovery, I think that

this is really important to understand
that post diet, the scale for majority

of us, not everybody, but for majority
of people, will go up and that's okay.

This is actually where people
usually panic, but when I increase

calories, glycogen increases.

Glycogen.

So carbs, glucose is going to
bind with water and be stored in

muscle and lean tissue, and that is
going to see, see the scale go up.

So water weight, right?

Food volume increases, so more
food in your digestive tract.

So yes, the scale will go up.

That does not mean.

Body fat was completely regained
and, and you screwed everything up.

This is actually part of your
body becoming properly fueled

again at the bottom of a cut.

We are generally in a depleted
state, both for glycogen and just

overall food volume in our bodies.

So you're going from a depleted
state to a fueled state.

You are going to see the scale go up.

So then how do we measure.

That's kind of the main
thing that people wanna know.

Well then how do I measure success if
the scale's gonna go up a few pounds?

So this is the shift and, and it's hard
because we just spend a lot of time

using the scale as a, um, kind of a
reference point of am am I seeing success?

And sometimes I think that that in
and of itself is a failure for a

lot of coaches and a lot of clients.

The scale is only one piece of the puzzle.

It is not the full story.

It never should be labeled as the
full story, um, especially for people

in healthy body fat, uh, positions.

Moving into leaner or
leaner, moving into shredded.

It should never be looked
at as the main, um, point of

success, but oftentimes it is.

And so now you shift from that
being the focus to now we're telling

you, well, don't focus on that.

It's like, how, how, what are you asking?

Like what in the world?

And all of a sudden you're supposed
to bam, magically throw out the

scale overnight when you just used
it for the past 12 plus weeks.

Yeah, so once again, the main problem
is 12 weeks ago it shouldn't have been

looked at as the main driver of success.

these are all things that should
have been looked at the past 12 plus

weeks, and these are all things that
we're gonna continue to look at.

So, shifting from the
scale is not the means.

It's, we need to start looking at.

And we should have been visual appearance.

How do you fit in your clothes?

for those of you who follow me on
social media, every single, uh,

weekend, I will actually in the
gym in the same exact place, uh,

so that the lighting is similar.

I will kind of do my own skinfold
test where I'm just kind of pinching.

To see like, okay, yeah, this is
about, we're maintaining about

the same, um, amount of body
fat on my, you know, stomach.

So that's all I'm doing there.

I'm not grabbing it and being
like, Ew, this is gross.

Because actually body fat
is good and it is an organ.

Um, we don't wanna get rid of any of
our organs, including, um, body fat.

We don't wanna completely annihilate it.

That is not healthy.

Um.

It's how we thrive by having a
certain amount and a certain amount.

Also adds to a woman's
feminine feature as well.

So too little and we kind
of lose that femininity.

So I am not grabbing it like, ew, I'm
grabbing it like, oh, this is just a one

thing that I do to measure where I'm at.

Right.

So visual appearance, like I said,
how you fit in clothes measurements.

Um, I kind of stopped doing
measurements a while ago.

I don't know, I just did.

I just.

If they were tedious to always do.

Um, if you enjoy it, great.

It's another data point.

You do it, strengthen the gym.

Ooh, that is a fun one.

in fact, although during my fat loss
phase, I was seeing increases in strength.

Pan after a full, uh, let's
see, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,

three days of eating a lot more.

1950, my deep Bulgarian split
squats jumped up 10 pounds.

How's that for strength in the gym
and energy levels are going up too,

so I'm really excited about that.

We should also see increases in
recovery and improvements to your sleep.

All of this while your
physique, the body composition.

Is maintaining.

So, um, this really is the phase
where results are solidified.

So this is actually the most
important part of a fat loss

phase, is the post diet recovery.

And the difference isn't, uh, willpower.

It's actually understanding.

Understanding what your body's
doing, understanding what to expect,

and not panicking when things, um,
on the scale move and fluctuate.

Okay, so over the next few weeks, I'm
gonna walk you through this entire process

in real time, what I'm eating, uh, what
the scale does, how my body responds.

So if you want to, uh, see
all that, make sure that you

are following me on Instagram.

Also on Instagram, if you go to, My
saved, uh, stories, my highlights.

I actually have a highlight that says
After fat loss, and I am going to be

saving a lot of my progress and how
things move in the scale from week to

week, right there, so you can watch.

In real time or you know, if you're
listening to this, in few months,

few years, whatever, you can go back
and see that, that highlight and

kind of watch how things moved and
how I was able to maintain majority

of the results that I worked so
hard over the last eight weeks were.

Anyways, you guys are absolutely amazing.

I love and appreciate all of you.

You guys have a wonderful week.