6/28/26

Episode 29: How to Lose Fat and Build Muscle in Midlife: My Recomp Journey [Solo Episode]

Summary

If you’ve tried to lose weight after kids and found that the old playbook from your 20s and 30s isn’t working, this episode is for you. In this solo episode, I share my personal journey inside a dedicated body recomposition program, which helped me lose fat and build muscle in just 6 months. After years of overtraining and under-fueling—which eventually led to a wrecked metabolism, hormones and energy crashes—I realized the playbook of ‘move more eat less’ was not going to work in midlife. 

In this episode, I break down the exact methods I used to lose 10 pounds, heal my metabolism, balance my hormones, and build real muscle. I break down this episode into three main sections—nutrition, fitness and lifestyle. I talk about reverse dieting—the strategy where you incrementally increase your daily caloric intake by 50 to 100 calories each week to heal your metabolism, restore hormonal balance, and prepare your body to be in a state where it can lose weight. Whether you want to lose fat, build muscle, or heal your metabolism, this episode is a full playbook on what body recomp entails!

Takeaways

  1. Metabolism Repair Comes First—For sustainable fat loss in midlife, the episode emphasizes repairing metabolism before aggressively cutting calories.

  2. Build Muscle, Not Just Lose Weight—The mindset shift from scale-focused dieting to body recomposition is a core theme.

  3. Slow Cycles Beat Yo-Yo Dieting—Gradual calorie changes and phased fat loss are presented as the smarter long-term strategy.

  4. The Scale Is Not the Full Story—Body composition, strength, energy, and how clothes fit matter more than daily weight fluctuations.

  5. Hormones Strongly Affect Progress—Thyroid, testosterone, cortisol, and overall hormonal balance play a major role in results.

  6. Recovery Matters as Much as Training—Sleep, stress management, hydration, and lower stress loads are treated as essential performance levers.

  7. Consistency and Patience Win—The episode reinforces that lasting transformation takes time, structure, and realistic expectations.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to body recomposition in midlife
01:23 - Why scale weight isn't the full story
02:16 - Muscle loss over time and its impact
03:22 - Why muscle retention matters for health
04:30 - Erin’s shift from overtraining to strategic building
06:51 - Metabolism repair through reverse dieting
12:16 - How to reverse diet properly
16:20 - Layering fat loss and muscle building
20:24 - Coming out of a cut safely
21:47 - Better ways to measure progress
26:20 - Macro fundamentals for recomposition
28:54 - Tracking macros and food logging tips
32:33 - Portion control and measuring food
35:59 - Supplements Erin uses
39:12 - Transitioning into strength training
41:05 - Managing exercise stress in midlife
44:45 - Progressive overload done safely
47:53 - Workout splits, compound lifts, and frequency
50:14 - Walking, NEAT, and daily movement
52:03 - Daily energy expenditure explained
55:43 - Shifting from aesthetics to strength and resilience
57:06 - Hormones: thyroid, testosterone, cortisol
60:27 - Sleep, hydration, and stress management
61:46 - Coach-led programs and flexibility
63:35 - Closing thoughts and community support

Episode Resources

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