Wits & Weights | Strength & Fat Loss Over 40

Is your salad leaving you hungry an hour later?
Introducing How to Build a Salad That Eats Like a Meal from Salad with a Side of Fries.
Salads have a reputation as diet food: a pile of lettuce you push through so you can feel virtuous. Built a different way, though, a salad can hold you until your next meal and taste like something you'd order at a restaurant.
Jenn Trepeck, health & lifestyle coach and author of Uncomplicating Wellness, walks through the three components that turn a salad into a full meal: protein, fiber, and quality fat. She also covers the texture, temperature, and flavor tricks restaurants use to make every bite satisfying. You don't need a recipe, just a framework for turning whatever is in your fridge into a meal.
Today, you'll learn all about:
Why protein, fiber, and quality fat are the foundation of a filling salad
The overlooked role of healthy fats like avocado and olive oil
How to use grains and starches like condiments instead of a side dish
Simple hacks with major payoff (texture, shape, temperature, flavors)
Pantry staples for easy salads and go-to homemade dressing combinations
Follow Salad with a Side of Fries for wellness without the weirdness, every week
DISCLAIMER: We're sharing this episode as part of a feed swap and did not produce it. The views expressed are solely those of the creator, and any products, programs, or offers mentioned are their own.
More from Wits & Weights:

📱 Get 20% off Fitness Lab (exclusive to podcast listeners), the AI coaching app for strength training and nutrition over 40
🎁 Get my free guides
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy, the 26-week coached program to build muscle and lose fat after 40
📊 Track your nutrition with MacroFactor and use code WITSANDWEIGHTS for a 2-week free trial
👥 Join the free Facebook community
Educational content only, not medical advice.

Why does every diet or protocol work for a few weeks and then stop?
Dr. Meg Mill is a doctor of pharmacy who spent close to 20 years as a clinical pharmacist before moving into functional medicine. She lived in that cycle for about a decade. Her new book, The 7-Second Switch, is about the "I'm broken" belief that keeps you in it.
We get into how that belief shows up even if you lift weights and track your numbers. You'll also hear why positive affirmations can make it worse (and what to say instead), plus a quick check-in to try before your next meal or workout. Meg also shares Sarah's story, a client who stopped every protocol she was on to work on this one thing.
If you've jumped from one plan to the next waiting for the one that sticks, hit play.
Get Meg's book, The 7-Second Switch plus her free gifts for readers.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Why diets stop working after a few weeks
3:00 - Spotting the "I'm broken" belief
7:05 - Tracking your thoughts for a day
10:00 - Stress, fight or flight, and digestion
14:09 - Positive affirmations versus neutral thoughts
21:34 - The CELLYRA Method and perimenopause
29:05 - Slowing down to digest your meals
32:43 - The 7-Second Switch, step by step
39:28 - Sarah's story and stopping every protocol
42:16 - Using it before a hard squat
46:09 - Stress, absorption, and calories
50:39 - Meg's own self-doubt
Episode Resources:
Meg's website: megmill.com
Meg on Instagram: @drmegmill
Women's Functional Health Institute
Episode 511: cortisol and belly fat
More from Wits & Weights:

📱 Get 20% off Fitness Lab (exclusive to podcast listeners), the AI coaching app for strength training and nutrition over 40
🎁 Get my free guides
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy, the 26-week coached program to build muscle and lose fat after 40
📊 Track your nutrition with MacroFactor and use code WITSANDWEIGHTS for a 2-week free trial
👥 Join the free Facebook community
Educational content only, not medical advice.

Can HRT stop menopause weight gain, or is something else going on when the scale keeps climbing?
That's 1 of 9 listener questions I'm answering today, from men and women over 40 in very different situations, from lean lifters trying to recomp to people working around old injuries.
You'll learn:
What dozens of HRT trials found about your weight on the scale
The question to answer before you take a diet break after 22 months of dieting
Whether body recomposition still works when you're already at 13% body fat
How deadlift injury risk compares with squats and with other sports
A finding on salt and blood pressure to know before you buy electrolyte drinks
If you want a straight answer to the question you've been stuck on, hit play!
Get a 2-week free trial of MacroFactor with code WITSANDWEIGHTS. It works backward from your food log and daily weigh-ins to estimate what you burn, and it updates your targets every week:
https://witsandweights.com/blog/macrofactor
Send me your question for a future episode. I reply to every one by email. https://witsandweights.com/question
Timestamps:
0:00 - 9 listener questions for lifters over 40
1:55 - #1: Weight gain on HRT with 5 days of training
5:25 - #2: 22 months in a deficit and diet breaks
8:19 - #3: Tighter clothes, same scale weight
10:48 - #4: Recomp at 13% body fat
13:14 - #5: Weak lifts for your body weight
15:38 - #6: Deadlift injuries after 40
19:29 - #7: Creatine, brain fog, and irritability
21:21 - #8: Daily electrolytes in perimenopause
24:30 - #9: Getting your mom to eat more and lift
28:22 - Bonus: a 10-second morning habit
Episode Resources:
Episode 501: what perimenopause does and doesn't do to your weight
Episode 511: cortisol, HRT, and belly fat after 40
Episode 503: do diet breaks work for fat loss and metabolism?
Episode 489: are the squat, deadlift, and row unsafe after 40?
More from Wits & Weights:

📱 Get 20% off Fitness Lab (exclusive to podcast listeners), the AI coaching app for strength training and nutrition over 40
🎁 Get my free guides
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy, the 26-week coached program to build muscle and lose fat after 40
📊 Track your nutrition with MacroFactor and use code WITSANDWEIGHTS for a 2-week free trial
👥 Join the free Facebook community
Educational content only, not medical advice.

Are the haters right about carbs, fasting, running, and weight loss meds?
I went through 3 years of comments on my YouTube channel and grabbed some of the juciest hater comments (Mark Rippetoe Starting Strength style). Some have a kernel of truth, some haters just wanna hate, and a few truly belong in the Hater Comment Hall of Fame.
I'm responding to the carnivore and keto crowd, the fasting zealots, and a longtime listener who thought we were rude to runners. I also address a commenter who blames weight loss meds for muscle loss. Then I explain why I don’t cite every study by name and what I think about clickbait titles. One commenter even counted how many times I say “right?” (right?).
If you’ve ever wanted to argue with a fitness podcaster in the comments, hit play.
Join the Wits & Weights Facebook group for a supportive, FRIENDLY (no haters allowed) place to ask questions, share your wins, and talk with people in the same boat:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/witsandweights
More from Wits & Weights:

📱 Get 20% off Fitness Lab (exclusive to podcast listeners), the AI coaching app for strength training and nutrition over 40
🎁 Get my free guides
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy, the 26-week coached program to build muscle and lose fat after 40
📊 Track your nutrition with MacroFactor and use code WITSANDWEIGHTS for a 2-week free trial
👥 Join the free Facebook community
Educational content only, not medical advice.

Where did the 1 gram of protein per pound rule come from, and do you need it to build muscle?
You've heard about a gram per pound, 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram, and that women in menopause need even more. I examine where those numbers came from, look at a new trial in women 40 to 77, and explain why the experts still disagree about what it means.
You'll learn:
2 famous protein targets that came from the same paper
What a new trial found when women lifted on 3 different protein targets
Where the experts disagree, and the limitations of the new trial
How a year of extra protein without lifting turned out in adults over 65
The 5 protein targets I'd use, including which body weight to base them on
If you want a protein target you can hit every day without second-guessing it, hit play!
Get 20% off your first order at True Nutrition with code WITSANDWEIGHTS. You build your own protein blend, and everything is third-party lab tested and first-party verified:
https://truenutrition.com/witsandweights
Timestamps:
0:00 - The 1 gram per pound protein rule
3:01 - Where the 1.6 and 2.2 kg targets came from
6:56 - New protein trial in women 40 to 77
8:28 - Trial limits and the expert disagreement
12:32 - A year of protein without lifting
16:35 - Closing your daily protein gap
18:52 - 5 practical protein targets
26:13 - Bonus: 3-day food log protein check
Episode Resources:
Episode 516: intermittent modified fasting and protein on low-calorie days (Lyle McDonald)
Episode 466: why high protein isn't just another fad diet
Episode 485: how hard you should be lifting after 40
More from Wits & Weights:

📱 Get 20% off Fitness Lab (exclusive to podcast listeners), the AI coaching app for strength training and nutrition over 40
🎁 Get my free guides
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy, the 26-week coached program to build muscle and lose fat after 40
📊 Track your nutrition with MacroFactor and use code WITSANDWEIGHTS for a 2-week free trial
👥 Join the free Facebook community
Educational content only, not medical advice.