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Summary
On episode 664 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan and Coach Rachel answer listener questions submitted over the past couple of months, covering intermittent fasting, training for power as we age, finding your ideal weight, ketosis, and why nutrition experts contradict each other so often.
Allan pulls from his own eating patterns and years of client work to give direct, practical answers rather than one-size-fits-all rules, and both coaches keep circling back to the same theme: what works depends on your body, your training, and your stage of life.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- Phil and Steve asked about intermittent fasting and restricted eating windows. Allan’s answer: it can work well if you listen to your body, get enough total food and protein inside your eating window, and it doesn’t hurt your training performance or recovery.
- Protein needs don’t shrink just because your eating window does. Aim for roughly four to five palm-sized servings of protein a day (about 25 to 30 grams each), and favor whole food protein over drinkable or processed sources, especially if weight loss is the goal.
- John asked about training power as we age. Strength is the capacity to move something heavy; power is the ability to move it heavy and fast. Both decline with age, but power can be trained specifically, though it demands near-perfect form and is safest with hands-on, in-person coaching.
- Kristen asked how to find your ideal weight. BMI works as a rough proxy for most people but breaks down for anyone carrying extra muscle; a DEXA scan gives the clearest body fat percentage reading, and men in particular should aim to keep their waist under 40 inches.
- Suzette asked whether ketosis is just about hitting macros or also about which foods you eat. Allan’s answer: both. You can hit keto macros eating processed keto junk and technically stay in ketosis, but a whole food approach built on meat, eggs, and vegetables delivers the actual metabolic and weight loss benefits.
- Testing your own blood sugar response beats blanket food rules. Checking blood sugar before and 45 minutes after eating something like an apple shows whether that food knocks you out of ketosis for your particular body, since individual responses to the same food vary widely.
- Swami asked why nutrition experts contradict each other so much. Allan’s answer: cognitive bias, plus the way many experts design and publicize their own studies, such as the Ornish and Seven Countries studies, tends to confirm what they already believed rather than test it fairly.
- The one thing nearly every expert agrees on is whole food. Whatever the diet philosophy, food close to its natural state beats anything from a box, bag, can, or jar, with a few practical exceptions like canned tuna or flash-frozen vegetables.
- If you exclude a food for taste or ethical reasons, plan around the gap. Skipping a food group is fine, but make sure you’re deliberately getting those specific nutrients somewhere else instead of assuming it will sort itself out.
“If you line 20 of your best friends up in a row, you’re going to have 20 different body situations… it’s just virtually impossible for there to be one diet, one workout regimen that makes everybody as healthy as they could possibly be.”
Coach Rachel
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Episode 15 – Todd Loses Over 300 lbs – Success Story
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 664
Published: 2024-10-15
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): —, our co-host, Coach Rachel
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)