Fix your engine!
Probably about the time I turned 42, I started to become what I perceived as metabolically unhealthy with signs of developing insulin resistance. I had a few years earlier gone through a program of building good eating (vegetables, protein) and life habits (sleep hygiene, strength training) and had gotten pretty healthy as I was exiting my 30s. But, then it was like I hit a wall and started going backwards, despite all my good habits.
Two things converged to sabotage me. I entered peri-menopause and I stepped into executive roles. The stress compounded and my body was no longer resilient to the onslaught. I continued to eat well and exercise regularly, but things were not going in the right direction. I was accumulating weight around the middle - the deadly kind.
I had some success during COVID in following a gentle, low-calorie, ketogenic diet along with a more consistent strength training regimen. But, that was not sustainable once life returned to normal. My middle started expanding again.
I had a period of downtime out of the hiking season and decided to try the gentle keto approach again. However, this time I made a couple changes. First, I kept my calories higher. I kept my deficit to only around 300-500 calories. I also maintained a fiber goal (25g) and a protein goal (100g). That seemed to work well and my weight came down to the desired range over my recovery period (~8 weeks). I raised my calories back to maintenance and brought back in more carbs, keeping the protein and fiber goals. My weight stayed stable.
I then did the one thing I had been avoiding. I went to the gym. I don’t know why I waited so long. That was the key that unlocked everything. I started using the company gym a couple times a week and working at home a third day. I started lifting heavy. It no longer seemed to matter what I ate. I stayed where I wanted to be.
Then, two more things converged to improve my engine. Once I decided to leave Google, my stress levels dropped a lot. I was no longer trying to prove anything to anyone. And, I bought my own gym membership. Now, instead of quickly sneaking a workout in between meetings, I would go for a whole hour 2-3x per week. The gym is very modern and has something called an e-gym. It is a series of machines. There are two circuits that you do on alternating visits - one that does compound movement with big muscle groups and another that does all the small muscles isolated. The machines run a progressive overload algorithm and retest your strength regularly. They also run you through phases of endurance, muscle building, eccentric training and power. You literally cannot adapt to the program. We leave the gym completely exhausted each time. Since then, I’ve gotten really lean. I’ve only lost a kilo more (2.2 lbs for you Americans), but my body fat has dropped below 20% for the first time since college. And, I can tolerate a lot more in terms of hiking, running, cycling and snowshoeing. The training has made a huge difference in my enjoyment of my sports. It has also helped me sleep better.
So, I can say with confidence that while you can’t out exercise a bad diet, fixing your diet may not be enough depending on your circumstances. Regularly training muscles hard with progressive overload is one of the most powerful tools for fixing your engine. It has lots of positive effects on VO2Max, blood pressure, blood sugar, injury/fall prevention and mobility. If this old gal can get shredded, you can too! What are you waiting for?