Why "Listening to Your Body" Kept Her Stuck for Years (Cori Lefkowith) | Ep 452
19/03/2026 | 38 mins.
Can macro tracking actually create food freedom? What if the structure you’ve been avoiding is the exact thing that helps you lose fat, build muscle, and stop starting over? I’m joined by Cori Lefkowith, founder of Redefining Strength, certified trainer, former Division I athlete, and powerlifting champion, to unpack why macros, nutrition, and strength training are powerful tools for body recomp when used the right way. We talk about why tracking is just data, how the “change loop” keeps people stuck in weight loss frustration, and why muscle building has to come before more restriction. Cori also shares how to use flexible tracking, non-scale victories, and a habit budget to make nutrition and fitness sustainable for real life. This is a practical, evidence-based fitness conversation for anyone who wants lasting progress without obsession. Get Fitness Lab (20% off for listeners), the #1 coaching app that adapts to YOUR recovery, YOUR schedule, and YOUR body. Build muscle, lose fat, and get stronger with daily personalized guidance. Timestamps: 0:00 - Why tracking feels restrictive 2:08 - Cori’s mindset shift on macros 5:01 - Tracking as neutral data 8:15 - Why intuitive eating backfires 12:16 - The change loop trap 15:37 - The habit budget framework 18:44 - Muscle first for body recomp 23:33 - Handling tracking fatigue 29:27 - Aging, perimenopause, and stress 35:37 - Why there’s no perfect time
Episode resources: Website: redefiningstrength.com Book: The STRONG System: Transform Your Mindset and Build Your Best Body at Any Age YouTube: @redefiningstrengthOC Instagram: @redefiningstrength Facebook: @redefiningstrength
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - A 6-month coaching program for lifters over 40 who are done collecting information and ready to have real human coaches watch their data and know what to focus on each week. 📱 Get Fitness Lab (exclusive 20% off) - The #1 adaptive fitness and nutrition app. Daily coaching, workouts, and biofeedback-based guidance to help you build muscle and lose fat over 40. 👥 Join our Facebook community - For adults over 40 who want to build muscle, lose fat, and stop following bad advice. Weekly Q&A threads, coaching insights, and real chat with other lifters.
👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram
Breastfeeding and Body Composition (Nursing, Lifting, and Fat Loss) | Ep 451
17/03/2026 | 30 mins.
"Just breastfeed and the weight will fall right off." That's what every nursing mother hears. And then it's a struggle because of what's going on hormonally while you're producing milk. Lactation does a few things. It suppresses estrogen to near-menopausal levels, shifts fat storage toward your midsection, and creates anabolic resistance in your muscles, all while burning 350 to 450 extra calories a day. One side says don't touch your nutrition until you're done breastfeeding. The other says eat in a deficit and train hard like everyone else. Both are inadequate. Philip walks through the actual research on calorie restriction during established lactation, including the landmark New England Journal of Medicine study that showed zero effect on infant growth with a moderate deficit. You'll learn what's really happening with your hormones, why protein needs are 50 to 100 percent higher than the RDA suggests, why sleep may matter more for body composition than your nutrition plan, and 3 signs that tell you your approach might be too aggressive. Improve your sleep quality with Cozy Earth's temperature-regulating bamboo-derived bedding and sleepwear. Deeper, more relaxing sleep makes a real difference. Get 20% off at: https://witsandweights.com/cozyearth Episode Resources Join the Eat More Lift Heavy waitlist for founder pricing (closes March 16) on a 26-week coached program integrating training and nutrition with a dedicated module on hormonal pattern awareness: https://witsandweights.com/eatmore Submit a question for the podcast: witsandweights.com/question Timestamps 0:00 - Breastfeeding and body composition 3:55 - Two types of bad advice for nursing mothers 6:15 - Calorie restriction while nursing 9:09 - How lactation suppresses estrogen and shifts fat storage 10:45 - Anabolic resistance and insulin sensitivity during nursing 11:30 - Perimenopause and lactation 12:15 - Oxytocin as a cortisol buffer 14:17 - Sleep quality while nursing 16:38 - Nutrition, protein, and calorie floors for nursing mothers 21:00 - Why sleep deprivation prevents fat loss 23:26 - NEAT and practical movement tips 25:53 - Eat more and lift heavy 27:47 - 3 signs your deficit is too aggressive while nursing
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - A 6-month coaching program for lifters over 40 who are done collecting information and ready to have real human coaches watch their data and know what to focus on each week. 📱 Get Fitness Lab (exclusive 20% off) - The #1 adaptive fitness and nutrition app. Daily coaching, workouts, and biofeedback-based guidance to help you build muscle and lose fat over 40. 👥 Join our Facebook community - For adults over 40 who want to build muscle, lose fat, and stop following bad advice. Weekly Q&A threads, coaching insights, and real chat with other lifters.
👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram
Lose Weight Through PMS, Your Cycle, and Even Perimenopause | Ep 450
12/03/2026 | 38 mins.
You're tracking your food, hitting the gym, doing everything right. Then your period shows up and the scale jumps 3 pounds overnight. Should you "cycle sync" your diet? Should you just ignore it as "water weight" fluctuations? Or are both approaches missing what works? This episode covers why weight loss stalls around your cycle and what to do about it, whether your periods are predictable or all over the place. You'll hear the actual research on how much water weight your cycle adds (it's less than you've been told), why cycle syncing your nutrition and training has almost support in the research, and what happens psychologically when you see the scale spike during PMS. The real problem isn't the water weight. It's that misleading scale data during your most emotionally reactive window triggers the exact behaviors that stall fat loss. The fix is a measurement system that filters hormonal noise and a simple nutrition shift that works with your biology instead of against it. If you're over 40, in perimenopause, or dealing with unpredictable cycles, you'll learn why the standard advice won't work and what to do instead. Join the Eat More Lift Heavy waitlist to get first access and founder pricing on a 26-week coached program that integrates strength training and nutrition coaching together, with hormonal pattern awareness built in: witsandweights.com/eatmore Timestamps 0:00 - The cycle, PMS, and weight loss question 2:56 - Two bad advice camps 5:56 - How scale fluctuations change your behavior 8:24 - Evidence regarding weight fluctuations 12:20 - Hormones, metabolism, and cycle syncing 16:56 - Does cycle syncing work (for training or nutrition)? 19:22 - Perimenopause and the measurement fix 25:11 - Phase tracking and the nutrition fix 33:42 - How to structure your diet and training 36:38 - Bonus: one-meal craving strategy
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - A 6-month coaching program for lifters over 40 who are done collecting information and ready to have real human coaches watch their data and know what to focus on each week. 📱 Get Fitness Lab (exclusive 20% off) - The #1 adaptive fitness and nutrition app. Daily coaching, workouts, and biofeedback-based guidance to help you build muscle and lose fat over 40. 👥 Join our Facebook community - For adults over 40 who want to build muscle, lose fat, and stop following bad advice. Weekly Q&A threads, coaching insights, and real chat with other lifters.
👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram
Why Streaks and Badges Don’t Help You Lose Fat (And What Does) | Ep 449
10/03/2026 | 31 mins.
You've been hitting your macros for two or three weeks, then one bad day wipes everything out and you're starting over. Again. The problem isn't your discipline but how you're setting up your targets. Most people use streaks, badges, and all-or-nothing tracking to stay consistent with nutrition. The research shows those extrinsic reward systems actually increase dropout rates and erode the motivation you need to lose fat and build muscle long term. A 2015 study found that gamified systems made people less motivated, more anxious, and worse at the task. If you've ever felt like a broken streak meant a broken week, that's the system failing you, not the other way around. This episode breaks down why streak-based tracking doesn't work, the behavioral psychology behind RPG-style skill leveling (proximal goals, the progress principle, and flow state research), and a 6-step method for building your macros one skill point at a time where progress is permanent and you never start over. Join the Eat More Lift Heavy waitlist to get first access and founder pricing on a 26-week coaching program that builds your nutrition and strength training in sequence, one skill at a time: witsandweights.com/eatmore Timestamps: 0:00 - The cycle of starting over with macros (why habit streaks fail) 2:32 - Why gamification borrows the wrong parts of games 5:00 - Self-determination theory and the what-the-hell effect 8:15 - How RPG skill leveling actually works 11:17 - Flow state and the "just manageable" challenge 14:20 - How to apply this model in practice 18:48 - Define your increments and level up when ready 22:10 - Logistics problems vs. cognitive problems 27:10 - Bonus: 3-question flow zone test 31:30 - Reframing a missed day as a level, not a reset
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - A 6-month coaching program for lifters over 40 who are done collecting information and ready to have real human coaches watch their data and know what to focus on each week. 📱 Get Fitness Lab (exclusive 20% off) - The #1 adaptive fitness and nutrition app. Daily coaching, workouts, and biofeedback-based guidance to help you build muscle and lose fat over 40. 👥 Join our Facebook community - For adults over 40 who want to build muscle, lose fat, and stop following bad advice. Weekly Q&A threads, coaching insights, and real chat with other lifters.
👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram
Why You NEED to Lift Weights Over 50 (It Won't Make You Bulky)
08/03/2026 | 50 mins.
Getting strong after 50 isn’t about grinding harder on the treadmill or eating like a bird. But read any fitness article for those over 50 and what do you see? "Exercise" more, walk more, do yoga, eat less. But after 50, that approach misses the single most important thing you can do for your metabolism, your bones, your hormones, and your longevity.... Lift weights and build muscle. I recently joined Lynn Hardy on The Aging Games Podcast to talk about why strength training is the foundation, not the supplement, for aging well. We discussed how much protein you actually need (and why most women aren't getting enough), where carbs fit when you're training for muscle, a simple 3-day lifting framework that works for beginners, and why sitting all day undermines even a solid gym routine. If you've been told that walking and Pilates are enough, or that lifting heavy will make you bulky, this conversation sets the record straight with evidence and real client examples. Get on the Eat More Lift Heavy waitlist for founder pricing on my new 26-week nutrition and strength training program: https://witsandweights.com/eatmore Episode Resources Check out Lynn Hardy's show: The Aging Games Podcast with Lynn Hardy
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - A 6-month coaching program for lifters over 40 who are done collecting information and ready to have real human coaches watch their data and know what to focus on each week. 📱 Get Fitness Lab (exclusive 20% off) - The #1 adaptive fitness and nutrition app. Daily coaching, workouts, and biofeedback-based guidance to help you build muscle and lose fat over 40. 👥 Join our Facebook community - For adults over 40 who want to build muscle, lose fat, and stop following bad advice. Weekly Q&A threads, coaching insights, and real chat with other lifters.
About Wits & Weights | Evidence-Based Fitness & Nutrition for Lifters Over 40
Wits & Weights is a strength and nutrition podcast where in every episode I put a popular piece of fitness advice under the microscope, find the hidden reason it doesn't work, and give you the deceptively simple fix that does.For skeptics of the fitness industry who are tired of following the rules and still not seeing results. If you've been lifting weights, tracking macros, and doing "all the right things" but your body composition hasn't changed, you're probably overcomplicating it. This is the fitness podcast that shows you how to build muscle, lose fat, and achieve a real body recomp by focusing only on what the evidence actually supports.Evidence-based fat loss coach Philip Pape brings an engineer's approach to strength training, nutrition, and metabolism. Instead of another generic program or meal plan, you get specific, science-based strategies for optimizing body composition, whether you're focused on building muscle, losing fat, or both. The focus is on strength training over 40, hormone health, perimenopause and menopause, and longevity.You've seen the conflicting advice. One expert says cut carbs, the next says eat more. One says train six days a week, another says three is plenty. Building the body you want doesn't have to be this confusing or time-consuming. By using your wits (systems + identity-based behavior change) and lifting weights, you can build muscle definition, improve your physique, and maintain your results for life without rebound weight gain.You'll learn smart, efficient strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle, and mindset, such as:- Why fat loss matters more than weight loss for both your health and your physique- Why all the macros, including protein, fats, and yes even carbs, are critical to body composition- How just 3 hours a week of proper hypertrophy training can deliver better results than most people get in twice that time- Why building muscle is the single most powerful thing you can do for metabolic health, longevity, and aging well- Why perimenopause and menopause don't have to derail your progress when your training and nutrition are dialed in- How shifting the way you think about fitness can unlock more physical (and personal) growth than any program aloneIf you're ready to learn what actually works with evidence-based training and nutrition, hit "follow" and let's engineer your best physique ever!Popular Guests Include: Mike Matthews (author of Bigger Leaner Stronger), Greg Nuckols (Stronger by Science), Alan Aragon (nutrition researcher), Eric Helms (3D Muscle Journey), Dr. Spencer Nadolsky (Docs Who Lift), Bill Campbell (exercise science researcher), Jordan Feigenbaum (Barbell Medicine), Holly Baxter (evidence-based physique coach), Laurin Conlin (physique coach), Lauren Colenso-Semple (nutrition researcher), Karen Martel (hormone optimization expert), Steph Gaudreau (women's strength and nutrition), Bryan Boorstein (hypertrophy coach)Popular Topics Include: hormone health, metabolism optimization, hypertrophy training, longevity and healthy aging, nutrition tracking, best protein powder selection, strength training over 40, women's fitness, perimenopause, menopause, muscle building, body recomp, macros and nutrition tracking
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