#176: Which Body Type are You? with Megan Dahlman

Hey beautiful, it's Dr. Tabatha. I want to share something with you that I believe God is doing right now in women's health. We're in the middle of a massive movement and most people don't even know it. Every single day, 6,000 women in the U.S. enter menopause. That's over 2 million women a year, and by 2030, that's more than 1.2 billion women worldwide. So here's the thing, most of these women feel exhausted, bloated, anxious, disconnected from themselves, and the medical system is Doctors are handing out prescriptions and quick fixes, and no one is helping women heal from the root cause of their issues. That's where Fast to Faith coaches come in. As a certified coach, you'll be equipped to help midlife women balance their hormones, heal their gut, regain their energy, and reconnect their faith, the foundation that so many of us have been missing. And from a business standpoint, woo, this is one of the most lucrative untapped opportunities in the entire health coaching world. The global health coaching industry is expected to reach over $33 billion by 2023, and midlife women are the fastest-growing, highest-spending demographic in that space. Most importantly, these women stay with their coaches. They invest deeply because they are desperate for lasting transformation— body, mind, and spirit. So if you've been feeling that pull and that whisper that you're meant to do more, This is it. Now is the time to rise, to serve, and build a purpose-driven business that not only changes other women's lives but transforms your own in the process. Because when you help one woman heal, you help her family, her marriage, her faith, and her future. That's the ripple effect that we're creating with Fast to Faith. So join me, click the link to come watch this webinar. It might be the one thing that really moves the needle for you in this Next season. I can't wait to see you in there. Hi, I'm Dr. Tabatha, the Gutsy Gynecologist. I'm a triple board-certified OB-GYN and functional medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey, and I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. After caring for thousands of women, I've come to realize that your gut health determines your gyn health and your overall health. And it's a super gutsy thing for me to go against conventional gynecology practice to bring you the truth. No more Band-Aid medicine, ladies. We're talking root cause resolution on this show. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. And I wanna be your gutsy gynecologist.

So welcome.

Welcome back. I am so honored that you continue to listen every week and trust me to give you the most important and real information that's out there. I make sure that what I'm giving you is going to move the needle, that it's It's accurate, it's real, and it's been time-tested and gives the results that you're looking for. Because at the end of the day, we can never get back our time, right? Like, we can buy stuff and use money, we can make more money, we can potentially get back other things that we lose, but we can never get our time back. So I am so honored that you give me 30 minutes or half an hour and that you trust that I'm going to use that time wisely to enrich your life and make you have a better day and a better future. Like, I don't take that lightly. That's a huge deal. So thank you for your time. And if you're finding value in this, please hit the subscribe button. I need Apple iTunes and everybody to know that this kind of stuff is important because that pushes us up on the radar and gives other women more access to this kind of information, these kinds of podcasts. So hit the subscribe button, share with all your ladies friends in your life, everybody that you would know that would be, um, value of this. If you feel so inclined, give me a five-star review and leave me every you know some feedback, something. So I want to share one that I just got a couple weeks ago from Ex Yogi Mom. I love the name. I love hearing from you guys. This fills my heart. This keeps me going because I don't get paid to do these podcasts. This is all just time. Given freely because I am trying to create a better world for women in general. Like, I feel like that's my purpose on this earth, is to serve women. And so I do this freely, and what I get in return is knowing that women are reclaiming their lives, their health, their families, everything else because of the information I'm providing, the encouragement and the hope that I'm giving you guys. So hearing back from you fills my cup back up so that I can keep doing this because we're going on like 3 and a half years at this point. So let me read from Ex-Yogi Mom. 5 stars, says life-changing. Dr. T, you have changed my life for the better in so many ways. I am now taking control of my health and I'm on the road to mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. So thank you. It's a long and winding road, but I will practice patience and flexibility. But thanks to you, I can see the light. Oh my gosh, thank you for sharing that because that fills my heart so much. And I often get told that I am the light. I— it's just a recurring theme. People are like, you light up the room, you show me the light, um, you exude light. And honestly, that is the Holy Spirit working through me. I cannot claim that. I just allow it to be released and share it with the world. And I know that you— there's other people listening that, you know, you have that light inside of you. So I hope that you're releasing it and sharing it with the rest of the world, because literally that's why we're here. We're here to do that. And so thank you, X. Yogi Mom, that's really awesome. So if you feel like you want to share some words with me, I would appreciate it so much. Okay, let me jump in and talk about my guest today because she's amazing. Um, I just got connected with her through someone I didn't even know, but we are in complete alignment. I love absolutely everything she's doing. I love how she's doing it. I love the way that she approaches movement and using our body because this is a really important thing for women. We're taking for granted the fact that we have a functioning body that's getting us through our days. We are taking it for granted. I took my body for granted for decades. I abused my body for decades and It catches up with you. Unfortunately, I see a lot of women in my practice on a regular basis. As soon as they go into menopause, it all catches up with you. You're in pain. You don't have the same mobility. You can't do the things that you used to do, or now you're having injuries—shoulder injuries, knee injuries, back injuries. So this episode is super important. Okay, it's really important, and it's really awesome because. My guest Megan is going to talk about body types in a way that you probably haven't heard of before, and it's going to be a big aha for you because you're going to realize that maybe you were working against your natural potential the whole time. And when you know your body type, you can actually step into that potential and help and just thrive. Like, it's so cool. So there's a lot of golden nuggets in this episode, so I hope you'll stay with us, listen to the end, share it with everybody you know. But let me sing her praises. She's very awesome. You're gonna have to check her out. The links are in the show notes. Okay, so let's go. Megan Dahlman is a certified strength and conditioning trainer and nutrition coach. She has over 16 years of professional training experience. She has coached thousands of women, ages 30 up to 70, along with her simple, grace-filled journey of breaking free from culture's toxic obsession with the scale to becoming their strongest and most confident selves. Like, I love that right there. Like, if that doesn't say, yes, sign me up to work with her, I don't know what does. And she's got a ton of free content that she's going to talk about. So in addition to her passion for helping moms, uh, love and thrive in their God-given bodies through her online training programs and courses, she also hosts the top 1% globally ranked podcast, Self-Care Simplified. We're actually recording me to be on the podcast right after this. So Megan has been featured in The Washington Post, Muscle& Fitness Hers, and Weight Watchers Reimagined. When she's not coaching or working out, you can find her riding her horse, Lulu, on her land in Idaho where she lives with her husband and 2 boys. So I know you're going to love her. Like, if you like me, you're going to love Megan. So let's dive in. Well, welcome, Megan, to The Gutsy Gynecologist Show.

Thank you so much. I am so honored to be here. I just love the message that you have and all the work that you're doing. So just to be a part of that, I just, I feel honored. So thank you for having me.

Yes, I feel the exact same way. I just love everything you're doing for women and the way that you deliver it with such grace and in a faith-based message. I think it's really Speaking to what women really need to feel better about themselves and take back their health. So thank you for doing all that.

Yeah, you're so welcome. And I think the fitness industry, the nutrition industry, it's riddled with just vanity. And so I think to provide a safe place that women are like, I do want to get in better shape, I do want to take care of my body, I want to feel strong, I want to feel healthy, but not have this driving force of it being vanity. And so sometimes a lot of women will come into a fitness program and feel like they have to keep all their filters up and filter out all of the junk. And so all those junk messages that they get. And so it's nice for them to come work with me and just know that you're not going to get any of that. You don't have to have your filters up at all.

Oh, I love that so much. And I think a lot of women feel Like it's maybe superficial to care about their body and what they look like and their weight, and that it's actually not faith-based, and they're you know not doing what God wants. When I and I think you see it the same way, like completely opposite. I think God wants us to care about our bodies. It's a temple that He gave us to use this time on earth, right? And so I see it as like an opportunity.

Yeah, I mean, it can be a form of worship, of recognizing you've given me something that is a gift that it's my responsibility to steward. And if I don't steward this gift very well, I'm not going to be very effective for your kingdom. I'm going to have a lot of opportunities where I could potentially step in and help someone else or be available to serve, and I'm going to have to say no because, you know, I'm not healthy. I'm afraid I might hurt myself. I'm afraid, you know, I'm just not an effective person, whether it's for my family, my friends, even my kids. So there's this whole other element of like, this has nothing to do about looks.

Right.

This has everything to do about your own strength and effectiveness in life. And there are so many other areas of our life that we take care of our bodies and we don't think it's wrong to do that. You know, like we have to clip our nails, we have to trim our hair, we have to, you know, brush our teeth. Like these are all small aspects of taking care of our body. And we know that if we don't do those things, this body is going to fall apart. It's damaging to it. And so eating healthy and especially exercising and moving well is just another part of the category of brushing your teeth. It's just part of what you need to do to take care of your body.

Yeah, I love that so much. And I just heard the word exercise come out of your mouth, and I even had a moment where It felt negative. I think there's so much stigma around exercise, especially for women who grew up in the '80s and '90s, and they really were like, no pain, no gain. You gotta struggle. You gotta do all this miserable stuff. And it's all about how you look and keeping up with another woman and being in, in comparison mode. And so Like, just explain to my listeners what is exercise and how is it going to really impact their, their next 20, 30, or 40 years? Because I want them to see this as like part of their life. It's not something that you just have to do, you know, because you're gaining weight or whatever. Like, it's about mobility and function in your body as a human being, right?

Yeah. And that's interesting that you mentioned the negative feelings. And I actually polled my audience a few months ago, like, what emotions come up when you hear the word exercise or workout? The word workout. And it had a lot of very negative feelings of sweat, pain, soreness. And it's like, oh my goodness, we have really been conditioned over the years. And unfortunately, because many of us have signed up for programs that are extreme that we show up on day 1 and we just know I'm not going to be able to walk for 5 days, or this is going to be a bunch of movements that hurt me. And what's the point of this? And it's always the point is only— it's a means to an end of I have to endure this to get what I want out the other end of it. And if you can grit your way through that enough, you might get what you want out the other end of it. And Like, boy, how wonderful would it be if we just completely shift that perspective and be like, movement— like, stop even using the word exercise, or stop even using the word workout. Use it— use the word movements, like moving your joints, moving your muscles, and really feeling how things operate and function throughout your body. And Starting with things that feel good from the get-go. You know, like day 1, like what if instead of doing burpees, we did a couple movements and stretches that just opened up your posture and kind of corrected all the feelings of tightness and achiness and pain, and you walked away from those few movements feeling like realizing, oh man, now I have more energy. Now that kink in my neck and my shoulder is gone. Like now I feel like I can get down on the floor with my kids. I can do things that I couldn't do before because these movements contributed to that. And recognizing that if you don't do these movements, then your ability to do those things is going to dwindle. And I was chatting with one of the— one gal that I coach a few weeks ago, and she said, you know, I will die someday. That's just inevitable. But I want to be able to— Like, be moving and functional up until my very last day. I don't want to spend the last 15, 10 years of my life laying in a hospital bed. And so if there's things that I can do today to ensure that that happens, that I can just be a functional person for as long as possible, why would I not do that? And so sometimes we need to just take this bigger picture idea of what movement really is. It's not just like hearing your fat cry. I hate that phrase. Like, sweat is just your fat crying. It's like, well, technically, no, it's not at all. But I actually have not heard that one.

That's terrible. Yeah.

It's like making yourself feel better that you're having to sweat. It's like, oh, if I'm sweating, it just means that my fat's crying. It's like, well, exercise and movement is so much more than that. And I love just revealing to women that it can feel Really, really good. It really can. Yeah.

Yeah. I think it's so important. I mean, my mother-in-law turned 70 yesterday. We had a party and just looking around the room at these women over 60, they are struggling to move their bodies. They're struggling to do basic functions of walking up and down stairs, getting in and out of cars. Like, I don't want to be there in 10 or 15 years. I'm not signing up for that. So I think movement is the most important thing a menopausal woman needs to do to maintain her livelihood, wouldn't you say?

100%. And there's so many decades in the first half of our life where youth is on our side, where we can kind of get away with not moving and not doing intentional exercise. I'm trying to not use the word workout. We can get away with that because youth is on our side. But there does come a point where it's no longer on your side anymore. And you do see this dramatic fork in the road of everyone who has been moving and taking care of their body and doing intentional physical activity. They kind of just stay the same with their functional capacity. They, they're still hiking, they're still out there kayaking, they're still exercising, they're still signing up for all of these amazing adventures. But the other fork is all the people who were not taking care of themselves up to that point. Their functionality dramatically Dramatically drops, like, really quickly. And usually for women, it is right around menopause.

Yeah.

And it's because you have this hormonal environment where you do now need to do intentional things to keep your joints healthy, to keep your muscles stimulated and active. And so there is, unfortunately for all of us, a moment in time where, like, we can't rely on our youth anymore and we need to just be more intentional with Yeah, I love that.

So we need to talk about the type of woman who hasn't necessarily been moving consistently. You know, they have a desk job or they, they try to do workouts, they last a few months and then they fall off the wagon, that type of thing. Because I think women who are exercising regularly, like you said, they've got it. They, they feel good. They know what helps their body, what doesn't. And I want to capture anybody who's listening who's like, on the struggle bus with this, because that has been me over the past few years. When my estrogen dropped, like, I couldn't complete a workout. I was in so much pain. It took 3 days to recover from basic workouts. Like, I couldn't lift weights without being so sore. And so I really want to talk about that. But I think it also— like, we need to do some basic education because women are still coming to me. I do this program called Fast to Faith, and I teach women how to use intermittent fasting to strengthen their faith and to, like, support their metabolism and their weight. But they always want to compare themselves to other women.

Oh, yeah.

And I love that you talk about different body types and, like, God gave you these— this certain body type. Like, let's figure out what works for that body type. And that is how women can really Like, see some shifts in their body? Because I know for me, like, I am the runner body type. I have—

Yep.

Leaner muscles. I can get away with not exercising all the time and my weight doesn't shift a ton. And women get upset like, oh, it's so easy for you. Whereas I have a friend who's very boxy and, you know, muscular, like super big muscles. So Break down all the body types because I think this might be like a major aha for a few women today.

Yeah. And honestly, through the years of working with women with body image, I feel like until you understand the way that you have been uniquely designed, you cannot fully flesh out what a healthy body image is. There is still going to be a piece of you that's like, but I want to be like her or I want to look like her. And so understanding your body type is like a really pivotal piece place of being content in your own skin. And I think we all as women want to be like, that would be amazing if I could finally be at the point where I'm at peace and content and all of my food choices and all of my exercise choices are not driving me to try to be somebody else. So, yeah, understanding these body types is so key. So there are 3 main body types and then kind of hybrids between those. And these are Metabolic body types. These are kind of like your body's genetic metabolic tendencies. So endomorph, mesomorph, and ectomorph are kind of the 3 main ones. So I'll start with the ectomorph. The ectomorph is your body type. So an ectomorph is the long, lean runner type. You naturally have a much faster metabolism. You have great insulin sensitivity naturally. That allows you to just kind of eat whatever you want and it doesn't add to it or add Add to your body composition, you probably struggle to put on muscle mass. A lot of ectomorphs feel, you know, if they're not healthy, they feel scrawny, weak, and maybe fragile. Like, those are words that they kind of identify with. When they were younger, they had a lot more energy. Now their body is just kind of slowing down just a little bit. But that's kind of the ectomorph body type. If you look at like a track and field team, I love the track and field analogy because the track and field team represents all the different body types. So This would be the distance runner, you know, this would be the marathoner, people who are really good at endurance sports. And a lot of that is your muscle fiber composition. You happen to probably have a lot more of those slow twitch muscle fibers, which aren't— they're really thin, they're very slender type of fibers. So even as you get strong, they're not going to bulk up, like they're just not going to get thicker. You don't have the strongest capacity. You'll never be the strongest woman in the room, but your ability and capacity for strength is there, really is there. And I want ectomorphs to hear that, like, you are capable of being very, very strong. So that's the ectomorph body type. The one in the middle is the mesomorph, the one that looks at a dumbbell and bulges a bicep. Like, this is This is my body type. I'm a little bit of a hybrid between the mesomorph and ectomorph because I tend to be on the slightly more slender side. But this is someone that on the track and field team, she's going to be the sprinter. You look at like the top level sprinters in the, in the 100-meter distance, 200-meter distance. These are, these are like balls of muscle at their fittest. And that's where it gets confusing for some women. They're like, wait a second. I'm a mesomorph, but I don't feel like I'm an athlete. I don't feel like I have all this muscle. I'm like, well, you might not be at your absolute fittest self right now, but once you kind of uncover that, that's what you'll unearth underneath that.

So it's like your potential.

Yes, that's your potential is this person or this type. And so she has more of a middle-of-the-road metabolism. It's It's not super fast, it's not super slow. Like, everything is just kind of middle of the road. Like, her insulin sensitivity is kind of middle of the road. The metabolism speed is kind of middle of the road. And for a lot of mesomorphs, it's easy for them, if they're not taking care of their bodies, to kind of see that metabolism slow down, to see their insulin sensitivity, like, not be as good. So. So that's where a mesomorph can be like, wait a second, but I, I don't look ripped. Like, well, you're, you're probably not in your absolute fittest shape. So that's more of the mesomorph. Um, she also, even at her most unhealthy, probably won't be extremely obese either. She might have 20, 30 pounds that she would like to lose, but it's not— she, she probably, even if she completely neglected her body, it might not be more than that. That. Yeah. So then the final body type is that endomorph body type. The endomorph is someone who's a lot stockier, a lot thicker. Even at her absolute healthiest self, it would be unhealthy for her to try to be slender and skinny. That's not how she was designed. So this is the woman on the track and field team. That's the thrower, the javelin thrower, the discus, the, the powerlifter. This is the woman that just has the girth.

Yeah.

And at her healthiest self, she will always be the strongest one in the room. She will always just be able to lift the most amount of weight and put all of us, the rest of us, to shame with how strong she can be. The challenge with the endomorph body type is that she does have a kind of naturally slower metabolism, and it might be something that she feels like she's fighting for her entire life. And her body's just It's really resistant. That insulin resistance kind of really comes to play with the endomorph body type. They have to be really careful with carbohydrates and sugar, and they feel like, if I look at a piece of bread, I gain 5 pounds.

Yeah.

And so she needs to be a little bit more conscientious about those metabolism boosting efforts because her natural inclination is going to be a little bit slower. So that's kind of the endomorph body type. And I think there's a lot of endomorphs that are like, oh my gosh, I've been spending my entire life trying to become an ectomorph.

Yeah.

Same with like mesomorphs. You know, you might be a mesomorph that is like, whenever you work out, you're like, man, every time I work out, I feel like I just get like bulky and I, and I can't get that like ballerina look. It's like, well, because you're not a ballerina body type. Like, that's not you. And so once you understand, like, okay, this is how God designed me. And me at my healthiest, fittest self is not supposed to look like that body type. And it's really just our society that has all decided that the ectomorph is kind of the loveliest. I don't know. We all represent God in his unique body image and all of his layers. The endomorph represents him, the power, the strength, the just taking up space in a room, like not shrinking back. That is our God.

The mesomorph.

That is the speed, the agility, the muscle, the kind of that quickness. That is our God. The ectomorph, the endurance, just the gentleness too with that. There's some compassion with that too, of just being someone who's not just this powerhouse in a room. That is our God too. And so if we're spending our life like trying to become someone he didn't make us to be, we're trying to not reflect him anymore in the way he wanted us to. And so there's hybrids all in between there too. But I think it's the beginning. It's the beginning of how you can finally love your body and honestly say, I love my body.

Oh my gosh, it's so good. And I know there's women going, oh my gosh, I've been looking at it wrong the whole time. And I hope everybody on this call is getting some clarity because once you can figure about how you're supposed to be, it's so much easier to do the work and step into that promise and that vision of your future, right? You're just maybe holding the wrong vision, like you said, you know, like an ectomorph and an endomorph, totally different visions. And so how can women figure out what type of body they have? Yeah.

One thing that's really helpful is to look at your family, look at your parents especially, and just say, it can give you clues. Both of my parents are stockier. Both of my parents, they've always struggled with their weight in some sense. Then that might mean that, okay, you're probably more of an endomorph. For me, as a mesomorph, both of my parents are pretty average size. My dad is on the little bit more petite size, but he's also very muscular. And never had to work for it. Like, I don't think he's actually worked out a day in his life. And so, like, he just is this, like, ball of muscle. And so, like, it makes sense that I am a mesomorph. And then for those that are the ectomorph, you can look at your parents and be like, yeah, my dad is like 6'5 and 120 pounds, you know, or your mom is tall and slender or even petite and slender. That can give you clues. But the other thing that's helpful too is to just I actually have a body type quiz that people can take, and it just asks you questions of how you feel, how you think your body is responding to certain things. Do you feel like you're always the smallest in the room? Do you feel like you've always struggled to put on weight? Do you feel like you've always struggled to take weight off? Things like that. So people can take my body type quiz. It's super easy and quick, and then it gives you some insights into what your body might be. So they can just go do that at bodytype.io is where that is.

That's awesome. So I'm assuming age kind of impacts our body type. Is that right?

Your metabolism can kind of shift and change as you age, but your genetics don't. Like, you, you have a genetic code that's in your cells that don't really change. What can change is your lifestyle and how your lifestyle impacts the way that your body behaves. So a lot of women, as they age, they become less active. They're, you know, they don't have youth on their side anymore. So all of those things that are kind of encouraging a faster metabolism, you know, that muscle mass, just maintaining that muscle mass, like those things are just not there anymore. So someone who might have been an ectomorph, like a true ectomorph when they were younger, or a true mesomorph when they were younger, they might be Like, wait a minute, I feel like my body is now behaving like an endomorph. And that's where things can get confusing. It's like, it's not that you became one all of a sudden, it's that your lifestyle has caused your body to behave like one. It's having like a little bit of an identity crisis. Like, you still have the potential in there. It's just that with lifestyle changes, you can kind of override what your body naturally Well, like it was designed to do. And it can go the other way. I've known a lot of women in their 40s, 50s, 60s that have been unhealthy their entire life and been kind of the endomorph, like a mesomorph-endomorph hybrid. And they start to get healthier and fit in their 50s, and suddenly they unveil this mesomorph that's always been living under there. And so Yes and no. You can't shift your genetics, but you can encourage your body to operate more efficiently.

Yeah. Oh, I couldn't agree more. I tell women all the time, like, your genetics aren't necessarily being coded the same way all of the time. It's totally dependent on the inputs that these genes are receiving. And so if you Yeah. Change your diet and how you're moving your body, if you have the potential for a certain body type, that is going to just show up and actually give you the results as opposed to not. So I love this whole idea of like really stepping into what you're supposed to be, um, and owning that and finding all the strength or the grace or whatever Whatever potential is in you. And so are there some basic quick tips that we can give each body type? Because I'm sure people are listening, think they know what they are.

Yeah, you have an idea of what you might be. And I always have to caution women, we love to jump to details and we love to do the complicated thing before we have the most basic foundation pieces in place first. And that can rock your boat if you don't have good foundation. first before you get to the more intricate, complicated, dialed-in things, it's gonna— you probably won't be all that successful. So for each of the body types, no matter what you are, and this is helpful if you don't know, like some people aren't quite sure, this is really helpful because these tips are gonna work for you no matter what. So when it comes to nutrition, I always say my motto is eat your pros. So at every meal, eat protein, Eat protein, eat produce. You can't go wrong. It doesn't matter what body type you are. I don't care if you're an ectomorph or a mesomorph or an endomorph. You need those ingredients for whatever your goals might be. So the more protein you can have, the better. The more fresh produce you can have, the better. Okay? So you can't go wrong with that. When it comes to the movement side of things, just get moving.

Yes.

No matter what you need to do, even if it's— you're— if you're fully sedentary right now and not doing any sort of a routine, I always recommend like start with the thing that has the lowest barrier to entry. Don't start with something that you're going to have to learn. It's going to like cause this huge rift in your routine. So for most women, it's literally just getting outside and going for a walk. So go for a walk, turn that into a routine where you go for a walk at the same time of day, and that becomes your physical activity. And then eventually for every body type, and that alone is really important for each body type, we just got to get you moving on a regular basis.

Yeah.

And then for each type, eventually we need to turn those movement opportunities into muscle building work. So eventually getting to the point where we're doing some strength training, we're doing some stuff that's stimulating your muscle mass. Because walking is great, but there's going to be a limit there. We can't just only have a walking routine. We've got to stimulate those muscles somehow with some more resistance. So that needs to be the, the kind of end goal for each body type is getting to the point where you are building that muscle mass. And each body type needs that for a different reason.

Mm-hmm.

The endomorph needs that muscle mass for that metabolism boost. The ectomorph needs that muscle mass for muscle mass and bone support. Bone support. And honestly, and I know you know this, but strength training does more for bone density than walking or running does.

Yeah.

And so if we can get every woman, no matter your age, to move in the direction that you're slowly becoming someone that strength trains 2 or 3 times a week, that That is great. If you're doing those things, if you're like, okay, Megan, I'm already doing those things. Now, how do I dial it in for my body type? Okay, then the thing that we can change and manipulate a little bit with the body types on the nutrition side of things is we're not going to mess with the protein and produce that's going to stay there. That's like your mainstay. The things that we can manipulate a little bit is the starchier types of carbohydrates. The simple, especially the simple carbohydrates, but the starchier types. And that would be things like bread, rice, grains, and then the healthy fats. So for someone that is looking to improve their metabolism and improve their insulin sensitivity, so that endomorph body type, it's helpful if they eat a little bit more fat and a little bit less of those starchier types.

Yeah.

And maybe just say, hey, I'm gonna eat those starchier types of carbs at just my workout meal. Like if I do an exercise, if I do a routine this morning, then I'm gonna save that piece of toast for the meal that lands closest to that workout. Your, your insulin sensitivity is gonna be a little bit better. For the mesomorph, I say most mesomorphs feel really great if they have 1 to 2 servings of starchy carbs per day, making sure that one of those is hitting at that meal closest to that workout. And then the ectomorph type, like, she is looking— she needs calories. She needs anything that's going to help her put on that muscle mass. And most ectomorphs I know just simply do not eat enough. So getting that protein in, like, really putting that emphasis on the protein, but also having those starchier, good whole grains at pretty much every meal of the day, she's going to feel really good. And then when it comes to the fitness side of things, really honing in on that strength training, like getting to the point that whatever your reason for doing that, we are pushing weights. And I do find that the mesomorph body type, because she's a little bit more muscular naturally, she probably is going to need to focus more on mobility work. A little bit more of that flexibility side of And then the endomorph, she's probably going to feel her absolute best with heavy lifting, interval-style work. Probably avoid steady-state cardio. It's not the best when it comes to improving your metabolism. So unfortunately, you walk into a gym and you see a lot of endomorphs on the elliptical machines and it's not helping.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's something. It's something. It's a great place to start. I don't want to say like, hey, it's better than nothing. However, if you're at the point where you want to dial it in, let's get you off the equipment and put you over in the weights. Same with the ectomorph. We got to get you lifting weights.

Oh my gosh. I, I know I can think of patients right now who are listening to this that are so happy that you said that because, you know, I say it to them sometimes, they listen, but we keep telling people as a society, you have to be on the treadmill to lose weight. You have to be in high-intense cardio. And it's just not true, you guys. So Megan knows what she's talking about. Like, she is the expert. She's been doing this forever. She helps women just like everybody here listening really hone in on what they need. And so you know what you're talking about. Like, we don't need to be on the treadmill killing ourselves.

No, no. And that goes back to the discussion we were having about Just being able to enjoy exercise too. Most women I know do not necessarily enjoy running on a treadmill for 45 minutes.

Yeah.

Some like the checkout, some like that mental release, but most don't. And so when fitness for them is that, like, that's what I have to do, I have to lose weight, so I got to go pound it on the treadmill. It's like now fitness is becoming this thing that you dread. It becomes such an obligation. It's monotonous. It's miserable. And I can't tell you how many women that I've trained where they're like, somehow I really, really enjoy working out now. I really enjoy it because there's so much variety. I'm being challenged in all of these different areas. Like, my balance has improved, my flexibility has improved, I'm more powerful, I'm stronger, and my cardiovascular conditioning has improved too. I think a lot of people think like, Well, if I get off the treadmill, then won't I have to— don't I have to still do that to train my cardio, like my heart and my lungs? It's like, no, you don't. You don't actually. If you do the strength training in a good way and do it in circuit style where you're moving quickly from one thing to the other, I see my own heart rate get higher during a strength training workout than just doing a steady state treadmill type.

Oh my gosh, I can totally attest to that. If I push sleds with some weights on it, my heart rate goes way higher than when I run. Like, on the verge of nausea. I'm like, but that's because I'm an ectomorph, so that makes total sense. I need to keep working on my strength.

You got to keep doing that. And the cool thing about that too is that if you look at someone's heart rate throughout the course of a strength training workout, there's so much variability in there because it goes high and then it recovers and then it goes high again. And that is the thing that is so healthy for your heart and your lungs. Exactly. It's the best thing you could possibly be doing for it versus the steady state where it's like, I'm just going to get it up to 70% and just hold it there. And your body adapts marvelously. It does wonders to adapt. And if that's what you're only ever doing, you kind of stopped benefiting from the cardio a while ago. And so just getting off of the steady state equipment and getting to a place where, okay, I'm pushing myself and then I'm recovering and I'm pushing and I'm recovering. And now your routine is starting to resemble an echocardiogram. You see the highs and the lows, and that's life. That is representative of life, is the peaks and the valleys and the peaks and the valleys. Yeah. A flat line I mean, that's death, right?

Right, exactly. No, our body thrives on variety. Like, you see it in every aspect. We need a diverse gut microbiome, which means we need a diverse diet. We need to eat seasonally and change up what we're eating. We need a diverse movement. Like, our body doesn't want to be at the steady state all of the time. That's why cold plunges are so effective and amazing at, like, your resiliency. So, oh my gosh, you're hitting all the I love it. So good.

Yeah. And I think one question that women ask me all the time is like, how can I get it out of my head that every time I show up for a workout, it has to be like 100% intense? You know, this idea of like, if I'm going to do a workout today, it better make me sweat. It better get my heart rate up. It better be like really high intense. And it comes back to that same concept of you need to have like a couple of days a week that are high intense and you need to really be intentional about having a few days a week that are very light intense, low intensity, because those low intensity days, something that focuses more on balance or mobility, um, just breathing more, like those things are gonna contribute to having a higher high intensity day. You're gonna be far more recovered and clear-minded and have higher motivation when you buffer those high intensity days with low intensity days. Because I know I know it's just so hard for all of us overachievers to show up to just a 20-minute thing that just stretched and just foam rolled or just did something that didn't make us sweat. And we're like, what's the point of that? There's serious point to it.

Yes.

It is very, very important to do those low-intensity days. And if the only point of it is for your own mental, just getting over the fact that you have to go hard or go home all the time, Like, that right there is worth it in itself of overcoming that mindset.

Yeah, it's kind of like thinking, oh, I don't need to sleep. I don't need this recovery time from my life. You absolutely do, because that makes you better functioning during the day. So the same thing. And when I do things that don't make me sweat, like I'll do a Pilates day or a stretching day, and that actually kicks my butt. It doesn't feel it at the time. I'm not sweating. It might feel tight and I'm like, oh, that's— I'm really loosening things up, but I'm not struggling to the point of muscle fatigue. But the next day I can tell it did so much. I love those less intense days where I feel like I'm not putting in all the effort. There's so much magic in those days.

Yeah, they really kind of tone down to your nervous system. Right. You're not pumping out all that cortisol. Oh, right. And any opportunity we have to just turn on that parasympathetic nervous system and tone down things and just smooth things over, your adrenals get so happy with you. It's like, thank you so much for just giving me a dose of reprieve. And so those routines alone, and usually for women that are like, I'm struggling to lose weight, I'm struggling to get my metabolism going, I'm like, okay, what are you doing? And usually it's just like high, high, high, high intensity, and their body is like fighting them because of all the— their adrenaline is through the roof all the time. Their cortisol is out of control. They're like on the verge of adrenal fatigue, not sleeping well at night. Their motivation is in the tank. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. What if we pull you way, way back? What if we just walk and stretch for a few weeks? And usually that resets resets their system and then they can kind of ease back into it in a way that just doesn't fry their nerves.

Yeah, I mean, that might be the most important thing somebody heard today was, what? I need to tone it back? I need to pull it back? Yes. Without a doubt. I see that every day in my practice. We are way too stuck in sympathetic overdrive and cortisol nonstop, adrenaline nonstop, and that keeps the weight on, that prevents our bodies from being healthy. So thank you for all these golden nuggets. It's so awesome. Such an awesome episode. So tell everybody where they can find you and start working out with you.

Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I think the easiest thing is to do my 5-day core tune-up. We never really talked about core, but I think most women could raise their hands and be like, yeah, my midsection is an issue. I feel like my weak core is contributing to back pain, to hip pain, and just this general sense of no confidence in my body. And so just go to 5daycore.com, and it's the, the number 5, day core, kind of all one word. And I'll guide you through 5 days of just follow-along movements that are really gentle, and they're just gonna get the ball rolling. I just wanna help you get the ball rolling in a really safe, Non-nerve-frying way. And then from there, I would love to have anybody work with me in my Jumpstart 30 program. That's basically 30 days of once again just getting that ball rolling. The day 1 movements, a lot of people come into it and they're like, I was expecting like a 30-minute workout. No, it's 8 minutes long. We do 4 movements and 2 of them are stretches. Like, they feel so good. And that's where we start. And it's such a great place for people to just begin to get back into a routine and move in that direction of weightlifting and strength training without jumping into the deep end. So doing it very safely, very carefully and intentionally. So those are the 2 places. So just start with my 5-day core tune-up is a great place to start.

Oh my gosh, I love that. Yay. Thank you. All those links will be in the show notes. You guys need to connect with Megan. She's amazing. A wealth of knowledge. And I just love that you and I are on the same page about everything, you know, because women need resources. They need someone they can trust and get consistent information because there's a lot of noise out there. Yeah, so much noise. And, um, you are a fabulous resource. So thank you so much.

Thank you, Dr. Tabatha. So good to be here. Thank you.

Thank you. Oh my gosh, I know you got so much out of that. I want to hear from you. What was your golden nugget? What was your aha? Like, I needed to hear that today. Thank you. Leave me a review. Let me know. And let me know what else you want to hear about. So I hope that I'm serving you and giving you what you didn't even know that you needed, right? So make sure you connect with Megan and try out out her 5-day core tune-up and just see how you like it. It's free. Move that body, get into stretching, get into balance, get into strength. I love that so much. So thank you for spending your time with me. Now go out, have a kick-ass amazing week, and I'll see you again soon.