Chasing Skinny After 50: When Weight Loss Conflicts with Longevity

You can get smaller, you can drive the scale down, but does the strategy that produces the smallest version of you also produce the strongest, most resilient, metabolically healthy, 70, 80, or 90-year-old version of you? I think we all have a dirty little secret. We criticize celebrity thinness. We say we're worried. We say it's unhealthy. We say women shouldn't have to look like that. And yet somewhere inside of us, many of us have this tiny little voice asking, how did she do it? Could I do it? Would I be happier if I looked like that? Inside this episode, I'm breaking it all down. You're in perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause, and you're not slowing down, you're just getting started. But the old rules don't apply anymore. The workouts that worked before, they're working against you now. The advice you've been given, incomplete at best. I'm Debra Atkinson, and I'm the founder of Flipping 50, the pioneer in fitness for women in midlife. For more than 40 years, I've been in the trenches with women just like you, and for the last 12, right here on this podcast, and, and the founder of Flipping 50, the Stronger Way app and membership. Welcome to Flipping 50 the Stronger Way, where science meets strength, where you'll find the tools, research, and real talk to build the body and the life you want in your second half. Each week, you'll get evidence-based exercise and nutrition strategies, conversations with leading experts, and honest answers to the questions your doctor didn't get answers to in medical school and doesn't have time to answer in an appointment. This is your show. Let's get stronger. Let's get honest. Thinness is still a status symbol. The culture changed its language. It didn't change its values. 50 years ago, maybe even 20, again, it was skinny, it was thin, it was size 2. And today it's clean eating, wellness, longevity, autophagy, anti-aging, optimization, Biohacking, and sometimes those are just legitimate health goals, and others they're simply thinness wearing a lab coat. I want to make something very clear that I am not promoting skinny, and some of you may have landed here because you want to be skinny and you want to lose weight, and thought mistakenly that this podcast title was all about it, and. I will just lay down the law here for us at Flipping 50. Skinny is not the goal, and I think we all have to fight it. I still, you know, right, walk into my closet and I want the waistline to just be cinched a little bit tighter. And I think internally, you and I both have to deal with our own demons, and then externally, we have to catch each other not giving a compliment for the wrong reason. And being able to accept a compliment for the right reasons—it's complicated, and it's something that we've been conditioned into our entire lives. And I think we are going to have to support each other through this one. It is no quick fix to change this. But what I want to do is just kind of splash open the papers and the books, and let's call it what it is today because I think the more. We call attention to this and we talk about the actual thing in the room and we don't just talk around it. You're here— my hope is that you're here at this podcast and you're listening because we cover good science. And it is certainly not because I'm concise and articulate all the time. I know it takes a minute to get to the point. We're working on that over here. Never a dull moment. We're always trying to get better. But I do think that we all have to call out the things that we're not saying because, in the name of fitness, we're looking for science. And we will say things— women will say things to me like, that's what I want. I want the science. But that's even said when we don't actually understand what is good science, what are you looking for in good science, and do you know? I think these things are really important, and so is this one. Social media wasn't built to make you feel good, and yet many of you tell me that you're getting your news, your information, your advice from social media. You're hiring trainers and coaches from social media. Maybe that's how some of you found me, so I can't knock that completely over or down. But I do want you to be careful and cautious and vet and. And step outside if you can and watch yourself and what you're doing and be sure it's motivated by the right thing. So one of the strongest findings across the literature is that appearance comparison predicts body satisfaction. Let me say that again. Appearance comparison predicts body dissatisfaction. Hmm. Here's what I mean. You're scrolling through your timeline, you're looking at Instagram, and of course I have my phone at arm's length, just like a proper human in 2026 would. And I can scroll and I can look, and I'm going to get feelings of, I'm inadequate. She's thinner, she's prettier, she's younger. Maybe even that one. I'll go there. Women who compare their appearance more frequently to people they Follow on social media report higher body dissatisfaction and greater drive for thinness. And this is based on a PubMed published article. And by the way, not all PubMed articles are peer-reviewed journals. That should be the case. Ideally, it's longevity or it's a review of literature. It's not an opinion only. But I won't dive too far into that. I just want you to be sure that you understand. We look there, and I will have a lot of people say, "You're inspiring. You so inspire me," and I always wonder, is that really true? And what I mean is, I'll post a video, and somebody will say, "That's so inspiring," and yet I wonder deep down, is it? I mean, did it actually motivate you to go out for a walk or have a glass of water? Whatever I might have been doing, because that's motivating. It's not you sitting and looking and wishing you were something. It's actually does it get you to move, or does it make you feel? further behind? I think that's also a really legit question that only you can answer. The mechanism isn't social media itself, though. It's comparison, which I think it's very hard to do if you're looking at pictures or images, not to compare. So we now carry comparison in our pocket. A woman in South Dakota is comparing herself 2. Celebrities, fitness influencers, filtered photos, edited videos, and AI-generated bodies. And I want that one to land. All before breakfast. I'm going to link to another episode that hits this theme around the edges. At least I think we all want to be right. We want to be understood. We want to stand out. We're vying for attention, and we're willing to go to all ends to get it. So many are wasting time that might help penetrate the 80% of the population not exercising, while they're confusing the 20% of people who are exercising. I'll say that again: there's experts, literally the researchers, those who are teaching at universities, those like myself who. Did teach at the university, are subject matter experts for fitness associations. That means we review the test exam questions that certify trainers, health coaches, in my case, medical exercise specialists and group fitness instructors, all of them. And we write the exam questions or review them. We determine what needs to be retired, what needs to be renewed or refreshed or made more clear. And so I know from all sides of this desk that I've sat on, we have so much to do. And I think all researchers do, but I think we're also busy calling each other out and saying, no, that's not true. No, that's not true. I saw this and I don't like it. And instead of actually helping you, the consumer, we spend a little time confusing. So by comparison's sake, Even researchers do it, only they're not comparing maybe the latest fashion styles or the size. They're comparing, my research is better than your research. And so comparison is everywhere on every layer. I open up about my frustration with this in an episode sharing some educated researchers and academics who dislike social media get Right on and play the game and waste messages on people that can't possibly help the situation. Meaning we get researchers saying, you know, don't believe anything that someone says if they're selling a menopause program. That's a, for instance. Or don't believe anybody about what they recommend about protein if they sell a protein powder. That's another one. Gosh, and both of those are me. Total transparency. But that's how things get invented. It's how programs and why programs or products come to be. The good ones are based on mother— mother of invention is necessity, right? You see a problem and you fix it. In 2013, there was no program for women in menopause who were doing all the right things, but it wasn't working for them. So I started one. So there are good people who are in business and you wanna be able to find them. But I think where we're like, mine is better than hers, and that is a waste of time. It's a waste of each of our time, yours, the entrepreneur who's calling the shots and the one who's being the target. It's not good for anybody. And there's room in this whole big wide world for a lot of different voices and a lot of different venues. But I wanna make sure that I play on this. And where does AI come into this? Because I mentioned something that I hope you understood and you heard. For decades, we compared ourselves to real women, like somebody prettier in my high school class, somebody beautiful on my dorm floor, right? I mean, can you still remember those people? I can, because that's how ingrained it was. Like there was something I wished— what's the song right now? There's a song, I want to be her so bad, right? Country music knows my life and yours. But we're comparing ourselves to women who don't even exist right now. Do you realize that we're doing that? There are now Instagram channels that are AI. AI only. I already see this with clients. They send a photo and say, this is what I want to look like. And I immediately know that waist isn't real. I mean, it's Barbie, which is like an 18-inch waist, you know, and a 36-inch chest. The proportions aren't real. The shoulders don't match the torso even. That image is AI. So AI is getting better. At least there's all the body parts and they're facing the right But emotionally, the brain still processes this as a standard that we as women in this case— and there are probably others, males probably go through this, but to a lesser extent— we process this as a standard. The rational brain says that's fake, but the emotional brain, which emotional IQ is a real thing, says, why don't I look like that? So what needs to be said right now in the episode to remind us that this isn't just a young woman caught up in looks and appearances and mating rituals? It's women of all ages and stages, and it can strike women in midlife transitioning out of hormones just as hard as it did when we transitioned in. We may be less vulnerable later in life, but we're not immune. At a time when facelifts or nips and tucks are something to write social media about and something that becomes more the norm, if you can afford it, it's acceptable. Not that anyone needs permission. It's considered more openly discussed as a viable option. But what about those who can't afford it? Their role models are getting assistance, so it doesn't put pressure on them, or doesn't it put pressure on them to do the same? Right about now, you might be thinking this is some sort of persuasive argument for loving yourself at any weight, or shame on you for anyone who's transparently sharing their journey and they've had work done. And it's not. It's neither of those. It is meant only to be a reflection for you about how you feel About any time or energy spent thinking and wishing weight or belly or your thighs or your arms, your chin, your boobs were different. It's about any time you may have said no or stayed home because you didn't feel good and because you were sick, or not because you were sick, but just because you didn't feel public-ready. The truth is, I lived in Boulder and then in Scottsdale, in the Phoenix area. And because there more people pop into the grocery store fresh off of a trail from hiking or hours on a bike, you blend in, or you at least blend into a crowd of active people. Active is a status symbol there. A small sense of anonymity that I've never experienced before because I grew up in a small town and then spent, you know, 20 to 30 years in a slightly larger community, but a college town. And I was on stages a lot. I taught a lot of people. So I became well-known. And I mean small fish or big fish in small pond. I don't mean a big deal by any means. But, you know, then, you know, when— what a relief it was for me to go to Boulder and like, I don't have to Like dress up. I can walk outside of my house in just clothes and not worry about how I look because I'm just on a trail or I'm on a bike and I could pop into the grocery store and nobody thinks anything of it. Nobody thinks, oh, look what the dog drug in. Nobody, nobody goes there. But there was also a considerable amount more of women overexercising or undereating or more recently overusing GLPs when they didn't actually need them for health purposes or for healthy weight, but using them to go from a size 4 to a size 2 or a size 0 and then not being able to stop. The fitness industry accidentally also reinforces this, and this is where I have to challenge my own industry. Trainers and coaches wear belly-baring outfits frequently if they look good. Because it guarantees attention. Even if the increase in views comes from men or trolls or other than the target audience, it gets them what we call social proof. They get a lot of likes. They may not get a lot of shares or a lot of comments if it's not realistic. Or creepy comments. That, that's a thing. And it works. Women over 50 even admit they choose their trainer online Because of the way the trainer looked. Very intelligent, mature women presented with an emotional trigger are also vulnerable. So imagine this. Have you ever thought, as many women say, I want to be healthier, but what you mean underneath that is, I want to weigh less? And women say, I want to do it for the longevity. I want to do it for the autophagy, I will often hear. But I've challenged this before. I think it often means, I want a body that gets attention, approval, noticed. And case in point, intermittent fasting. If you had a woman on stage who was 30 pounds overweight talking about the benefits of intermittent fasting, would it be as attractive as somebody who was actually quite lean and at least very petite? And if you claim you're doing it for the longevity benefits, would you still do it if you know it has The potential for you to gain 10 pounds. That's a pretty good litmus test right there. I think most of us do intermittent fasting or start it or want to because we believe we'll lose weight doing it. But what if with some longevity protocol you would gain weight, but it'll ensure that you live longer? Would you take it? That is a rhetorical question, my friend. And wherever you are right now listening to this, I hope you're answering because that's really a good test for all of us, and self-included. I'd have to reflect on that because I don't know about that, right? So I want you to know that we, we do have homework to do. I think every day, support another woman, support her looking good. I was with a woman the other day. We had a picture taken because it was an And in seeing their— I took the picture, she was in it. I sent it to her after and she said, I'm gonna have to remember to keep my arms away from my sides because when I press them into my sides, it makes them look bigger. And I said, stop it. I said, stop it, because I didn't even see that in the picture. It was an event and it was— everybody was so happy in the event. It was just— the pictures were bright and shiny and just It was joy, pure joy. That's what I saw. I did not look at her with critical eyes like, oh, her arms are big, or, her belly looks big in that dress, or— but she did. And I would suggest that if you or I were looking at a picture of ourselves, we might too. So doing a 30-day fast— let's talk intermittent fasting again just to conclude that thought. Yeah. You know, under the premise that will help autophagy and decrease cancer, with the potential to spiral into reluctance to begin eating again and a layer of orthorexia. Which means, if you're unfamiliar, like label reading. Like you, like, now are scrupulous about everything you put in your mouth and, I'm not going to eat that anymore. And even to the point of somebody else is eating it and you're You're thinking, should they be eating that? I would never, you know. So you're overanalyzing everything you eat. When weighing the pros and cons, you have to wonder if muscle and bone loss during the time you're doing all this autophagy to save your life from cancer may have increased your risk of a compromised immune system and decreased your longevity anyway. Women often will say, I want to build muscle. Less often, I would say, than still we say, I want to get toned. But they panic when the scale doesn't move. And often the scale won't move or won't move as quickly if you're starting to lift weights because you are changing composition. You may be losing fat, but you are gaining lean muscle. That means the scale is not changing. Your size might, your waistline might, If you stand to do that, but when the scale doesn't move, unfortunately, you know, you are losing fat, gaining muscle. You're changing the quality of muscle even without the size changing. Women still thrill when the scale goes down, even if they don't know why. Oh, it's down! It's lower! I love that number. And we forget. Did you lose muscle? Bone or fat? And you're probably not going to lose bone reflected from last week. By the way, your bag of bones is only about 5 or 6 pounds. Did you know that? It's very interesting, but your skeletal system is not all that heavy. So it's important that we take really good care of it. But you don't want to lose muscle, and you will inevitably lose a small fraction of muscle even when you lose weight. Healthfully. So we know if you're doing it in a fast or unhealthy way, you're going to lose more, higher percentage of the muscle that goes with it. So less metabolically healthy than you might have thought. So women still thrill when the scale goes down. Tell me if I'm wrong. Because underneath it all, we still believe that thinner equals better. Not healthier, but better. And it seems that thin is still valued. More than health, and I wish that weren't true. I really have to do a lot of self-examination myself, and you know I would have to admit that being regularly active and and eating well—one of the benefits I enjoy—is being leaner, the way that I look. And I think if you if you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you tend to look good. They go hand in hand, and and they are interactive. But appearance is one way we've always been praised, have we not? So it's going to be hard to get away with that or from it. So what's the cost? And I, I want to say this: yes, bone loss and muscle loss. But I want to make sure that you're clear on this too. It costs you time. It costs you energy. How many hours do you think? And it'd be impossible to add up. How many hours do you think that you have Mm-hmm. Thinking about how many calories, your stomach, and it's being soft or too big, your thighs, your arms, your weight over your lifetime, probably thousands, possibly tens of thousands. And what about today? Just today, how dissatisfied were you getting dressed or in sitting in the chair that you're sitting now? Do you look down and maybe you have shorts on because like here it's 80 degrees And, you know, you're judging your legs potentially by looking at them. Are you? How's it going? So how long did you stare in the refrigerator trying to decide the best choice based on calories, based on how much fat it had? How much did you tug at the swimsuit hoping that it covered better? Now ask this: What could you have built with all of that energy and/or time spent thinking about those things. A business, better relationships, strength, travel, purpose, joy. If we think and look at body image in research for midlife women specifically, emerging research shows social media use is associated with greater body image concerns, appearance pressure, Body dissatisfaction among women over 40 is decreasing rapidly based on the amount of social media use a woman does. Research also suggests photo-based social media— yes, we're talking Instagram— is associated with greater body dissatisfaction with women over 40. Never mind that the photos are edited. Edited, and they're potentially AI. Even when they're real people, influencers like models have direct access to editing that reduces their waistline, creates a cut jaw. What is that called? It's called something snatched. Okay, I'm now using popular terms. Okay, I'm cool. And enhances your core, hips, and butt. Editing can do all of that. Fitspiration content, the very thing marketed as motivating, has repeatedly been shown to reduce body satisfaction and worsen mood after exposure. And one fascinating finding: when young adults reduce social media use by 50%, body image improves significantly within weeks. So here's, here's the real important thing. That's powerful. Because it suggests the problem isn't your body. The problem may be what you're repeatedly exposing your brain to, right? So does your body's value come from what it allows you to do rather than how it allows you to look, or vice versa? Can you get up off the floor without your hands? Can you carry your luggage, use the overhead compartment? Can you hike? Can you travel? Can you play with grandchildren actively? Can you recover from illness? Quickly, will you remain independent at 85? What's your confidence level in that right now? Those are more longevity metrics, not your size. The cost of weight loss, extreme fasting, caloric restriction, muscle and strength compromises now will cost you not just the time and the energy and the focus now that could have been spent elsewhere, but the ability to be strong in your future. Are your thinness goals shaving life off of your years? It is a legit question. Imagine that you woke up tomorrow and you knew with certainty that your body would never be smaller than it is right now. What would you finally stop postponing? What would you start doing? What would you stop obsessing over? Is there anyone else that you're influencing about the importance of appearance and value based on it or a measure of thinness? Will they be better off or worse off in their own body image because of what they've seen in you? If this episode was helpful or thought-provoking, I'd love to know it. You can DM me behind the scenes on Instagram. I'm the only one who will see those things. So share it with us in the Flipping 50 Insiders group on Facebook if you're there instead. And if this podcast offers a perspective that's valuable to you, whether this episode specifically or episodes that are breaking down muscle research, body composition and fat research, the ability to recomp your body, I would so appreciate one big favor. It is especially helpful in Apple, in iTunes, if you're a listener there. But going to leave a comment and a rating sincerely helps other women who may be more likely to listen based on your comment. If it's helped you, if you could list how did it help you, what did it give you insight on that you otherwise would not have known to ask or to question? Those kinds of comments, not just a ranking. So I'm asking you to spend a few more minutes But it would be extremely helpful. And if instead you listen on Spotify or elsewhere, leaving a comment anywhere is helpful, but it's really, really helpful if you can do both a ranking and a comment about how listening has helped you. And don't forget to follow. Thank you so much. The information shared on Flipping 50: The Strong Longer Way is for educational and informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or qualified healthcare provider before beginning any exercise program, making changes to your diet, or adjusting any medications or supplements. Individual results may vary. Deborah Atkinson and Flipping 50 are not responsible for any injury or adverse outcomes resulting from information presented on this podcast.