Top 10 Flipping 50 Podcasts for 2024 | Menopause Fitness

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Hey, and welcome.

This is absolutely one of my favorite podcasts to do. It's like a trip down memory lane. So in this episode, it is the top 10 podcasts of Flipping 50 for 2024, as voted by you with just a little help from me. So at the very end of the year, it's quite unfair to say that a podcast released, say, on December 17th is gonna have as many downloads as one that was released, say, January 5th. I think we can agree on that. So what we do is look at downloads in the first 7 days, we look at downloads in the first 2 weeks or 10 days, in order to look at what was rapid out of the gate as well as weighing what was really like hands down. And so there is a little ish going on, I-S-H. So we do look at all the podcast tops or top downloads in the first 7 days, and then we also factor in just a little juice because some of them are a little bit more slow in starting because they may have been released like right at the tail end or the start of a holiday weekend, and that changes things. Pretty dramatically depending on what it is. So tune in here. What I highly recommend that you do is go and listen to any of these if you haven't. But I'd also love you to answer this rhetorical question: which of these was your top pick, or maybe the first way that we met? And I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Debra Atkinson. You're listening to Flipping 50. I started this podcast over a decade ago to answer questions about fitness in menopause and beyond before you knew to ask them. The goal: to help accelerate your results with science and the practical application of proven protocols while living your best life. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than a midlife woman. And it's not just about you, but the 3 generations that you influence. My unique 40-year career, including being a university senior lecturer in kinesiology, an industry subject matter expert, and an international speaker, to founder of the first and the only exclusively made for menopause and beyond fitness membership in the world. Every week I interview experts behind the scenes and the science of optimal hormone balancing, fitness, and longevity, and share answers to our community's questions so you can have the vitality and the energy that you want, need, and deserve.

So here we go, and we do this in David Letterman style. So I hope some of you are at least are familiar with that. David Letterman, by the way, is a Des Moines, Iowa guy, and when he did countdowns, he would down from 10, 9, 8, so that number 1, the number 1 most downloaded podcast of the year, will be the very last one. So stay with me after the end because I'm going to do a request for Who would you love to hear me interview? Who would you love to hear me talk about? Would you be interested in hearing more? Hmm, I hesitate to say testimonials, but more stories of women who have flipped 50 to inspire you. What do you really want to hear in 2025? We have been doing this particular podcast since 2014. We've interviewed a lot of people, we've covered a lot of topics, we've gone back and updated the science and covered a lot of them, but we We want to continue being one of the top, as identified by AARP, the top 10, and actually were identified and featured in one of the top 3 podcasts for 50 and overs. And we want to continue to be that. And as our audience grows, everything changes just a little bit. So let me hear from you. We had a tie, so that is how we're starting. We had a tie for number 10. They were so close. The absolute number wasn't really absolute. This is the same, but it's so close I could not turn either one down. So the number 10 is in Thai: big obstacles to gaining lean muscle and fat loss after 40. So this episode really explored what is the challenge with like being proactive and getting into anabolic spot where you can gain lean muscle and/or preserve it. And what's the biggest obstacle, which we know is catabolic hormones, and that catabolism means they're breaking down. How do we really dive into, you know, day-to-day for you and I? What does that mean if we're anabolic or catabolic? What kind of habits come into play? That one unpacked it. So if you're a woman over 40, that one was released September 27th. 27th. Shout out to one of my besties in elementary and junior high and high school whose birthday is on September 27th. All right. And the second tied for number 10 is my post-menopause workout week experiment. What I'm doing. This one was just released November 8th, but apparently you all really want to know what I'm doing and how I am changing my workout. So not just changing because I'm in post-menopause compared to perimenopause, but I'm actually tweaking some things. So I'm sharing my personal workout experiment, and I'll give you a heads up, I'm not liking it. So in fact, I am feeling this pull, and it's like, I've got to go to the gym today, and it's like, I have to. Rarely do I say that kind of thing, but doing the experiment I'm doing I'm at a have-to moment, like I've got to in order to get it in what I need to have happen during the course of this week, I need to go. So you can hear all about it in this episode. So by the way, each of the individual links to these podcasts will be in today's show notes. All right, number 9, 5 non-exercise ways to boost fat burn. And by the way, I created a video in YouTube and put it on my channel, and it was like a runaway hit. Like, people were like, boom, you know. I've posted a lot of workout videos of tips on how to do arms or abs or glutes, lower body, but this one, like, non-exercise tips was like, woo! And I was like, who knew? Like, that's crazy. So either there's a lot of lazy people on my channel, but then I came over and I actually put it here second, and we embedded that video, by the way. So if you're curious about it, that one will also— the link is in the show notes. That was released on August 30th. So if you're looking for ways— we can't exercise constantly, and actually that will drive us in the opposite direction of desired effects. So when you're not exercising, there are lots of other things that you can do too. The big word these days is biohack. But to help yourself burn fat. I don't love the word hack because it implies this shortcut and cheat. And, you know, it's not that really. It is— you can just do these easy, simple things that some of them you're already doing. But if you start thinking about them as this is really helping me, it potentially can help you even more. So that again was number 9, bringing us to number 8: muscle protein synthesis in menopause. How to plan pre and post workout. So we're talking pre and post workout snacks, what you need to fuel, how and why. Here's a quote I just heard very recently, and it is, once you know the why, the how gets easier. So if you understand why you want a certain thing or don't want a certain thing pre-exercise or post-exercise, Following through on that gets really easy because you're like, understand the science behind that, understand what's happening, and you can much more easily like sink your teeth into it and say, okay, I can do that and I can find ways to make it easy for myself. Menopause challenges muscle maintenance, but understanding muscle protein synthesis transforms your results. So I'm going to explain the hormonal impact of eating and on exercise, and exercise on your muscle breakdown, whether you do or you don't have food, namely protein when we're talking strength and muscle, but also when we're talking bone. Meal timing, what is that for fat loss, for strength, for optimal muscle? It's all in there. That was released March 22nd, and a bit on purpose that month, because if you know, March is National Nutrition Month. It's always a good month to think about nutrition, but there's something to consider. It brings us now to number 7: lean muscle in menopause. 7 supplements that I'm using. By the way, this was also a YouTube video, so we'll pop that in here. And this is also a cheat sheet, so if you want a little PDF explaining, you know, what do I use, you know, and we're not just talking— I call protein powder. But beyond that, I call protein powder use for shakes and smoothies, but also for adding to things that you might have for dessert to bump up your protein intake at that meal. You can make high protein brownies, you can make high protein pancakes. So if you're gonna do pancakes, that would be the way to do it, right? You can make high protein energy balls, and I don't like that term. I really dislike that term, in fact, because most of us don't need energy balls. By the way, you know, we're not high schoolers. But if you are debating between, say, a sugar cookie, or depending on what time of year you're listening, a granola bar, you know, potentially an energy bar with a little bit more healthy fats and with protein in it— higher protein, not just carbohydrates— probably going to be better for you. As long as you're having it for dessert, by the way, not in the middle of the day, not on an empty stomach. But you will learn supplements I use beyond protein powder. Creatine is going to be right up there, but there are several others that you may not have put together with your lean muscle mass and why you might be limited on your ability to gain it, and things that might help you kind of get around the corner. That one, although also could have been released in Nutrition Month, was released in April 12th. So the link to that will also be in the show notes. All right, so we're going to take a look at now number 6. So as we look at number 6, 20 menopause fitness changes you'll be glad you made. Yeah, so this is a big tip-rich kind of episode. So from one to the next to the next, little things that you may be listening to and you've already done, but a few that might have escaped you. Things that just, again, in your everyday life, essential fitness changes that support your body through menopause and post-menopause, and practical science-backed strategies to optimize strength and energy and resilience. And whether you're in perimenopause or you're in post-menopause, these will help you thrive throughout. That was released in May. And another released in May was number 5, Mastering Midlife Metabolism: The Key to Fat Loss After 45. Struggling with weight gain during menopause? This episode is about how to learn hormonal changes during menopause that affect metabolism and discover routine ways to get around them, to get over them, to get through them, to improve them. So what I want you to remember, all of you, every single day, is that metabolism can go down in menopause, but for so many reasons. So let's say you've been impacted in a way that suddenly your sleep is off, and that's maybe never been your MO. If you're not sleeping, potentially you're not quite as active, but you're also not releasing some of those very beneficial to metabolism hormones during sleep. Deep cycles of sleep is when that happens. If you're not sleeping well, you're probably not staying or getting into that deep cycle of sleep. As much as you truly need to. So that's going to be an issue and an obstacle for you. So we're going to take a look at how can you offset that. Number one, how can you sleep better, right? There's lots of ways to do many things in this episode, so you're going to love all of the little gifts that are in this one.

Hey, this is Debra Atkinson, and there is one thing you can't do in the gym at your age, and that's get all the protein that you need. You've got to do that in the kitchen. To make it easy for myself, not only to get the protein but the fiber, the fruits and vegetables I want daily, I started drinking a smoothie a day 30 years ago. But when I realized all the junk, the sugar, and the extras that you don't want, that I don't want, hiding in most protein powders. That's when I finally caved in after years of saying I will never ever ever sell supplements. Stop skipping, skimping, and sabotaging yourself in the morning after workouts by always being prepared. Look, yep, I agree, real food first, but it's just not convenient to carry a turkey sandwich Sometimes the protein—

and don't forget the fiber—

they kill cravings and they boost satiety. And you've got to make it easy to do the right thing. You can use code PODCAST for 10% off your first order at Flipping50.com today.

Number 5, Mastering Midlife Metabolism. So this was a popular topic, right? So we're going to be looking specifically at metabolism in this one. It's the key to fat loss after 45. Struggling with weight gain during menopause? If this is you, this episode, you'll learn how hormonal changes during menopause affect your metabolism and how to change that. So remember that you're not stuck, and if We just lay down and take it, then okay. But we can't just blame it on metabolism because you've got little tricks and tips that you can do all the time. By the way, here's one. If you're sitting listening to this, and I know if you're commuting, potentially that just has to be what it is. But if you're commuting for an hour, as soon as you get there, wherever it is you're going, get up, move around. Breaking up that sedentary time is one way to help yourself boost your metabolism throughout the day. And boosting your movement actually improves your blood sugar levels, and that's going to have a positive impact on you as well. Okay, now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty. This is number 4: less belly fat. Muscle loss is fat gain in menopause. It's kind of a shocking truth in that title. We do not want to lose muscle because the truth is, when you do— and this ties back to metabolism just discussed in the prior two episodes. So if one topic comes up over and over, it's probably belly fat and it's losing weight, but it's specifically in the belly. It's the biggest target area for a lot of women. This episode highlights how weight training can help reduce belly fat. No core exercises, not at all. Really, core exercise will never help you rid yourself of belly fat. They won't, only very indirectly, and we're talking third and fourth cousins here. So if you get a stronger core, you will be able to do more of the things that help you reduce belly fat, and that is go faster and lift heavier weights or go longer to muscle fatigue doing a lighter weight with more endurance. Really important things to distinguish if you're a woman in midlife. So if belly fat is a key, number 4 is your love for— maybe first target and first stop after this episode. Number 3, coming up to the top, is unlocking the secrets to skin longevity. It's a solution for crepey skin. I could say creepy, but it's actually crepey, with my guest on this episode, Dr. Alessandra from OneSkin. Now look, I've tried One One Skin. Many of you have heard of me talking about two other brands that I truly love, but today I talked to them on One Skin. I've been actually using that around my eyes. I've used it for my body. I used their product like to the empty bottle syndrome for my face. We explore the scientific breakthroughs that can enhance skin longevity, and they are known for one of their most like, wow, discoveries very recently. Female-run company, very scientifically oriented. And this was one where my very educated and savvy niece reached out to me and said, tell me about that, tell me about your experience with that. So pay attention, you all, because where she goes, we all want to go, by the way. So you're going to discover some practical tips to maintain youthful, healthy skin post-menopause, whether or not you try the product. But you will learn about a specific molecule discovered and included in this. That was released on January 26th, kind of a time of year when at least if you're here in somewhere dry climate, you know, a few more wrinkles, it seems more dry, it's not as hot, you're not as tan. It's just, there is that time of year I think where whether you're pasty or it just seems to be in a drier climate, that your wrinkles show up more. Anybody? Is that just me? All right, so don't answer that. Number 2, getting close to the top: lose weight in menopause faster and easier than you ever thought possible. This one was with my friend Stu Schaefer, sharing effective weight loss strategies for women in menopause. And learn how to overcome metabolic challenges and discover the best supplements and tips to lose weight more easily during this stage of midlife that you're in. Stu has been a personal trainer, really coaching in nutrition, as we all do, for— as I'm— I want to say 15 to 20 years, and really has found, you know, I think his rhyme and rhythm on his path helping with weight loss, specifically for those of you who have, you know, some weight loss resistance. Nothing you do tries, and I hesitate to say this, so please don't take this as condescending, but I think some of times we as humans think we've, I've tried everything, right? I know I've said that. I've tried everything. I've tried this, I've tried that. But the biggest challenge that any of us faces, especially if we're trying things that we know enough to be dangerous about, but we don't know the ins and outs and the nuances of them, we haven't necessarily tried each of those things sequentially. Like which one would it make sense to test and try first? And then that thing, have we tried that in a method that makes sense? There are some things, for instance, that you try at a low level for, say, 3 days. You see what the results are. If there's no results, you're going to increase the level and then try it again for 3 days. Notice any changes? No? Well, then you're going to increase it. And a lot of us have, quote unquote, tried it. And often when I've asked prospective clients about what they've tried and said, what happened? They said, well, when I remembered to take it, you know, and I didn't take it all the time, they might say, because of blah, blah, blah. And we always have a good reason. I say this collectively because inevitably somewhere in my life, I too have done this. And so we sometimes need someone to walk us through, here's what you probably wanna try first. If this is true for you. And here's how we sequentially do it. Now let's put these other things we might try on a list so that they're queued up and they're next, but we're gonna go with this one first. So we're trying one variable at a time and we're gonna tweak that variable one change at a time till we know this actually does work when we get to the right dose for you, or it doesn't work. And here's what we did. Let's put this aside now. Go on to something else. That is the benefit of a coach. And Stu and I both do a lot of that. But I would say he is really an expert and really loves to help women with weight loss. If we were to distinguish each other, you know, I would say I am all for strength gains, focus on getting stronger, building muscle, adding things as opposed to taking them away, making sure you're getting adequate stimulus. As long as you're not overworking or overexercising. So a lot of you would ask, why would I ever promote another coach? It's because no one voice suits everybody. It's why I train Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialists. I want, number one, to empower other women, female health coaches, trainers, fitness instructors, yoga instructors, Pilates instructors to help more people to, number one, thrive in their own careers, because I've seen us in the fitness industry lose too many of the good ones. So we want to keep them and keep them getting the right information. So I think you're going to love that one. Stu and I always have a good time on a podcast, and I think that means to listeners, you'll have a good time listening to us as well. Next up, and drumroll please, the number one top 10 Flipping 50 podcast of 2024 is I gained lean muscle after 50. How I lost fat. And this was from April 5th. And this is big. This was actually not after 50. This was, uh, April 5th. I lost this weight after 60. Yeah. So we're getting close to it. You know, I share how I lost fat, how I gained muscle after 50, significantly improving my body composition. I actually could update this one and do a second because this summer I did it again. So March 27th, I turned 60. So this April 5th release would've meant I recorded it still in my 50s. So we prerecord generally where, you know, a month, maybe, out just in case somebody gets sick on our team, somebody travels, maybe me, and we've got some padding so nobody is scrambling. And that's important. But I share how I lost fat, gained muscle after 50, and significantly improved my body composition, and how I've added 4 pounds of lean muscle mass, lost 4% body fat from 50 to 60. And that was released right after I celebrated my birthday. This summer, I would love to know if you'd like an update because I'll share with you what I did to do it again. And I am not one that you're gonna see in booty tights, you know what I mean, and a jog bra. I like long-waisted jog bras. I don't like crop tops. I hate companies that only make crop tops. I beg them to make long ones and tell them that the they make a killing if they made decent ones. But I was this summer showing because it was like, this was actually fairly easy. It was easy. And so I will show you some pictures. I'll do an update, but I'd love to hear from you. Tell me you'd love to see that and love to hear what I did, and I'll share that one too with you. So in this one, I share the exercise, the lifestyle changes that happened in my past decade from 50 to 60, and what I use to enhance recovery and boost my performance. Just little simple things, by the way, like Epsom salt. And I know, yeah, I could also say in the same sentence a sunlight and sauna. Those are like $5, $2,500, right? Big difference. And I get it. And yet, you know, if you are looking at investing for your household, you know, in things that help everyone in your house improve their overall health, not just recovery, boost toxic load loss or reduction, boost weight loss. Did you know also a sauna acts like a workout for your body? It's kind of like tricking your body into thinking it works out. You also, by the way, need to work out. I use things like a Power Plate and that also helped, but you don't have to have the expensive things. You can start with the things that are far easier. So that is the number 1 top 10 podcast of this year. I Gained Lean Muscle After 50: How I Lost Fat. And by the way, this is not part of the title, but you can too. That's it. That's the wrap for the 2024 year. Thank you so much for listening. If this podcast during the course of the year, or if you're just meeting me for the very first time, has been helpful, please let me know. So you can put a comment wherever you've seen this shared, in Facebook or in Instagram. You can let me know if there's somebody you'd love me to interview. And by the way, you might want to look first and do a search on the search icon. A lot of times I'm given, I'd love for you to interview them, and I already have. But if there's a specific topic and a specific guest, we've got some things coming up up for 2025 that I think you'll love. I mentioned we're already ahead of the game by several months. Dr. John Gray will be back in the house with us. You know, he is the Mars and Venus author, and I think you'll love his podcast episode. I always love talking to him. He's a delight, and he's eloquent, and he knows his stuff. And who knew, really, that he wasn't just talking about relationships and Mars and Venus, in husbands and wives, but he knows so much about health, you know, and namely because like me, it's selfish. You know, the more we learn, the more we teach, the more we know ourselves. So I hope you're feeling the same way. I hope you're feeling served. In every podcast episode, we put resources, places for you to go for a next stop, getting extra help if you need it through a discovery call and other episodes. Similar that you might like. And in this episode, we share top 10 podcasts from previous years, like '23, '22, and '21. Again, happy New Year, everybody, no matter what time of year you seem to be listening.

Thank you for listening. To listen to a deck To get the show notes, visit Flipping50.com where you'll be able to find all the previous episodes. And I made it super easy to make the most of your listening time and get exactly what you want to listen to as top priority by getting the top 10 episodes in the areas you most care about, like how much protein do you need? Weight loss, and other 3 ultra important topics we've identified as our community's top 5.

There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than you, midlife women.

So go and listen right now. Do you have a question for a podcast? A question you'd love to ask, or maybe a story you want to tell? Did you know we have a special group just for podcast question roundups and the answers? My community coaches and I provide answers daily inside of this group, but it's also where I go when I occasionally say, okay, open call for podcast questions or tell your story.

Would you like to be a guest.

So if you're looking for a community of women who are also interested in optimizing their health, strengthening their mindset, and looking forward to every new year, join the Flipping 50 Insiders group. That's Flipping 50 Insiders on Facebook.