You Can Lose Fat and Add Muscle in Your 60s: She Did!

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What are you waiting for? Good night. You want to lose fat and add muscle, and you wonder, is it too late? Well, my guest on this episode is potentially going to convince you all by herself that it's not too late. She's 67, so she's not the first of those in their later 60s that I've told success stories for. And I know some of you are listening, you are members of our community, and you're in your 70s. And so really, I would love to hear from you. So what are you waiting for? I want you to write into Debra@Flipping50.com, and we too should be doing podcast interview. But so much better than me telling you about programs and the importance of programs and that it's not too late is someone telling you that it's working for them and that they reached out to me to say, are you still wanting to tell stories? Because I think I'm a 67-year-old Success story, and I couldn't agree more. My guest today is Joan Ermelbauer, and she was an organizational change management professional who's transformed her experience and expertise into a third chapter, aka retirement passion, coaching individuals on making changes that are lasting. Now keep in mind that Making health and wellness changes is at top of topic for today's podcast. That could have been a secret weapon Joan had. Joan is a professional certified coach accredited by the International Coaching Association, and about a year ago at age 66, Joan discovered the Flipping 50 Nutrition and Fitness program and has been following it with great success. If you are interested in Coach Joan's help in making lasting change, you can learn more about her at www.flipping50nutritionandfitness.com. Www.rippleeffectcoaching.com. And you can also find her on LinkedIn and send her a message if you're interested in connecting with her. Joan offers prospective clients a complimentary half-hour introductory session. But you're going to hear a lot of things on this podcast. And really what we did is unpack what was it like for her before she got started with coaching. She tells where she found me, which was brand new to me. I didn't know that either. So we really unpack that today. And what kind of progress? So we actually start with the really great details of what has been her progress. So if you think, can't do this after 60, it's too late, because I know some of you are asking, like, I'm in my 50s and we start losing muscle at 30, so is it too late for that loss? No, no, and no. So Joan not only proves that she lost fat and gained lean muscle, but she's changed her visceral belly fat, so she's decreased her risks and probably increased and enhanced her longevity. But you be the judge of that. I'm Debra Atkinson. You're listening to Flipping 50, where I address your top struggles, but most of all, we hope to inspire you. You have to expect to age very differently so that you can demand very different products and services. And I hope I empower you to do just that, to ask, was that made for me? Women just like me. I share what to eat, how to move, and how to change your mindset. Sometimes about those first two, so you can have the energy and the vitality that you want, need, and deserve in this second and better half. Can't wait to introduce you to Joan. Joan, thanks so much for joining me.

My pleasure.

All right, we're going to get right down to the nitty-gritty. Well, okay, first of all, no, we're not. We're going to tell the good stuff, um, and then we'll get down to how you found out about Flipping 50, how I came across your radar, because actually I don't know the story behind that. But I, I want you to share all the good stuff, the juicy stuff. So tell us about your progress.

Uh, A little over a year ago, mid-June of '22, I started with your program and I've had— I've been just so pleased with the results. So, and I love that you flip the focus to body composition and not weight. But in that little over a year, down over 15 pounds. 4% body fat, which is just delightful, and skeletal muscle up 2%, and visceral fat dropped, I think, 3 points, and waist 3 inches.

Wow, that's amazing. Tell me this, Prior to that, had you been trying to lose weight, get fit? What, what was going on?

I would say it's been a lifelong endeavor. I've felt like a very experienced practitioner in the weight loss arena. I've had success. I think that But it was tremendous effort taking to have to maintain it. I always say about change, losing the weight, the pounds, was the easy part. Keeping them off was the hard part. That whole sustaining change thing. And as a former organizational change management practitioner, I could bring that lens to this as well. So, so it's been hard, and I think that there, there wasn't any health crisis or anything that prompted it. Um, certainly aware of, of aging, and aging well was very much one of my goals, and just being fit. My mom turned 90, and her health is reasonably good. She has some mobility issues, but there's a little bit of Wow, that's where you're going, that's where you're headed if you're lucky. And let's get there hopefully well and, and just, just be able to live a life and be functional.

So good, so good. Love that. And when— congratulations on the progress. So what were the hardest changes for you? I mean, were there some Things that you believed you should or should not be doing that then I said, oh no, here's how we're doing it.

Totally the beliefs. And I approached— I've been down, you know, comparable paths so many times that I approached it with a healthy skepticism for sure. And it's the beliefs that are the hardest to overcome. Fat is bad, thank you 1980s. Carbs are bad because, you know, they put on weight. And so I was shocked to realize that I actually wasn't eating enough, and that's counterintuitive. And, you know, being a bit of a go-getter my whole life, we all know that more is more. You want, you know, the more, the harder you work, the more you burn. And so that was revolutionary to shift into less is more. Like, oh my goodness. And to actually take a recovery day and literally see results almost immediately to just taking that day off, but consciously having to give myself permission to do that. So those are a couple of beliefs that, that I had to get over. And yeah, I think I'm there. You know, your emphasis on healthy carbs, the, the simple routine of 1 at breakfast, 2 at lunch, 3 at dinner, so helpful. I immediately saw the link between improved sleep and more carbs at dinner. And sometimes I still think I have trouble getting enough carbs in. And it might— as I reflect on that, I'm thinking, oh, maybe it's just a larger portion is what's needed in some cases.

So good. Okay. What surprised you most about your results?

What surprised me most about my results? I think the fact that, that I was able to add muscle. I think being in my now later 60s, that was a surprise, a very pleasant one, I might add. And getting to a weight that I haven't seen in, you know, 30 years or more. That was a surprise. And the fact that it seems stable, that I'm not having to do crazy things or restrict my caloric intake in order to maintain both the fitness and, and the weight. And I recently injured my ribs badly enough that I'm not doing strength training and I'm not doing HIIT. And so I've been in pretty serious recovery for about 3 and a half weeks. And, and what I'm noticing is two things. Is that I'm doing a lot of walking, slow walking, because walking was easier than sitting with the ribs. And yet the weight is stable.

Great.

And I'm not noticing changes in skeletal muscle either or body fat composition. So that's a very pleasant surprise.

That is great. You know what, and as you were chatting, I realized that there's going to be somebody listening who's going to have this question, and I will be remiss if I don't ask it for them. Are you now on, or have you ever been on, HRT?

No, I'm not. I never have been. I was very much, um, the timing was such that The messaging that I picked up was that it, it would increase cancer risk, uh, was— and I, and I had no idea the impact that hormones had on weight management and on belly fat deposits, and no idea that HRT could be helpful. I am using, um, Dr. Anna Cabeca's, uh, New Balance cream, which— Julva. And, and the— and there's another one that's kind of just for your skin, which I learned about from an interview that you had with her. So yeah, but no HRT.

Okay, great. And I'm glad. So listener, I know that you had that question. I was thinking about you.

Okay.

I'm going to ask you a question, and this could really go anywhere. What do you know now that you wish you had known at the start?

Everything. It's been quite, you know, mind-blowing in terms of what I've learned. If I could have told my, myself then, uh, relax into it, trust the process, um, that would be really— that would be helpful. It would have, you know, taken off some of the, some of the stress perhaps that comes with that.

You haven't— so you are a coach, we should put that out there, and it was in the bio, but just to remind everybody. So you have some experience with change, making changes How do you think that played into your success?

Hmm, it's a really good question. I think just recognizing how difficult it is and recognizing the importance of a lifestyle that was sustainable. And that was one of the things that I have found is that your program is so doable. I mean, there's the nutrition that it's not prescriptive, it's a guideline. The high-intensity interval training a couple of times a week or up to 45 minutes a week, so doable. And strength training a couple of times a week. So the fact that that they were changes one could make that I've been able to sustain. I think that that's been key in making the change and keeping it. And as I said, those beliefs were the biggest changes. They're the hardest things to overcome when you've been programmed for decades to to think a certain way.

Okay, so I want to ask you a question about like your friendships, or I don't know if you have sisters or siblings, but I think it's a factor for some of us if we're surrounded by people who may not be adapting the same lifestyle we have, or sometimes it's comparison that something might be working for them or for you and not vice versa. Talk about like your support system. I mean, outside of Flipping 50 and myself, I mean, who else was there? And or was it resistance for you? What part did that— oh, big smile.

Okay.

And we hope your sister's not watching.

Both resistance on the home front when it comes to meal preparation and and eating quite differently from my spouse. And it has been a bone of contention, there's no doubt. My friends, they have been supportive, very much a, you know, "You go, girl!" kind of approach and attitude. I would say my sister's the same, and I have a couple of sisters that I could see potentially going down this path, and, and I could see that I'm in a position to help one of those sisters quite a lot, make it bite-size or whatever.

And you know, this summer, in these last few months, as we released this live— doesn't matter when you're listening to it, by the way— but we participated together in a little bit of an intermittent fasting challenge, and you jumped into that. How did that impact where you are, and what progress did that support, or what, what happened? When you began that, right?

Um, that has been very effective for me. And again, uh, I've seen it's, it's bundled into those numbers that I gave at the beginning of the show, the 4% body fat loss and the, uh, the visceral fat reduction. And again, it's been quite doable with the way that you've laid it out. I haven't found it onerous at all, um, in, in that I haven't been overly hungry. And again, there's so much, so many mixed messages about intermittent fasting, particularly for women in midlife. So I was a little— apprehensive is too strong, but certainly wondering what that might look like. But I would say that it's been the icing on the cake and it's certainly responsible for maybe 7 of those pounds and probably a percent or more of the body fat.

Nice.

And I think that autophagy, if I've said that correctly—

you have—

is— I think that's where those benefits have come from. And, and again, um, doesn't appear to have negatively affected the skeletal muscle mass, the skeletal muscle.

Perfect, love that. And so where are you now with intermittent fasting? Is that too— was that easy to adopt and And is it something that you're continuing and you see as I can implement this in my lifestyle?

This is month 4. I just seem to keep on doing it.

Don't fix it if it's not broken kind of thing.

It wasn't my plan to keep on doing it. And again, I think another belief or rule that has really ameliorated. Some of it's age-related, but that whole all-or-nothing attitude, the, you know, "I blew it, therefore let's just blow— continue to blow it." And the— in July, I was on holidays. I was with my family. It was my mom's 90th birthday party, and I still was able to, to follow it. For the most part and still get, get results.

So good. So what would you— what do you see for yourself another 10 years from now? What do you want for Joan when she's in her late 70s?

I would hope that I'm still doing strength training and doing HIIT and active with walking and hiking and traveling the world.

Well, we're going to check back on you, you know, so.

Okay, sounds good.

What would you say, Joan, to somebody who might be on the fence about starting strength training? About— I think there's somewhat of reluctance maybe about eating the amount of protein that we're often now based on research suggesting is optimal for maintaining or gaining lean muscle mass. What would you say to someone who's hesitant?

Try it, I guess. Um, I, I— that is something I have done is significantly increase the protein, and I think that's, um, has really helped with, with satiety and, and feeling satisfied during the day. But I also think that the strength training, it doesn't have to be tons and tons. And it's easy to take an approach of progressing. So, you know, start small and start where you're at. And you also want to start in a way that's not going to increase your risk of injury.

I want to ask you one more question, just popped into my mind. So you mentioned, obviously your statistics are great, but is— are there things that you are now doing that you're inspired to do that you weren't doing before, that it's enabled you to do, or maybe inspired you to, to do?

I think I'm doing— if it's inspiration, but doing less. Like, I used to go on these long, hard walks, 2.5 hours, you know, uphills, and I'm going hard, and you're, you're never as breathless as with HIIT. So, you know, unbeknownst to me, I'm probably spending most of my time in the no-benefit zone. Um, and so just, it's really giving up those I think if there's inspiration, it's that you can take a day off, that you can relax, that you can, you know, have a glass of wine. The world is not going to collapse.

So good. Those are great points. Thank you so much. And thank you so much for coming on and sharing. I think it's First of all, it's like makes my day to celebrate your win with you, obviously. But it also is, I think, so meaningful for all the women who are listening right now and perhaps to this podcast. They're watching this one and realizing it's not too late. And, you know, if she can, maybe I can too. So very important. Okay, listeners, so now it's up to you. You can let me have it. Was there a question I should have asked Joan that I did not? Because I know where to find her. We can get her back if we need to. You'll find the show notes at Flipping50.com/LoseFatAndAddMuscle. And Joan, where could listeners find you if they wanted to connect with you?

Right. They could check me out on my website. Which is www.rippleeffectcoaching.com or email me at Joan@Ermelbauer.com.

Fantastic. Thank you so much. We've got links in the show notes, everybody. So again, Flipping50.com/Lucy lose fat and add muscle. And what are you waiting for? Let's start Flipping 50 today.