JJ Virgin4x NYTimes Best Selling Author, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Fitness Hall of Famer

Change Your Habits. Fix Your Metabolism

20 May 2026 · 1 min

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0:41

In this segment of the YouTube video "Change Your Habits. Fix Your Metabolism," JJ Virgin stresses the importance of preserving lean muscle mass as a cornerstone for fat loss and metabolic health. She explains that resistance training not only adds muscle, which can offset the metabolic slowdown that often accompanies weight loss, but also serves as the primary site for restoring insulin sensitivity. Virgin argues that many age‑related declines in metabolism and health are not inevitable consequences of aging itself, but rather the result of behavioral choices made as we age. Consequently, she advocates incorporating regular resistance exercise and mindful habits to maintain lean mass, boost metabolism, and improve insulin function.

Chapters

We've got to really think about protecting lean mass because this is ultimately where we're going to start to be able to burn our fat and boost our metabolism. And that leads me to number 2, is we've got to make sure that we're doing some type of resistance training, but for a couple different reasons. One of them is you would think of resistance training of, okay, more muscle, better metabolism. Yes. I mean, if, if you look at one of the challenges that happens as we lose weight, we lower our metabolic rate. We can offset some of that by having more muscle. But the other reason that muscle is so important is because it is the place where we can start to restore insulin sensitivity. And I am convinced that a lot of what happens as we age isn't really because of aging. I think it's because of how we behave as we age.