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June 30, 2025 12 mins

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In this episode of the Muscles and Mindset Revolution Podcast, Coach Anne Jones breaks down a frustrating but common reality: you’re eating clean, maybe even working out… and still gaining weight in your 30s or 40s.

Anne reveals what’s actually slowing your metabolism (spoiler: it’s not age), and the three most common mistakes healthy women make that unintentionally lead to fat gain, muscle loss, and burnout.


You’ll learn:

  • Why muscle loss—not age—is the hidden driver behind weight gain
  • How undereating and overdoing cardio backfire after 30
  • What to do instead to stop the gain—and finally feel like yourself again
  • How real clients reversed midlife weight gain without tracking, restricting, or burning out


If you’ve gained 10–15 lb despite doing everything “right,” this episode is your wake-up call and your next step.


💥 Anne’s private 1:1 coaching project is now accepting applications specifically from six women who have gained 5-10 lb in the past few years despite 'eating clean.' DM the word ENOUGH on Instagram @annejonesfit or click here to apply.


🕒 Episode Breakdown:

  • 00:00 – Struggling with weight gain even while 'eating healthy'
  • 00:48 – Why metabolism doesn’t slow the way you think
  • 02:56 – The real culprit: loss of muscle, not age
  • 03:17 – Mistake #1: Undereating calories & protein
  • 04:25 – Mistake #2: Over-relying on clean eating & cardio
  • 06:54 – Mistake #3: Ignoring hunger cues, stress, and recovery
  • 09:10 – What to do instead: strength, fuel, recovery, mindset
  • 11:34 – Final thoughts & private coaching invitation

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• [https://musclesandmindset.ca/]

Ready to build strength, feel confident AF, and lose fat without obsessing or stressing over it? [Apply to Join the Muscles & Mindset program here].

Connect With Me:

• Instagram: [@annejonesfit]

• Website: [https://www.annejonescoaching.ca/]

• YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@annejones]

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You are eating clean.
Maybe working out.
But your jeans still don't fitand you've somehow gained 10 to
15 pounds-or more- since yourearly thirties or forties.
If that sounds familiar, and youfeel you're doing everything
right, this episode is for youand it's a game changer.
Welcome to the Muscles andMindset Revolution Podcast; the
podcast for ambitious women whowant to build strength, feel

(00:20):
confident AF and lose fat forgood without counting calories
or BS.
Quick fixes.
I'm your host, Anne Jones,certified life coach, personal
trainer and mindset expert, andafter 15 plus years in the
fitness industry, I know thereal key to lasting change isn't
just what you do, it's how youthink.
If you are ready to shift yourmindset, build a lifestyle you
love and feel confident af youare in the right place, let's

(00:43):
dive in.
Okay, you guys welcome back tothe Muscles and Mindset
Revolution podcast.
Today's podcast is for the womanwho thought that age 30, age 35
would feel like freedom, and inmany ways it does.
But for this person, weight justkept creeping on, and it's not
your fault.
I'm gonna tell you why.
Guess what?
Stopping the gain, that's a win.

(01:05):
So here's what a lot of us don'tknow.
After age 30, we naturally losearound 1% of our muscle every
year, and we often gain aroundone third more body fat in its
place.
That is what slows downmetabolism, even if everything
stays the same.
People think that age is whatmakes it harder to lose body

(01:26):
weight is what slows down yourmetabolism.
It's actually not, the researchshows that metabolism,
particularly in women.
Actually slows in significantly,almost not at all, until the age
of 65.
So really what's happening is,yes, after the age of 30, it's
not that it gets harder to loseweight or your metabolism slows

(01:46):
down, it's that you start losingyour muscle mass.
And if you're not activelybuilding it and rebuilding it.
You are gaining more body fat inits place so you feel weaker.
This is not ideal for your bonedensity.
This is why your metabolismslows down.
So by the age 35 or 40, itbecomes very easy to gain a half

(02:08):
a pound.
Of muscle loss, which equals ahalf a pound of fat gain per
year and over a decade, that'sfive pounds of real hidden body
change just by doing nothing andby doing nothing, I mean, no
active strength training ormuscle building.
But also, you are not doinganything wrong.
You're just not.
I don't wanna use the wordfighting, but you're not working
with your body and what it needsat this time of life.

(02:30):
So we end up blaming the bodyand the age and all of this, and
that's actually not what it is.
And then what happens is fromyour twenties to your fifties,
most women gain about fourkilograms.
That's what the research shows,four kilograms, about 10 pounds
simply from aging and lifestyleshifts like sitting, moving less
and hormonal changes.

(02:51):
So I just gave you a 15 poundweight gain without you having
to do anything.
And I am going to share thethree most common mistakes that
I see healthy women make.
Number one, this is so common.
Number one.
Is most women in this age range,and particularly today I'm
speaking to the woman who hastried eating clean or like

(03:12):
constantly women are coming andsaying.
I eat pretty healthy.
We eat pretty healthy.
Cool.
So the number one mistake that Isee that this woman makes and
then she feels like she'sgaining weight or unable to lose
weight, even though she's eatinghealthy, the number one mistake
is undereating, undereating,calorically and undereating
protein.
So this person goes low caloriethinking.

(03:33):
Deficit equals result.
But biologically, it signalsenergy scarce and your body
clings to fat.
I am thinking of a client--We'll just call her s.
My client S when she came to usjust six weeks ago, she was
skipping lunch.
This is super common in my highachiever clients.
Right.
And I actually see it more in myclients who work from home
during C0VID is meal skipping,which is hilarious, right?

(03:53):
'cause it's like you literallyhave access to your fridge in
your kitchen.
But we get so caught up in thiswithout seeing anyone else take
a break.
That actually, I do find thatthose women skip meals more.
So my client s was skippinglunch, skipping fluids, right?
Not drinking enough water.
She felt very foggy.
She felt defeated.
She, yes, had gained weight andthen all we had to do was get

(04:13):
her to eat regularly, addbalanced meals with protein, and
she literally dropped inches.
She boosted energy and shereversed that midlife weight
creep in six weeks.
I just got her six-week feedbacksurvey on the weekend.
The number two mistake that Isee women make who think that
they're being healthy or eatinghealthy is over-relying on clean
eating and cardio.

(04:34):
Now, don't get me wrong, veggiesand cardio are good, and in
fact, I was"victim" to cleaneating as well in my early
twenties.
This was the reign of ToscaReno, who I do love.
I even met her in real life.
I went to her workshop, saw herdo a one arm pushup, like good
for her.
And there's nothing wrong withher Recipes that are wonderful
and clean eating has taken onits own whole other persona that

(04:55):
people just think meanseliminating all of these things.
We still love vegetables.
We still need to do cardio forour heart health, but cardio
heavy, zero strength training,plus low physiological stress on
the body.
So no adding resistance is astress ball for your metabolism.
I'm gonna give you anotherclient story.
My client, shout out to Jana.
Jana preaches this from therooftop, so I think I can name

(05:16):
her here.
Jana was so frustrated.
She was entering menopause andshe had developed this
relationship with the gym andwith the scale, which she didn't
like and she'd always likedworking out.
So she felt very frustrated.
She was going to HIIT every day,she was going to Pilates every
day.
And she was like,'WTF, this isnot working.
What is going on?' She reallythought like nothing was gonna
work.
We started working together overa year ago.

(05:37):
We added structured lifting.
We added protein and weeliminated counting.
She was over it.
She did not wanna count acalorie.
She did not wanna do a log.
I was like, cool.
She lost 14 pounds and lovesgoing to the gym again, and has
gained so much strength that shefeels free in her body again.
That's it.
Swapping the HIIT in thePilates, adding in structured
lifting, intentional protein andrest.

(05:59):
So that's what we do for thoseover-relying on clean eating and
cardio.
If this is hitting home andyou're listening to us thinking,
oh my God, that is me.
I want you to know that Icreated something specifically
for you.
Right now, we are acceptingapplications for a private
one-on-one coaching projectdesigned exactly for women over
30 who've gained 10 to 15 poundsin the last couple of years

(06:21):
despite eating clean and tryingto do all the things right
inside this project, I will showyou exactly how to stop the
gain, reverse the weight creep,and feel like yourself again.
There is zero tracking, zeroextreme dieting, and there is
always a strength first mindset.
We're only taking a handful ofwomen.
It's almost full.
There's just a couple spots leftand applications closed

(06:43):
tomorrow.
Canada day's last day.
So if you're even a little bitcurious, DM me the word enough
on Instagram at@annejonesfit andI'll tell you if you're a fit.
I'll also put the applicationfor it in the show notes.
The number three mistake that Isee a lot of healthy, healthy,
quote unquote women make isignoring hunger cues, stress and
recovery.

(07:03):
So last week on the podcast, Italked about intuitive eating
and how one of my favorite partsof intuitive eating is that it
teaches you how to tune back inwith your hunger cues, which is
one of the most important thingsthat we can do metabolically and
nutritionally.
And that rings true here aswell.
So one of the biggest mistakesthat I see women making is
ignoring those hunger cues, andof course, ignoring those

(07:24):
fullness cues as well.
Ignoring stress.
How many times have I asked aclient or I remember when I was
a massage therapist, this isclassic, when I was a new
massage therapist, and I wouldask, you know, we're supposed to
ask about their stress levels,and people would be like, oh, I
don't have any stress.
I have very low stress.
And then you'd get them on thetable and they'd be like, my dog
just died and I'm going througha divorce and I'm in court for
this.
And you're like, whoa.
I thought you just said you hadno stress.

(07:46):
We as a society, as a culturehave been taught that the things
that are actually stressful arelike, not stressful.
That's not me.
Or I'm resilient and I can, youknow, hack it.
So we see that as not beingunder stress.
That's a whole podcast foranother day.
But often what happens in thisthird group of women who are
ignoring hunger cues, stress andrecovery is they're pulling the

(08:06):
'super disciplined' card.
I'm super disciplined, I'm superdisciplined, or they wanna be
super disciplined.
They're trying to be superdisciplined, I find often means
ignoring your hunger, sloggingthrough stress, pushing through
shirking, rest and sleep.
And then what's the result?
Their hormones freak out, theircortisol spikes, their nervous

(08:26):
system is completelydysregulated, and they gain fat
badda.
Boom.
I have another client example.
My client, Hannah, mom of threealso working from home, skipping
meals, right?
Skipping meals, feeding herkids, not feeding herself.
Classic.
All we did was go from skippingmeals to eating based on her
hunger.
We taught her how to build aplate.

(08:48):
She didn't have to trackanything.
We added movement and sleep, andshe lost 10 pounds.
And she feels completely calmand clear like she has found
herself again, which I knowsounds so cheesy, but it's so
true.
So the top three mistakes that Ireally see, quote unquote
healthy women making.
Undereating protein and caloriesover-relying on clean eating and
cardio and ignoring their hungercues, stress and recovery.

(09:10):
Here's what you want to doinstead.
The first thing we need to do isstop the gain.
We really like skip over thispart.
I mentioned at the beginning,after the age of 30, if we are
not replacing that muscle massthat is being lost, you are
going to gain weight.
And the other thing that happensis just lifestyle factors of
more sitting caretaking, youknow, not being as active.

(09:32):
Those are, that's low hangingfruit in my opinion.
So forget losing weight first.
You have to stop gaining weight.
Again, like I said, it's normalfor those reasons to gain around
half a pound to a pound per yearafter the age of 30.
So if we can stop that, that's ahuge win because in 10 years
that could be an additional 10pounds.

(09:54):
And then we begin to reverse itwith the things that I
mentioned.
A balanced nutritional intake,full epic meals with protein,
fats and carbs not living off oflettuce or bars or your kids'
goldfish, crackers or thedrive-thru.
Like eat like a grown ass woman.
Strength training at least threetimes a week.

(10:14):
No, you know, at least two.
To three times a week, notnegotiable to rebuild muscle and
metabolism.
These can be 20, 30 minuteworkouts you guys.
This needs to happen.
Otherwise, you are going to losethat muscle and gain weight.
That's number two.
Number three is nervous systemsupport.
You need to rest.
You need to be able to listen toyour body when it's telling you

(10:35):
to pause.
Learn how to recover andbreathe.
This is essential.
And then lastly, mindset reset,which is different from nervous
system.
Consistently showing up withcompassion for yourself, not
perfection.
Perfection is what draws us intoall or nothing thinking and
actions and causes people tostop.
So when we go into ourperfectionist tendencies, when

(10:55):
we're pulled in by all ornothing thinking, we go all,
all, all.
And then when it gets exhaustingor it doesn't fit into our life,
we stop completely.
And what happens?
We fall back into that lack ofsleep, and then we're not
training and we're not eating.
You know, properly and hydratingproperly, and then the weight
starts to come back up.
So if that's not a reason to becompassionate with yourself, I'm

(11:18):
not sure what is, and this isthe method my one-on-one clients
use to not only stop thatcreeping gain, but to reverse it
without obsession.
We are not obsessing over food.
We are not obsessing overmacros, and we are not.
Going to the point of burnout.
If you are someone who is overthe age of 30, if you are

(11:38):
gaining weight or have gainedweight despite quote unquote
eating healthy and you are readyto break the script, you're not
failing.
You've just been told the wrongrules.
Right?
So if this episode felt like Iwas talking directly to you,
it's because I was, this issomething that I help clients
with.
This is exactly what we do.
I created this private coachingproject for the woman who is
ready to stop blaming herselfand start working with her body

(12:00):
instead of against it.
And that's a wrap on this week'sepisode of The Muscles and
Mindset Revolution Podcast.
If your weight has been creepingup, even though you are quote
unquote, eating healthy andtrying to do everything right,
please hear me.
You are not broken.
You just need a new approachthat works with your body and
not against it, and honestlyjust feels easier.
I created this one-on-onecoaching project for the woman
who's ready to stop the gain andstart getting results without

(12:23):
dieting, obsessing, or burningout.
Doors close tomorrow, July 1st,and we're only accepting a few
more women.
And yes, there is a Canada daybonus! But if it's after that,
don't worry.
You can still DM me the wordenough to apply.
I'll tell you if you're a fitand what your current options
are.
So if you're ready to lose fiveto 10 pounds without losing your
mind in the process, dM me theword"enough" on Instagram at
@annejonesfit and I'll tell youif it's a fit.

(12:44):
Thanks for being here.
You've got this and I will seeyou next week.
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