How to Lose Fat and Keep Muscle After 30 or 40

Most men over 30 or 40 think fat loss means starving, suffering, and losing strength in the process. That’s a lie.

In this episode of The Highly Effective Man, I break down the real fat loss blueprint for driven men who want to get lean without losing muscle, energy, or their edge. These are the exact strategies I’ve used while cutting for bodybuilding and jiu-jitsu competitions—and that I coach busy, high-performing men through every day.

You’ll learn:

• Why crash diets fail and what to do instead
• How to structure your training and nutrition for fat loss that lasts
• Why you can still enjoy foods you love and stay shredded
• The one rule that separates men who get lean from those who quit

🔥 Rebuild the Man Program – Now Enrolling
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We start on July 28th, and I only take 2–5 men per group.
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Apply now → https://form.typeform.com/to/lzVQb1G6

If you’re ready to stop winging it and rebuild your body, mindset, and mission, this episode is for you.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro to Effective Men's Fat Loss
• 1:10 Why Fat Loss Matters Now
• 3:43 Rule #1: Creating a Smart Deficit
• 4:54 Rule #2: Lift to Keep Muscle
• 5:45 Rules #3-5: Protein, Food & Systems
• 8:10 Rebuild the Man Program Introduction
• 9:25 Call to Action & Episode Close

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast hosted by former Navy SEAL turned life and fitness coach. I'm your host, jp Bolwan. This podcast is your resource for unlocking the healthiest, most productive and highly effective man within you. Let's go. Productive and highly effective man within you, let's go. Most guys over 35 think they got to starve themselves, run endless cardio or cut all the carbs out just to lose fat. And even when they do it, they end up looking like a smaller, weaker, scrawnier version of themselves, and that's not the goal. That's not what we're looking for. The goal is to cut fat while building power, discipline and confidence. I'm going to show you exactly how to do that today. No fluff, no fads, just the truth.

Speaker 1: 1:03

Now, fat loss is simple, but it's not easy, and if you want to get lean without losing strength or looking scrawny or wrecking your energy, then you need a system, and one that fits into life of a busy man who's high performing and over the age of 35. That's what this episode is about. I'm giving you the blueprint to burn fat, to keep muscle and build unstoppable momentum, and it's the same strategy that I've used to compete in bodybuilding jujitsu and, most importantly, to lead men through transformation. Now let me tell you why this matters. If you're tired of feeling soft, sluggish or like you've lost your edge, it's not about motivation and it's not about willpower edge it's not about motivation and it's not about willpower. It's about having a strategy that works for your life, not against it. And I've been there. I've done the fat loss phases while holding down real responsibilities raising a family, working as a firefighter and coaching men around the world and I've done it completely clean, no shortcuts, no crash diets, just results. This is about reclaiming control mentally, physically and emotionally Now.

Speaker 1: 2:43

This is important now because the reality is your windows it's closing. The older you get, the harder it becomes to maintain muscle, drop fat and stay sharp. Your testosterone is going to drop, recovery is going to slow down and life's going to pile on the stress. But the truth is you don't need more time, you just need more structure, and there's no better time to start than right now. In fact, I have registration open right now for my Rebuild the man program, and this isn't like some kind of mass market challenge. I only run it four times a year and I take two to five committed men per group. The next one kicks off next week, july 28th and this is your chance to lock in. I'll give you more details at the end, but for now, let's break down exactly what works for fat loss, especially for men over 35.

Speaker 1: 3:43

Number one you're going you got to create a caloric deficit without starving yourself. Okay, too many people go into these crash diets and starve themselves and then they wonder why it's so hard. Well, this is your foundation. No calorie deficit equals no fat loss period, and you want to start with about 10 to 20% below your maintenance calories. And if you don't know how to figure that out, you can just shoot me a message and I'll help you figure it out. But that's about one to two pounds of fat loss per week for most men. Now how do you know you're in a deficit? Well, you track your weight and your food for seven to 10 days and if the scale's not moving, your deficit isn't real. Simple, not easy. And when I prepped for my first bodybuilding competition, I started cutting January 1st and stepped on stage April 19th. That's a long runway and it made the fat loss manageable and it also helped me keep every ounce of muscle.

Speaker 1: 4:56

Number two you want to lift, to keep the muscle, because muscle is a metabolic armor. You don't want to just lose weight, you just want to lose fat and keep the machine. You just want to lose fat and keep the machine right. You want to train full body three times a week at a minimum, focus on the compound lifts, prioritize progressive overload and not just do random workouts. When it comes to cardio, you don't have to do a ton of cardio, you just have to use it strategically. Two to three sessions per week of low-impact cardio, like rucking, walking, cycling, is good, but you want to make sure that cardio doesn't replace the actual lifting.

Speaker 1: 5:45

Number three you want to prioritize protein, because protein is your secret weapon for fat loss. It keeps you full, it fuels recovery and it protects your muscle mass. Aim for about 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal body weight. So, for example, if I want to weigh 185 pounds, I'm going to eat somewhere between 160 and 185 grams of protein per day. No need to obsess, but you definitely cannot neglect this either.

Speaker 1: 6:22

And number four include foods you love, right, but you got to earn them right. You don't need to go full monk mode on this right. You need to be consistent. You know, when I was cutting for ibjjf master worlds. I dropped over a course of like 12 to 15 weeks and I still had a crunch ice cream bar that's 160 calories almost every day, but I earned it. I would punch it into my fitness pal, which I was using to track my food. And then, as long as I maintained my macros and you know I ate with discipline I would enjoy that at the end of the night I earned it. That at the end of the night, I earned it. So it wasn't like a cheat meal, it was structured, no-transcript.

Speaker 1: 7:19

Number five you got to build systems and not rely on willpower. Motivation is great when it's there, but it fades. Discipline is the edge and systems are how you win. You got to prep your meals, set rules around when and what you're going to eat, set rules around when and what you're going to eat, design your environment so that bad choices are a lot harder to do. And how do you stay consistent? Well, you automate what you can. You plan your week and you have a coach or a group to help keep you accountable. And that's it. You have the five rules for fat loss. You know the playbook.

Speaker 1: 8:11

Now you need a reason to follow through and if you're serious about this and you're ready to stop winging it, and you want structure, you want coaching, you want real accountability from a system that's built for men just like you, then I want to invite you to my Rebuild the man program. It's 12 weeks of structure with a proven fat loss and performance system, weekly coaching, brotherhood standards, high standards and real results. We're starting on July 28th and I only take two to five men per group. That's it. So if you're done playing small and you're ready to lead from the front, apply now. The link is in the description and the show notes.

Speaker 1: 8:59

Now, if this episode hit home for you, I want you to do three things. Number one, I want you to share it with the man who needs to hear it. Number two subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And number three, apply for the next Rebuild the man program before it fills up. That's it for today. Burn the excuses, build the habits, reclaim your edge. Let's go. Thank you for listening to the Highly Effective man podcast. If you enjoyed or learned something on this episode, do me a favor and share this with somebody who you think needs to hear it. And one last thing if you want to work with me as your coach to help you get fit, be more productive and, in general, just be the most effective version of yourself. Head over to my site, higherlevelcoachingco. Once again, that's higherlevelcoachingco and schedule a call with me there. Thank you again. Let's go.