This Is Life — strength, physiology & stepping into your prime
This Is Life is a podcast about strength, physical, mental, and emotional, and what it really looks like to step into your prime in midlife.
Hosted by Jo Northwood, a strength coach and sports therapy graduate, this podcast blends real-life experience with evidence-based physiology to explore training, hormones, health, identity, and rebuilding yourself after life shifts.
Some episodes are practical and educational, breaking down strength training, metabolism, and how the body actually adapts as we age.
Others are personal, honest conversations about motherhood, losing yourself, finding your way back, and choosing to live bigger rather than shrink.
No fads. No extremes. No pressure to “bounce back.”
Just smart training, grounded nutrition, and real conversations for women who want to feel capable, strong, and in control of their bodies again.
This Is Life — strength, physiology & stepping into your prime
Why Cutting Calories After 40 Won’t Work—The Truth About Muscle Loss & Metabolism
If you’ve hit 40 (or beyond) and feel like nothing works the way it used to, you're not imagining it. That old "just eat less and move more" advice is keeping you stuck.
The real reason weight loss feels harder in midlife isn’t just hormones or aging—it’s muscle loss (sarcopenia). And if you’re not actively maintaining muscle, your metabolism is slowing down more than you realise.
Cutting calories too low? You’re making it worse.
Doing more cardio? You’re accelerating muscle loss.
Trying another crash diet? That’s why the weight keeps piling back on.
In this episode, I’m breaking down:
- What sarcopenia is and why it’s sabotaging fat loss after 40
- How losing muscle slows your metabolism (with real calorie math)
- Why fad diets that worked in your 20s don’t work anymore
- The exact formula for rebuilding muscle and boosting metabolism without extreme dieting
If you’re tired of working harder just to see worse results, this episode will change how you approach fat loss forever.
Listen now and learn how to get your metabolism working for you again.
Thank you for listening to This Is Life.
This podcast is an extension of my work with women navigating midlife strength, health, and identity, blending real-life experience with evidence-based physiology, without extremes or quick fixes.
If you’d like to stay connected and continue the conversation, you can find me here:
Instagram: @thisislifebyjo
This is where I share life lately reflections, strength training insights, and the thinking behind this podcast.