Mojo & Co

Fasted Blood Work, Protein & Muscle: The Key to Fat Loss for Women

• Kattie Fleece

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0:00 | 18:16

If you’re struggling with:

• Stubborn weight gain
 • Inflammation
 • Brain fog
 • Low energy
 • Fat loss that just won’t happen

…it might not be your effort.

It might be your insulin sensitivity.

In this episode of the Mojo & Co Podcast, we break down what actually works for women when it comes to improving insulin resistance and optimizing your metabolism — without extremes or confusion.

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

✔️ Why fasted blood work matters for accurate insulin and glucose readings
✔️ How insulin impacts fat loss, inflammation, and energy
✔️ The biggest mistake women make when testing their blood sugar
✔️ Why traditional healthcare often misses early signs of insulin resistance
✔️ The 3 most effective strategies to improve insulin sensitivity naturally

🔑 What Actually Works:

• Prioritizing protein intake
• Building muscle through strength training
• Improving insulin sensitivity through lifestyle
• Working with a knowledgeable clinician when needed

These simple (but powerful) strategies can help:

✔️ Reduce inflammation
 ✔️ Improve metabolism
 ✔️ Support fat loss
 ✔️ Boost brain clarity
 ✔️ Enhance overall health

🌐 Connect With Katie

Apply Here: https://www.mojofitco.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kattie_fleece/

Learn more about coaching, hormone-aware fitness, and personalized strategies designed specifically for women who want their health to match their success.

SPEAKER_00

If needed, you can work on some medication things to help with that, but really it's prioritizing proteins, building muscles to help with that sensitivity. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to Mojo Co., the podcast for unapologetic midlife women who are done playing small, done guessing, and done finding their body instead of understanding it. I'm your host, Katie Fleet, and this podcast is for women who are ready to get their mojo back, their confidence, their power, and the connection to their body back. We talk hormones, confidence, body image, relationships, and real life with zero filters and absolutely no BS. Nothing is off limits here. If you're ready to feel powerful in your body again and remember who the heck you are, you're exactly where you belong. Let's go. Welcome back to Mojo and Co. Podcast. Sarah, you're back today. Can't get enough of me giving you. All right, so we're gonna talk all about insulin, which there's a million things to talk about insulin. I've learned so much from you about it. Lots to learn. So let me start off with this: like, what is insulin resistance and why does it matter?

SPEAKER_00

Why should we care? Yeah, so insulin resistance is a big, I would say, like kind of buzzword right now. I feel like it's probably it's finally getting out, getting a lot more information about it. Um, so to even take it a step back, um, insulin is like the key that gives glucose into our cells. So glucose is the body's like main source of energy. Um, so what happens is insulin comes to the cell, unlocks it, opens the door, and then glucose can get in. So, what happens with insulin resistance is that like lock and key doesn't work as well. So it's either the lock doesn't work or the door doesn't open as much, and then we can't get the glucose into the cell. And that matters because if our cells don't have glucose, then we can't be creating energy, um, and all of our metabolic processes start to slow down when we don't have that glucose in the cell for energy.

SPEAKER_01

Is there a specific age where you start seeing women in particular like become more insulin resistance or not really?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so it's not as much um a specific age as it is like with the hormonal patterns. Yeah. So typically mid-30s, when we start this like perimenopause shift, as estrogen starts to decline, is when that insulin key stops listening as well. Um, so it tends to happen mid-30s, early 40s based on those hormone changes.

SPEAKER_01

Right, not necessarily based on age, but based on hormones. Okay, okay. So I know obviously I think a lot of people think of insulin and they automatically think of like diabetes. Yes, right? Okay. Um can you have insulin resistance without being diabetic?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and that's a great point. That is when we tend to hear about insulin. Um, insulin resistance is actually the precursor to a diabetic state. Um, so this can happen. Studies show up to 10 years before you ever get a diabetic diagnosis. Um, so in diabetes and in pre-diabetes is when blood sugar gets too high. That's how that's diagnosed. But before that, insulin will start to rise in order to keep blood sugar normal. So blood sugar can still look normal, but pancreas and insulin are working harder and cranking out more insulin in order to keep that blood sugar low. So you will absolutely be insulin resistance before it ever shows up as a blood sugar issue. Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I don't think a lot of people even know to like get their insulin checked to even prepare for things like that.

SPEAKER_00

And it's not a standard lab that's checked. Um, it's usually you wait until a blood sugar change, which is A1C is how we diagnose diabetes, and that's blood sugar over three months. But if you're already to that point, that's like further along in the disease progression. Yeah, you've got to catch it when the insulin starts rising to keep sugars where they should be. Um, and insulin as a molecule, and we can get more into this, is a storage molecule. Its job is to store glucose in the cell, but it also stores fat. So that's why at the same age, women start to store more fat because their insulin is rising. Yeah. And insulin's job is to store.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so then how do you know if you're insulin resistant? Is it only through blood tests?

SPEAKER_00

So blood test is the best way. Okay. Um, but some of the common symptoms are that increase abdominal fat. Um, you just feel fatigued all the time because your blood sugar is not getting in to create energy. Yeah. Um, a lot of those just metabolic shifts of like I don't feel like myself, body composition's changing, it's harder for me to put on muscle, I'm getting more body fat. Um, those are kind of the symptoms that would alert me to want to look at an insulin level. Yeah. Um, but but truly just a fasting insulin, which is like a one dollar lab draw, like it's super cheap, super easy, yeah. Um, is the best way to check it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So can your blood sugar still be normal while insulin resistance is happening?

SPEAKER_00

That's exactly right. So that's why you have to check the insulin also. You can't just look at blood sugar, which is glucose on the lab. Yeah, because it will continue to climb because it's doing its job of keeping blood sugar low or normal. Um, but insulin will climb in the background before it shows up as high sugar.

SPEAKER_01

What I guess what makes someone insulin resistant? So, like, I know you said hormones. So, like, what exactly with the hormones causes that insulin resistance?

SPEAKER_00

So, as the estrogen starts to decline, insulin has a harder time getting glucose into the cell. Okay. So it just prevents it from like locking into the key and then opening the door. So, like the analogy that I always like is if it's typically the insulin lets in two glucoses, then maybe in insulin resistance, it only lets in one. Ah. So it's less efficient. Okay. It's still getting some in there at this point, but it's just way less efficient. So then you've got all this sugar in your blood, which causes inflammation and fat storage and all those things. And then your body puts out more insulin to kind of try to push that in. Yeah. But it just needs more and more. It's just this whole cascade that leads to diabetes. So interesting. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So, um, how can you treat like if if you get a blood test, it's like, okay, I'm insulin resistance or resistant or whatever. How can you treat that so it doesn't turn into diabetes 10 years from now?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So there's a couple different ways to go about it. Um, hormones can help if you are to a point that you need that and if it's appropriate for you. Yeah. Um, but one of the biggest things you can do is put on muscle. Um, if you increase muscle, so strength training, protein intake, yeah, that will help your insulin sensitivity, which is the opposite of insulin resistance.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, it helps insulin get that sugar into the cells more efficiently. So just increasing metabolic health, which is like muscle is just the currency of aging. It's like the best thing we can do. The sound of use. 100%. Yep. Yes. So if you can just crank on that muscle, it helps with insulin sensitivity a ton.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So speaking of muscle, yeah. And we obviously know that is also tied to fat loss. So why is it that it seems so much harder to lose fat during this phase of life?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and it absolutely is. I don't, I think a lot of times maybe that's just like, oh, it just seems that way, but it 100% is. So it's twofold. Estrogen starts to go down. Okay. So our body is smart, our body wants estrogen. So in our fat cells is estriol, which is a type of estrogen.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

So our body adds on more fat to try to get in estrogen somehow, somewhere. And the other one is as that estrogen declines, insulin resistance goes up. Ah. Insulin is inflammatory and it's a storage molecule. Yeah. So it will also pack on extra fat. And it's not just the subcutaneous fat, which is like the fat right under the skin. It's like a deep visceral fat that's around the organs. Yep. And that's what leads to metabolic issues like heart attack, obesity, um, increased risk for all sorts of different diseases. Wow. That's truly just because of the hormonal changes at this phase of life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh, that's so interesting. It's a lot, it's fun being a woman and I mean it's just the best, right? All right, quick pause to talk about my company, MojoFitco. Because this deserves a moment. MojoFitCo was built for midlife women who feel off in their body and are just tired of being told to eat less, move more, and deal with it, all right? Women battling hormones, belly fat that comes out of nowhere, low energy, mood swings, and the constant feeling of why do I not feel like myself anymore? Now look, this is not a basic fitness program, and it is definitely not built by Jim Bros or 20-year-old influencers. Mojo Fitco was built for women, by women, designed specifically for this phase of life. Inside, we don't guess. We don't punish your body, and we don't hand you another plan that you gotta figure out on your own. We look at the full picture. Hormones, metabolism, stress, lifestyle, everything that you need, all under one roof. Because you are never too old to get your mojo back, I can assure you that. And you also need support from someone that actually understands the female body at this stage of life. So if you're ready to feel strong, sexy, clear-headed, and confident again in your body, and you're done with all of the free or cheap VS out there and you want a forever solution, you can apply by clicking the link in the show notes. All right, now let's get back to it. Okay, so talk to me then about because um I know that insulin can have a hand in affecting things like energy, things like that. So, so why is that?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so it goes back to just getting glucose into the cell. Okay. So glucose is our number one energy source. That's where our body wants to make ATP, like back to high school biology. Um, and if it doesn't have enough glucose into the cell, we're not making ATP. So then everything slows down, right? It's like when you don't have enough food in your body, yeah, everything starts to slow down. So that's metabolism, metabolism gets worse, which isn't great for anything. Um, brain fog is a big symptom of this. Big thing. Yeah, because the brain uses so much sugar in order to function. Yeah. And if we don't have glucose, the brain slows down. So that's brain fog, memory, those sorts of things, um, and putting on muscle is a huge decrease when you're insulin resistant.

SPEAKER_01

All of those things are affected or can be affected by insulin. Yeah. That is crazy because I mean I feel like so many people don't realize that.

SPEAKER_00

Correct. Actually, wow. And then it's wild that for type two diabetics, the way we treat them is give them insulin. Right, which is just causing more inflammation and more obesity and more, right? Like it's just a lot. Yeah. It's a really interesting, just like cascade cycle. Yeah. Holy crap.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So why do our kind of going back to the strength training, like why do our routines of like our health and fitness, our um fitness and nutrition routines, I should say, why do they have to change during this menopausal phase of life?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so when you're, you know, 20 years old, you can jump on the treadmill for 20 minutes and your body's like happy as can be. Like, we're great, I'm out. Um, but if we do that now, that's gonna deplete our glucose storages so quickly that we're just gonna bust through all the sugar that we do have, which still isn't enough. Um, and that's not really putting on the muscle. It's that muscle that we need in order to increase metabolism so we're burning more calories all the time, and then also increase that insulin sensitivity so that our cells are happier because they're getting more of that glucose into it. Um, it and it's just gotta be that shift of more protein, more muscle.

SPEAKER_01

Yep. So when speaking of nutrition, yeah. So, like, are there certain things to stay away from if you are insulin resistant? And is there certain things to really try to increase in your diet to kind of combat that?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so when I see patients that have this insulin resistance, I I prioritize protein with them constantly. As long as they're getting in enough protein and they're meeting their calorie goals, I really don't care the rest of the balance. Um, sugar's not the enemy. Sugar is what it, and I don't mean like you're just chowing down on like gummy bears all day. Right. Sugars and carbohydrates and simple sugars. Right, right. Um, but our body needs that in order to produce energy. Right. Um, but the top main priority with everyone is protein. You've gotta get it in.

SPEAKER_01

Gotta get it in. Got to get it in. Hmm. Sounds familiar. So that's what I've been told. Um, okay, so calories in, calories out. Yep. We hear that all the time. Yep. Everybody in the row says it on the internet. Like, it's really that simple. It's so simple. Is it really that simple? Or we want to be here. Right, exactly. Okay, so explain that and and why that doesn't, that's not always the equation for women in this phase of life.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so if that were the case, you know, just calories in, calories out, then if I ate 100 calories a week, I would just wither away and die. But my body's not gonna let me, right? Our body is smart, our body will go into survival mode. Yes. So if we're always, and the other thing is you can't always be in a calorie deficit. Yep. If you're always starving yourself at 1,100 calories a day for 10 years, your body's gonna pack on fat because it's it thinks you're not gonna feed it. Right. Right? So your body is just gonna go into that survival mode of like, I have to hold on to everything. Once you start fueling your body appropriately, yeah, um, is when your body's like, oh, okay, we're here to optimize, we're not just here to survive, right? Um, so calories in, calories out, if all of your calories are carbohydrates, you're gonna burn through them real quick. It's a quick energy source. We do need some, yeah, but you're gonna burn through them, you're gonna be hungry all the time. Yeah. If you get protein in, this is slower to digest, you're gonna belly's gonna feel full longer. And with that protein, you're gonna be able to put on muscle. Yeah. Which again is gonna improve your metabolic health, it's gonna decrease insulin resistance. Um, so you need to be aware of calories, but I'm much more concerned with the breakdown of your calories um versus just calories in, calories out, yeah, which is such a misnomer. Right. Especially at this phase of life, right? Right. We're trying to like build healthy bodies, yes, not just like deplete everything you have. Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01

Calories are important, 100%, very important, but it's not, it is not just as simple as, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And it's interesting, the conversation I find myself having with most women is you need more calories. You're you're literally starving yourself. Yes, and this is why you're exhausted. So constantly this is why you have insulin resistance, this is you know, all of these things, you don't have enough calories and you don't have enough protein. Yeah, and then women start eating for real, and they're like, Oh, that feels better.

SPEAKER_01

Well, not only that does it feel better, but how many people have we even seen that start eating more and they're like, Oh my, how am I losing weight? Correct.

SPEAKER_00

Losing fat, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01

They're like, oh, my body looks better, I feel better. Yeah, it's so fun. Okay, so I'm gonna totally jack this one up, okay? Okay. So just bear with me here. I've heard you talk about, is it HOMA? Yep, HOMA IR. Okay, so so what is that?

SPEAKER_00

Is it useful? Yep. So HOMA IR is a calculation, a function of fasting glucose and fasting insulin. Okay. So this is what we use to diagnose insulin resistance. That IR at the end is insulin resistance. So you factor those two numbers together and then it gives you a value. Um, and that's what is used to truly diagnose insulin resistance. Um, so that is a good way to follow like, am I getting more insulin sensitive? Is my body doing a better job? Um, so that's why I draw fast and insulin on everybody that I see. Yeah. So we can use that value. It I think it's the best tool there is to truly see insulin resistance, yeah. Um, to see what's going on. How much insulin do you have compared to how much glucose do you have? Those should line up, but as you get resistant, insulin creeps up higher because it's having a hard time getting that glucose in. And it's important to do it fasted. Correct. Correct. Yes, yeah, because anything you eat, if I have a donut in the morning, my sugar's gonna spike, but my insulin hasn't caught up yet. Okay. So we just want to mess with a baseline. Yeah. Yep. Yep. So those are done fasting. Okay. All right, girl.

SPEAKER_01

So to wrap this whole insulin talk up, let's just wrap it up. Like, what actually works for women?

SPEAKER_00

What actually works really well? So I think the first thing you gotta do is get the information. So I think a good blood draw, fasting, like you said, um, get with a clinician that understands HOMA IR and that understands that whole pre-diabetic process. Um, it's not done well in traditional medicine. Um, and that's just the way the system is right now. They just don't have time to do it, in all honesty. So you've got to find somebody that's trained in how to see those things and what to do with it. Yeah. Once you figure that out, then there's a few different ways you can go. The biggest things, really, though, are just lifestyle. Yeah. So prioritizing protein is the biggest thing that I tell people. Um strength training to increase that muscle mass. Um, and then from there, you can, if needed, you can work on some medication things to help with that, um, all sorts of different options for inflammation, but but really it's it's prioritizing protein, building muscle just to help with that insulin sensitivity.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And then that overall brings down inflammation throughout the body, yes, decreases fat, helps brain fog, helps cardiac health. Yeah, it's just a whole package that comes all together.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and that's um it's amazing to see like how many the how many people just almost like feel that inflammation leaving their body when they get this under control. Yeah, it's pretty incredible.

SPEAKER_00

And and it's so easy to check in such a straightforward concept. Well, maybe not a straightforward concept, but yeah, it makes sense, yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01

And once you figure that out, you're like, oh yeah, obviously. Yeah, obviously. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you heard it here first, folks. Protein and strength training. That'll do it. Who would have thunk it? Right? Yep. All right, friends. Well, until next time, catch y'all on the other, another episode of Mojo and Co.