Your Best Summer Body After 40 Starts Here

You're a few weeks out from months of warm weather and sunshine, beach vacations, pool parties, and summer weddings. The outfits don't cover as much this season, and maybe the body underneath them isn't where you want it.

I get it! I'm 45 and starting my own little mini cut for summer right now.

So many women over 40 don't see results before summer because they focus on one or two things and skip the rest. Usually, it's more cardio, cutting carbs, and maybe trying to eat cleaner. None of that is enough on its own in perimenopause and menopause.

In this episode, I'm walking you through the six specific things I'm doing to get my body ready for summer. They're not extreme or complicated, but they are the same things that have given me proven results before - they work. When you do all six together, they will change how your body looks and feels in six to eight weeks.

I'm also covering the one habit most women won't pause that's wiping out their calorie deficit and making fat storage easier without them realizing it.

Resources Mentioned: 

🎯 Take the FREE ‘What’s My Metabolism Type’ Quiz that identifies your unique metabolism type and get empowered with a personalized plan to manage your weight confidently → Get it HERE 

👉 Grab The FREE Fat Loss Formula Workbook HERE to calculate your exact calorie deficit and maintenance numbers

 💌 Join my BTB newsletter for weekly insights, wellness strategies, and updates straight to your inbox. Sign up HERE 

🎧 Listen Next: The Fastest Path to Fat Loss and Fitness in Your 40s and 50s

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👋🏻 ABOUT ME:
 I'm Andrea, a NASM-certified nutrition and fitness coach and founder of Behind the Body. For years, I tried every diet imaginable, avoided weights, and stuck to cardio, all in pursuit of being skinny. None of it worked. At 40, I overhauled my approach and started lifting 3–4 times a week. Now at 45, I have the strong, toned body I spent decades chasing, and I've maintained it for 10 years using the same simple approach. I help women over 40 simplify their approach, build real strength, and get results that actually last. Every week, I cover the science, the strategy, and the honest truth about fat loss and maintenance for women over 40.


MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health routine. Results vary. Andrea is a NASM-certified nutrition and fitness coach, not a doctor or registered dietitian.

Transcript

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I am starting a little cleanup of my diet, a little mini cut, if you will, in order to get summer body ready. Now you may not expect to hear that come out of a 45-year-old woman's mouth, but I'm excited for summer and I want to look hot. And I also want to feel my best. Maybe you also want to get summer body ready. Maybe you have a trip planned, a little beach vacation, some pool parties or like a wedding to attend, something where you'll be wearing a little less clothes than you have on today. And if you do, I'm gonna give you the six specific things that I am currently doing right now to get summer body ready and that you can also start doing as well. They are not complicated. And when you do all six together and consistently, they will change how your body looks and feels before summer. If you're new here, I'm Andrea. I'm a double certified nutrition and fitness coach. I lost over 20 pounds in my mid-30s and I've kept it off for 10 years through perimenopause. And I've worked with so many women over 40 on exactly this. Here's what I know works. First, wanting to look good for summer is a completely valid reason to make changes. Use that as motivation because it's real and it works. And if you've tried before and you haven't seen results show up, that is common. It happens to all of us. And it's usually because most women get like one or two pieces right, but we need all six to really see results. But before I get to the six things, I want to point out just one thing that's super important to start with. If you are looking to lose weight, that requires a calorie deficit no matter what. You have to eat fewer calories, then your body burns. That's the foundation. That's the most important thing. Every diet and approach that works creates a calorie deficit. And if you don't know how many calories you should be eating to lose fat, stop guessing. I have a free fat loss formula workbook in the description below and it walks you through step by step how to calculate your exact calorie deficit based on your specific body and your goal. That's your starting point. And then everything else on this list is just going to maximize your effort. So grab that and fill it out and let's get into it. Welcome to Behind the Body. I'm Andrea, certified nutrition and fitness coach. In my 30s, I lost 20 pounds and I've maintained it well through my 40s. Every week here, we talk about what's really happening with perimetopause and weight gain, what to do about it, and the brutal but beautiful truth about this stage of life. Whether you're just starting or tired of starting over, you are in the right place, and I'm so happy you're here. Let's dive in. Step one, first things first, clean up your food environment. One of the biggest drivers of what you eat is what's in your house, like what you're surrounded around. If you have chocolate in the pantry, you will eat the chocolate, especially at 9 p.m. after a long day and you're tired and bored and just like have zero willpower. The most effective thing that you can do right now is to remove all the foods that you can't control yourself around. And we all have them, but just temporarily while you're building the momentum. It doesn't have to be for good, but we have a short-term goal here. Might you still crave it? Yes, but if it's not in your house, then you can't eat it. And the next morning when you wake up, you'll be so glad. And also, I'm gonna add alcohol to this category as well, because if you drink alcohol, you know how easy it is for one drink to turn into two and it adds up fast. Three glasses of wine can total 350 calories, which may not seem like a lot, but when you add that up over multiple days and then multiple weeks, it can equal half a pound of fat. And if you're eating an 1800 calorie diet, three glasses of wine is 20% of your total calories. And not to mention the disruption to your sleep and the fat burning abilities and the poor food choices that you make when you drink alcohol. So my suggestion is if you drink alcohol, put it on pause until you hit your summer body goal. I know for a lot of us, we like to socially drink and that means really reining it in, but it is worth it if you have goals because I promise, if you are a regular casual drinker and you stop drinking alcohol, you will lose fat so quickly, you will be shocked. In my last episode, I talked about when I did sober October, I didn't drink for 31 days and I lost six pounds and an inch off my waist. And I don't even carry that much fat in my waist and I still lost an inch. That's how much of an impact alcohol has on your fat. And if not drinking until you get your summer body is not an option, then just be very picky and particular about when you do drink. Don't just have like random cocktails or glasses of wine on a Tuesday night. Save it for nights that are really worth it when there's an event or a special occasion or really good company that's, you know, unique. Like be picky and very particular about it and make it worth it. If you want to lean out before summer, this is one of the highest leverage changes that you can make. So start here, get your environment right, and everything else on the list will get so much easier. Okay, step two is hit your protein. Most women over 40 are under-eating protein significantly, and it makes everything else so much harder than it has to be. Protein keeps you full longer than any other macronutrient. It's the hardest macro for your body to store as fat, and it preserves your muscle, which keeps your metabolism strong and makes you burn more calories throughout the day. This is why a high protein diet is such a weight loss hack. On the other hand, when you're consistently low on protein, you get hungrier faster, you overeat later, and over time you're losing muscle. That makes your body look weak and soft when what you probably want is a toned-fit summer body. A practical target is roughly one gram of protein per pound of goal body weight. So if you have aspirations to weigh 140 pounds and you're working towards that, then aim for 140 grams of protein, spread it across your own meals, starting with breakfast. Don't skip breakfast and don't leave all your protein for dinner. Step three, and I love this one. This is a really important one on my list. Get your fiber in. Only 3% of Americans hit the daily fiber minimum. And for women, that's 25 grams a day. Most of us are getting half of that if we're lucky. When you eat enough fiber, it slows your digestion, it stabilizes your blood sugar, and it keeps you full. When blood sugar is stable, then you're not craving foods as much. The food noise in your head quiets down. And both of those help to keep us from overeating when we're not hungry. Focus on real food, whole foods, vegetables, fruits. I eat a ton of fruit, beans, love beans, that's a super food. Quinoa, oats. Pair these with lean protein and you have the perfect summer body meal. And start focusing on fiber now, like today, because as you ramp it up, your digestive system will take a little time to adjust to the increase. And you may feel a little bloated at first, but push through that because on the other side, your bloating will ease up, your stomach will flatten out, and your digestion will be on point. One watch out though, process high fiber products like protein bars and low-carb tortillas, they don't behave the same way in your body as fiber from real food. And they can actually make you feel more bloated and more uncomfortable. So keep those minimal and focus on real whole foods. Okay, number four is protect your sleep. You can eat well, train hard, hit your protein, and still not get results if your sleep is poor. Of everything on this list, this is the one that'll surprise you most when you fix it. Because a poor sleep raises cortisol. An elevated cortisol makes us store fat, especially around our stomach. It also tanks our energy and it makes you hungrier the next day, which is not very helpful when you're in a calorie deficit and trying to get your summer body. So aim for seven to nine hours and keep your schedule super consistent because your body responds best to going to sleep at the same time and waking up at the same time. You gotta wind down to 30 to 60 minutes before bed. Lower the lights, get off your cell phone, get away from the screens. This is the step that most women treat as optional, but it is not. Quality sleep is a fat loss tool. Step five is drink your water. You're probably not drinking enough water. The guideline is to drink about half your body weight in ounces per day. So if you weigh 160 pounds, that's 80 ounces of water. Most people are consistently underhydrated or dehydrated and have no idea. They don't realize it. But when you're dehydrated, your body sends a signal that we often mistake for hunger. So we end up eating when all we needed was literally to drink water. So start your morning with a full glass before coffee. I keep a water bottle right next to my bed full. The minute I step my feet out of bed, I chug that bottle of water, 25 ounces right away before I even brush my teeth. So drink a glass when you wake up, drink one before each meal, and keep a bottle with you throughout the day. One thing I want to mention is this misconception. If you're holding water and if you feel bloated, the answer is usually to drink more water because your body holds onto water when its supply is inconsistent and you're dehydrated. So give your body a consistent, steady supply. And then that water retention and bloating will ease up. Okay, now we are at the last thing that we are doing to get summer body ready after 40. And that is to move your body doing both cardio and weights. Now, if you follow me, you know I'm all about strength training over cardio any day as a primary workout. But to get summer body ready, we are gonna need both because they each do different things. We need cardio to get our summer body because it helps increase our calorie burn and it creates more flexibility in your calorie deficit, meaning you have a little bit more room to work with while still losing fat. It doesn't have to be intense. You don't need to go start running or get on the stairmaster. Walking counts. And what I would suggest is getting eight to 10,000 steps a day consistently. And that will make a huge difference over a month. And if you're already doing that, yeah, then maybe stepping it up in intensity, getting a weighted vest or getting on the stairmaster or doing a spin class or something that's different than walking to help stimulate your body, that's gonna help. But a weighted vest is great because while it's not gonna make you gain muscle or make monumental changes to your body, it helps you burn more calories without having to really change anything else about the walk or the exercise itself. Now, when it comes to lifting weights, that changes how your body looks. Cardio creates a calorie buffer. Muscle is what gives your body the shape and the definition. That's the tone look that most women are after. And cardio alone doesn't get you there. It never will get you there. And you may think that to get summer body ready, that weightlifting, if you were to start now, won't get you there fast, but you will actually be so surprised by how much muscle you can gain or how much you can change your body composition by summer if you were to start today. I recommend three weightlifting sessions a week, 30 to 45 minutes each, and that is enough to see a visible change. Fat loss and changing your body composition don't require a complicated plan. The industry wants you to think it does because complexity sells programs, it sells products, it sells supplements. But the actual work is simple and straightforward. Clean up your environment, hit your protein, get your fiber in, protect your sleep, stay hydrated, move your body. And now you know your calorie deficit number from the fat loss formula workbook. So you don't have to guess. You have a clear structure. Do that for six to eight weeks and you will look and feel completely and noticeably different by the summer. Hit that link at the top of the description that says send us fan mail and let me know which of these are you starting this week and what do you have planned for the summer? I want to know. And when I get your message, I'll respond. And if you haven't already, I would love for you to join the behind the body community where we talk about all things health, diet, nutrition, fitness, lifestyle for us women over 40. You can sign up for the newsletter at behind thebody.com forward slash newsletter. And if you want to take your fat loss to the next level, I have a free metabolism type quiz linked in the description. It evaluates why you might not be losing weight, and it gives you a customized plan on where to focus first. And that's all for this week, my friend. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I can't wait to chat with you next week.