If you’re a 40+ perimenopausal woman who desperately wants to be part of the midlife movement of strong, hot, sculpted women — but finds herself emotionally spiralling, wondering if anything is actually working — then this week’s episode is one you don’t want to miss.

I know you’re showing up every day.

But stepping on the scale feels like an emotional rollercoaster.

Or you spend hours in the gym and still question whether you’re actually building muscle.

The years are flying by, and you don’t have time to waste — so how do you know if what you’re doing is working, or if something needs to change now, not later?

The answer is data.

Yes, it sounds clinical — but this is where the clarity lives.

In today’s podcast, I break down exactly what data you should be tracking, and how to tell if your plan is truly working for you.

This episode is the conversation I wish every high-achieving woman could hear.

So many women tell me, “I’m doing everything right.”

And what they usually mean is they’ve spent years chasing the same fixes: cutting carbs, fasting, eating “clean”, and training harder to force fat loss.

Then perimenopause arrives — and suddenly the belly fat, cravings, sleep issues, and slow muscle gain get blamed on hormones, as if that’s the whole story.

In this episode, I unpack the non-obvious part: many of those “fixes” create metabolic stress, and perimenopause simply amplifies it because your buffer is smaller now.

That’s why the same strategy that worked in your 30s starts failing loudly in your 40s.

If you’re disciplined, consistent, and still not getting a response from your body — press play.

Get your FREE Nutrition Guide here:

https://body-design-with-lou.kit.com/free-nutrition-guide

I’ve just come out the other side of back surgery and rehab and here's how I'm claiming back my body composition..

You already know what that does to a body.
Limited movement. No walking for a stretch.
Muscle drops. Body fat creeps in.

Here’s what didn’t happen.
I didn’t panic.
I didn’t rush fat loss.
I didn’t try to control the outcome while my body was busy healing.

Because I understand the exact process to get back to where I was.
And so will you, once you see it clearly.

This podcast walks you through the exact method I use, and teach:
Establish. Optimise. Body Composition Manipulation. Sustainability.

During recovery, my only job was nourishment, sleep, calm, and letting my nervous system stand down.

Now I’m training normally again I am applying my method to set me up to successfully gain back my muscle and reduce body fat.

In this episode I discuss
My establish phase and where I want to go

Now I’m moving into optimise.
Rebuilding training quality. Fueling output. Restoring capacity.

Body composition comes after that.
Not as a fight. Not through guessing but through a defined process driven by data and not emotion.

And sustainability comes after which I already know how to do.
Not gaining any weight in this period, or when I travelled for a month in Europe shows I know how to sustain the results.

If you’re disciplined, consistent, and data-literate....
yet quietly frustrated that your body no longer responds the way it used to, this episode will land.

Not because it’s motivating.
Because it’s precise. It has answers and strips away all the emotional knee-jerk responses.

Listen when you’re ready to stop trying to piece together all the drips of information out there and start applying a method that holds up in real life. I'm here for you.

Lou 🧡

In this episode, Lou sits down with coaching client Amber to unpack how she went from inconsistent eating, digestive issues, and early signs of perimenopause — to lifting heavier than ever, eating 1,850+ cals a day, and feeling confident in her body again.

They dive into:

• Why cutting calories wasn’t helping

• How digestion + metabolism are connected

• What happens when you finally train to failure

• Ditching alcohol without ditching your social life

• Why mindset is everything — and how to shift it

Whether you’re in your 30s or 40s and wondering “Is this perimenopause already?” — you need this episode in your ears.

If you're over 40 and ready to feel strong, sculpted, and straight-up HOT in your skin again… this one's for you.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the 4 Pillars of a Hot & Sculpted Body in Midlife—because what worked in your 20s won’t cut it anymore.

Here’s what we cover:

1️⃣ Nutrition – Fueling your body like a woman, not a rabbit on a diet.

2️⃣ Training – Why strength training is non-negotiable (and how to do it right).

3️⃣ The 3 S’s – Sun ☀️, Sleep 💤, and Stress 😵‍💫—ignore these and say goodbye to results.

4️⃣ Data – What data to track and why it matters WAY more now.

Midlife isn’t the beginning of the end—it’s the beginning of the upgrade.

🎧 Tune in now and let’s rebuild your body by design, not by default.

Sugar is NOT the villain it’s been made out to be. 🤯 Especially not in perimenopause.

You’ve been told to cut it, fear it, and avoid it at all costs…
Especially if you want to burn fat, balance hormones, or fix your metabolism.

But here’s the thing 👇
The problem isn’t sugar itself—it’s the context.

🚫 Under-eating
🚫 Skipping meals
🚫 Living on coffee
🚫 Training hard without fuel
🚫 High stress, poor sleep

^^ That’s the metabolic disaster. Not the piece of chocolate after lunch.

In this week’s episode of Body By Design, I’m breaking it all down:

🧠 How sugar can actually support your metabolism
💪 Why it fuels strength, energy & hormonal health
⚡ What to focus on instead of fearing sugar

✨ Imagine still enjoying sweets like chocolate and ice cream—
...without cravings, guilt, or restriction.

I eat this way every day and LOVE my food—
...because it works with my body, not against it.

This was a game changer for me.

I used to THINK i was eating well, getting what my body needed through clean eating.

You know what, when I started tracking I found out I was UNDER-EATING and I had high fat.

That was just the tip of the iceberg really. I then started looking at measurements, bio feedback, strength targets.

What a game changer this was.

If you want real results—like visible muscle, more energy, burn of body fat—you’ve got to get specific.

And I’m not talking about obsessing over the scale or blindly following what worked for your friend.

I mean understanding your body—your data, your symptoms, your patterns.

📊 What is your muscle mass and Body Fat?

🧠 Are your cravings tied to stress or under-eating?

💤 Is your sleep trash because of hormones, food timing, or Netflix?

In this week’s Body By Design podcast, I’m breaking down how to get crystal clear on what to track, why it matters, and how to actually use that info to drive the results you want.

This one’s a game-changer.

⠀

👇 Tell me—what’s one thing about your body you WISH you understood better?

Do you ever have a day when, for one reason or another, just touching that heavy weight feels HARD?

Then this is the episode for you.

I’m so glad you’re here — because I want to share a method I use in training that helps me keep progressing, even on those days when everything feels like a struggle.

Let’s face it: life happens. Poor sleep, a stressful event, an extra-busy week...

And if you know my story, you’ll know life has been full of big moments lately.

If I stopped training or pulled back every time I felt like I couldn’t lift heavy, I would never have progressed.

Being perimenopausal, there are days I walk into a session and just don’t feel optimal. It’s like my central nervous system (CNS) looks at the 100kg I lifted last week on deadlifts and goes:

“Bitch… you’re kidding, right?”

Now, I could try to move that 100kg. Maybe I’ll get it up, maybe I won’t — but chances are, I won’t hit the same reps.

So how do I keep progressing even on those days?

I use a calculated 1RM.

That means I can scale the weight to match how I’m feeling that day — and still walk away with a personal best (PB).

Listen now to learn the exact method I use to stay consistent and keep building strength, no matter what life throws at me.