You Don't Need a Coach for Macros or Meal Plans | Bonus Artwork

Wits & Weights | Strength Training & Fat Loss Over 40

Strength training and fat loss for men and women over 40 is the foundation of this show. In every episode I put a popular piece of fitness advice under the microscope, find the hidden reason it doesn't work, and give you the deceptively simple fix that does. For skeptics of the fitness industry who are tired of following the rules and still not seeing results.

If you've been lifting weights, tracking macros, and doing "all the right things" but your body composition hasn't changed, you're probably overcomplicating it. Wits & Weights shows you how to build muscle, lose fat, and achieve real body recomposition by focusing only on what the evidence actually supports. The show centers on women over 40, but plenty of midlife men listen for the same approach.

Evidence-based coach Philip Pape brings an engineer's approach to strength training, nutrition, and metabolism. Instead of another generic program or meal plan, you get specific, science-based strategies for body recomposition, whether you're focused on building muscle, losing fat, or both. The focus is on strength training over 40, body recomposition for women over 40, perimenopause and menopause fitness, metabolism recovery, hormone health, and longevity.

You've seen the conflicting advice, even on other nutrition podcasts. One expert says cut carbs, the next says eat more. One says train six days a week, another says three is plenty. Building the body you want doesn't have to be this confusing or time-consuming.

By using your wits (systems plus identity-based behavior change) and lifting weights, you can build muscle, improve your physique, and maintain your results for life without rebound weight gain. You'll also learn about metabolism recovery, and why years of dieting can lead to metabolic adaptation that makes fat loss harder than it needs to be.

You'll learn smart, efficient strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle, and mindset: why fat loss matters more than weight loss, why all the macros (protein, fats, and yes even carbs) are critical to body composition, how just 3 hours a week of proper hypertrophy training can outperform twice that time, why building muscle is the single most powerful thing you can do for metabolic health and longevity, why perimenopause and menopause don't have to derail your progress, and how shifting the way you think about fitness drives more growth than any program alone.

Looking for fat loss podcasts, nutrition podcasts, or strength training podcasts for women and men over 40? Wits & Weights brings the science-based answers without the conflicting noise. If you're ready to learn what actually works, hit "follow."

Popular Guests: Greg Nuckols (Stronger by Science), Alan Aragon (nutrition researcher), Eric Helms (3D Muscle Journey), Dr. Spencer Nadolsky (Docs Who Lift), Bill Campbell (exercise science researcher), Jordan Feigenbaum (Barbell Medicine), Holly Baxter (evidence-based physique coach), Laurin Conlin (physique coach), Lauren Colenso-Semple (nutrition researcher), Karen Martel (hormone optimization expert), Steph Gaudreau (women's strength and nutrition), Bryan Boorstein (hypertrophy coach)

Popular Topics: strength training for women over 40, strength training over 40, women's strength training, body recomposition for women over 40, body recomposition after 40, body recomposition, muscle building after 40, muscle building, hypertrophy training, fat loss for women over 40, perimenopause fitness, menopause fitness, menopause metabolism, metabolism recovery, metabolic adaptation, protein for women over 40, nutrition for lifters over 40, hormone health, longevity and healthy aging, lifting weights for fat loss, macros and nutrition tracking

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Wits & Weights | Strength Training & Fat Loss Over 40

You Don't Need a Coach for Macros or Meal Plans | Bonus

March 09, 2025 • Philip Pape, Evidence-Based Nutrition Coach & Fat Loss Expert

0:00 | 8:59

Get your first challenge free plus 2 weeks full access (also free) to Wits & Weights Physique University (WWPU) plus a custom nutrition plan, live coaching calls, monthly workout programs and challenges, weekly check-ins, a supportive community, a resource vault, and courses on fat loss, physique development, and more!

I have a problem with nutrition coaching today. The point of coaching isn't to calculate your macros and create meal plans. We have apps and technology that can do this better than any human.

So then what does valuable coaching actually look like?

Learn exactly how to DIY your nutrition tracking using my favorite food logging app (which adapts to your unique metabolic response to give you accurate calorie and macro targets) and AI to generate customized meal plans around your preferences and lifestyle. These cost a fraction of what many coaches charge while delivering more precise results.

The true value of coaching today lies not in number-crunching but in the human connection. Effective coaching provides 6 things that only a human can when life gets messy, you hit a plateau, you're struggling with the mental aspects of transformation, and need a world-class education in behavior change and physique development science.

Enjoy my rant!

Episode Resources:

Join WWPU and get access to Tuesday's live sprinting workshop and your first challenge + 2 weeks FREE: witsandweights.com/physique
- BONUS: I am developing a new course on how to use AI to create your meal plans and more, included free of charge in WWPU
Try MacroFactor for free with code WITSANDWEIGHTS

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

The Macro Coaching Problem

Philip Pape 0:00

Hey Wits and Weights family . It is Philip here . This is a bonus episode for Sunday , and I just wanna have a quick but important conversation about something that's been bothering me in the coaching industry that affects you directly If you're ever looking for a coach , or even just following people and trying to get information that works for you . I'm gonna be blunt If you are paying a coach just to give you macros and meal plans or that's what you're seeking in a coach just to give you macros and meal plans , or that's what you're seeking in a coach you are wasting your money . I see so many nutrition coaches quote unquote whose entire business model is stuck 10 , 15 years ago in calculating some numbers for you , probably using AI at this point , an algorithm , a template . Then they send you a meal plan on top of that that you're probably going to not be able to stick to for more than a week . Plan on top of that that you're probably going to not be able to stick to for more than a week . I think it's pretty lazy and I think it's not what the value is of coaching today . The truth is that you can do this yourself with tools that cost a fraction of coaching and I am a coach . So and this bothers me because I became a coach having done this for myself within this industry , tried certain things on my own and then realized where others could help you out and I'm going to get to that in a second but I wanted to tell you exactly how you can do a lot of this on your own . And again other coaches might be like what are you doing ? You're giving away the farm ? No , I'm not giving away anything . This stuff is out there to the public and I'm just going to tell you the most efficient way to do

DIY Your Nutrition Tracking

Philip Pape 1:21

it . So , for tracking macros and getting personalized targets for your calories and macros , using an app like Macrofactor is , hands down , the best way to do it today , with the technology and tools available today . Now , yeah , I have guides on how to do that . I have a YouTube video on how to do that . Hit me up on Instagram at @witsandweights or shoot me a message using one of the links in the show notes .

Philip Pape 1:44

But Macrofactor is the only app that takes your food and weight data to determine your true maintenance , calories and metabolic rate . It doesn't use a formula , so it actually does it better than any coach can do it for you , and then it adjusts your targets , your calories , your macros , based on how your body responds , and it bases it off the evidence as well , so you can pick how balanced you want your meals to be and such , and then , in two to three weeks of tracking , you're going to have more accurate numbers than most coaches could ever give you , myself included , and I don't want to do that for you If you can do it for yourself . Super easily . And please get the app if you don't have it already . This is the one kind of promotion I'm doing here for one of the tools that I'm suggesting . If you download macro factor , use the code in the show notes and use my code , wits and weights , you'll get a free trial to check it out . Um , but I think you'll be hooked .

Philip Pape 2:35

As for meal plans , okay , we're in a very empowering world now with AI tools like chat , gpt that can generate customized meal plans for every preference . You have practically your macros , your food preferences , your dietary restrictions Just tell it your targets , what foods you like , what foods you don't , allergies you have , how many meals you want . You could even ask it to include specific ingredients that you have on hand or create a grocery plan for different days of the week and getting your meals prepped , and then the results are going to be better than what any meal plan coach can give you , because you can iterate and refine it until it works for you . Now , not to put down like nutritionists and dietitians who have to work with medical conditions . I'm not talking about that . I'm just talking about the average person you and me who's just trying to figure out how to make the day work for you . So if you can DIY your macros , you can DIY your meal

Real Value of Coaching

Philip Pape 3:25

plans .

Philip Pape 3:25

Why would you ever hire a coach ? And I think that's the important question to ask and that other coaches out there should be taking a long , hard think on , because real coaching is not about numbers . It's not about a plan . Yeah , a plan is helpful to start , but it's about the human connection . And what do you get for that human connection that none of these things can reproduce ? The big one is accountability and support , not when things are easy and consistent , but when things get hard or life gets in the way things happen , what do I do ? How do I use the tools that are out there , that I'm empowered to use in the way that works best for me , and that's where the human connection can help .

Philip Pape 4:06

The second thing is with troubleshooting when you hit plateaus or unexpected challenges . A lot of people don't know exactly what to do , even when they are using these tools , and I see it all the time because a lot of my Q&As and our Facebook group and my own client group is full of these kinds of issues and we have to work through them like a detective . Another one is adjusting strategically , based on lots of personal data , like biofeedback , like your progress , like your history , like when you have a different goal . Your goal might've been fat loss and now it's muscle gain . How do we strategically adjust ?

Philip Pape 4:41

The fourth one is behavior change to build the habits , and this is a big one . Some coaches some really good coaches , you know really focus on this area and the psychology neuro , you know , understanding of neurology . It's super important today that we work on behavior change because that's really the crux of a lot of this . And then we have guidance through the psychological aspects that also cannot be understated Always . I think of body image , I think of people who come to me who've had eating disorders in the past and we have to be very sensitive to these and navigate these , I'll say carefully , but also confidently and help the individual . That is , if you hire a coach , you should feel like you're developing the skill of self-confidence and reframing to be in a healthier mental state when you're done working with a coach . And then , finally , education , so that you become self-sufficient . And I'm talking about education far beyond just what the macros and the meal plans do for you . I mean actually understanding why a certain amount of protein or why training this way , and not just in general , but for you specifically . It just all comes together .

Philip Pape 5:48

So , having said all that , that is why I became a coach . That is also why I launched last year . It was an experiment and now it's doing really well . It's called Wits and Weights Physique University and sure , I give you a custom nutrition plan there . But that

Wits and Weights Physique University

Philip Pape 6:01

is just the starting point because , again , the real value comes from the human coaching calls , the courses that teach you how and why . That's the education , the community for support . So you can tag me , you can check in and tag me for personal guidance and understanding with specific things . Obviously , if you need more than that , you can always hire one-on-one coach , whether it's me or someone else .

Philip Pape 6:21

I have coaches for business , for training , for nutrition , for everything myself , because those are accelerators and I realize everybody has different budgets as well , so there's lots . I'm very transparent with my pricing Physique University , the lowest tier 87 a month , two-week free trial . I just rolled that out because I wanted to make it affordable enough for lots of folks to take advantage of it . And , frankly , you're not going to find a better deal for what you get in there If your coach is just sending you numbers and meal plans and not addressing your specific questions the psychological , behavioral , the educational aspects of your nutrition . You're not getting coaching . You're getting a calculator with a premium price tag . So I want you to save your money on macro coaches and I want you to put it toward either learning to do it yourself , starting with the tools that I mentioned , or investing in comprehensive coaching , at whatever level is affordable for you , that addresses the whole picture of your physique transformation , because ultimately , it is a physical and mental transformation that will pay off like nothing else you'll have ever done in your life , because it will give you a long , healthy life as a result . And if you're ready for that , again , check out Wits and Weights Physique University .

Philip Pape 7:33

This week we are kicking off our first ever

Current Program Offerings

Philip Pape 7:36

transformation challenge . It's going to be a step challenge , keeping it simple , and we're going to have monthly mini challenges . I also have a live workshop this Tuesday on and it's about sprinting for lifters . It's my new sprinting protocol so you don't ever have to do cardio again For fat loss . It's a huge piece of fat loss along with your lifting and walking . And every time we have a call , I do a workshop on a specific topic and then the replay goes into our library .

Philip Pape 8:03

If you join now join right now , click the link in the show notes You're going to get free access to both because there's a two week free trial , like I mentioned , and you'll get everything else the program offers , including a custom nutrition plan , if you want to take advantage of it and you can cancel , like if you could take all that value and then you could still cancel and my hope is that you'll really see the value in the program and you want to stick around and get the results . Just head to witsandweightscom , slash physique or click the link in the show notes and remember that your dream physique , the body that you want , the strong , healthy body that you want , is not built on generic numbers or a plan . It's built on knowledge , on consistency and on the right support . I'll talk to you again tomorrow , monday , on the Wits and Weights podcast .