Did I Trigger the "Fat Folks" on Social Media? 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

All Episodes

Wits & Weights | Strength Training & Fat Loss Over 40

Did I Trigger the "Fat Folks" on Social Media?

August 16, 2026 • Philip Pape | Strength Training & Fat Loss Over 40

0:00 | 5:00

Am I mansplaining to the "fat folks" on social media and stripping away their bodily autonomy?

It all started with a Threads post about GLP-1s and lifting weights.

Apparently, people hear the same facts in totally different ways (if they want to hear them at all).

In this bonus episode, I share a comment on a viral post about lean mass loss in the GLP-1 weight loss research, a positive message on resistance training that wasn't taken that way, and why clearer language matters online.

If you:

think accurate information needs to spread more online than misinformation,
are curious about weight loss vs. fat loss, especially in the GLP-1/ozempic age
like a bit of drama about how labels and tone can trigger defensiveness and misinterpretation, and the challenge of giving nuance inside social media character limits

Hit play!

To see the Threads post that got everyone in a tizzy, tap here or go to my profile and find the GLP-1 post:
https://www.threads.com/@witsandweights

Give me a follow on Threads for more intrigue and entertainment :)

💪 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 Viral Threads Post That Triggered "Fat Folks"

Philip Pape 0:00

Wits and Weig family, welcome to a bonus episode, totally unscripted. I'm literally coming off of looking at my threads profile, and I had to comment on a specific post that's kind of blowing up a little bit, but there's one comment in particular I wanted to call out, and this is related to GLP wants. So if you're not following me on threads, go to app Wits and Waits. I'll put the link in the show notes to follow me on threads. You're gonna see a lot of interesting conversations over there, some really good conversations, but also some, you know, half-wit comments, I would say. In this case, I'm not gonna go that far. I'm gonna say that the person I think has a certain positive intention in mind, but maybe misinterpreting what I'm saying. Anyway, the post is about GLP ones. And what I said in the post is that the drugs work, they're a miracle of appetite suppression, they're an incredible tool for those with uncontrolled food obsession or significant weight to lose. We also see in the trials that they report significant muscle or lean mass loss of up to 25 to 40%, but that is when you're not resistance training. And so my conclusion in the post is hey, whether you're on a GLP one or not, you're gonna lose muscle in a calorie deficit if you're not lifting weights. Go ahead and draw the conclusion. Now, to me, that's a positive empowering message, even though there's a negative lens to it in terms of you're gonna lose muscle. The message is you're gonna lose muscle either way. Let's not judge or blame people on GOP1s or scare them into thinking they're gonna lose way more muscle than anyone else. It's the same concept. It's just those drugs put you into usually a fairly aggressive deficit that you don't have to think about because your appetite is so suppressed. And her comment said something about that you'd be surprised to learn that most fat folks, her words, not mine, are experts on their own bodies. Now, later on, I kind of called her out for the use of that language, and she said, Well, I'm a fat folk, I'm calling, I think you're the people calling out. And I think her her message was, hey, this message is everywhere. It's not breaking news. Why are you sharing it? And my thinking is, first of all, like you can't share good information too much. Uh, there's so much misinformation on the internet and on social media that just the fact of sharing something that's been shared before, I don't think that should be a social media crime, I guess. And I also think that the message that people on GOP ones lose muscle mass, but also people not on GLP ones lose muscle mass. So, hey, resistance training is really important. I mean, to me, that's a very positive, important message we need to spread. And I don't think I'm seeing that as much, although I could acknowledge that more and more are talking about it. But it's kind of funny to say, like, oh, you just shared something that everybody knows. Well, you either know something because it's in the world and it's part of the evidence, or you don't know it and you're making it up or it's an opinion. And there's space for both of those as long as you acknowledge what it is. But how is, you know, my saying, uh my sharing facts different or less than someone else sharing facts? So that was interesting. So I tried to be a little respectful in my reply, although I was getting a little bit emotional about it, to say that, hey, there's a lot of fear-mongering about GLP1s causing muscle loss, and there's a lot of confusion between weight loss and fat loss. So I think it's important to reiterate, hey, we're all gonna lose muscle if we don't do something about it. Resistance training. And by the way, there's so many other benefits for resistance training beyond weight loss anyway. So this is a short, a very, very short episode about how people interpret information. And I would love you to check out my threads account and see what you think and get in on the conversation. Maybe I could word things a little bit better, but I thought it was fairly clear. I even said, hey, I've had a conversation with folks like Jamie Selzer, who was on the podcast. He was over 700 pounds at risk of death, and he used GLP ones, but he also started lifting and walking more. So part of me thinks maybe she's triggered a little bit as someone who is overweight herself, which she acknowledged, she said she is a fat folk on GLP one. And I never use that term fat folks. I'm like, nobody is fat. People just happen to be who they are and maybe carrying extra body weight now or extra body fat. Okay. And fat is just a moniker for that, fine, but it doesn't mean you're that forever. But I also think that maybe she's not doing some of these things and is a little bit feeling judged, and yet I'm not calling people out for that. I'm simply stating some of the misinterpretations that we have. Anyway, that the other problem is social media only allows you to post so many characters. So, how do you post something that's comprehensive enough without rambling on that doesn't also seem like rage or clickbait? So, anyway, check out my profile, go to threads.com slash at wits and weights, or just go into your app, Threads app and follow me there. Check out the conversation. Look for the one about GLP ones. Should be easy to find. I'll see you over there and I'll see you on the next full episode of the Wits and Weights podcast.