How many times have we heard that weight loss and maintenance is simply “calories in, calories out?” Well, the equation may be rooted in thermodynamics, but the reality is biology, history, hormones, and a whole lot more. This week, endocrinologist and Harvard obesity researcher Dr. Jody Dushay breaks down why this concept is far more complex than the numbers on a food label or how many calories our devices tell us we’ve burned. From how your body actually absorbs calories to how (or not) it expends them, we explore how and why weight gain and loss anything but straightforward—especially during menopause, when shifting body composition, gut microbiome changes, altered insulin responses, and evolving hormone levels, create a whole new metabolic landscape. As you’ll see, your body isn’t a calculator—it’s a dynamic, adapting system. We also revisit GLP-1 drugs, which are increasingly popular with midlife women, and where they fit in this whole equation (so to speak).

Jody Dushay, MD, MMSc, is an endocrinologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is also the founder and director of Well Powered, a comprehensive wellness and weight management program. Dr Dushay has studied the effect of pharmacotherapies and dietary interventions on body weight for years, including a large single-site study examining the effects of a glucagon-like peptide receptor agonist on body weight in obese women without diabetes. As a triathlete, she has qualified for Kona 3 times and came in 2nd in her age group at the 2020 Ironman World Championship in St George. You can learn more about her and her work at wellpowered.org.

Resources:

Dr. Jody Dushay’s research:

Short-term exenatide treatment leads to significant weight loss in a subset of obese women without diabetes

Weight Loss Outcomes Among Early High Responders to Exenatide Treatment: A Randomized, Placebo Controlled Study in Overweight and Obese Women

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For the longest time, endurance athletes avoided the weight room, afraid unwanted muscles would weigh them down, while strength athletes all but kicked cardio to the curb. Now we know that no matter if you’re running an ultra or competing in a CrossFit competition, the right blend of cardio and strength is the secret sauce for success–especially once you hit midlife and menopause. This week, renowned exercise physiologist Dr. Alyssa Olenick dives in on how our hormones impact our muscles, metabolism, and general physiology, and how the right blend of hybrid training can help you stay strong, fit, healthy, and injury free during and beyond the menopause transition.

This episode originally dropped on January 8, 2025.

Dr. Alyssa Olenick holds a PhD in exercise physiology and is a certified sports nutritionist and CrossFit Level 2 Trainer. Alyssa completed her doctoral training in exercise and human metabolism, sex differences, and menstrual cycle physiology. She also completed a postdoctoral research fellow investigating the areas of menopause and metabolism. As a coach she specializes in the areas of endurance, strength, and hybrid training. She runs her online business ‘Doc Lyss Fitness’ and training programs ‘The Lyss Method’. She is also a strength athlete, ultra-marathon runner, and all-around fitness lover who is passionate about educating people on science-based fitness to get them into the gyms and on the roads/trails — or often, doing both at the same time! You can learn more about Dr. Alyssa Olenick and her programs at www.doclyssfitness.com

Resources

How to exercise for menopause with Dr. Alyssa Olenick on YouTube

Menopausal Women Need Unique Muscle Making Guidelines, Feisty Menopause Blog

Resistance training alters body composition in middle-aged women depending on menopause - A 20-week control trial, BMC Women's Health

Effect of Concurrent Training on Body Composition and Gut Microbiota in Postmenopausal Women with Overweight or Obesity, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

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This episode originally dropped on February 12, 2025.

Bill Campbell, PhD, has spent his entire career as a fat loss researcher. So when his wife hit menopause and wanted help with body composition changes, he thought it would be easy. Spoiler alert: It was not. Which made him realize his field had a lot to learn, especially about active women whose bodies change even when their training and nutrition has not. Now he’s on a mission, diving into the literature and conducting research of his own to further our understanding of body composition changes during this time of life. We talk all about it, what he’s learned, and his work developing a Female Fitness Menopause Survey to learn more.

Bill Campbell, PhD is a Professor of Exercise Science and Director of the Performance and Physique Enhancement Laboratory at the University of South Florida. He is also a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength & Conditioning Association and former president of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (where he is also 1 of 35 individuals to be recognized as a ‘Fellow’ of the organization—an honor reserved for those individuals who have outstanding contributions to the field of sports nutrition). He has published over 200 scientific papers and abstracts, three textbooks, and 20 book chapters in areas related to physique enhancement, sports nutrition, resistance training, and dietary supplementation. You can learn more about him and his work at www.billcampbellphd.com

Resources

Estrogen modulates metabolic risk profile after resistance training in early postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial, here

Transdermal Estrogen Therapy Improves Gains in Skeletal Muscle Mass After 12 Weeks of Resistance Training in Early Postmenopausal Women, here

Metabolic effects of menopause: a cross-sectional characterization of body composition and exercise metabolism, here

Powerpenia Should be Considered a Biomarker of Healthy Aging, here

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We're sharing this episode of Feisty's weekly women's sports show, called The Feist, because we thought you’d enjoy this preview of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Even if you already know everything about cycling, we're sure you’ll find something you don’t know in today’s episode.

And be sure to subscribe and follow The Feist wherever you listen, so you don't miss any future episodes of the only showing covering *ALL* women's sports:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-feist/id1821308242
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qnvTIJ24cKFWW3JpiIOLR
• Youtube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuvyuG9qLFgy5LXKyIs4sZi18aetQE8gm

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This week on The Feist it's all about previewing the biggest women's race of the year: The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Kate Veronneau, director of women's strategy at Zwift, joins us to give a peak behind the curtain into what goes into the massive event, the kind of growth they've seen at TDFF, and who she thinks could win.

But first, it's our women's sports highlights from the week, including drama from the Euros soccer championship, gossip from the WNBA All-Star Weekend, and a deep dive into the doping sanction that was handed out to the marathon world record holder (and why it hurts more than just a couple of athletes).

From what women's sports we watched to what we want to watch, it's just another week of your favorite sports with your Feistiest friends!

Highlights:

• 0:00 - Welcome and What We Watched
• 13:00 - "Pay Us What You Owe Us"
• 21:57 - WNBA Insights and Gossip
• 25:02 - The Doping Downfall of Marathon World Record Holder, Ruth Chepngetich
• 34:43 - The Impact of Doping on Athletic Careers
• 43:20 - Kate Veronneau previews the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift
• 01:11:10 - Our Feisty Picks of the Week, including American Ninja Warrior

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When things start to feel “off” in midlife, it’s easy to blame perimenopause. It’s easy to accept the advice to slow down—or to internalize the idea that age automatically means decline. But this week’s guest, Jen Temperley, isn’t buying it. A lifelong triathlete, Jen has faced her share of challenges: unexplained fatigue, weight gain, gut issues, injuries, and symptoms that looked like menopause—but weren’t. Through it all, she leaned into curiosity, self-advocacy, and a relentless drive to understand her body on a deeper level. The result? She raced the Ironman World Championship faster at 50 than she did at 40—and continues to thrive in the sport she loves. This week Jen shares the pivotal moments that changed her trajectory, the hard reset she made on fueling, rest, and stress, and what it really takes to rebuild your health—and your power—in midlife.

Jen Temperley is a strength, nutrition, and endurance coach with over 25 years of experience working with active women and athletes. A lifelong athlete and competitive triathlete, Jen is currently ranked in the top 2% of her age group, and a 10-time Ironman 70.3 World Championship qualifier. She specializes in coaching women 40+ through the key lifestyle factors that impact performance and well-being; including strength training, fueling, recovery, and the physiological changes that come with the menopause transition. You can learn more about her and her work at FLY Health + Wellness

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Former track and field Olympic champion Marion Jones, who lost her record-breaking 5 medals and served prison time in a high profile doping scandal, thought that her hardest days were behind her. And in that realm, they certainly are. But now she’s facing a challenge she never saw coming: perimenopause. This week, Marion opens up about all of it–navigating her past, moving forward from her mistakes, trying triathlon as she approaches her 50th birthday, and the wrecking ball that is perimenopause. From learning to swim to navigating knee pain, hormone shifts, and public scrutiny, Marion shares what it means to start over—and live with gratitude—no matter where you are in life.

Marion Jones became the first woman to win five medals in a single Olympics when she won three gold and two bronze in the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. She appeared on the covers of Time Magazine, Vogue, and Sports Illustrated and became a household name. Though she never tested positive in a drug test, in 2007 Marion confessed that she had lied about taking performance enhancing drugs and was subsequently sentenced to six-months in prison and surrendered her medals. In 2010 she returned to her basketball roots, having led the North Carolina Tar Heel team to the 1994 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, and played for the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock for two seasons. Marion is now a speaker, entrepreneur, and an expert trainer and coach. Her new podcast Second Wind features guests who’ve faced major adversities, only to rise up even stronger; because failure isn't forever and reinvention isn't just possible - it's inevitable.

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Feisty favorite Peloton Instructor Christine D’Ercole is back on the show this week for a candid conversation about how she’s managing a high profile athletic career while also in the throes of perimenopause. Through her ups–winning three more National titles since we last spoke–and her downs–peeing herself in the gym as she struggles with pelvic floor dysfunction–Christine is simply open, honest, and real about navigating the emotional terrain of being a midlife, menopausal athlete. We dive into it all including her new Sprint Interval Training (SIT) Collection at Peloton, which is designed especially to help midlife women maintain their power.

Christine D’Ercole is a speaker, writer, decorated competitive cyclist and an original Peloton Cycling Instructor who inspires thousands daily with her work on and off the bike. She is also the founder of Wordshop: a workshop in self-talk, providing practical tools for navigating our negative self-talk towards more productive narratives. For over a decade she has provided Wordshops for private events and for major corporations. When she is not writing or speaking, Christine is racing her bike at Velodromes across the country. She is a Masters World Champion, holds 18 National titles, and is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Christine is currently working on a new book, Talking to Myself, a practical guidebook to help you rework your inner dialogue to transform your life. For more information go to christinedercole.com and @iamicaniwillido on instagram. Check out her CDE Menopause Playlist here on Spotify

Resources

I Am I Can I Will I Do in Menopause with Christine D’Ercole (Episode 159)

World Championships 2024

National Championships 2024

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Like many women, Dena Lewis planned on “fighting through” menopause. She thought she could outrun, out-nutrition, and out-supplement menopause. Menopause–which came swiftly through surgery–had other ideas. Through mood swings, soaking night sweats, hair loss, and a relentless barrage of symptoms, Dena did keep running–10+ miles a day–but she also sought hormone therapy that made the rest better. A lifelong runner and breast cancer survivor, Dena shares how she’s navigated her health and menopause journey. She also speaks candidly about surviving two assaults while running, and how those experiences led her to create Running Mate, a safety-focused app that pairs verified runners with compatible partners based on pace, distance, and time of day.

Dena Lewis is the passionate force behind Running Mate, an innovative app revolutionizing runner safety. After enduring two assaults while running, she embarked on a mission to create a safer environment for all runners. Through Running Mate, Dena offers a reliable platform where runners and mates undergo thorough background checks, ensuring peace of mind for all involved. Think of Running Mate as the Uber for runners, providing a groundbreaking solution to enjoy runs without fear. Before founding Running Mate, Dena forged a successful career in Medical Device Sales and Management, holding various leadership roles over 15 years. You can learn more about her and her work at www.getrunningmate.com

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