Episode 10. Exercise vs Nutrition for Fat Loss: What Matters Most in Midlife?

If you’ve ever wondered whether you need more cardio… fewer carbs… heavier weights… or just more willpower — this episode is for you.

In today’s conversation, I break down one of the biggest misconceptions in weight loss:

Is exercise or nutrition more important for fat loss?

For midlife and mature women, the answer is nuanced — and understanding it properly can save you years of frustration.

Fat loss is not about trying harder.
It’s about focusing on the right lever.

In This Episode We Cover:

Why you cannot out-exercise poor nutrition
The real reason the scale doesn’t move despite regular workouts
How many calories exercise actually burns (and why that matters)
Why strength training becomes non-negotiable after 50
How nutrition drives fat loss
Why exercise shapes your body but food changes your weight
The mistake of treating food as something you “earn” through exercise
The smarter, sustainable strategy for long-term fat loss

Key Takeaway

Nutrition is the primary driver of fat loss.
Exercise protects your metabolism, preserves muscle, improves insulin sensitivity and supports longevity.

They are partners — but they are not equal when it comes to reducing body fat.

If your workouts aren’t delivering results, it’s not about doing more.

It’s about aligning your food, movement, and mindset.

Who This Episode Is For

Women in midlife or post-menopause
Women who exercise consistently but aren’t losing weight
Women tired of the “eat less, move more” narrative
Women who want evidence-based, realistic fat loss advice

Want Support?

If this episode resonated with you, there are two ways we can work together:

✔ Book a one-on-one consultation (online or in person) by emailing me [email protected]

✔ Join my 12-Week Programme designed specifically for midlife and mature women

Click Here: https://www.outlookforlife.com/programs

If you found this helpful, please subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who needs clarity around fat loss.

Because strong, energised, metabolically resilient women don’t happen by accident.

They happen by design.

Ginny x

Episode Transcript

I'm Ginny MacArthur, I'm a nutritionist,

fitness trainer and life coach,

And I'm obsessed with helping…

Middle-aged, mature women.

Live healthy, long lives with a little bit of badassery attached for good measure.

Today, we're talking about

Exercise versus nutrition for fat loss.

I started out in the health business as a personal trainer.

And I quickly discovered that

My clients could work their backsides off in the gym, do all of the prescribed exercise,

and get nowhere if their nutrition was wrong. So, after pulling my hair out for about 18 months,

I went back to university and did my nutrition papers, so that's how I kind of got here.

In the first place. And I had always been really, really interested about nutrition anyway.

you know, for myself and for other people. So…

Of course, when you exercise, you burn more calories.

And if you're burning more calories than you are consuming,

All things being equal,

you will lose weight.

But here's 3 things you have to know.

First of all,

weight… for weight loss,

In my opinion, nutrition is

King. You cannot out-exercise

poor food choices. You know, we think we go for our runs and we think we can have a muffin, or whatever.

And sometimes when we're younger, we can get away with that.

But certainly, after the age of about 30, it doesn't work anymore. It just does not work like that.

So, for the average, let's take…

An average 70 kilo woman who's moderately fit,

If she runs for an hour on the treadmill,

At the gym, she is

probably going to burn somewhere… let's take an average of about 500 calories.

How many calories is it a hot cross bun with butter? A large hot cross bun with butter?

500 calories. So you can see that, you know, it just doesn't add up. If you're having a bad day, or a naughty day,

You are going to have to be on the treadmill all day.

to try and run off, if there is such a thing, what you have eaten. It just really, really, really, really, really, really

doesn't work that way.

When you're starting out on your fat loss journey, and you start with a Hisson Aurora, and you over-exercise, this is number 2, when you over-exercise,

you get hungry.

And you're trying to control your food for the first time,

and you're hungry all the time. So that just makes… it compounds things and makes them…

really difficult.

The other thing that happens, unfortunately,

is as we do more exercise and we get fitter, our bodies become more efficient at exercise,

Which means we burn less calories doing the same thing.

So maybe when you first started off, let's say you started off on the treadmill and you were running, maybe you were burning…

650 or 700 calories to start with in an hour, and then suddenly…

your body becomes more efficient, you get fitter, and you're only burning 450 calories doing the same thing.

So our body is very good at…

getting better at things, and compensating for things.

Um, and the other thing I think, you know, if you're over-exercising and undereating,

And you're in…

a deficit, your energy will suffer, your mood will suffer.

And continuing with your food plan will get just…

harder and harder and harder. So it's clearly not sustainable, either. You know, you start off like a bull at a gate, and you very quickly, because your body isn't conditioned, you very quickly either get absolutely knackered, or you get injured.

So it's really not…

It's just not sustainable going forward.

Exercise, however, this is number 3, exercises at

absolutely brilliant for maintenance.

So when you've got to, your forever weight, or your ideal weight, or just where you feel great and where you want to be,

Exercising will so help you stay there.

Exercising means that you can eat more. You know, even if, let's say, you were just walking for…

an hour, let's say, every day, that's potentially 400 calories. That's 400 calories more food that you can eat.

So that's great! And stay the same without your weight going back on. So that's great, so, you know, it's good for your mental health, it's great for

energy levels, it's great for everything else, so please,

The message of this is not, don't exercise.

I'm just trying to show you that over-exercising without

understanding and adjusting your nutrition,

you're on a Hiding to nothing.

long-term. So, with my clients, I like to focus on food.

First. So, I teach them how to eat, we discover together

what works best for your body, because everybody's different. We find out your, you know, what works for you, your lifestyle, what you like and dislike.

We get that sorted, then we look at your incidental exercise.

Incidental exercise is just what you do during the day. It's as simple as tracking your steps.

So we see where that is, and we might set a goal. Like, if you're only doing

3,000 or 4,000 steps a day, we might aim to nudge that up to 5 and 6, and then 7,000 steps a day.

So, incidental exercise, once we've got that nailed, your nutrition is still going along really well, we're making little adjustments to it as we go,

Then we add in 30 minutes of cardio daily if you're not already doing that.

And that might be walking, it might be running, it might be swimming, it might be on the bike, it might be on the rowing machine,

Whatever that thing is for you.

For me, at the moment, it's sauntering with the dogs.

But whatever that thing is for you, right? Then we introduce that, we get that in there, and that is for your cardiovascular health.

As well as for your mental health. And if you can do that outside, it's an added bonus. If you can get out in nature,

Like I always say, over 70% of women in New Zealand suffer from nature deficit disorder,

Which is ridiculous, look where we live.

Right? So we need to get out and connect

with the universe, or the planet, or whatever it is. In fact, if you do it with friends, that's an even better connection.

So it's a social connection as well as that connection with nature and the outside world. So get outside if you can to do your walking.

If you can't sit on your exorcycle or whatever. And by the way, as we head into winter,

I love that, um, that quote that there's no such thing as bad weather,

just inappropriate clothing. Just bear that in mind, put a coat on, get out the door.

Uh, so, then we got that 30 minutes in, then strength training. So, strength training is so vitally important, it's something I struggle to get women to do.

But it is vitally important for our health and our well-being and our longevity going forward, so we get that in there.

And then, and this, you know, we might be a year down the track by now,

Then, we look at some HIIT training, because that's really useful.

for your… for your metabolism and for your energy levels. But I'm sure, talking about really short, you know, like, 2, 3, 5 minute, maybe 10 minute,

sessions of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, just a couple of times a week.

When we introduce, or before we introduce the strength training, we also look at flexibility, because obviously flexibility and balance and agility are really important as we age as well.

And that agility is really important for our bone density, too. But I won't get too much into… sidetracked into that.

Now, in a post earlier this week, I asked you about other modalities that you were using, and if you had any questions.

And these are what came up. So the first was,

Um, yes, people wanted to know about apple cider vinegar, which was one of the things that I mentioned.

Um, apple cider vinegar is great for blood sugar control, so if you're diabetic or pre-diabetic,

It can be really useful. It lowers the glycemic load of a meal.

So, it means that what you eat, the carbohydrates you eat, feed out into your bloodstream slower,

When you have apple cider vinegar. But actually, any vinegar will do it.

So, in the UK, when we used to have salt and vinegar on our chips, we were probably doing ourselves a big favor.

So, the acetic acid in vinegar will lower the glycemic load of a meal, so that's really good.

There are studies showing, um, that apple cider vinegar is great for arthritis.

Um, it slows as well, it slows gastric emptying.

Um, which is also probably a good thing.

But it is.

a fat loss miracle. You know, taking it…

you know, the anecdotal reports are probably people, yes, they're doing apple cider vinegar, but at the same time, they're making other changes.

So, yes, they're seeing fat loss, but it really annoys me, like, if you're gonna buy apple cider vinegar,

buy… buy a good one, like Bragg's, that's got the mother in it, possibly. Don't have to, but that's a… that's a suggestion that's in glass. You don't really want to be buying…

things that are acidic in plastic.

I've got a thing about microplastics in our brain at the moment. My brain doesn't need more.

microplastics, so I actually go to a bulk bin place, and I get my apple cider vinegar.

in a glass bottle.

Um, so… so yes, so it can be useful.

it can help if you're not producing enough stomach acid, which sometimes that's what reflux is, it's not too much acid, it's that you're not producing enough.

apple cider vinegar can help with that.

But I want you to take it as apple cider vinegar. So you make a dressing with it, with a little bit of olive oil,

And maybe lemon juice. And you could add some Dijon or something.

Okay, so you take it like that.

Or, you put a dessert spoon in warm water, like my grandmother used to do, with honey, and you drink it like that.

You don't have it in gummies, right? We're not 5-year-old children!

We're mature women. We can actually, you know, we can cope with vinegar.

We don't need it put into something else and sweetened for us. We're cool with it.

So, yes, if you think it's helpful for you, definitely, if your blood sugars are creeping up, if your HbA1c is creeping up,

positive things you can do, apple cider vinegar, or any vinegar with a meal.

And walking for 10 minutes after a meal, those are two really helpful things that you can do.

Um, the other one that came up was FibraTrain,

And, um, I promised my client, Jenny, that I would not burst her bubble on…

VibraTrain. So…

Vibratrain, or any of the vibration training plates, like a lot of people have them at home because there was a bit of a craze,

they… they're good for bone density, so that's what they were developed for. They were developed for astronauts who were weightless, so they were developed to increase their bone density, because the vibration

is like the concussion of skipping, or running, or jumping.

So, um, it… it helps to, um, promote osteoclasts, so it gets the brain producing

new baby bone cells, which is… which is good.

There are some studies that show it's great for pelvic floor, so if you have bladder issues, it's probably something I should have looked at a few years ago. It could be helpful.

And it's great for lymphatics or circulation, so if you have poor circulation and you get pooling of fluid in your ankles, let's say,

Um, your lymphatic system,

doesn't have a heart to pump.

around, like, like blood?

Like, the heart has the… the blood has the heart, lymphatics don't, they… they need movement, and your lymphatic vessels are actually generally

close to big muscles, so that as the muscles move, it pushes the length back up.

But if you're somebody and you're getting fluid pooling in your ankles, then, you know, it can be good for that. So it can be good for circulation.

Does it replace cardio?

No. Does it…

does it replace… like, if you've ever tried doing squats or push-ups on a Vibra train, it's hard!

But… does it replace traditional strength training? No.

Is it a good starting point?

absolutely great, and if you love it, and it makes you feel great, it's a great supplementary modality.

So, you know, use it, use it as a starting point, or use it alongside your 30 minutes walk and your strength training.

Absolutely, definitely go for it.

Okay, Jenny, it's good, it's good.

Um, what else did I have?

Fasting? Yes. So, fasting for me, really moves the needle on my body composition.

And my energy levels.

So I aim for around a 14-hour fast for some people, you might want to start with a 10-hour fast.

And then pull it out to 12, and then 13, and that might be your sweet spot. Or 12 hours!

Like, from 8 at night to 8 in the morning, that might be your sweet spot. Play with it and find out.

I feel great if I do 14 hours. So, if I have…

Dinner at 6, and I have breakfast at 8.

I feel amazing. It increases my energy, and it helps me burn fat.

Absolutely, definitely.

Um, so, in my study of one, it works really, really well, so I would encourage you to give that a go.

But my caveat would be to do it by making your dinner earlier, not making your breakfast later.

That way round does not work.

does not work very well for fat loss, does not work very well for women, general health at all.

So do it that way round.

And it's not just about eating, it's about what you're consuming. So, you know, for me, if I was gonna say, I'm gonna stop eating at 8pm,

I would say my last calorie of the day is going to be before 8pm.

So then that cuts out hot chocolates, or sneaking in little bites of things when you're putting dinner away, or another glass of wine, or whatever the thing is.

So it cuts that out so that you're having that

proper fasting period so that your gut can do all of the wonderful things that it needs to do when it's not being

besieged by nutrients and calories and having to deal with things.

So, that's that one. Um…

The sauna, I love. So, I'm a complete convert. I never used to be.

But I am now a complete… over the last, probably, two and a half, three years, I've started using sauna, so hot-cold therapy.

Sauna and swims, not too cold this time of year, because the ocean is about 21 degrees.

But in the winter, when it's more like 13 degrees, it feels flipping cold. I also do that on my deck. I've got, um, a spa.

which one I can afford to have it running, I have it as hot as I can have it, which is about 40 degrees,

And I have a cold plunge pool next to it.

So I find that great.

for body composition. There are lots of studies that show that it helps with utilizing and burning brown fat.

Which is a great thing. Um…

it… it helps promote brown fat over white fat, so white fat is the visceral fat,

That sits around your organs, which is the not-good stuff.

Um, brown fat is great when you're burning brown fat, it pushes your metabolism up, so there's a real value to that.

I'm finding it really good with my hips at the moment, that hot-cold therapy is really helpful for that.

Um, most of the time, it gives me a really good energy boost.

I think if you don't hydrate properly in or after the sauna, or if you're dehydrated when you go in,

It will have the opposite effect, and you'll feel knackered afterwards.

I think, um… so I think that's really important. If you combine it with alcohol,

Um, that's not a good move, because if, you know, if you… if you've done the sauna,

And it's really… yeah, it takes a while to rehydrate from what you've lost.

And then you have a glass of alcohol when you get home, you're going to dehydrate further, so you have a worse hangover, that's not a great idea.

Um, but otherwise, I find it's really good, and I find doing the heart and always finishing on a cold…

gives me heaps of energy.

But, if I'm doing it in the evening,

Sometimes I find finishing on the heart,

So that my body temperature has been high, and then it's cooling, actually helps me to go to sleep.

So that, I think, is a great thing if you haven't given it a go, maybe think about it.

Um, and the other one was HIP, which I mentioned before, and I do notice, when I'm doing HIIT training,

So that's, you know, it's literally 30 seconds going as hard as I can so I feel like I'm gonna vomit.

30 seconds to a minute rest, let my heart rate come back down again, and repeat.

I find that…

There are studies that show that as women age and we lose estrogen,

Doing that helps to replace estrogen in that it helps our bodies remember

how to shuttle carbohydrates into muscle cells rather than storing them around our waste.

I think it has a… it has a real positive effect on my metabolism and my energy.

And I'm missing it at the moment because I'm struggling, as I said before, to do it.

So, all of that…

And what it comes down to, really, so those are kind of supplementary therapies that you can do on the side of your other mainstream stuff.

What it comes down to, really, is, first of all, focus on a whole food diet.

So that is focusing on fruits,

Vegetables, whole grains,

nuts, seeds,

beans, legumes,

good fats, like…

extra virgin olive oil,

in moderation, avocado in moderation.

Um, omega-3 fatty acids are really important.

Drink plenty of water,

Consider moving your last calorie of the day earlier, most days. That doesn't mean you can't go out to dinner or have a drink.

On a Friday night, like I do, with mates,

Um, so most of the time that matters.

Exercise daily for your physical and mental health.

And also because it gives you more energy, like, you know, it's like what you appreciate appreciates.

exercise done right should give you more energy, not make you feel knackered.

don't exercise as a punishment.

for eating badly.

or making poor choices with your food, because it just doesn't work.

And don't focus on exercise to accelerate your fat loss.

Focus on food,

First. So, I'm definitely a food-first person.

Um, I hope that that was helpful. It was a bit of a garbled message, but I hope that it was helpful.

I hope that you're enjoying these sessions.

Please do message me, or email me, and let me know the subjects that you would like me to cover.

what you would like to hear more of,

Or are there any guests that you would like me to try and get to come on?

Apart from my son and my husband and my best friend, I'll see what I can do.

And, if you'd like to work with me, I will put the link below for my 12-week program that leads into the membership.

You can also, um, work with me

privately, either online,

or face-to-face in the clinic, and for that, you need to email me. I will have a bookings link, but at the moment, you need to email me,

Ginny at OutlookForLife.com for the details, which I will send through to you.

Have a fantastic week!

Be a badass, enjoy life, I know there's lots of shit going on in the world at the moment, but…

Get outside like I did this morning, stand on the beach, listen to the ocean, look at the light catching the waves,

And be so grateful that you're alive,

And do everything that you can

In everything that you do, every penny that you spend, what you choose to eat, what you choose to wear, what you choose to buy, do everything that you can to preserve this

Amazing planet,

for the next generation and the generation after. Have a fab week. Next week…

Next week, what are we talking about?

Next week, we're talking about fat loss versus weight loss. Okay, see you then. Bye, everybody.