Have you ever heard of a DEXA scan? It's a pretty incredible tool when it comes to understanding your body composition! With a DEXA scan, you can ditch old methods of measuring "health" like body weight and BMI, and instead get a clear picture of your body's muscle and fat composition. That way, you can make targeted changes to reduce your risk of disease and boost your confidence. 

Today, I share my recent (& shocking!) DEXA scan results and explain why you should consider getting one too. I also talk about why it's important to celebrate your body and not beat yourself up if the scan results aren't exactly what you were expecting. If you're struggling with getting your ideal muscle tone and definition, or if you tend to judge yourself harshly when your body isn't where you want it to be, this episode is a must-listen! 

Want FREE access to my brand new four-week strength training plan, Strength Without Stress? Head over to hollyperkins.com/review where you can upload a screenshot of your review and gain immediate access. This is a limited-time offer before it sells for $197, so be sure to grab it now!

Topics Covered:

• Why it’s important to know your body composition 
• My surprising DEXA scan results
• The truth about body fat percentage and bodyweight
• Tips for shifting your mindset about body fat percentage 
• How to approach weight loss and body composition in a healthy and sustainable way
• Reframing body fat as a celebration, rather than negative self-talk 
• Advice for being mindful of your body fat percentage in relation to your habits 
• Balancing freedom and discipline 

Resources Mentioned:

• Listen to the first 24 episodes of Holly Perkins Health Podcast HERE
• Get on the waitlist for The Body Composition Project HERE 
• See the research on body fat distribution, incident cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality HERE
• See the research on body fat and risk of all-cause mortality HERE
• See the research on body composition and mortality in the general population HERE
• See the research on obesity HERE

Follow Me: 

Find me on Instagram: @hollyperkins

Learn more on my website: hollyperkins.com

Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/HollyPerkinsFitness/

Disclaimer: Content and information as part of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast is for general interest, education, and entertainment purposes only. The use of information on this podcast or materials or products linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

DEXA scan is the most accurate way to learn about your body composition. So that you know if you need to become more muscle and less fat, so that you can reduce your risk of most diseases. Everything changes when you stop obsessing about bodyweight, and start focusing on muscle weight. Keep listening, if you want to know why you should consider getting a DEXA scan. And what happened when I saw my recent results. This is one you don't want to miss.

So today, I'm sharing something personal. Because it highlights exactly why I stress the importance of getting real, accurate data on where your body is in terms of body composition. hear me loud and clear, your body weight does not matter, your BMI doesn't matter. These are both very misleading pieces of information when assessing your health. Yes, your body weight is a metric. But if you use it as your primary metric, all you're doing is unnecessarily torturing yourself because it's it's really not a very accurate reflection of your health, your body composition or even your fitness level. If you're struggling to get the body that you need to keep up with the life that you love, I encourage you to stay with me and listen closely to today's episode. If you feel like your body fat is higher than you want it to be, or that you're struggling to get the muscle tone and definition that you want, you're going to get some really helpful tips today. And if you tend to judge yourself negatively when your body isn't where you want it, this just might give you the permission you need to let go of that nonsense.

In this episode, you'll learn why getting real data about your body composition is a game changer. What happened when I saw the results of my own DEXA scan recently, a real case example of what it means to be skinny fat. And why that moniker is so misunderstood why I believe there is only one metric that you should be focused on, and it relegates body weight and BMI to pretty much irrelevant. As always, I've included some research to support today's topic. There's a time and a place for celebrating living life and enjoying simple pleasures. I've noticed that when your body composition is on target, you've got way more latitude for indulging, there is a way of life where you don't have to be strict, overly disciplined or neurotic, and able to have a lean fit strong body that feels good most days. And isn't that the goal to have balance between the two. It is the best of both worlds and I am going to show you how it's achievable.

Twice a year, I open up my most transformational group coaching program called the body composition project where I help you to become more muscle and less fat. So you reduce your risk of disease and create the strong lean fit body that you want. We just kicked off our latest round last month. And as part of that programming, I require a body composition scan for each participant. Having this data really improves the effectiveness of the program because I know where each person is and where she needs to go in terms of body composition. And it takes away all of the guessing. I've always said it's hard to get to where you're going if you don't know where you're at. And you'll never arrive at your destination if you don't have a specific target, right? So it gives us real data. A body composition scan tells me how much of you is muscle, and how much of you is fat, so that we can track your progress as we move towards the ideal target of at least 70% of your current body weight as lean muscle mass. Not only do I serve as your coach in this program, but I also participate alongside the other women so that I'm in it with them. I asked them to get a body composition scan. So I asked the same of myself.

So this past week, I went for my first DEXA scan in a number of years. I don't I'm not even sure of the last scan that I had. And I will tell you it was enlightening, to say the least. So let me back up for a minute just in case some of this is new terminology for you. As I said already a body composition scan is a way to measure how much of your current body weight is lean muscle mass, body fat, and bone mineral content, otherwise known as BMC. To make the conversion a little bit easier, in general, we combine lean muscle mass with the BMC bone mineral content, so as to get one number that we call fat free mass, that's then expressed as a ratio against your body fat mass. So for ease of conversation, think of your body based basically in two parts, fat, and muscle, or more scientifically, fat and fat free mass. Most people these days get a body comp scan specifically, so they can find out their body fat percentage. Once we know that number, we simply subtract it from 100 to determine your percent lean mass. So if you're let's say 30%, body fat, you're also 70% muscle. And well, that's not exactly right. It's easiest to think of it that way. And it's close enough.

The reason it's important to understand your body composition is because we know from tons and tons of research that higher body fat levels are associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and all cause mortality. now know that the common vernacular is always focused on your body fat percentage, that's the point of the conversation whenever somebody gets any kind of a body composition scan. Now, there are a number of ways to determine your body composition, and some are more accurate than others. The gold standard at this time is a DEXA scan, which is in essence, a special form of an x ray, or a bod pod, which is called air displacement. And then I would say kind of the third place option popularly is an in body scan, which is known as bio electrical impedance. So it's three different technologies to determine what your body composition is. And they each have varying degrees of test to test reliability, but also accuracy.

For the most part, the DEXA scan is the closest we can possibly get to what your true body composition is. When possible, my preference is always a DEXA, or a bod pod. So I got my DEXA results this week. And it became a whole thing, I had no idea. It became a full blown narrative on body fat, body image choices and the seasons of life. See, those numbers represent so much more than just what percentage of my body weight is fat. And my personal case study, if you will, illuminates everything that I teach so beautifully. So you want to know my results. Now, I'm going to comment later on the issues I have with how body composition screenings are reported, because they highlight and emphasize your body fat percentage, like I said, it's basically the whole reason people get these tests is so they can find out what their body fat percentage is. This culture is obsessed with body fat, it's pretty much the first number on the report. And for most people, it's the whole point of why they get the screening. So I have a real problem with this. We'll talk about that in a moment. That being said, my body fat percentage is drumroll

32.3%. This is the highest body fat percentage I have been in the past 10 years, not not in my entire adult life because there were definitely times that I was higher body fat. Thankfully, I've got some muscle on me. But this is absolutely without a doubt the highest body weight and the highest body fat that I have been in 10 years and that represents an increase in 15 pounds on the scale. It is true I weighed 15 pounds heavier on the scale today, more than I did about two years ago. Now some of that is also muscle loss but more of it is really just fat accumulation. More on this in a minute because numerous medical organizations, pretty much all of them. Categorize a woman with more than 30% body fat as obese. Take that in for a moment. You're telling me that I'm obese, that is absolute and complete silliness. Some organizations are revealing this data and they've begun adjusting the categorization for what we consider overweight, obese and morbidly obese. And they are pushing it higher because so many people like me are speaking out.

And we're realizing that, first of all, BMI is garbage, get rid of it and ignore it. And more specifically, even a body fat percentage of about 30% is really quite common and normal, even by global standards, not just United States standards. So this isn't me saying, Oh, the world is getting fatter. And so therefore, we're just shifting the norm. That's not the case. And I think if you saw me in a bathing suit right now, you would go whoa, that doesn't make any sense at all. In fact, earlier today, my husband said, Wow, you have such a flat stomach, and he doesn't know this whole conversation about my body fat, and I literally started laughing. And I'm like, Baby, no, I don't. And he's like, yes, you do. Look at your stomach. Look at how flat it is. And so really, and truly, if you saw me, you might say, Yeah, Holly Perkins is a little heavier than she normally is. Definitely have more body fat than I normally do. But my friend, I am not obese. So historically, anything over 30% body fat was considered overweight, and some categorize it as obese. I've got a quote for you in a moment. I also took my progress photos this week. And while I'm certainly no bikini competitor right now, I still look pretty darn good. And I'm certainly not obese. Am I technically overweight? Maybe. And my body fat is technically high enough that it gave me a kick in the pants to start cleaning up my habits. Am I happy about it? No. Am I surprised kinda and kinda not, I'll explain in a moment. But obese, no overweight, probably not even that. So Houston, we have a problem.

According to the University of Pennsylvania, by the way, an Ivy League university and one of the leading medical institutions. And the pen bariatric and weight loss surgery team is quoted as saying, the normal amount of body fat is between 25 and 30%. In women, women with more than 30% body fat are considered I can't even say it with a straight face are considered obese. morbid obesity is defined as having a body mass index of more than 40. Now, scratch that because even though a lot of medical institutions are still citing BMI, it is so inaccurate. And there will be a day in the near future where we don't even reference it at all anymore, I promise. Now, we do know that body fat levels above 30% correlate to a risk of disease. But there is not a single doctor at any medical institution that would say I'm overweight, or I'm obese, a body fat percentage above 30 does indicate an increased risk of disease. So I do need to become more muscle and less fat. It was a bit of a wake up call. In some ways, it was a surprise for me to learn that my body fat was that high.

When I first thought I knew, I actually thought that I was going to be up around maybe 2829 30% Fat totally prepared for that. I know that I've gained some weight, I don't weigh myself regularly, every now and then I do. But I can tell by the way my clothes are fitting, I've got some jeans that I just can't fit into at all. So in some ways, I was surprised that it was that high. And it really illustrates how easy it is to gain body fat and body weight. And on the other hand, I wasn't surprised at all. Let me explain. After many, many, many years being single, I discovered that what I truly wanted for myself and for my future was to find my guy right now that at the time was a pretty tall order. I knew that he would have to be someone really extraordinary because my life was already amazing and extraordinary, as a single woman, and I was not willing to compromise in any way, shape or form. My life was awesome. And I knew Yes, I wanted a guy but he's got to be pretty pretty darn great. So I realized that I would rather enjoy my life alone, quote unquote, alone with friends and family, then settle for someone who didn't really check all the boxes. And of course, you know what happens when you give the universe a challenge like that right? Mr. Wright got served up So much faster than I ever imagined. If you haven't heard my story, I hope to tell you sometime because it was crazy how quickly and how magically he appeared. So 2022 was the year of dating and romantic dinners, and margaritas and travel. And then 2023 brought our wedding and all of the fun and the celebrations to go with that. It was two years of pure joy. And it was a time of learning to integrate life with another person, he eats very differently than I do, he has different patterns than I do.

So there were some just lifestyle changes that were part of the deal. So I decided that it was just time for me to let up a little bit on my incessant drive for optimal performance. And throughout this time, I eased up on a lot of my diet restrictions, and I wasn't rigid with my hour long hours long daily workouts. We started working out together. So therefore, my own programming started to shift a bit. In short, I let my habits change over the past two years. All along, I was intentionally allowing it to be an experiment to see what would happen if I just let go of diet and exercise. Being my top priorities, they were pretty much everything in my life up until then. And finally, something else in life became more important, something else became my top priority. And that was my husband. I see this a lot with new moms, all of a sudden, something else is way more important than getting washboard abs. If you've been following along here on the podcast, you know that I am a proponent for shifting how we look at body composition. Rather than focusing on body fat. My mission is to inspire fitness and medical professionals to start emphasizing and focusing on and talking about lean muscle mass.

When we look at the research, it's clear that your risk of disease increases with your percentage of body fat. And as you get above 30%, you start playing with fire. But why are we as a society so obsessed with body fat? If we zoom out a bit and rethink this? Why do we hold this emphasis on body fat, when in reality, a much greater percentage of you is lean muscle mass, I might be 32% body fat right now. But that also means I'm 68% muscle. I vote that we start celebrating that and encouraging women and everyone really to reach at least 70% lean muscle, which is associated with a reduced risk of disease, more on my own body fat and a moment. But first, a big problem that we've got to shift is this obsession with body weight, and body fat. Part of the mission of the body composition project is to train my women to start shifting this perspective so that we collectively can go out into the world and to change the narrative. In truth, your body weight doesn't matter.

While high body fat percentage levels do correlate with an increased risk of disease. It's just not productive to focus on losing body fat or losing body weight. The human brain doesn't want to lose anything. Does anybody want to lose anything? No weight is the only thing people want to lose but everything else in life. Generally we don't want to lose anything. We are averse to loss. And if you're focusing on losing something, it's no wonder if you've struggled to succeed. I have a case study that illuminates this beautifully. Donna joined the body composition project because at 45 she was starting to feel old and she quoted the Garth Brooks song. I am much too young to feel this darn old. I can certainly relate. Maybe you can too. upon reviewing her initial progress photos, I noted that she looked great. I think many people would say she was skinny and I know many women would kill for her physique. Being tall her body weight was up Around about 150 pounds. And to some people, that seems like a lot, but she certainly did not need to lose weight and she didn't come into this program to lose weight. When we got her body composition screen back, we both were a bit surprised to see that she was 33% body fat. And the report suggested that she lose 15 pounds of body fat. What if you saw her you would say she does not have a single pound to lose. Now it did also suggests that she should gain 13 pounds of muscle. And gaining muscle is the goal for both of us in this program. And that's the essence of what it means to recomp your body to become more muscle and less fat. When we reviewed her body comp, she shared that as a teenager, she became aware of the term skinny fat, and she knew it applied to her all the way back to when she was a teenager. And yet, she was probably the girl who everyone envied because she was tall and thin.

And this is a great example of how number one bodyweight doesn't matter, it doesn't tell the whole story or the truth. Number two, the appearance of fineness doesn't matter. Because you can have more body fat beyond that 30% That you should have, and still look thin. And number three, even a perfectly healthy person can have a body fat level that is too high, that then puts you into that category for an increased risk of numerous diseases. As long as you're 70%, lean muscle mass or more, you can weigh 200 pounds and still be optimally healthy. If you're 70%, lean muscle or better, you can weigh as much as you want. And you'll look great too.

Now, if this resonates with you, and you're wanting to become more muscle, and less that the body composition project might be a great option for you. We're currently in session, and it was a sold out group, which is crazy. It's sold out way faster than I ever anticipated. But you can get on the waitlist for the next round, which should be in September. add your name to be notified at Holly perkins.com forward slash body comp. That's Holly perkins.com, forward slash b o DYCONP. All one word, body calm. Up next, I'm sharing a powerful observation that will help you shift how you relate to your body, especially if you feel it's not where you want it to be. But first, through this journey of practicing self acceptance. As I gained weight, I started observing a pattern within myself that I now also spot in many, if not most of the women that I coach. And I've known that I've always done it, I just don't think that I ever saw it as clearly as I see it now. And that is a tendency to think that you are way worse than you actually are.

There was a moment when I saw my DEXA scan, there was a pit in my stomach. And I was like whoa, I am way off target. I am way heavier than I normally am. I am so bad, right? And there's this tendency to think that you're so much worse than you actually are. If you're not where you want to be, there's a good chance that you like me, are judging yourself negatively, and therefore almost exaggerating how quote unquote, bad you are. You think or I should say you might think that you're so far from where you want to be. You might allow negative self judgment, like a runaway train, and off it goes speeding into the distance. This is what I used to do. I'm seeing this pattern in the body composition project where some of the women speak of themselves as if they're 100 pounds heavier than they need to be or want to be when in reality, they only need to shift their body composition by five or 10%. That's doable. My current situation is a great example. In the past, gaining fat 10 pounds would have spun me out, because of the negative self judgment. As if I'm the worst person in the world. I'm the fattest person in the world, I'm a disgrace. And I'll admit, when I saw the results of my DEXA scan, like I said, I gasped, and for a moment, that train pulled out of the station and was getting ready to roll for me. Thankfully, I caught myself very quickly. And I reframed it, and I'm okay with it. Because here's the deal. Even a 3% improvement in body composition, is enough for you to look and feel very different. Even a 5% improvement in body composition, means that you'll be discernibly different, and three to 5% is so doable, and it's not that hard.

Think about it. Even a 5% reduction in body fat translates to real numbers on a scale. For me, all I have to do to return to my ideal body composition is lose six to seven pounds of fat, that is nothing when you've got the right strategy. And it can happen super fast. If I get my habits and my choices on track. The mistake that I see so many women make is number one, listen up to brutalize themselves if their body fat is higher than what they want. And number two, they weigh over exaggerate how quote unquote, bad they are. And this is dangerous to your self esteem, and mental health. And abusing yourself into weight loss really doesn't work in the long term. And a positive reframe works miracles in terms of producing better results, while also allowing you to be happier, during the days while you're in progress, my old pattern would have been to beat the crap out of myself internally, I don't think I realized it. And all those years, I did it before. And what I'm talking about here is kind of energetically on the inside, you might never speak out loud, in some of the ways that I'm emphasizing.

But I want you to check in if you feel negative about where your body weight or your body fat is, check in is that a dark, negative energy that you're holding within yourself because I know for me, it was dark, and I would beat the crap out of myself. And that would force me to change my habits. It used to be that I had to have this urgent and clear reason to get my act together. I changed my behavior when I was so upset with the reality. And now instead, I think of it like this. Yes, my body fat is high. I don't feel as strong as I like to, I'd much prefer to perform optimally and be on fire. I don't love my current body fat. But I also don't hate it. I really don't. And I don't abuse myself because of it. It's just body fat. And all it represents is a year or two of celebrating love and enjoying my life as a newlywed. The truth is, to me, it is a worthy reason for celebration. What a wonderful reason for my weight gain. Each and every pound represents the celebration, and the gratitude for having found the love of my Lifetime's who has come in and really changed the trajectory of my life in such big ways. And in some ways, I feel like my body fat is in direct proportion to the magnitude and significance of this wonderful gift that I've been given. And having been able to find my guy and that can exist alongside a third angle here that I also want to offer you.

There is a time and a place for enjoying life. And there is a time and place for choosing to focus on your habits, your performance, your body composition, so that you can be as healthy and as vibrant as possible. partially why I'm not bothered by my DEXA results is because I know that it's simply a prompt for me to shift some of my habits in the better habits. I just need to clean it up a bit and already I've started to change it. I've cut way back on Dave's famous nachos. And I've started prioritizing my workouts more, I know that all I have to do is get a bit more structured with my diet and exercise, and stick with it for maybe three to four months, and I will be back into great shape. Again, it isn't an overall or a drastic change and behaviors anymore, it's really pretty simple, just start to clean it up. And that's the mistake I see so many women making is to think that they have to be all or nothing, that you need to be overly obsessed all the time in order to reach your goal or to release the body fat or get to the body weight that you want to be at. And the mistake is to think that if you're not all in, well, then you're all out and you might as well just live it up and enjoy all the indulgences all the time. And it's just not like that. You really don't have to be all in or all out there is something in the middle. And honestly, the middle is actually where the magic happens.

Your body and your health reflect your habits, improve one habit, and your body will improve its true, improve another habit and you'll see more progress. It's almost like a sliding scale. And it's all relative, the more strict and aggressive you are, the faster you'll see progress. And obviously the opposite holds true. If you're doing nothing, you're not going to see any progress. But so many women have come to me telling me that they're so far off, and they have to change all their habits. And they have to eat only clean foods all the time. And it's just not true. You might be sitting there thinking, in order for me to get to where I want to be, I have to do a radical overhaul of all my habits. And it's not true, you are so much closer than you realize. Most women are walking along on the precipice. And all I have to do is change a couple of things and boom, they start seeing progress. It's happening with some of the women inside of the body composition project, it's almost hard to believe I'm going to sound like I'm bragging, but I didn't do the work they did. I have three women inside of the body composition project right now that I just looked at their two week, two week side by side photo comparisons, and there is discernible, obvious definite progress in just two weeks. And it was not that hard. You are so much closer than you realize it is not as hard as you think it will be improving your body composition or your health doesn't take nearly as much effort as you think it takes time. And if you go into it, accepting that a complete transformation could maybe take six or nine or 12 months for you depending on where you're starting, you'll find that it's just not that hard. It just takes time. In fact, that's one of the most common things I hear from my clients after they've succeeded that, to their surprise, it actually wasn't that hard. It just took the determination, the patience, the consistency, and time. There is something to be said, for where you are in the larger scope of your overarching transformation journey. because I spent so many years cultivating the habits that allow me to have good body composition, most of the time, I was able to let my habit slide a bit in the past two years. And while I'm not the picture of a ripped body right now, for sure,

I know that it's only going to take me maybe four months to get back into fighting shape, if even that. If you're just starting and you don't have a lot of muscle, the nuances do matter. Because of all of my years of working on my body composition and building muscle. I'm able to get away with more sloppiness now than I ever could at the start of my body composition journey. The more muscle you have, the more you can get away with and the better able your body will be to maintain itself during times when you're off track.

So, back to my 32.3% body fat. The truth is that each of the 15 pounds of fat that I gained, represent moments of joy and I want to celebrate each Every pound for the represent the celebrations that I have been fortunate enough to have over the past two years. Three of those 15 pounds represent traveling around the world with the love of my life and spending time with family and loved ones. We drove across the country four times, we went to Mexico, and we had numerous road trips. We loved every minute of it, and we saw so many special places, and important faces. And as that type of travel entails, inevitably, there were some choices that just weren't ideal. There was more caffeine, there was more sugar and fewer workouts, not to mention a ton of sitting. And three of those 15 pounds represent Dave's nachos. Prior to meeting him I would not touch sour cream or nachos with a 10 foot pole. To me those were just unnecessary calories that didn't do any good for any body. And as it turns out, sour cream is delicious. And Dave's nachos could be award winning. Four of those 15 pounds represent lazy weekends instead of rigorous grueling two hour workouts.

While we still worked out I allowed myself to Slack a bit on my strength training, and I traded my dedicated cardio workouts for more dog walks with Dave, two of those 15 pounds represent becoming masterful at homemade cocktails, and discovering my favorite of all the Tequila Sunrise, girl, I got a recipe. The poetry is not lost on me that there were a few too many tequila sunrises as Dave and I watched the California sunsets from our backyard at the end of the work day. And those were some of the most blissful moments of my life. Three of those 15 pounds represent the self love and acceptance that I had to practice so that I could be okay with myself as my jeans got tighter and my bra stopped fitting right. I just decided that I grant myself some grace and allow it to all unfold rather than chastising myself back to the gym and away from our favorite Mexican restaurant. Now, hear me loud and clear. I don't love the way that I feel with where my current body composition is. And I feel that I do need to increase my muscle mass percentage. See what I did there. I didn't say I need to lose weight. I didn't say I need to lose body fat. I said I need to increase my muscle mass percentage. I don't feel as strong as I like to my joints are a little bit achy, my energy isn't great. And from time to time, my symptoms of depression tend to creep in a little bit based on my habits if I'm drinking too much alcohol and too much caffeine. I'm not as perky and happy as I like to be. So while I'm going to celebrate these 15 pounds and be grateful for their inspiration.

I also feel like it's time to shift some habits so that my body composition shifts back in the direction that I prefer. The truth is, I prefer to be mindful and focused and in the zone of my workouts. And the truth is, I haven't had a great feeling workout in about a year and I miss that desperately. So for me what that means at this time to get back on track is consistent nutrition throughout the day, not just before workouts, it means little to no alcohol. It means eating the right foods immediately prior to my workouts, and it means a lot less caffeine. I also prefer to be lean and fit like a machine. It's just like how I like to feel when my habits are dialed in and consistent. I am just so much better in general, I have more energy. I've got more creativity, I have more bandwidth to devote to my friends and family and life and my work. I feel enthusiasm, which I believe is probably my signature personality trait. And in this past year, I've been feeling a little bit. I don't know, dulled, if you will will and definitely I'm feeling less of the enthusiasm that that I really love.

And believe it or not, I actually prefer to eat food as fuel While I have loved all of the food and all of the splurges and all of the awesome cocktails and indulgences of the past two years, I actually truly believe that food is just fuel. I remember the days when a sweet potato was so satisfying, and it completely satisfied my sweet tooth. I remember the days when I would feel lifted and spirited after a meal, rather than feeling kind of drugged and a little bit sluggish like I do in the past few months. And probably most important of all, I noticed that my connection to my higher power is way more clear and present and powerful. When I'm in the body I like to be in I prefer to feel the good of a well functioning, high performing body. I feel the influence of magic or God and angels or whatever word you choose to use. I feel that tingle a lot more every single day when I'm in my best body. And I noticed that I can manifest magic. When my body outwardly reflects the temple that it is. There is a time and a place for structure and splurging. There are seasons for fitness and fatness. Most people will never be 100% in tip top shape forever.

And in some ways, I'm not sure I want you to be. The truth is the human brain needs boundaries, but it also needs abandon. You need discipline, but you also need freedom. The key is to know where you are, love yourself in all the ages and stages. And then be peacefully prepared to shift your habits when your body or your health isn't where you want them to be. So I asked you, what season are you in? Are you head down focused on getting your body composition to at least 70% lean muscle mass or more? Or are you enjoying the benefits of having already achieved that? In the end, it truly is about balance. The key is to know what you need and what you can allow at any given time, so that you can prioritize your health and have the body that you need. So you can also enjoy life without always obsessing about your body fat. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you loved it, let me know. And if you want to hear Part Two about what I am doing to get my body composition back to where I'm happiest. Let me know. Please share your thoughts, comments and reviews wherever you're listening to this podcast. While you're at it if you want access to my four week strength without stress program for free, be sure to rate and review this episode now. Grab a screenshot and then send it to me over at Holly perkins.com forward slash review. You'll get immediate access to this program for free. And stay tuned for another brand new episode on Tuesday of next week. Stay strong my friend.