Dr. Mary Claire Haver

However, how many calories you're burning at rest is determined by how much muscle you have.

And your aging process and menopause is chipping away at that muscle strain.

So you have to work to keep it.

And if you didn't start out with much like me, naturally, you know, a thinner person with low muscle mass, I'm working really, really hard so that I can keep my basal metabolic rate high.

Also, that muscle is a big, big,

juicy organ that soaks up glucose and lowers my risk of diabetes, lowers my insulin level, okay?

The most geroprotective organs that we have in our bodies, geroprotective, do you know what that word means?

It means protecting you in the gerontological ages, 65 plus, are your ovaries, which go away,

and your muscle mass.

They seem to be the most protective, geroprotective.

And so we have the opportunity to build muscle at any age.

It takes work.

I just saw a study that was done with 80-year-olds, taking them into the gym, putting them through resistance training protocols, and they improved their muscle strength and muscle mass, okay?

Making sure you're getting enough protein to provide enough substrate amino acids to build those muscles, to grow muscle.

You must have the building blocks of protein, which are amino acids.

So really rethinking this whole like workout more, eat less, be thin, be thin, be thin is the only way to be healthy is not going to be your best bet.

What tests should I be asking my doctor for?

When should I start?

And should I wait until my symptoms are really bad?

Okay, you should not wait until your symptoms are really bad.