Dr. Stacy Sims

For women, it's blood sugar. It doesn't get stored because for women, in order to store muscle and liver glycogen, you have to have an activation of some enzymes from the liver as well as some enzymes within the skeletal muscle itself to say, yeah, okay, we want to store this. We don't want to circulate it. So then we start looking at how the brain is perceiving that.

So if the brain is saying, yeah, we can store this because there's still enough muscle tissue around, there's still enough blood glucose that we can keep going and we can survive the day. But for women, it sits there, the blood glucose sits there.

So if the brain is saying, yeah, we can store this because there's still enough muscle tissue around, there's still enough blood glucose that we can keep going and we can survive the day. But for women, it sits there, the blood glucose sits there.

And when it starts being used, the hypothalamus is like, okay, where's the extra food that's coming in so we can keep going and countering the stress that's coming in. And the best way from a numbers perspective to look at it is when we are looking at calorie baseline calorie intake just to exist and not get into any kind of endocrine or hormone dysfunction and appetite dysfunction.

And when it starts being used, the hypothalamus is like, okay, where's the extra food that's coming in so we can keep going and countering the stress that's coming in. And the best way from a numbers perspective to look at it is when we are looking at calorie baseline calorie intake just to exist and not get into any kind of endocrine or hormone dysfunction and appetite dysfunction.

For men, it's 15 calories per kilogram of fat-free mass. For women, it's 30. So we start to see men do really well on things like fasted training. We see men do really well on calorie restriction. Because the hypothalamus is not as sensitive to lower calorie intake or to low carb intake or to high protein and high fat intake.

For men, it's 15 calories per kilogram of fat-free mass. For women, it's 30. So we start to see men do really well on things like fasted training. We see men do really well on calorie restriction. Because the hypothalamus is not as sensitive to lower calorie intake or to low carb intake or to high protein and high fat intake.

But for women, because the hypothalamus has more areas that are sensitive to nutrient density.

But for women, because the hypothalamus has more areas that are sensitive to nutrient density.

So the hypothalamus is an area in the brain.

So the hypothalamus is an area in the brain.

And it's just sensing. So you have blood that circulates through the brain. It senses temperature, how hot your blood is.

And it's just sensing. So you have blood that circulates through the brain. It senses temperature, how hot your blood is.

Yeah. So it's, yeah, it is a thermostat. It's the appetite control center. It's how your body responds to salt, how your body responds to protein, carbohydrate. Do I need more? Do I need less? So it's like the control center for the most part. So for women who come in and they're doing fasted training, the hypothalamus is like, wait a second, we don't have any blood sugar.

Yeah. So it's, yeah, it is a thermostat. It's the appetite control center. It's how your body responds to salt, how your body responds to protein, carbohydrate. Do I need more? Do I need less? So it's like the control center for the most part. So for women who come in and they're doing fasted training, the hypothalamus is like, wait a second, we don't have any blood sugar.

We don't have enough carbohydrate to actually do this kind of training. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to create a little bit of a dysfunction here, and I'm going to start downturning all the other systems that need the same kind of fuel. because I don't have enough just to do these muscle contractions.

We don't have enough carbohydrate to actually do this kind of training. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to create a little bit of a dysfunction here, and I'm going to start downturning all the other systems that need the same kind of fuel. because I don't have enough just to do these muscle contractions.

Absolutely. So if a woman comes to me and is like, I want to lose weight, and I've been doing fasted training, I get up, I have a black coffee, I go to the gym, I do my lifting, I do some of my cardio.

Absolutely. So if a woman comes to me and is like, I want to lose weight, and I've been doing fasted training, I get up, I have a black coffee, I go to the gym, I do my lifting, I do some of my cardio.

And then I'm not that hungry because I did a hard workout at the gym. I might have a protein recovery shake. And then I'll hold off eating my first meal until noon. I always turn to them and go, well, why did you go to the gym? Because all you've effectively done is burn through your lean mass. So your body needs to have some fuel.