In June of 2024, Sharon signed up for my Maintenance cohort. She came from another program where fasting, HIIT, and low calories had stalled her progress.

Her primary goal was to learn how to get out of adapted maintenance, successfully navigate adding HRT (while keeping the scale steady), build muscle, learn how to live a sustainable lifestyle, and ultimately improve her body composition and confidence.

Additional goals we set:

Find Top End Maintenance first for solid biofeedback
Focus on mindset and daily habits for a minimum of 90 days post-starting HRT.
Lay out a periodized plan that included a strategic Muscle Build through the holidays
Move to a deficit in Jan 2025 after 6+months of Metabolic and Hormonal work

The Periodization Plan:

Via the Cohort

June - September 2024: Found Top End Maintenance

We built foundations, found the top of maintenance (500 calories higher than she came in eating!), and allowed the body to settle while starting HRT.

September 2024 - January 2025: 4-Month Muscle Build

Gained 3.9lbs and followed The Practical Athlete programming

January 2025- Mid March 2025: 12-Week Fat Loss.

Lost 13 pounds

April - May 2025: Maintenance

Straight back to known Maintenance calories. There is no need to reverse diet. 6 weeks of stabilizing and holding progress.

May 2025- Current: 4-Month Muscle Build

What’s next For Sharon:

After a very successful cycle of maintenance to build to deficit, we are seeing massive body composition changes.

We absolutely crushed her initial goals of improved body composition & confidence while navigating a sustainable lifestyle. Sharon is excited to move into a longer and more aggressive build before one more fall fat-loss phase in 2025!

May - August 2025: Muscle Build

Sharon will enjoy an easy summer schedule that allows for more calories and gym time. A muscle build makes the most sense for this time period.

August - October 2025: Fat Loss

We decided that one more deficit before the holidays will set her up for a lean and more confident 2026!

Sharon’s Key Takeaways of the Process:

Maintenance Phase (Post-HRT Start):

I was initially hesitant to start with maintenance, but I trusted my coach’s advice (Mickee was right!)
My goal: Keep scale steady while hormones adjusted after starting HRT.
Discovered higher-than-expected maintenance calorie level & saw effective body recomposition.

Muscle Build Phase:

I was determined to gain strength and muscle without excessive additional body fat gain.
I achieved numerous personal records in the gym and felt better than ever since perimenopause started.

Deficit Phase:

I lost stubborn “meno weight,” feel leaner than I have in years, and gained confidence in the EPN data-driven approach.
Utilized TPA programming (warm-ups, activations, progressive overload) to stay healthy and strong.
Hit surprising PRs at 57 years old.
I initially resisted starting with a maintenance phase.
However, I trusted Mickee, who explained that since I had just started hormone replacement therapy, it was important to keep the scale steady as my hormones adjusted and what do you know? She was right!
I found that my top-end maintenance was much higher than I originally thought.
I increased my calories and put those extra calories to work on some good body recomp (even in maintenance).
I then moved into a muscle-building phase, which was scary at first, but Mickee assured me that my deficit would be much more effective if I preceded it with a solid muscle-building phase.
She helped me ensure I could maximize my muscle gain without spiking the scale.
Once I had completed a successful maintenance and muscle build phase, I moved to my first deficit.
The deficit went great! I lost some of that pesky menopause weight and felt more cut than I had in several years.
I love EPN's data-based approach! I no longer fear the scale, but view it simply as helpful data as I navigate my health journey.
My cohort has been so consistent and excellent! We show up each week and encourage each other to conquer fears and reach new heights!