Beyond Fat Loss

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In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, we're putting Sean's nutrition under the microscope.

Sean has tracked his calories for around 15 years, consistently hits his protein targets and eats what most people would consider a healthy diet. But does that mean his nutrition is as good as it could be?

Katie reviews Sean's current approach to nutrition, his lean building phase and some of the mistakes he's made along the way. Together, we explore why hitting your calories and macros is only part of the picture, and how to work out what actually deserves your attention.

In this episode, we discuss:

- Why eating a healthy diet and hitting your macros doesn't necessarily mean your nutrition is optimised for health, performance and physique goals.

- Sean's experience with lean building, including why eating more calories doesn't automatically mean building more muscle.

- How chasing scale weight and increasing calories too quickly can lead to more body fat gain than necessary.

- Why you need to look beyond the scales when assessing progress during a muscle-building phase.

- How much protein do you actually need to build muscle, and could eating more than you need be taking attention away from other nutritional priorities?

- Why dietary variety and getting a range of fat sources matter, even when your calories and macros look good on paper.

- How to plan your nutrition around social events, enjoy eating out and stay consistent without feeling that every meal needs to be perfect.

- Why one higher-calorie day doesn't automatically undo your progress, and how to approach your nutrition more flexibly across the week.

- What Sean has learned from his own mistakes, and how those lessons are helping him approach building muscle differently.

The aim isn't to find more things to track or give yourself another set of rules to follow. It's to understand which parts of your nutrition matter most for your goals, where you could make improvements and when you might be better off leaving things alone.

Because sometimes, the answer isn't to do more. It's to get better at recognising what actually needs to change.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating or review, share it with someone who might find it useful, and follow or subscribe to Beyond Fat Loss so you don't miss future episodes.

Thanks for listening!

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In part two of our conversation about Katie's recent nutrition qualification, we're getting into some of the nutrition messages that have been doing the rounds for years, particularly those aimed at women.

From protein intake and building muscle as we age to dietary fats, insulin, supplements and the Mediterranean diet, we're discussing what the evidence tells us, what gets overcomplicated and where it's worth focusing your attention instead.

We also talk about how the fitness industry can use fear and exaggerated claims to sell solutions, particularly to women navigating different life stages, and why getting the foundations right is often more useful than chasing another diet, supplement or specialised programme.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why nutrition advice aimed at women can become unnecessarily complicated, particularly around peri-menopause, menopause and ageing.

Protein intake, how much you need to build muscle and why protein distribution throughout the day can become more important as we age.

Protein quality, leucine and what to consider if you follow a vegetarian or plant-based diet.

Why resistance training, progressive overload and consistency matter for maintaining and building muscle throughout life.

Dietary fats, why they're important for health and recovery, and why eating fat isn't the same as gaining body fat.

Saturated fats, different types of dietary fat and why the quality and variety of your food choices matter.

Insulin and carbohydrate intake, including why normal increases in insulin after eating aren't something to fear.

Supplements, misleading marketing and why it's worth getting your nutrition and lifestyle foundations in place before looking for additional solutions.

The Mediterranean diet: what we like about it, where we think it can be overcomplicated, and what we could learn from the way people eat in Spain.

As always, the aim isn't to give you another list of rules to follow. It's to help you understand your nutrition better, make more informed decisions and work out what actually matters for your own goals.

FREE RESOURCES

Not sure whether you should lose fat or build muscle next?

Take our free quiz and find out which direction may be right for you.

Should you lose fat or build muscle next?

https://skd-n8p4dzzf.scoreapp.com/

Want to know how good your lifting habits really are?

Take our free Lifting Habits Quiz and identify the areas that could be holding your training back.

How good are your lifting habits?

https://skd-yjxqbxt3.scoreapp.com/

Want to make peace with the scales?

Get our free guide to help you understand your scale weight and stop letting individual weigh-ins dictate your decisions.

Make Peace With The Scales — Free Guide:

https://skd-scales-guide.subscribepage.io/

WANT HELP WITH YOUR OWN GOALS?

Whether you want to lose fat, build muscle or improve your approach to nutrition and training, SKD Coaching provides personalised support to help you work towards your goals.

If you'd like to find out more about working with us, you can enquire here:

https://forms.gle/9NujVMgsG1SZJ8Ec7

There's no obligation to work with us. Fill in the form and we'll chat through your goals and be completely honest about whether we think coaching is the right fit for you.

Want more from us beyond the podcast?

Join our email list to get our weekly emails, with behind-the-scenes insights, more of our opinions and extra thoughts on the topics we discuss. Sign up using the link below.

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In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, we chat about what Katie has learned from a year of studying advanced nutrition science, including how it's changed her approach to nutrition coaching and the way she helps clients make decisions about their diet.

Rather than going over the usual advice about calories and protein, we're getting into the bigger questions: how do you know which nutrition approach is right for you, and how do you make progress without becoming reliant on one method forever?

In this episode, we cover:

How Katie's nutrition qualification has changed her approach to coaching.

Why knowing about a nutrition strategy isn't the same as knowing when to use it.

Calorie tracking vs non-tracking approaches: the benefits, limitations and when each might be useful.

Why tracking can be particularly useful during a fat-loss phase, and how to develop confidence in your nutrition outside of it.

How to stop jumping between nutrition methods because of conflicting advice online.

Why calories and protein matter, but shouldn't be the only things you consider when building a healthy diet.

The importance of dietary variety, including different fat, carbohydrate and protein sources.

Practical ways to eat more fruit and vegetables, even if you don't currently enjoy them.

Why sustainable progress comes from choosing an approach that suits your goals, circumstances and lifestyle.

The aim isn't to tell you that one approach is always right or that you need to make your nutrition more complicated. It's to help you understand your options, make informed decisions and develop the confidence to manage your nutrition through different phases of life.

This is part one of our conversation. In part two, we get into women’s health, the Mediterranean diet and our experience of eating this way while in Spain, alongside a wider discussion about the fitness industry's influence on nutrition advice and the information being marketed to women.

If you're interested in building muscle, losing fat, improving your health or simply becoming more confident in your nutrition, we hope this episode gives you a few things to think about.

FREE RESOURCES

Not sure whether you should lose fat or build muscle next?

Take our free quiz and find out which direction may be right for you: Should you lose fat or build muscle next? https://skd-n8p4dzzf.scoreapp.com/

Want to know how good your lifting habits really are?

Take our free Lifting Habits Quiz and identify the areas that could be holding your training back: How good are your lifting habits? https://skd-yjxqbxt3.scoreapp.com/

Want to make peace with the scales?

Get our free guide to help you understand your scale weight and stop letting individual weigh-ins dictate your decisions: Make Peace With The Scales — Free Guide: https://skd-scales-guide.subscribepage.io/

WANT HELP WITH YOUR OWN JOURNEY?

If you'd like us to help you plan and navigate your own balance build — including your nutrition, training, progress tracking and adjustments along the way — you can enquire about SKD Coaching here:

https://forms.gle/9NujVMgsG1SZJ8Ec7

There's no obligation to work with us. Fill in the form and we'll chat through your goals and be completely honest about whether we think coaching is the right fit for you.

What should you do after fat loss — keep dieting, maintain your weight, or start building muscle?

Not sure whether you should lose fat or build muscle next? Take our free quiz: https://skd-n8p4dzzf.scoreapp.com/

In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, Katie and Sean break down the balance build: a phase focused on building muscle while keeping body-fat gain controlled, eating more food and creating a lifestyle that you can actually enjoy.

After returning from holiday, Katie and Sean share exactly where they're at with their own body composition, nutrition and training — and why they're both excited to spend the next few months building.

They cover:

• What a balance build actually is — and how it differs from fat loss, recomp and a traditional bulk

• Why you don't need to be extremely lean before you start building muscle

• How to decide how many calories to eat during a build

• How weight trends can help you know whether you're eating enough

• Why progress photos, training performance and wellbeing matter alongside the scales

• How slowly you should expect your weight to increase

• Why training quality, progressive overload and proximity to failure are essential for building muscle

• How to eat more without letting nutrition quality fall by the wayside

• How to use flexibility and calorie balancing without turning it into another form of restriction

• The difference between intentionally not tracking and simply becoming complacent with your tracking

• The biggest mistakes that can cause body fat to creep up during a building phase

The bigger message?

Fat loss is a temporary phase. Your fitness journey shouldn't revolve around being in a calorie deficit forever.

Learning how to build muscle, eat more, train hard, manage your body composition and enjoy your food is a huge part of what comes beyond fat loss.

FREE RESOURCES

Not sure whether you should lose fat or build muscle next?

Take our free quiz and find out which direction may be right for you: Should you lose fat or build muscle next? https://skd-n8p4dzzf.scoreapp.com/

Want to know how good your lifting habits really are?

Take our free Lifting Habits Quiz and identify the areas that could be holding your training back: How good are your lifting habits? https://skd-yjxqbxt3.scoreapp.com/

Want to make peace with the scales?

Get our free guide to help you understand your scale weight and stop letting individual weigh-ins dictate your decisions: Make Peace With The Scales — Free Guide: https://skd-scales-guide.subscribepage.io/

WANT HELP WITH YOUR OWN BALANCE BUILD?

If you'd like us to help you plan and navigate your own balance build — including your nutrition, training, progress tracking and adjustments along the way — you can enquire about SKD Coaching here:

https://forms.gle/9NujVMgsG1SZJ8Ec7

There's no obligation to work with us. Fill in the form and we'll chat through your goals and be completely honest about whether we think coaching is the right fit for you.

Going on holiday after spending months working on your physique can bring up a lot of questions…

Should you keep dieting right up until you go?
Should you spend a few days at maintenance first?
Should you track your calories?

How much should you actually care about what you eat and drink?

In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, we share exactly how we’re approaching our own holiday — and why we’re going into it from two very different positions.

We talk about:

• Why your physical and psychological state going into a holiday can affect how you behave when you get there
• Why having some time at maintenance after a fat loss phase can make the transition into a holiday easier
• When calorie banking before a holiday might be useful — and when it may simply keep you dieting for too long
• Whether you actually need to track calories on holiday
• How to take a break from tracking without taking a break from the habits that serve you
• How we approach breakfasts, lunches and bigger evening meals
• Eating out, alcohol, desserts and all the foods we genuinely want to enjoy
• Using activity, walking and training to stay active without turning your holiday into a calorie-burning exercise regime
• What to do if you eat more than planned
• Why restraint and restriction aren't the same thing
• And perhaps most importantly, how to come home from holiday without feeling like you need to immediately start another diet.

This isn't about finding the “perfect” way to do a holiday.

We've both tried different approaches over the years — tracking, not tracking, dieting right up to a holiday, having time at maintenance beforehand and going straight back into fat loss afterwards.

The goal is to learn what actually works for you.

If you enjoy the episode, please leave us a rating or like, subscribe to the podcast if you're listening on YouTube, and tag us or share the episode on social media. It genuinely helps us get Beyond Fat Loss in front of more people.

Follow along with what we're getting up to on holiday on Instagram and Facebook — and see whether we actually stick to everything we said we'd do.

And in the next episode, we'll be sharing what happens after the holiday and how we're transitioning back into our next lean-building phase.

You’ve finished your fat loss phase. So… what happens next?

The post-diet recovery phase is one of the most important parts of a physique transformation, yet it’s something that often gets completely overlooked.

In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, we break down what actually happens when you move from a calorie deficit back towards maintenance calories, including why you might experience increased hunger, food noise, changes in energy, training performance and bodyweight before things start to settle.

We also discuss:

→ What a post-diet recovery phase actually is
→ Why getting back to maintenance calories matters
→ Why you can feel MORE hungry after finishing your diet
→ What happens to hunger hormones during and after a deficit
→ Why your weight may increase when you start eating more
→ Glycogen and water replenishment
→ Metabolic adaptation and changes in NEAT
→ Why your metabolism isn't “broken” after dieting
→ How long post-diet recovery can take
→ The psychological challenges of coming out of a diet
→ The risks of going straight from fat loss into unrestricted eating
→ Why reverse dieting isn't the same as post-diet recovery
→ Why getting leaner can make recovery more difficult
→ Why patience is such a big part of body transformation

If you’ve ever finished a diet and thought, “Why am I suddenly starving?”, “Why has the scale gone up?”, or “Why don’t I feel amazing straight away?”, this episode will help you understand what’s actually going on.

The goal isn't to spend your life dieting.

It’s to know how to get out of a diet properly, recover, maintain the physique you've worked for and move on to the next phase of your body composition journey.

If you enjoy the episode, we'd really appreciate you liking, following/subscribing and sharing it with someone who would benefit from it.

You can also connect with us on Instagram for more evidence-based fitness, nutrition and body composition content.

@seanskdcoaching

@katieskdcoaching

If you’d like to chat about your own goals and whether coaching could help you navigate your next phase - fill out our enquiry form below:

https://forms.gle/9NujVMgsG1SZJ8Ec7 

Ever had a workout where nothing goes to plan?

The gym is packed. The machine you need is taken. You feel weaker than last week. You finish your last set and think you could do more. Or you're wondering whether you should actually be taking that full rest period.

This episode is all about what to do when real-life training doesn't perfectly match the programme on your screen.

We answer some of the most common questions we get about building muscle, including:

• What to do when a weight feels too easy
• When you should increase the load — and when you shouldn't
• Why training close to failure matters more than hitting an arbitrary rep target
• What to do when you have more energy and want to add extra sets
• How long you actually need to rest between sets
• When supersets make sense — and when they can hurt your performance
• How to make your training effective when you're short on time
• What to do when you can't complete your full session
• How to adjust your weights when your performance drops
• How to work around busy gym equipment without derailing your workout
• Why you need exercise alternatives in your back pocket
• How to auto-regulate your training without constantly second-guessing yourself

The big takeaway?

Your programme is only useful if you know how to actually apply it.

You don't need to panic every time a session looks different from the plan. You need to understand what matters, what doesn't, and how to make good decisions in the moment.

And that's exactly what we're getting into.

Want to improve your lifting technique and execution?

Take our Lifting Habits Quiz - it's only a couple of minutes, and once you've completed it, we'll send you a training video series tailored around your answers to help you improve your technique and execution in the gym.

If you want to learn more about using drop sets and time-efficient training techniques, message Sean on Instagram — we'll point you towards the relevant resources.

And if you enjoyed the episode, we'd massively appreciate you leaving a rating/review, liking the episode and sharing it with someone who'd find it useful.

Next week: the post-diet recovery window — what it is, why it matters, and why it isn't the same thing as a reverse diet.

Enquire about coaching here: https://forms.gle/9NujVMgsG1SZJ8Ec7

What if your fitness journey wasn't about trying to get leaner for the next 12 weeks… but about building the best physique and lifestyle you can over the next 12 months?

In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, Katie and Sean take you through the complete 12-month journey of their imaginary client, Marge — from fat loss, through diet recovery and a long-term muscle-building phase, before finishing with another fat-loss phase ahead of her biggest event of the year.

Along the way, they break down how to:

• Decide when to prioritise fat loss vs muscle building

• Structure multiple fat-loss and muscle-building phases across a year

• Transition properly out of a diet instead of jumping straight into another phase

• Build muscle without unnecessarily gaining lots of body fat

• Handle holidays, Christmas, social events and travelling without throwing away your progress

• Deal with scale fluctuations without panicking

• Use progress photos, measurements and gym performance to actually assess progress

• Recover from a bad weekend without falling back into the restrict → overeat cycle

• Build the confidence to stop tracking when you don't need to

• Make your nutrition and training work around real life

• And ultimately turn your fitness journey into something you can actually maintain for life.

Because getting lean is only one part of changing your body.

The real goal is being able to lose fat, build muscle, enjoy your life and maintain your results without constantly starting over.

This is what a long-term, multi-phase approach to body composition can actually look like.

How long does it actually take to get lean? And what happens when your fat loss isn't progressing at the rate you expected?

In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, Sean is in the hot seat as Katie grills him on his latest aggressive fat loss phase — including the mistake he made right at the start.

Sean explains how he planned his diet around a specific goal, why he initially underestimated how much body fat he was carrying, and how relying too heavily on a calculation meant his calorie deficit was much smaller than he intended.

We also get into:

• How long you should realistically allow for fat loss before a holiday or event
• Why you shouldn't leave yourself with too much to do in too little time
• How fat loss tends to slow as you get leaner
• When protecting muscle becomes increasingly important
• Why body-fat percentage isn't necessarily the useful goal you think it is
• The problems with relying too heavily on scales, calculators and body-fat measurements
• What Sean did when he realised his original plan wasn't working
• Why a mistake doesn't mean you've failed — and how to correct course
• Why having an exit strategy after fat loss is just as important as the diet itself
• What Sean would do differently next time

Plus, we talk about why coaches still need coaches, why practical experience matters alongside data, and how having a clear plan can stop you from panicking when things don't go exactly to plan.

If you're trying to get leaner for a holiday, event or just to take your physique to the next level, this is one you don't want to miss.

Want to learn more about SKulpted?

Join the Sculpted Priority List below for early access and first refusal on spaces when the programme opens: https://skulpted-priority-access.subscribepage.io

Follow Sean on Instagram to see the physique transformation we discuss in this episode: https://www.instagram.com/seanskdcoaching?igsh=MW5kYzQxMGtxMzhtYQ==

You can follow Katie here: https://www.instagram.com/katieskdcoaching?igsh=OWxtdGt0MzVkeGh4&utm_source=qr

And if you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a rating, subscribe to the podcast and share it with someone who'd find it useful.

SKulpted PRIORITY LIST: https://skulpted-priority-access.subscribepage.io

What actually happens when you spend months building muscle before going into a fat-loss phase?

In this episode of Beyond Fat Loss, Sean puts Katie in the hot seat to break down her 10-month body transformation - from a dedicated muscle-building phase through to an aggressive fat-loss phase.

Katie shares what happened when she gained weight during her muscle-building phase, why she had to get comfortable with seeing the scales go up, how her training and physique changed, and why building muscle completely changed the way she approached fat loss.

You’ll also hear exactly what happened during her 9-week aggressive fat-loss phase, including why the scales didn't always reflect the changes happening to her body - despite her getting visibly leaner and seeing more muscle definition. Across the three cycles, Katie lost around 11 lb in total, with the biggest change happening in the first cycle.

We also get into:

• Why building muscle can be more important than simply losing weight
• Why you need to get comfortable with the scales going up during a muscle-building phase
• How to transition from muscle building into fat loss
• Why a little body-fat gain during a building phase isn't necessarily a problem
• How Katie approached holidays without tracking every calorie
• How to enjoy more food without completely losing control
• Why the scale can be misleading during fat loss
• How to use aggressive fat-loss phases strategically
• Why having an exit plan after dieting matters
• How to structure a long-term, multi-phase approach to changing your physique
• Why Katie chose to end her aggressive diet early and move back into a building phase when she needed more energy and focus for her exams.

Most importantly, this episode shows why the goal shouldn't simply be to weigh less.

Katie's transformation came from spending months giving her body the time, food and training stimulus required to build muscle - before using a shorter, focused fat-loss phase to reveal the physique underneath.

SKulpted is opening again in September for the final intake of 2026.

If you want to learn how we structure fat loss, muscle retention, muscle building and the transition back to normal calories without treating dieting as a quick fix, join the SKulpted priority here: https://skulpted-priority-access.subscribepage.io

There’s no commitment - you'll simply get more information and first priority on available spaces.

And if you enjoyed the episode, leave us a rating, drop a comment and share it with someone who'd find it useful. It really helps us get Beyond Fat Loss in front of more people.

Want to chat to one of us? Find us on Instagram:

Sean: https://www.instagram.com/seanskdcoaching?igsh=MW5kYzQxMGtxMzhtYQ==

Katie: https://www.instagram.com/katieskdcoaching?igsh=OWxtdGt0MzVkeGh4&utm_source=qr