What Your Face and a Weak Handshake Have in Common

In this episode, Joanne connects several conversations that are often discussed separately — facial fat loss, muscle loss, grip strength, hormones, and rapid weight loss — and explains why they’re all part of the same biological picture in midlife.

Rather than treating these changes as isolated or cosmetic issues, this episode explores what’s really happening underneath: estrogen decline, rising myostatin, changes in muscle quality, and the body’s response to its environment.

Joanne also addresses recent criticism around rapid weight loss and explains why context, duration, and intention matter far more than the label.

In this episode, we cover: Facial fat & muscle loss

• Why facial fat loss accelerates with age — even without weight loss

• How estrogen protects facial fat, skin thickness, and structural support

• Why rapid weight loss can amplify facial aging when muscle isn’t preserved

• The role of muscle tone and connective tissue in facial appearance

• Why facial fat doesn’t always return proportionally with weight regain

Grip strength as a health marker

• Why grip strength is one of the strongest predictors of aging, independence, and longevity

• How grip strength reflects total-body muscle health, not just hands

• The role of fast-twitch muscle fibers and why they disappear first with age

• How rising myostatin makes muscle harder to maintain in midlife

• Why estrogen loss worsens muscle breakdown and neuromuscular efficiency

• Why grip strength often declines before visible muscle loss

The shared biology: estrogen & myostatin

• How estrogen suppresses myostatin and supports muscle preservation

• Why midlife changes create a more catabolic environment

• How muscle loss, facial aging, and strength decline are biologically linked

Rapid weight loss — and why context matters

Joanne responds to criticism she received online for discussing rapid weight loss while also running Peak Week – the 5-Day Shred.

She explains:

• Why prolonged restriction is the real problem — not short, strategic interventions

• Why Peak Week is five days only, by design

• That people don’t join Peak Week just to lose weight

People come to Peak Week to:

• Reset habits

• Re-establish structure and momentum

• Get back “in the groove”

• Experience the energy and accountability of a focused group

• And yes — to see results that are guaranteed

Weight loss is not the only reason Peak Week works — it’s simply a predictable outcome when the body is placed in the right environment.

Why Peak Week works — every time

Joanne explains why Peak Week has such a high repeat rate:

• Nearly everyone comes back again and again

• Not because it’s extreme — but because it’s effective, structured, and supportive

During Peak Week:

• There are 4 coaching calls in 6 days

• Topics go far beyond weight loss

• It’s an opportunity for Joanne to coach in real time, not just deliver a plan

She shares a real example:
A woman who had been eating well and training consistently — without losing a single pound — joined Peak Week and lost 10 pounds.

Not because her body was “broken,” but because it finally experienced the right environment.

Most people aren’t failing.
They’re just not in an environment that allows their body to respond.

Final takeaway

Midlife results — whether that’s fat loss, muscle preservation, facial aging, or strength — aren’t about willpower.

They’re about biology, hormones, and environment.

Create the right environment, and the body responds.
Every time.

🔔 Call to Action

Peak Week – The 5-Day Shred
Starts January 12

👉 www.5dayshred.com