My Postpartum Fat-Loss Progress + 10 Science-Backed Ways to Protect Muscle

Vanessa breaks down the biggest scientific takeaways and most actionable gems from her recent conversation with Dr. Lee Breen, one of the world's leading researchers in protein metabolism, resistance training and skeletal muscle health across the lifespan.

Before diving into the latest research, Vanessa shares an exciting update from her postpartum fat-loss and body-recomposition journey: she has lost five pounds since beginning her gentle fat-loss phase two weeks ago.

She explains the four simple food swaps that reduced her intake by only approximately 150–200 calories per day, why the initial change likely includes water and glycogen as well as body fat, and how she is using three to four resistance-training sessions per week to gradually reveal her muscle while continuing to exclusively breastfeed baby Taylor.

Vanessa also shares why she is deliberately giving herself the longest possible runway, why she does not expect to continue losing five pounds every two weeks, and why she plans to wait until Taylor begins eating solid foods before bringing Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting days back into her routine.

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One of the biggest themes from Dr. Breen's research is that losing weight and improving your body composition are not necessarily the same thing.

Vanessa explores why the scale cannot tell you whether you are losing fat, water or metabolically active tissue; how much lean mass may be lost during significant weight loss; and why regaining weight after dieting or discontinuing a GLP-1 medication could potentially leave someone with less muscle and a higher body-fat percentage than when they started.

She also examines how much protein may be needed to protect muscle during weight loss. Is approximately 1.4 grams per kilogram enough, or should you aim closer to 2–2.2 grams per kilogram? And how should that target change based on your body size, activity level, age and the aggressiveness of your calorie deficit?

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