I lost 5 pounds of muscle. Here are 5 things I wish I knew sooner.

Something shifts in me every year when the weather starts to change.

I don't know if it's the longer days or just the feeling that the world is waking back up, but spring always makes me want to look around at my life and ask myself what's still working and what I've just been carrying out of habit.

A few months ago I went on my Instagram to share a new series: Project Muscle. After learning that I lost three pounds of muscle, I was inspired to get serious about my strength and looked to my community for accountability and support, as I often do. 

So when I was told at a recent endocrinologist appointment that I lost an additional two pounds of muscle, I was surprised. How did this happen? I wrote a whole book about menopause and women’s health. I talk to doctors regularly. I interview world-leading experts on exercise science and nutrition on a weekly basis for The Tamsen Show. I had all the resources I needed to avoid this.

Instead of beating myself up, I’m taking it as a wake-up call to readjust. I was so caught up in the idea of building muscle that I didn’t actually do the work I needed to do. Maybe you can relate. There’s so much information out there, it can leave us feeling paralyzed and unsure of where to start.

Which is exactly why today I’m stripping it down and sharing the five reminders I’m using to guide me on my journey to gain five pounds of muscle. These reminders will help you tune out the noise, clarify your intention, and provide a practical framework so you can get started today.

Before we get into it, I recently interviewed body recomposition expert Dr. Shannon Ritchey. This episode is the most actionable guide to building muscle that we’ve ever done.You can listen here, or watch it on YouTube.

Now, let’s get into the lessons.

1. Don’t overcomplicate it. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars a year on the latest exercise program or trending supplement to get the results you want. When I had body recomposition expert Dr. Shannon Ritchey on the podcast, she said there are actually only four key components that lead to muscle growth and definition. To make it easy, she created a framework: REPS.

• Repetition: Train to failure, or 1-2 reps shy of failure in every set of every exercise. The repetitions can range anywhere from 4 reps with heavy weights to 30 reps with moderate weights.
• Exercise selection: Choose one muscle group to train per session (don’t combine upper and lower body) and make sure you’re choosing exercises that you actually enjoy.
• Protein: Eat 0.75 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day.
• Structure: Aim to train each major muscle group (quads, glutes, shoulders, chest, and back) 1-2 times per week, with at least 48 hours to recover each muscle group between sessions.

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2. Gaining five pounds of muscle will reverse your biological age by 10 years. Muscle mass peaks around age 30, and after that, women lose 5-8% of their muscle mass per decade. This gradual loss is why our bodies change so much as we get older, even when our habits remain the same. According to Dr. Shannon Ritchey, building five pounds of muscle is one of the most powerful things we can do to slow decline and protect our long-term health.

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3. Just aim for 20 minutes. One of the things I hear most from women is that they don’t have the time to work out. I get it. Life gets in the way and we make excuses. I do it all the time. “I’ll get back to it when work slows down,” I tell myself. And guess what? I never do! Because life never slows down. That’s why I was relieved to learn from fitness expert Dr. Gabrielle Lyon that you don’t need to spend hours in the gym. In fact, she said that a 20 minute intentional workout is much more effective than a 60 minute distracted workout. 20 minutes a day. That’s it!

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4. Looking “toned” is only one of the many benefits of building muscle. When I had women’s health expert Dr. Vonda Wright on the podcast, she explained that building muscle is so much more than looking fit. Sure, it helps you burn calories even when resting, but more importantly, it sets you up to be independent, strong, and unstoppable well beyond your 60s.

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5. It’s not just about building muscle, but moving that muscle. This is another lesson I learned from Dr. Vonda Wright. It’s important that we move our muscles regularly because it triggers the production of klotho, also known as the “longevity protein.” Klotho regulates metabolism, reduces inflammation, and protects against age-related diseases. The simplest and most effective way to ensure we’re moving our muscles daily, Dr. Vonda Wright says, is by incorporating a 45-minute walk after your biggest meal.

That’s it! Those are the five lessons I’m taking with me on Project Muscle 2.0. If you enjoyed this and want an even more in depth guide to building muscle, check out my conversation with Dr. Shannon Ritchey on The Tamsen Show.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The four key elements of building muscle and transforming your body
• How to gain 5 pounds of muscle in under a year
• Why strength training is essential for women’s health and longevity
• The optimal workout routine for building muscle without burnout
• Why Pilates doesn’t effectively build muscle
• What “training to failure” means 
• How to build muscle at home with dumbbells
• Whether steps or cardio matter more for fat loss

Whether you’re new to strength training, getting back into the gym, or trying to lose fat and build muscle in midlife, this episode will give you a clear, science-backed plan that actually works.