Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina

Vanessa is joined by Craig Emmerich, co-author with Maria Emmerich of The Art of Metabolic Health, for a deep dive into how to lose body fat while protecting lean mass and hard-earned muscle.
Back-to-School Sale!
Save 40% sitewide at ketogenicgirl.com with code BACKTOSCHOOL40, including the Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting Library, ToneLUX Red Light Therapy Collection, and Tone Breath Ketone Analyzer.
Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia:
Save 75% on available ToneLUX and Tone products during our warehouse moving sale with code WAREHOUSE75, while supplies last.
Craig explains why fat loss is about more than simply lowering calories, including the role of fuel partitioning, protein, dietary fat, carbohydrate intake, and the Randle cycle.
They also explore why traditional high-fat keto or carnivore approaches can initially work well yet eventually lead to plateaus—or even weight gain—for some people, and why shifting toward a higher-protein, lower-energy approach may help.
A major focus is protein-sparing modified fasting (PSMF): how Craig and Maria structure PSMF days, who may benefit most, how often they recommend using them, and why strategic maintenance days may help support long-term results.
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🥤 True Nutrition
Create your own custom protein blend at truenutrition.com/vanessa and use code VANESSA for 20% off your first order.
Let Vanessa know what your custom blend is! Now shipping internationally.
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Vanessa also shares her experience using alternating PSMF and maintenance days to lose approximately 14 pounds of body fat while preserving muscle, and why body composition became more important to her than chasing an old goal weight.
They also discuss the personal fat threshold, metabolic flexibility, insulin resistance, autophagy, protein leverage, maintenance nutrition, and why different diets can be used as tools rather than permanent identities.
In This Episode
Why fat loss can stall even when calories are low
What fuel partitioning means
The role of the Randle cycle
Why high-fat + high-carb intake can promote fat storage
Why very high-fat keto or carnivore can stall fat loss
Protein as a floor, not a limit
Protein, satiety and the thermic effect
How repeated dieting can contribute to muscle loss
Why preserving muscle matters for metabolism
Water fasting vs. PSMF
How PSMF helps create a targeted calorie deficit
How Craig structures 1–3 PSMF days per week
Vanessa's alternating PSMF + maintenance-day approach
How Vanessa created an approximately 25% weekly calorie deficit
Why strategic maintenance days may improve adherence
Strength training and autophagy-related pathways
Why carbs can sometimes be protein-sparing
Keto, carnivore, low-carb and PSMF as a nutrition spectrum
Why you do not have to stay on the diet you used to lose weight
The personal fat threshold
Why some lean people can still develop insulin resistance
HOMA-IR, fasting insulin and triglycerides
Who may benefit most from PSMF
When PSMF may not be appropriate
Why pregnancy is not a time for PSMF
Why breastfeeding requires caution with aggressive calorie restriction
Why body composition matters more than an arbitrary scale number
Vanessa's experience realizing she looked leaner at a higher weight because of muscle
Protecting facial fullness while getting leaner
Maria Emmerich's intentional weight-regain strategy
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About Craig Emmerich
Craig Emmerich is an author and metabolic health educator who has co-authored numerous books with Maria Emmerich focused on ketogenic nutrition, protein, metabolic health and body composition.
Their newest book, The Art of Metabolic Health, explores nutrition as a spectrum—from low-carb and keto to carnivore and protein-sparing modified fasting.
Learn more: ketomaria.com
🔥 Limited-Time Offers
Save 40% sitewide at ketogenicgirl.com with code BACKTOSCHOOL40.
Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia:
Save 75% on available ToneLUX and Tone products with code WAREHOUSE75, while supplies last.
📲 Follow Vanessa
Follow Vanessa's postpartum body recomposition journey on Instagram @ketogenicgirl.
📚 Free Resource
Get your free high-protein keto guide:
👉 The Keto Reset eBook
👤 Connect with Vanessa
Instagram: @ketogenicgirl
📱 Follow for:
Latest fat loss research
Protein optimization strategies
🎙 @optimalproteinpodcast for episode updates
💬 Join the Optimal Protein Podcast Community on Facebook
⚠️ Disclaimer
This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not medical or nutritional advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making dietary or lifestyle changes.

Can you build and preserve muscle while spending dramatically less time training?
In this episode of the Optimal Protein Podcast, Vanessa sits down with Børge Fagerli, creator of the Myo-Reps training method, to break down one of the most time-efficient approaches to hypertrophy and body recomposition.
BACK TO SCHOOL SALE! For a limited time, save 40% sitewide at ketogenicgirl.com with code BACKTOSCHOOL40, including the Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting Library, ToneLUX Red Light Therapy Collection, and Tone Breath Ketone Analyzer.
Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia: Save 75% on available ToneLUX and Tone products during the warehouse moving sale with code WAREHOUSE75, while supplies last.
Børge explains why many people are actually stopping their sets much farther from failure than they realize—and how Myo-Reps can help you recruit more muscle fibers, accumulate highly stimulating reps, and achieve comparable muscle growth to traditional training in significantly less time.
They also dive into how to use Myo-Reps during a calorie deficit to help preserve lean mass, why training volume may naturally decrease as you get deeper into a fat-loss phase, and why more training is not always better.
Vanessa also shares how incorporating Myo-Reps completely changed her own training, allowing her to make better progress while completing her workouts in under 45 minutes.
Try my favorite new electrolytes Cure Hydration! Head to curehydration.com/VANESSA and use code VANESSA to save 20% on your order. 💙 Now available on Amazon!
In this episode, you'll learn:
What Myo-Reps are and why Børge created the method
How Myo-Reps may produce similar hypertrophy results in dramatically less training time
Why the final reps of a set are often the most stimulating for muscle growth
Why most people underestimate how many repetitions they truly have left before failure
How close to failure you actually need to train
Why going to absolute failure can sometimes create more fatigue than additional muscle stimulus
How to structure an activation set and Myo-Reps mini-sets
Why Børge recommends approximately 8–15 reps for most activation sets
How to use auto-regulation instead of forcing a predetermined number of sets
When to increase weight using progressive overload
How Myo-Reps can be adapted during a calorie deficit
Why training volume often needs to decrease as dieting becomes more aggressive
How to preserve muscle while losing body fat
Heavy vs. moderate vs. higher-repetition training
Why women may tolerate more training volume and repetitions than men
Why machines and isolation exercises can sometimes be better choices for hypertrophy
The limitations of using Myo-Reps with squats, deadlifts and other highly fatiguing compound movements
How to build an effective full-body workout in just 20–30 minutes
The biggest Myo-Reps mistakes that can sabotage recovery and progress
Børge's central message: manage fatigue rather than chasing it.
The goal is not to leave every workout completely exhausted. The goal is to provide enough stimulus to build or preserve muscle, recover from that training, and come back stronger the next time.
For anyone focused on fat loss and body recomposition—especially women who want to protect metabolically active lean mass while dieting—this episode offers an incredibly practical framework for getting more from every minute you spend strength training.
Resources:
Learn more about Børge Fagerli and Myo-Reps at MyoReps.com.
BACK TO SCHOOL SALE! For a limited time, save 40% sitewide at ketogenicgirl.com with code BACKTOSCHOOL40, including the Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting Library, ToneLUX Red Light Therapy Collection, and Tone Breath Ketone Analyzer.
Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia: Save 75% on available ToneLUX and Tone products during the warehouse moving sale with code WAREHOUSE75, while supplies last.
Follow @ketogenicgirl and @optimalproteinpodcast on Instagram to see visuals and posts mentioned on this podcast.
Link to join the Facebook group for the podcast
The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Consult with a healthcare professional before making significant changes to your diet or exercise regimen.

Vanessa is back with her first solocast since welcoming baby Taylor! In this episode, she breaks down the seven biggest takeaways from her recent conversation with world-renowned muscle hypertrophy and body composition researcher Dr. Brad Schoenfeld—and shares how she's applying them to her own postpartum body recomposition journey.
Back-to-School Sale! For a limited time, save 40% sitewide at ketogenicgirl.com—including the Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting Library, ToneLUX Red Light Therapy Collection, and Tone Breath Ketone Analyzer—with code BACKTOSCHOOL40.
Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia: Save 75% on available ToneLUX and Tone products during our warehouse moving sale with code WAREHOUSE75, while supplies last.
Vanessa is back with her first solocast since welcoming baby Taylor! In this episode, she breaks down the seven biggest takeaways from her recent conversation with world-renowned muscle hypertrophy and body composition researcher Dr. Brad Schoenfeld—and shares how she's applying them to her own postpartum body recomposition journey.
Create your own custom protein blend at truenutrition.com/vanessa and use code VANESSA for 20% off your first order! Let me know what your custom blend is! Now shipping internationally!
In this episode:
Why you can build muscle while losing fat—even if you're already resistance trained
Why protein becomes even more important during a calorie deficit
How much protein may help maximize lean-mass preservation during fat loss
Protein targets and per-meal dosing as we get older
Whether to calculate protein from current weight, goal weight, or lean mass
The surprisingly low minimum effective dose of resistance training
Why you don't need to train to failure—but may not be training hard enough
How 1–3 reps in reserve can support muscle growth without unnecessary fatigue
Why muscle can come back surprisingly quickly after a training break
How Vanessa is approaching postpartum fat loss and body recomposition without rushing the process
The goal isn't simply to make the number on the scale smaller. It's to improve what that weight is made of—preserving and building metabolically active muscle while losing body fat and becoming stronger, leaner, and more metabolically resilient.
For a limited time, save 40% sitewide at ketogenicgirl.com with code BACKTOSCHOOL40, including the Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting Library, ToneLUX Red Light Therapy Collection, and Tone Breath Ketone Analyzer.
Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia: Save 75% on available ToneLUX and Tone products during the warehouse moving sale with code WAREHOUSE75, while supplies last.
Follow Vanessa's postpartum body recomposition journey on Instagram @ketogenicgirl.
📚 Free Resource
Get your free high-protein keto guide:
👉 The Keto Reset eBook
👤 Connect with Vanessa
Instagram: @ketogenicgirl
📱 Follow for:
Latest fat loss research
Protein optimization strategies
🎙 @optimalproteinpodcast for episode updates
💬 Join the Optimal Protein Podcast Community on Facebook
⚠️ Disclaimer
This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not medical or nutritional advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making dietary or lifestyle changes.

Today I'm joined by Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, one of the world's leading researchers in muscle hypertrophy and resistance training, to break down the latest science on body recomposition, protein intake, fat loss and training.
The PSMF Library is officially live 🎉
👉 Check it out here + get 20% off with code VANESSA
Can you actually build muscle while losing fat — even if you're already resistance trained?
We discuss whether aggressive calorie deficits make it harder to preserve lean mass, why higher protein intakes may be especially helpful during dieting, and how much protein women may need as they get older.
Dr. Schoenfeld also explains why body recomposition is absolutely possible, including in trained individuals, and when it may make more sense to pursue a dedicated fat-loss or muscle-gain phase instead.
Try my favorite new electrolytes Cure Hydration 💙 Now available at Amazon! If you'd like to try Cure for yourself, head to curehydration.com/VANESSA and use code VANESSA to save 20% on your order.
We also cover:
• Protein needs during fat loss
• Protein targets for perimenopause and menopause
• How much protein to eat per meal
• Goal weight vs. current weight for calculating protein
• Plant vs. animal protein
• The minimum effective dose of resistance training
• Training to failure vs. stopping 1–3 reps short
• Why many people aren't training hard enough
• Muscle memory after time away from training
• Range of motion, tempo, load and training effort
• Why women do not need to fear getting "too bulky"
This episode is packed with practical strategies for getting leaner and stronger while preserving hard-earned muscle.
The PSMF Library is officially live 🎉
This is the exact structured, high-protein approach Vanessa used for fat loss and body recomposition — without restricting calories every single day.
Instead of guessing what to eat or starting over each week, you'll follow a clear, repeatable system combining high-protein, lower-energy days with maintenance days.
✨ What's Included
📘 Premium printed PSMF Library
⚡ Instant digital access
🥩 High-protein, low-carb recipe library
🧠 Tiered system (PSMF + maintenance days)
🛒 Grocery lists + planning tools
👥 3 months of community support
👉 Check it out here + get 20% off with code VANESSA
🔴 Tone Lux Red Light Therapy
Boost collagen, elastin, and recovery
✨ Save 20% with code VANESSA
Discover:
Tone Lux Crystal Face Mask
Tone Lux Contour (neck & décolletage)
🔬 Tone Device
Vanessa uses the Tone Device as a proxy for fat loss + autophagy on PSMF days
Check it out HERE 👉 Use code VANESSA for 20% off
Follow @optimalproteinpodcast on Instagram to see visuals and posts mentioned on this podcast.
Link to join the Facebook group for the podcast
The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Consult with a healthcare professional before making significant changes to your diet or exercise regimen.

Why does fat loss suddenly feel harder during perimenopause and menopause—even when you're still exercising and watching what you eat?
In today's Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting Series episode, I'm joined once again by bestselling author and nutrition expert Maria Emmerich for a fascinating conversation about hormones, metabolism, protein, muscle and body composition in midlife.
Check out the Protein-Sparing Modified Fasting Library at ketogenicgirl.com and use code VANESSA for 20% off.
We discuss how changes in estrogen, progesterone and testosterone may influence insulin sensitivity, sleep, motivation, muscle retention and fat distribution, and why preserving lean mass becomes increasingly important as we age.
Maria also shares why she believes prioritizing protein, resistance training and a lower-fat approach can be especially helpful for women struggling with body composition during menopause.
Create your own custom protein blend at truenutrition.com/vanessa and use code VANESSA for 20% off your first order! Let me know what your custom blend is! Now shipping internationally!
In this episode:
• Why fat loss and body composition can change during menopause
• The connection between estrogen, insulin sensitivity and visceral fat
• Why declining muscle mass can make glucose regulation more difficult
• The role of testosterone in muscle, motivation and body composition
• How progesterone may influence sleep quality
• Why protein becomes even more important as we age
• Higher-protein, lower-fat approaches for keto and carnivore fat-loss stalls
• Why resistance training is essential for preserving muscle and bone
• Maria's perspective on hormone replacement therapy
• Hormone testing and markers to discuss with your physician
• Peptides, mitochondrial health and emerging biohacking strategies
• The importance of protecting lean mass during fat loss after 40
Learn more about Maria and her newest book at KetoMaria.com.
The PSMF Library is officially live 🎉
This is the exact structured, high-protein approach Vanessa used for fat loss and body recomposition — without restricting calories every single day.
Instead of guessing what to eat or starting over each week, you'll follow a clear, repeatable system combining high-protein, lower-energy days with maintenance days.
✨ What's Included
📘 Premium printed PSMF Library
⚡ Instant digital access
🥩 High-protein, low-carb recipe library
🧠 Tiered system (PSMF + maintenance days)
🛒 Grocery lists + planning tools
👥 3 months of community support
👉 Check it out here + get 20% off with code VANESSA
IQBAR – Try the Ultimate Sampler Pack: IQBARs, IQMIX, and IQJOE! Text VANESSA to 64000 for a 20% off discount code
🔴 Tone Lux Red Light Therapy
Boost collagen, elastin, and recovery
✨ Save 20% with code VANESSA
Discover:
Tone Lux Crystal Face Mask
Tone Lux Contour (neck & décolletage)
🔬 Tone Device
Vanessa uses the Tone Device as a proxy for fat loss + autophagy on PSMF days
Check it out HERE 👉 Use code VANESSA for 20% off
📚 Free Resource
Get your free high-protein keto guide:
👉 The Keto Reset eBook
👤 Connect with Vanessa
Instagram: @ketogenicgirl
📱 Follow for:
Latest fat loss research
Protein optimization strategies
🎙 @optimalproteinpodcast for episode updates
💬 Join the Optimal Protein Podcast Community on Facebook
⚠️ Disclaimer
This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not medical or nutritional advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making dietary or lifestyle changes.