Most Popular Podcasts: A busy, stressed out CEO finds health and happiness. Interview with @this.phoenix.rising

This month we're re-broadcasting our most popular podcasts.

This week we are featuring our MOST downloaded podcast - our interview with @this.phoenix,rising.  Get ready to be inspired!

In  February 2020, Trish (@this.phoenix.rising) got the wake-up call when she found herself in the emergency room, unable to breathe for unknown reasons (likely Covid, but doctors did not believe it was in the United States at this point).  

She was also shocked to learn that she was carrying more than 200 pounds on her petite frame.  

Doctors informed her that if she made it home, she was a high stroke risk and would need to start regularly monitoring her blood pressure.  

Right then and there she vowed that if she survived this ordeal, she would get her health in order.  

She kept her promise.  And like a phoenix rising from the ashes, she completely transformed herself - body, mind, and spirit - by getting her nutrition, exercise, and mindset in order. 

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed it.

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Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Hello everyone.
It's Joe again, and as I've beendiscussing all month long, we
are replaying our most popularepisodes of our podcast.
This week, we are replaying ourmost downloaded episode of our
podcast.
Our interview with Trish at thisPhoenix rising.
And sharing her very amazingtransformation story.

(00:25):
Trish was I.
Burnt out corporate executive.
Who showed up in the emergencyroom on the brink of death and
Dr.
If she did not get her health inorder.
She would not live to see herson grow up.
This terrified her and she tookher health into her own hands.
And what follows is her amazing,amazing transformation story.

(00:47):
So.
It's really inspiring andthere's a reason.
It is our most popular episode.
Enjoy.
Welcome to the boost yourmetabolism after age 30 podcast.
I'm Joe and I'm Alison and we'reyour co hosts and the founders

(01:10):
of couture fitness and lifestylecoaching.
We're on a quest to help womendesign lives.
They love and bodies.
They adore.
We were fed up with the dietingindustry and decided to create
something different.
We're starting a calories uprevolution where women are
nourished.
Their metabolisms are healed andtheir bodies and brains start
working for them in the battleagainst weight loss.

(01:30):
If you feel like your metabolismis wrecked and you want to lose
weight once and for all, you arein the right place.
Okay.
Well, hello everyone.
You've just got Joe today, but Ihave a very, very special guest
on the podcast today.
Her name is Trish.
She is also known as at thisPhoenix rising on Instagram.

(01:53):
And I discovered Trish about ayear ago, I had just started
training for my second fitnesscompetition at age 47.
And I'm sure that's why Trish'sYou know, she came across my
Instagram feed because she wasalso training for a fitness
competition, and we were theexact same age.
And I just immediately fell inlove with her.
She resonated with so much ofwhat she had on her feed.

(02:16):
She was a working mom, had ahigh pressure job, but she was
doing this fitness competition.
And then as I explored her storyfurther, I was even more
intrigued because she has quitea transformation story.
And as I followed her over thisLast year and a half.
She's just such a special souland a total ray of sunshine.
So you're going to love thisinterview.
And so, yes, we have Tricia whois at this Phoenix rising on

(02:38):
Instagram.
So Trish, do you want tointroduce yourself and tell us a
little bit about yourself andyour amazing transformation?
Sure.
Well, first of all, thank you,Joe, for having me.
I appreciate it.
I love the opportunity to talkbecause I think so many women
need to hear the message thatit's never too late to get the
life that you want.
No matter what.
So I think that's important forus as girls to foster other

(03:00):
girls on that journey.
Anyway, I am, like you said, I'm48 now.
I am a CEO.
I own two companies and I'vebeen a CEO for about 17 years.
So really crazy, crazy life, youknow, very, very high pressure,
lots of hours.
It was not uncommon for me towork 16 hours a day, that kind
of thing.
And then on top of it, I'm asingle mom and my son has

(03:22):
autism.
So, you know, he didn't evenspeak to me.
speak until he was four.
And so the recovery process andtrying to get him to lead a
normal life fell squarely on myshoulders.
You know, I was able to hiresome therapists, but then
they're like, Oh, go home and dothis.
And it was hours and hours oftherapy a day.
So I lost myself in betweentaking care of him and helping
him become who he needed to be.

(03:43):
And my highest stress jobcoupled with.
My ambition, you know, and thenthrow into that mix, you know, I
went through a very contentiousdivorce with a very abusive man.
I had an extremely abusivemarriage and I started my first
company.
As a way to escape thatmarriage.

(04:05):
And so, when you're in anabusive situation, abusers don't
want to let their prey go.
So then, after I left and gotdivorced, it then led to an
additional 12 years oflitigation.
It was extremely stressful,financially draining, and
exhausting.
So you put all that together,and it's a recipe for disaster.
You are basically treading watertrying not to drown.

(04:27):
So that's kind of how itstarted.
Yeah.
Well, I, I am a lawyer.
So I know, you know, in additionto just the burden of
litigation, it's veryemotionally draining as well.
I'm sure, especially when it's,you know, we're talking about
like a family law or divorceissue.
So what happened, I guess, Iguess let's forward to the
beginning of, of 2020 and whatyou were doing and what was
happening in your life.

(04:47):
Yeah.
So what was the switch for girlsto know that I did not realize
how out of shape that I was.
I mean, did I notice that like,I wasn't happy about looking in
the mirror?
Did I try to like avoid mirrors?
Yes.
Did I wear, you know, I was likein the Stevie Nicks captain, you
know, it was one of the mostbeautiful captains you can find.
Right.
So I didn't know what.

(05:08):
I was, I, everything wasstretch.
I can't say that I hated myself.
A lot of women are like mired inself loathing.
I thought I was okay.
I still thought I was cute.
You know, I was just goingthrough the motions, trying to
survive, trying to do all thethings I was doing.
And then at the beginning of2020 in February, I got really,
really sick.
I think it probably was COVID,but at the time they didn't test

(05:28):
me because they said, Oh, I'mThat's in China.
It's not here.
And I ended up in the emergencyroom and I couldn't breathe.
And it was at that time that Igot weighed.
I had no idea how much I weighedmy whole life.
I've been about 135 pounds andthey weighed me and I was 202
pounds.
And they took my blood pressure,which traditionally has been
very low, like so low that Iwould say to a doctor, like,

(05:49):
don't be worried, it's alwaysreally low, which I said to this
doctor.
And he was like, Hmm.
Let's do this again.
And then let's do this again.
And I'm like, what's going on?
He's like, yeah, the lowestreading I got was one 66 over a
hundred.
And if you normally have lowblood pressure, you could have a
stroke at any moment.
And he was like, so once you'redischarged from here, once we
get you stable, you have to goimmediately and buy a blood

(06:11):
pressure cuff and take yourblood pressure at least three
times a day.
That terrified me.
And so I remember sitting inthe, you know, examination room
and they were running all thesetests.
They took x rays of my chest.
They were, did a flu test.
They were giving me breathingtreatments and it was really
scary.
And I didn't know what was goingto happen.
And I remember thinking like, Ohmy God, what if I die?

(06:32):
And this kid that I cherish,that is the most important thing
in my entire life goes to thatguy and is raised by that guy.
That guy and is suffering abuseby that guy.
And that's all I could thinkabout.
And so I eventually I wasdischarged and sent home and I
was in bed for like three weeks.
Couldn't move.
It was like one of those things,you know, how like when you're
in a pool and you're trying likeyou're waterlogged and you can't

(06:55):
like walk in the pool, it's likehard to walk.
That's how I felt.
I felt like I couldn't even pullmyself out of bed and it was so
terrifying and it was so scarythat I actually had the
conversation with my son and myfiance about, you know, if I
die, I want to be buried here.
If I die, I want you to go tocollege.
If I die, you know, I had allthese instructions and we had to

(07:16):
have like a really candidconversation about if I die.
And it was really scary.
And I think it scared the holycrap out of my kid.
But in that moment, you know,you start bargaining.
And I, you know, I don't go tochurch a lot, but I'm very, I
believe in God.
I have a very close relationshipwith God, I feel.
And I started bargaining hardand was like, God, if you just
let me live, you know, I wentthrough like the litany of

(07:37):
things.
I'll be a good person.
I'll stop drinking.
I'll eat healthy.
I'll cherish my body.
I'll respect it.
I'll do it.
Please, God, let me live.
And I got better.
And so I kept my promise.
I kept my promise to God, I keptmy promise to myself and I
started my journey by myself,you know, I got a book called
the 10 day sugar detox and I cutout all the processed food and

(07:58):
sugars and, you know, I justtried to do something and I just
started walking every day.
And in my neighborhood and itstarted out really slow because
I had to recover and I couldn'tbreathe and it just slowly built
up to walking 10 miles a day andjust eating as cleanly as
healthy as I could.
I'll be at way too many caloriesI learned later, but I from like

(08:18):
the beginning of March untilJuly, I lost like 25 pounds on
my own before I hired my coach.
Okay.
And that was just walking andpaying some attention to your
food.
It sounds like.
Yep.
And not drinking, not eatingprocessed food.
Not eating out, which was easy.
It was a pandemic.
No one was eating out.
Yeah.

(08:39):
So if we could just back up alittle bit, so one thing we do a
lot of mindset coaching atcouture fitness with our clients
and we use the cognitivebehavioral model.
And so everyone, this, you mightbe able to identify with this.
It seems like everyone comes tous.
to us or when there's a problem,like, just tell me what to do.
Give me the action step, whichis important that you have good
information and good direction.

(08:59):
But I always try to say like,well, it's actually, we have to
back up a few steps and, andwhat were you thinking and
feeling that got you into thisbehavioral cycle?
So what would you, but in yourbefore story, what would, what
would you say your actions werelike your daily actions towards
health?
And then kind of what thoughtsand feelings fueled that sort of
lifestyle.

(09:20):
Yeah.
So my whole life I'd been prettyhealthy.
And in fact, I had donebodybuilding in my twenties.
I was really, really committedto fitness and I was healthy and
I remained healthy for themajority of my life until like
the seven years prior to this, afew things changed.
So in those seven years.
I became vegetarian, which I hadlearned my body can't handle.

(09:40):
So my body started fallingapart.
My hair started falling out.
I started having issues.
And then I got so mired in mywork and in my kid that I
thought I'll take care of melater.
You know, I'll take care of thatlater.
And I just kept pushing it off.
I didn't prioritize my health atall.
You know, I used to joke with myfriends who were into running or
whatever, that I run whenchased.

(10:00):
Like I run when chased, I neverrun, you know, like I, it was
like a badge of honor to notwork out.
It was a badge of honor.
Like talking about the wine youdrank at night, you know, that
sort of stuff.
You know, I had lots of shirtsthat were like, it's wine's day,
you know, so I didn't reallycare about me.
I put all of my energy intoabsolutely everyone else.

(10:22):
my kid, my clients, myemployees, everyone else was
more important than me.
Yeah.
One thing, you know, we talkabout a lot is don't wake for
the wake up call, but it soundslike you sort of did.
Yep.
There was probably nothing thatwas going to change me.
I wasn't unhappy with how Ilooked enough.
To go through the pain.
And I was busy.
Like, I was like, how in theworld would I find an hour to

(10:44):
fit in to work out?
Well, you know, girls keep alittle book.
It's really simple.
I have a book that I keep withme all the time and just write
down what you're doing everyhour.
Once you look through that book,you're like, Oh, well, I was
able to watch the realhousewives for three hours.
I was able to, you know, dothese dumb things for this
amount of time.
Like when you really look atwhere you're spending your time,

(11:04):
you have plenty of time to workout no matter how busy you are.
So yeah, I think that's a great,that's a great tool.
Like if you're, if you'retelling yourself, I don't have
the time, maybe a time auditmight be in order.
Okay.
So then what did that switch to?
Like, I have to stay alive formy son and this is my health has
to come first.
Yeah, it became survival.

(11:25):
It became the most importantthing was to get him to college,
you know, to make sure that hecould be independent, you know,
as an autistic young man.
And I, you know, and then Iwanted to be able to lead him,
you know, like if he was goingto get married or if he's going
to have children, I wanted to bethere to help lead him and, and
have me there for advice, likemy parents are for me, my

(11:45):
parents are in their seventiesand, you know, both healthy and
alive.
So it just became, Oh my God.
This is really important and youbetter get your stuff together,
girl.
Yeah.
Well, and it sounds like youdid.
So tell us what happened inJuly.
Okay.
So it was back kind of like inMarch when I started exercising
and stuff.
And I was scrolling throughInstagram and just so you know,

(12:07):
prior to that, prior to megetting sick.
Prior to all of this, I hadstarted following train with
Joan on Instagram, who is mycoach's mom.
Yeah.
We love her.
She's like our idol.
Yeah.
And she's even better in person.
Like if you, you know howsometimes you meet people in
person, that's kind ofdisappointing.
She's even better.
I had started training her.
I remember being in my officeand I found her account.
I took it around to all myemployees.

(12:28):
Like, Oh my God, look at thiswoman.
She's in her seventies.
Like I found it fascinating andamazing, but not enough for me
to do anything.
And I was already following herand Joan made a post Transcribed
That her daughter was doing atransformation program.
And so I looked at it and Ithought, you know, I had done
bodybuilding in the past and Ireally loved it.
And I thought, well, you know,I'll apply whatever.

(12:50):
I had zero commitment to it.
I just thought I'll try it.
I'll, I'll apply.
And I had heard that there weretons of applications and stuff.
And I was like, I don't reallycare if I get in or not.
And I remember about a month orso later, Michelle, my coach
emailed me.
And she said, I got yourapplication.
I'm going through them.
And she said, I only take 20women.
I've already chosen the 20women, but I'm considering a

(13:10):
21st and that's you, but I havesome questions.
And so she asked me all thesevery detailed questions and I
answered them.
And then she asked me morequestions and I answered them.
And then she asked me for myblood work that I had and I gave
it to her.
And then she kept askingquestions.
And I remember looking over atmy fiance and I said, you know
what?
Like I, if this isn't goodenough, like.
I don't care.
This is how it is.
I'm just going to answer this.

(13:30):
If this isn't good enough, Idon't care.
And I sent it off, come whatmay, I was not committed to the
journey of being with her.
And then she got back to me andsaid, I choose you.
And I was like, Oh my God, whatdoes that mean?
And it wasn't going to startuntil July.
I was like, okay, great.
Well, between the time she choseme and my program started, it
was a pandemic and I was stircrazy.

(13:53):
I'm a goer.
I like to go.
So I bought an Airstream traveltrailer and I said to my kid,
Hey, you're senior year'sremote.
I'm working remote.
I hate where we live in theMidwest.
Let's go.
And we spent the entire majorityof the year on the road
traveling.
We were in the grand Tetons.
We boondocked like we just wouldbe like, okay, where do you want

(14:15):
to go now?
And we would drive.
We did over 15, 000 miles inthat airstream.
So I call, you know, I messagedmy coach as this program was
getting ready to kick off.
And I was like, Hey, by the way,I'm not going to have access to
a gym.
I'm living in an airstream.
I hope it's not a problem.
She told me later, she was like,ah, this girl's done.
She's never going to make it.

(14:35):
Like she was like, it's nevergoing to happen.
Um, but what I did was I boughta big, huge car carrier for the
top of our car and I loaded itwith weights and bands and
straps and sandbags and stepladders and, you know, yoga mat
and took it with me on the road.
And every day I worked outwherever you were, either a
campground or like literally inthe wilderness with bears.

(14:58):
I was out there every morning at6 AM busting my hump, doing the
workouts and doing my cardiowith bear spray.
And, um, coach tailored myworkouts to having only those
tools.
So I also hate it when girlstell me I can't afford a gym or
I can't go to the gym or I'm inlockdown.
And I mean, you know, when Istarted, I was in lockdown too.

(15:23):
The first week before we left inthe airstream was at home and I
was using my piano bench as abench.
I was, you know, using myfireplace hearth.
as a step up for, you know, stepups.
I mean, you can do it.
You don't need specificequipment in order to do a
transformation.
So the majority of mytransformation was done with
zero gym, zero equipment, meliving in a travel trailer,

(15:46):
traveling the United States withmy family.
Well, yeah, and I think that's atestament to your coach, too.
A good coach will meet you whereyou are.
And frankly, if you haven't doneanything, you can get a long
ways just doing body weightexercise for resistance
training.
So you got to start somewhere,right?
And so the one thing I loveabout your Instagram is you you
share a lot of pictures of youworking out with the bear spray.

(16:08):
Yeah, a lot of pictures backfrom that time period, which I
think is amazing.
And it's so inspiring becauseyou obviously look very
different now and we'll get tothat in a second, but I mean,
you have to start somewhere.
And for a lot of women, it'sreally intimidating when you're
40, 50, 60 pounds overweight toeven get started.
So do you want to talk a littlebit about that?
Like kind of, you know, I guesspushing through that time

(16:30):
period.
I'm sure it was very hard, likephysically hard and demanding.
So how'd you get through it inyour airstream?
Well, you know, at the beginningwhen I was 202 pounds, you know,
I just started walking by thetime I started with my coach,
I'd lost, you know, over 25pounds.
I kind of felt like, okay, I'vegot this.
This is going to, you know, I'mready.
I'm ready.
Feel good.
It's July wearing shorts.
It's good.
And then I remember the firstworkout.

(16:52):
And I remember like, Oh my God,I think I'm going to die.
Like, I can't do like stuff thathad been so easy for me in my
twenties, like step ups, right.
Um, I was like struggling and Ihave a video of me doing these
step ups where I'm like out ofbreath and I can't do it.
And I'm like, and you can seethe absolute pain in my body as
I'm doing it.
You know, it was very, very,very, very hard, but I never

(17:15):
quit.
I never gave up.
And the thing that I tell ladiesis, The first 30 days is
miserable.
I mean, it's miserable.
It's horrible.
It's so painful.
And you think, like, I can't dothis.
But you can do whatever you tellyourself.
So, even though I was inexcruciating pain, and it was so

(17:36):
hard to breathe and do theseexercises, I never told myself I
couldn't do it.
And I just was like, you'regonna do this.
Like, I'd get up in the morningand, like, in the mirror, like,
Girl.
You got this.
We're going to do this.
We're going to kick ass.
You are an athlete.
You are like every day.
So I would do it.
And you know, it's tough becausemy coach is virtual and I would
film my workouts and I wouldsend them to her.

(17:57):
And you know, the feedback wasnot kind and you have to be able
to take that constructivecriticism over and over.
You know, you keep trying.
She'll say, no, you got to dothis, adjust that.
Okay.
So the next time you do it andyou adjust those things, you
think, Nope, that's not it.
You got to do this.
You got to do that.
And it's, Always changing untilyou get it right and you can't
get frustrated by it.
You have to know that she hasthe greater good in mind.

(18:19):
She's helping you prevent injuryand you're going to get better.
And so I looked at it as achallenge.
Anytime she gave me feedback,like I'm going to kick ass at
this, right?
I'm going to do this, but yeah,it's super hard and you just
have to push through.
I guess you just have to look atit like it's a take no
prisoners, you know, there's achoice.
Don't give yourself a choice tonot do it.
Yeah.
See it as a challenge ratherthan being a victim to the

(18:39):
process.
Right.
Don't be a victim.
No victim mentality.
Okay.
So let's talk about the food andthe nutrition.
So when you started working withyour coach, how did that change?
And, and how did you manage thatin the airstream?
You know, when I was eatingprior to working with her, I
had, I had gone through thisbook, The 10 Day Diet.
Sugar detox by Dr.
Mark Hyman.
People ask if I recommend thatbook, not really not given what

(19:01):
I know now, but it was okay forme to start with, I was eating
way more than I needed to andfar more actual sugar naturally
than I should have.
But the thing that wasinteresting was when I started
with my coach, she had me eatingfive times a day and she, you
know, gave me a program based onmacros, you know, protein,
carbs, fats, and a combinationof that.
And it was so much food.
That I was like, Oh my God,like, I can't eat this much.

(19:24):
I can't eat this often.
It was so much like trying toget all that protein in, you
know, she's having me like 150grams of protein a day.
And that's hard to do at thebeginning.
I was so full and I rememberjust having to force feed
myself.
And it was simple in theAirstream because, you know, we
had a refrigerator, you know, wehad a grill, we had a microwave,
although I never used it.

(19:45):
Everything I made was eitherfresh or it was grilled.
And it was pretty simple.
And my family ate what I ate.
I just measured and ate less.
I, it was nothing special forme.
I took a, you know, ninjablender and I would make protein
shakes.
I'd have at least a proteinshake a day to help me get that
protein in.
It wasn't that hard.
And so when girls message me nowand they start a program like
this and they say, Oh my God,how did you eat this much?

(20:07):
I'm like, Oh, enjoy it now.
Cause really quickly that foodis like, it goes from, Oh, I'm
so full too.
Oh my God.
I'm hungry all the time becauseyour body starts processing it.
The metabolism starts speedingup again.
You're putting in all thisactivity and you get hungry.
You're going to be hungry.
So enjoy that time.
Yeah.
So are, and are you a cook oranything like, do you, are you,

(20:28):
do you enjoy preparing food orwas this like a get it done?
Kind of.
There's nothing in life I detestmore than cooking.
Nothing.
I mean, maybe going to thedentist.
That's it.
I hate cooking.
I'm not a good cook.
I don't like to meal plan.
None of that.
So learning macros and my coach.
You know, demanded, I mean,demanded that you plan your

(20:48):
meals in advance in the nap, andshe would review it was very
challenging for me.
That was probably my biggestchallenge and my biggest
resistance, that stubbornpersonality that I have was very
resistant to that.
Yeah.
And I would, I want to talkabout that in a second, your
relationship with your coach.
Cause I think it's.
It sounds great and veryinteresting.
Okay.

(21:08):
So when you started this workwith your coach, was the plan to
do a show or was it just atransformation?
Zero desire to do a show.
I thought that was crazy.
Now I had done a really smallshow when I was 26 or seven, I
guess.
Like it was one of those thingswhere the gym I belong to, they
were like, Hey, we're doing thisshow.
And I was like, Oh, I'll try it.

(21:29):
You know, it was nothing.
Like the WBFF or IFBB oranything.
So I had a tiny bit of what Ithought it was.
And I was like, that's not forme.
And so my only goal was reallyto be healthy.
You know, my coach was veryclear about what is your why and
what are your goals?
And she wants to make sure thatyour goals are reasonable.
You don't want to be 220 poundsand say, Oh, I need to be a
hundred pounds in six months.

(21:49):
You know, you have to bereasonable.
And my, my why was never tocompete.
It became that later after Isaw.
How my body was responding tothis training.
It was so fascinating.
And my coach who is worldrenowned fitness competitor, I
identify with her a lot.
We're very much alike.
The two of us, um, very type A,very headstrong, very goal

(22:11):
oriented.
And I loved watching her throughher contest prep, because I saw
how it invigorated her and gaveher.
Like a reason it gave her agoal.
It gave her something to strivefor.
You know, when you're in thegym, it's very easy to be like,
Oh God, that feels kind ofheavy.
I'll just, you know, take someweight off and fluff through the

(22:32):
reps.
Right.
But if you have a goal, likecompeting, it makes me really
laser focused in the gym and itmakes me push.
So hard.
I would never push that hard ifI weren't competing.
So that is one of the reasonswhy I decided to do it.
Yeah.
Tell us about like how your bodyresponded to all of this.
And then at what point youdecided that you're going to go
for the gusto and do a show.
Yeah.
So, you know, at the beginningit was humiliating taking those

(22:56):
photos in a swimsuit.
In fact, I didn't have aswimsuit to fit.
I wore a sports bra and likesome bottoms.
You know, really bad.
And I had like, you know,cottage cheese legs and my
abdomen was extremely humongous.
And my boobs were just, I mean,so big, you know, I, I didn't, I
don't even know what size bra Iwas wearing.
Cause I would wear thosestretchy bras because they were

(23:17):
just huge.
And my whole body was just big.
And I thought to myself, like,Am I, you know, I just assumed
like, I just wanted to getsmaller.
I didn't really care about howmy body looked.
I wasn't here to be the hotgirl.
I was just here to be smaller,have cardiovascular health and
stay alive.
That's all I wanted.
But then as I started liftingweights and eating in this very
regimented macros based, and I,you know, was no longer

(23:38):
vegetarian, my coach was veryclear about, I need you to eat
protein and it's going to haveto be animals.
How do you feel?
And I was like, Oh, I mean, Ieat so much.
Some animal protein, but Ireally hate the taste of it.
And she's like, you're going tohave to get over it.
And so I did.
And what I saw was my bodystarted responding.
My hair was getting thick.
My skin completely changed.
I had energy, like I hadn't hadbefore.

(24:01):
And then the cellulite was likemelting away.
And my, I started formingmuscles and my complete body
composition.
Like I went from being, youknow, very heavy and, and, and
you look, you know, doughy andheavy, you know, when you look
at my before and after, it's notlike, oh, she's just a smaller
version of that.
I look completely different mywhole life.

(24:22):
I had a pick what I call pancakeass.
You know, my, my butt was flatas could be, you know, it's
genetic.
My whole family's like that.
And I never thought I would havelike one of those nice JLo
booties, you know, but it'sgetting there.
It's doable.
So now like, I don't have a gutanymore, but I got a booty, you
know, and seeing this crazything that my body was doing,
like this massive scienceexperiment was so invigorating

(24:47):
to me that I just couldn't getenough.
Like I couldn't wait to wake upthe next day to be like, what's
going to be different today?
What can I do today?
Like, it just became this almostlike a game.
You know, so yeah, I thinkthat's really interesting
because that's sort of what myexperience was the first time I
did a fitness competition.
I didn't actually have a lot tolose, but I have some of my

(25:08):
transformation pictures.
I mean, like my just bodycomposition was totally
different and I was running andnot just not really.
paying attention to what I waseating.
It wasn't bad.
I thought I was a healthy eater.
I mean, I had been a subscriberto Shape Magazine and eating
what any other person wouldcall, but like little to no
protein.
The first competition I did wason a dare.
My now business partner,Allison, was marched into my

(25:30):
office one day and said, you'recompeting with, we're going to
show 40 who's boss.
You're competing with me.
So it was different than anyother diet I had done before
because it was like, oh, okay.
And so I went in and, you know,I kind of view viewed it all of
like, okay, so this coach isgonna optimize my nutrition and
my exercise and I wonder what mybody will do.
And like you, I fell in lovewith it.

(25:51):
I just could not believe howgood I felt like my body was
just changing right before myvery eyes and it was.
Such an amazing experience.
And you're right.
You would never do the thingsyou would do to get ready for a
competition.
If you didn't have that big,well, frankly, if you didn't
have the pressure of getting ina microscopic bikini at the end
of the road, but I know, youknow, fitness competitions get

(26:13):
bad raps, I mean, like a lot ofpeople, like, you know, and so I
wanted to.
Ask you like, you know, I, I'vehad people like, how can you do
that?
How can you get on a stage andlet men judge you?
My daughter, my, my 15 year olddaughter was like, that's so
unfair that you get on a stageand they get to judge you and
you have to get up there andhold your stomach in.
And that's not been myexperience.

(26:34):
I think it, this is anotherthing where it's like how you
approach it and like yourperspective.
So talk to, talk to us aboutthat.
Like how, I mean, I, I explainedto my daughter, I was like,
well, Number one, I've, I'veasked for this, I am willingly
doing this.
And I think the, and I've hadother women like, Oh, that would
be so horrible.
And the feedback you get fromthe judges is not like, you

(26:54):
know, get your fat rear off thestage.
You have no business belonging.
It's a very, like, I don't know.
It was the first time anyone hadobjectively said like, okay,
well, you know, we need to buildout your lats or, you know, you
could bring up your glutes orthat sort of thing.
And no one.
I had never talked to myselfabout my body in that way.
And it was very refreshing tome.
I did not take it as criticismor like an indictment.

(27:16):
So tell us about your experiencewith that.
I love that.
Such a lawyer.
Yeah.
So, okay, let me, let me put itthis way.
So when my coach said, Hey, youknow, do you want to do a
competition?
I said, yeah, I think I'll dothis competition in August.
And she recommended that I gowatch one.
So I traveled to Orlando.

(27:37):
in April and watched my veryfirst WBFF show in person.
And I have to tell you, theexperience as an, as an audience
member made me really questionwhether I wanted to get on
stage.
I saw all these girls up thereposing and, you know, they're
being compared to one another.
And I thought to myself, youknow, As someone who is a female
business owner, who haschampioned women, who goes and
gives talk to, talks to likegender studies programs about

(28:00):
being a woman and, and, youknow, how we can succeed in life
and, and the biases there areagainst women.
Am I taking myself in womanhood,you know, 70 years back?
I mean, you know, women haven'tbeen voting that long.
Right.
And so I had all this likechatter in my head about, Man,
this isn't who I am, you know,I'm a feminist and I decided to

(28:23):
go through with it because I hadtold my coach I would.
And I thought, you know what,I'm going to look at this in a
different way.
So how I approached it was itwas my emancipation.
And so that's also kind of wheremy Instagram name comes from
this Phoenix rising, because Ihave looked at this process as
an emancipation from all thatbound me.
A lot of that was the.

(28:43):
Abuse that I suffered and thestill constant abuse I suffer in
litigation from my ex.
I'm still in court.
My son is 18 and a half, almost19.
And so I looked at it likestepping out from this fire and
rising.
And that is how I approachedthat competition.
So I looked at it as myemancipation.

(29:05):
It wasn't about anyone else.
It was about me, the theme whereI designed and the bikini I
designed with my designer wasall based on that.
This phoenix rising andemancipation, and that's all I
cared about.
I didn't care about anybody elsecompeting.
I didn't care about winning.
I didn't care about anything,but stepping on that stage,
stepping into my power andemancipating myself from my

(29:27):
past.
And knowing that on that day,August 13th was the beginning of
my new life.
And I was emancipating myself ontelevision that was televised
around the world and saying,here I am, this is my life.
And that's what I did.
And so when I got there and Igot on the stage, what I didn't
anticipate was the amazingeuphoria that I felt like, you

(29:48):
know, I, I, I'm not a nervousperson.
I do a lot of public speaking,but I was nervous about getting
on stage and a bikini and allthis stuff and I was nervous,
but when, when they called myname.
And I stepped out there and youhave to step into the spotlight
for that one moment and you poseand then you do your T walk.
As I stepped into thatspotlight, it was like, I've
never done drugs, but I imagineit's like when you do cocaine,

(30:12):
because I got this like tinglyfeeling all over my body.
And it was this amazing high.
And I don't remember anythingthat happened except for one
thing.
And that was, I could not stopsmiling.
I remember this childlike joy oflike, I couldn't make my face
stop smiling.
I was so happy.
And so for me, it was a greatexperience because I looked at

(30:35):
it from a different point ofview, not objectification.
And as you get to know the otherwomen who are doing this as
well, you learn that most womenwho are in fitness competitions
are doing it for a reason.
And it's not because they wantto be the hottest and it's not
because they want the crownnecessarily.
It's because they are overcomingsomething.
I can't tell you all the storiesI heard backstage about abuse.
Um, they're overcoming eatingdisorders.

(30:58):
They're, they're, they'reovercoming something in their
lives.
And this is something that cancontrol and something that they
can say, I am achieving, itgives them a goal.
It gives them purpose.
And it's a really beautifulthing.
I think if you look at it fromthat point of view.
Yeah, I agree.
That's an amazing story.
It brings tears to my eyes.
And you said something earlierthat I think probably a lot of
women can relate to that, youknow, you had lost yourself.

(31:20):
And, and that was kind of the,the first time I did a show.
I had two small children.
My husband had just purchased anaccounting firm in Chicago.
I was working full time, had apretty demanding job.
And I You know, I went and metwith the coach and we came up
with the plan.
And I just remember thinkinglike, if I don't, this is for
me, if I don't do this, like Iam like reclaiming a piece of

(31:40):
me, like the job wasn't reallyabout me, you know, I love my
kids, but I mean, I was drivingall around town.
My husband, you know, he had histhing.
And I just remember very clearlythinking like, this is for me.
And, and if I don't do this, Iwill lose myself.
So, um, I really do think thatjourney to health and I would
call it wholeness almost.

(32:01):
I mean, no, I had never, I haddone marathons.
I'd had running coaches.
No one ever talked to me aboutnutrition or how to fuel my
body.
Everything was geared towardslike, how hard can you hit it?
How little can you eat?
Nothing was like ever kind ofcoordinated in this way and
optimized.
And it was so amazing.
And I really, really do.
Like if you don't have yourhealth, you don't have much and

(32:23):
nothing feels better thanfeeling strong.
And it's something that I wishall women could experience.
However, you find that notnecessarily doing a show, but
just that euphoric feeling oflike, I am healthy and I am
strong and I am on top of theworld.
Yeah.
And there's other things you cando.
I don't think a show is foreveryone.
It is extremely grueling,especially those last 12 weeks
before you.
I mean, it's, it's, it's.

(32:44):
Very, very, very, verydifficult.
Even for someone who's a highachiever like me, it was very
grinding.
But you know, you could do aphoto shoot.
You could schedule a photo shooton a certain day, have some sort
of end goal, whether it's, youknow, you want to go to an event
and wear a certain dress, or youwant to have a photo shoot or
whatever, but you got to have agoal of some kind.
And it doesn't have to be acompetition.
I don't want people to thinkthat, Oh, if I'm not going to

(33:06):
step on stage, I don't need toget healthy.
And I shouldn't consider macrosand I shouldn't consider weight
training because if you want tolive a long life and you want to
be healthy, you better put somemuscle on in your forties.
And from there going forward,you know, I look at my mom who's
extremely healthy, but you know,she's a, she's a cardio queen,
right?
She just wants to do cardio allday for hours.
And she's so skinny.

(33:27):
And so thin, and she's so proudthat she's at her high school
weight.
And I keep saying to her, mom,I'm proud of you, but you know,
you should probably think aboutputting on some muscle because
as you get older, you needmuscle.
If you fall or you get sick oryou end up in the hospital, that
muscle is what's going to keepyou alive.
You know, so she is starting tolift a little bit of weights.
I'm really proud of her.
That's really great.

(33:48):
But, you know, I think everywoman really needs to consider
what weight training and havingsome muscle on their bones will
do for their optimal health,especially as they get older.
Absolutely.
It's one of the most importantthings you can do for your
health.
There are so many things itguards against.
Well, I want to talk about, goback to the being vegetarian and
then also sort of the approachyour coach used or uses.

(34:09):
It sounds like a very noexcuses, no holds barred sort of
approach.
Yep.
So, okay.
So you were vegetarian for awhile and, and how was that
experience for you?
Oh God.
So, you know, I had always eatenfairly healthy.
And then, you know, when Istarted going through all this
litigation, I mean, it was sointense that I started having

(34:29):
panic attacks and I didn't knowwhat to do.
I'd never had panic attacks.
And so I started researching andI kept hearing about yoga.
So I started doing yoga.
And I am not bendy.
It was a process.
And so I got really into theyoga community.
I mean, really into yoga, hoursa day of yoga.
And then, you know, as you, asyou integrate into that
community, most people, they'relike into juicing and they're

(34:51):
vegetarian.
They're all about the earth.
And so I started being likemeeting all these people and
they were like, you should watchthis documentary.
I think it was like forks overknives or something.
I was like, just casually, Ohyeah, just let me throw this on.
And I watched it.
And it traumatized me when I sawand I was like, I remember I was
supposed to go to dinner thatnight to this, um, Indian

(35:12):
restaurant and there's nothingin life I loved more than
chicken vindaloo.
And so I watched thisdocumentary prior to going out
and I remember I got to therestaurant was like, I just
can't eat chicken.
I can't.
I can't eat it.
And then it, it was like aswitch.
I just stopped eating meat.
I couldn't get out of my headwhat was happening to these
animals.
And I felt so guilty as a human.

(35:33):
And so, yeah, I was vegetarianfor seven years because of, of
that.
It traumatized me.
And, you know, in my household,my kids still ate meat, but the
rule was whatever you take, youeat.
We do not waste this animal thatgave its life for your
nourishment.
And then, uh, you know, Uh, atone point I went to a
chiropractor or something.
I wasn't feeling well.
I had some issues going on priorto getting really sick.

(35:55):
And he was like, you know, whatare you eating?
And I told him, he was like,Whoa, yeah, need to eat some
chicken.
And I was like, I can't, I can'teat chicken.
He's like, you're gonna eat somechicken.
So I integrated very slowly,some eggs and some chicken into
my diet prior to meeting mycoach.
But it was super challengingeating all of those grams of
protein at the beginning andgetting over that mental hurdle

(36:17):
of eating animals.
It was really very hard for me.
How did you feel physically likeintegrating more protein into
your diet?
I mean, at first I hated it,especially mentally, but what I
noticed was I started havingmore energy and I started
feeling more clear headed and mynails started, you know, I've
always had really thick nailsthat were like hard to clip, you

(36:39):
know, but then when I wentvegetarian, like you could just.
tear them off, you know, theywere just thin as could be.
My nails were coming back.
My hair was growing and gettinglustrous.
And I was like, Whoa, this iscrazy.
I saw how my whole body waschanging, how my skin changed.
You can look at pictures of meat this weight when I was
vegetarian, the same way that Iam today.
And I look 15, 20 years olderthan I do today because my skin

(37:02):
was just.
I look totally different.
So that protein made a bigdifference in my body and my
energy.
And so I've committed to doingit.
I haven't fallen back now.
I will never eat pork.
It will never happen.
So I do have some parameters.
I eat very little red meat, verylittle, you know, if my iron is
low or something, I willincorporate some more for that.
But yeah, it's mostly, you Fish,chicken, eggs, beans, that sort

(37:27):
of stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've competed in my last show.
One of my teammates was vegan,but I mean, she still had to get
the protein in.
And I'm not exactly sure how shedid it.
So it doesn't even if you are avegetarian or vegan, you still
got to get the protein in.
The problem is when you're doingit as a vegetarian, that your
calorie intake is so much morebecause you have to.
eat so much more to make up thatprotein.

(37:47):
So it's, and there are veganbodybuilders and my hat is off
to them.
I think that's great.
Um, it's just not something thatI could do.
Yeah, I agree.
I think it would be tough.
Okay.
Let's talk about your coach.
You know, as I, as I coachedmyself, you know, we're, we're
humans.
And so we, we are self limitingbeliefs.
get in the way.
So, but I guess what was thecadence?
Did you have to check in withyour coach every day, every

(38:09):
week?
What did you have?
What sort of data did you haveto give her?
She uses an app called truecoach and that's where she loads
all of our workouts.
So every day you have to do yourworkouts and you have to upload
at least two videos of, youknow, you pick certain
exercises.
As I've grown, it's always thecomplex lifts, those compound
harder lifts that she alwayswants to see.
See, and then you have tomeasure yourself every day and

(38:30):
weigh yourself every day and putit into that app.
And then you take progressphotos and you check in every
week.
So, or, you know, sometimes moreoften, if you're not getting the
results, she likes to see, youcould be checking in every day.
So you gotta keep coach happy.
And then of course, duringcontest prep, I mean, I was
checking in three times a daywith, you know, showing videos
of my abs.

(38:50):
And, you know, everything, itwas very intense, but that's to
be expected.
But just as a normal client,that's what I was doing.
And she had very specific rules.
You know, you had to plan outyour meals in the, my macros app
for her to review, you know, tomake sure you're doing it.
That was a non negotiable.
You had to weigh and measure anddo all that and do your progress
photos weekly, non negotiable.

(39:11):
She made us be a part of aFacebook group where every week
we had to post our progressphotos for our teammates to see,
which was embarrassing at first.
And you had to talk about verydeep things in your posts.
You know, they would askquestions that you had to
respond to, and you had toreally give some thought as to,
wow, What does that mean to me?

(39:32):
You know?
So yeah, if you missed a checkin, you're fired.
She'll cut you off right then.
You, there's no excuses.
And how do you think she wouldtake if you're like, well, I got
busy at work and didn't havetime, how would that be
received?
You're, you're gone.
I'm serious.
She was very serious.
In fact, there's a video of me.

(39:52):
So, okay, so I left on this tripin the airstream, right?
We're going cross country, threedogs, my kid, my dogs are
Frenchies, so they don't do wellin the heat.
It's July.
We are traveling through theboiling Midwest and we stopped
for our first stop on our wayout West, right?
And we pull into this campgroundset up shop.

(40:12):
And the trailer like exploded.
The electrical blew up.
No air conditioning, no nothing,nothing.
And I remember like crying andsaying to my fiancé, who
thankfully is very handy, like,oh my, oh my God, what do we,
like, are we going home?
Like, what do we do?
And he was like, rippingeverything out of the airstream,
all the stuff.
Seeding everything.
And he is rewiring he's testing.

(40:34):
He's, and so we, you know, wewere all boiling in a hundred
degree weather all night, wedidn't have air conditioning.
We didn't have anything, youknow, I had to put everything in
my macros.
I, and I told myself like, I,you know, how am I going to
survive?
I can't do this.
Well, the refrigerator ran onpropane, so it was still
running.
The grill runs on propane, stillrunning.
So what excuse do you have notto do your workout, not to do

(40:55):
your macros?
You have no excuse, right?
So I made no excuses.
So I'm working out at thecampground.
He's rewiring the airstream andI'm so stressed, but I'm still
doing my workout and I get amessage from my coach and I see
it because I'm filming, right?
So I'm like filming on my iPhoneand I see this message pop up
and it says something like, ifyou're not going to take this
program seriously, I don't wantyou in it.

(41:17):
And I'm like, what?
No, this is like day four.
I'm like, what?
What?
And so I'm like trying to get tothe message.
And I'm like, what are youtalking about?
You know, I respond and she'slike, you haven't uploaded any
of your meals in my macros.
And I told you it was a dealbreaker.
And if you're not going to takethis seriously, you're out.
And I was like, I have uploadedit.
And she's like, no, you haven't.
It's not in there.
I went and looked and I'm like,furiously taking screenshots and

(41:38):
sending it to her.
And she was like, oh, well, my,my macros was not uploading to
the cloud on there.
I wasn't able to see it.
So she thought I wasn't doing myjob.
So there are subsequent videosas I'm texting back and forth
with her and I'm still doing mywork out of me.
Sobbing uncontrollably, sobbing,doing my workout, like, you
know, she doesn't believe me andI'm doing the right thing.

(42:00):
I have no air conditioning andI'm hot and I don't know what to
do.
And like, you know, I'm stilldoing the workout and it's all
filmed.
And I think about that moment,you know, I was so excited about
this opportunity once I had it.
I didn't want to lose it.
And so she's very serious, youknow, out of our 21 people, I
think by the end of the time weall had together, we had 14 or

(42:21):
something that either quit orshe, you know, cut.
And I think that's important.
You got to have accountability.
You know, it's her reputationtoo.
She doesn't want to havesomebody in her program that,
you know, is going to give ahalf ass effort and, and then
have us be like, Oh, this was mycoach.
I get that as a business owner.
So you want success.
And so she tries to weed throughthe applications to see who has

(42:44):
a success mindset so that sheknows that she won't have to
deal with that.
So yeah, and how do you thinklike a softer, gentler approach
would have worked for you?
It would not have worked.
I would have walked all overthem.
So like for me, I am really typeA and I'm very headstrong.
You know, I started law school,so I'm a fantastic negotiator.
arguer, I can reason anything.

(43:07):
So if I have somebody who waslike sweet and kind, which some
of the wonder women coaches arevery sweet and kind.
And I think to myself, gosh,they're really nice.
And gosh, I could never workwith them because I would run
over them.
I would run over them.
So I needed someone who wasgoing to hold me accountable.
Someone that I respected andsomeone that I trusted that if

(43:27):
they, you know, because she'lllike message me and she'll see
my measurements or something.
And she'll say, yeah, I wentinto true coach.
I saw your measurements werechanging your macros right now.
And when she says right now,that doesn't mean tomorrow.
That means right now, like nextmeal, it better be changed.
And she's going to look at it.
And it is hard to pivot likethat, you know, in everyday
life.
But I trust her.

(43:48):
Because I know what she knowswhat she's doing.
And so I just like, okay, shetells me jump.
I ask how high and I do it.
So I've always said she is, youknow, a great general and I am a
good soldier.
So it was, was there any pointthat you just wanted to rebel
and no, you know, I vetted her.
I respected her.
I firmly believed that she knewwhat she was talking about, that

(44:09):
she was an expert in her field.
And for me, my business isnothing, nothing makes me more
angry than when someone hires mycompany.
Uh, and we are the experts inwhat we do.
And then they, you know, Don'twant to do what we say and they
rebel and they buck the system.
And then they're like, Oh, whyare we not getting results?
And I'm like, we know what todo, but you don't trust us and

(44:29):
you don't do what we say.
And it makes me very angry.
So I knew that if I hiredsomebody and I was spending this
kind of money, cause it's notcheap that I was going to do
exactly what they said, because.
She's the expert, not me.
If I were an expert, I wouldn'thave been 202 pounds with 166
over 100 blood pressure.
I'm clearly not an expert.
So trust the experts.

(44:51):
That's what I say.
Very, very true.
So what's your next big goal?
We, in our coaching program, we,we try to set big impossible
fitness goals.
What's your next big goal?
So I'll be competing in Decemberof this year.
So that's the next goal.
So right now I'm going to buildand then, you know, of course
we'll cut probably, I wouldimagine she's gonna start my cut
earlier than 12 weeks.
So, which I'm really lookingforward to, I can't wait to cut,

(45:13):
but yeah, I'm building rightnow.
And so in the interim I havelike, you know, strength goals.
So every I'll set strength goalsfor like deadlift, squats, bench
press, stuff like that.
And then I'll give myself atimeframe.
And I give them to my coach.
And then once I hit them withinthat timeframe, then we set new
ones.
So that's how I kind of keepmotivated as I'm going through

(45:33):
this build building as a, youknow, it's not easy on the mind,
especially after you've, you'vespent all this time watching the
scale go down, down, down, down,down, down.
You know, it's a celebration.
I lost half a pound.
Yeah.
Some of the bricks celebrate,and now it's like.
Your goal is to either stay thesame or slowly build, grow,
grow, grow, grow.
And you're like, Oh God, thescale's going up.

(45:54):
And so sometimes I have to quellmy fears, you know, so I take
progress photos every week andthey're very important.
And I look forward to them somuch because they show me the
actual progress.
I can see from week to week, butsometimes like.
Say, um, you know, I'm 130pounds and I'm freaking out
because, you know, when I was onstage, I was 124, I'll go back
and I'll find a picture when Iwas 130 pounds as I was losing,

(46:18):
you know, my initial cut andI'll put them side by side and
it is astronomically different.
It's astronomically differenthow different I look 130 pounds
when I, you know, if November of2020 and 130 pounds in January,
2022.
It's like a completely differenthuman.
So then I'm like, okay, no, thisis, it's good.
It's working.

(46:38):
You're good.
Keep it up.
I think I agree.
I think the pictures help somuch and partly just to, you
know, I look so much better nowthan I did, I would say even in
high school, our bodies are soamazing.
They are capable of so much andthey are dynamic.
And if we just give them theright inputs, it's just amazing
what they can do.
One reason I still compete is tosee the 50, 55 year olds up

(47:02):
there who, I mean, they lookamazing.
Amazing.
Oh yeah.
Um, and they've just been doingit year after year and, you
know, treating their bodiesmaybe not the last month leading
up to a competition that that's,that, you're right, that's very,
very grueling.
But they've just led a veryhealthy lifestyle and made time
for it.
So yeah, I have so many friends.
You know, as I've gotten intothis community, I've made so
many good friends and I havefriends in.

(47:24):
sixties and seventies who arebodybuilders and they are just
amazing and they're so likeyouthful just in their spirit
and how they approach things.
And I really enjoy them so much.
I've made such great friendshipsthrough this and we're all like
minded.
So it's really fantastic.
And that said, If you want totransform your life and you want
to lose weight and you want tochange the trajectory of your

(47:46):
life, you have to be willing tolet go of things.
You have to be willing tosacrifice.
And so some of the things I'vesacrificed is alcohol, processed
food, eating whatever the hell Iwant when I want, going out to
eat and like eating pastas andbreads and all of that, and
friends.
I've lost a lot of friends, andI'm okay with that.

(48:06):
I've lost a lot of people.
Friends, just because thelifestyle has changed.
Well, you know, you find out whoyour friends are, right?
So some friends will cheer youon.
They see what you're doing.
They are like, Oh, this isamazing.
I'm so proud of you.
Whether they're on thattrajectory or not, right?
I'm proud of you.
Then there are friends who arejust.
Insanely jealous or insanelyjudgmental, or they're the

(48:28):
thwarters, they're thefrenemies, you know, who are
like, Oh gosh, you look great.
We should go, you know, meet fordinner and you go meet them.
And they're like pushing on you.
Come on, just one glass of wine,just one glass, just try this.
It's so delicious.
Just, just try it, just try it.
Oh, you already look great.
You can do this, the thwarters.
And you learn who those peopleare.
And I was afraid at first to cutthem out of my life.

(48:50):
But then once I did, I justlearned, like, I had so much
more room and so much morecapacity for people who were so
good to me.
And it really changed thisreally amazing, positive.
You know, course of my life.
I don't miss any of those peopleat all.
I was going to ask, I mean,what, what is your favorite part
of this new lifestyle?
And do you miss anything of yourold lifestyle in terms of like

(49:13):
the eating exercise kind ofdaily habits?
You know, my favorite thing isjust how good I feel.
I've never felt so amazing.
It really is like a high and,you know, I have an extremely
stressful career.
It's beyond.
stressful.
There are, especially lately,I've been under a lot of stress
and so many things arehappening.

(49:34):
And so I, I used to work out atfive in the morning, every
morning.
Now I work out at the end of mywork day because it's such a
great stress reliever thateverything that was bothering me
just melts away when I'm in thegym.
Like it is just the mostempowering, amazing feeling.
And I get this high that is so.
Fabulous.
So that is probably the verybest thing.
I don't really miss anything.

(49:55):
Part of the thing is, you know,I did this during a pandemic.
So the hard part was done whereyou couldn't go out to eat.
There was nothing to do.
There's nowhere to go.
There's, you know, I was livingin the wilderness because there
was nothing else to do.
There's no malls, there'snothing.
So it made it easier now thatthings are like opening up and
people are doing stuff.
Sometimes I miss like having acocktail, like, you know, when

(50:16):
you go on a date, with your,with your guy and you're, you're
going to like the dark, nicelittle smoky kind of, you know,
room.
It's a steakhouse and you justwant a glass of red wine.
I do miss that, but I've, I'veallowed myself, I think I've had
six drinks since I started thisin July and now from the very
beginning.
So from March, 2020.

(50:36):
I think I've had six drinks,every single one of them.
I've regretted everyone.
I feel like crap, you know, Iused to be able to drink a
bottle of wine and I, and itdidn't even, you know, I didn't
think it affected me.
I felt fine.
Like it's no big deal.
I'll drink a glass of wine now.
And I feel like death the nextmorning.
So I, I don't, I definitelydon't miss feeling like that.
And so it's not worth it to me.

(50:57):
So I just have like a Pellegrinowith a lime.
I have the experience.
Without the devastation of thealcohol.
Yeah, and I, I think that's evenan experience in and of itself
to know, yeah, like to get awayfrom some of those substances
long enough to even realize theimpact they are having on your
body or your sleep or how youfeel.
Sometimes we haven't evenallowed ourself that, like,

(51:18):
what, what would I feel if Ididn't drink wine for a week?
Right.
You know, one of the things, um,I realized, um, So a lot of
people say to me, I can't affordto work out.
I can't afford a coach.
I can't afford, you're so lucky.
You must be rich.
I'm not rich.
But I will tell you prior todoing this, I was going to
Starbucks at least once a day,at least sometimes twice a day.
And I was getting a venti,whatever, usually something like

(51:40):
a cookie crumble, venti mocha,whatever.
It was this humongous thing withall this whipped cream.
That was like 780 calories.
Twice a day, I would do that.
And those drinks were likealmost 9.
So at least 10 a day was goingto Starbucks.
And then I would have my wine atnight, right?
So you're looking at least 20bucks a day on wine and
Starbucks and cutting that allout, you know, 20 times three

(52:02):
30, that's more than enough topay for a coach.
And now that I eat healthy, Youknow, it's so much more
economical to eat healthy.
It's super easy.
I mean, I'm basically eatingprotein and vegetables.
It's easy to do.
After I realized like, wow, likewe're, I would look at my bank
account.
Like, am I missing something?
Did something happen?
Did I, like, why do I have moneythat I didn't think I should

(52:23):
have?
And then, oh, it's Starbucks.
It's wine.
It's eating out.
It's this horrible lifestylethat I have.
So now I have money for all thecute workout clothes and I have
money to buy new clothing and Ihave money to save and I have
money for my coach.
It's been great.
So I highly recommend kickingStarbucks to the curb.
It's some of the worst stuff youcan put in your body, you know,

(52:44):
really limit or just absolutelyeliminate alcohol.
I say about that, like, don'tlet eating out Starbucks and
wine be the consolation prizefor the life that you really
want to live.
A lot of times these are justbuffers for like, well, I didn't
get up and work out again in themorning.
I'll swing by Starbucks to makemyself feel better.

(53:05):
You know, they, they really are,like I say, consolation prizes.
It's like self soothing.
It's like when a baby is upsetor maybe a three year old's
upset and you give it thepacifier still.
Yeah.
Three year old doesn't need apacifier.
You know, it's the same kind ofthing and you just have to
retrain your brain.
So now I've retrained myself tohave other things that are like
treats.

(53:26):
You know, for me, a treat isgoing hiking every week.
I love to hike now.
I do it every week, no matterthe weather.
You know, for me, a treat isbeing outside.
And just enjoying the sunshine,you know, a treat for me is
going for a walk.
I, I, everything has changed.
Like I was never outside.
I spent my entire life insideand never went outside.
And now I, I long to be outside.

(53:48):
Like I would be outside all dayif I could.
And so everything has reallychanged and it's all because I
got healthy.
And now that I'm, I feel so ablein my body, I can do all the
things.
I can ice skate.
I can run.
I can hike.
I can scale mountains.
I mean, I have pictures of medangling off of mountains and
stuff.
Like a year and a half ago, Iwas obese.

(54:11):
I'm scaling mountains.
Like if somebody said to me inJanuary, 2020, Hey, yo, In 2022,
you're going to be scalingmountains.
I'd be like, you are so funny.
And I have a million dollars inmy pocket right now, too.
So everything can change if youjust allow it to change for you.
I totally agree.

(54:31):
So I guess that's maybe how wecan wrap up.
What what's your best advice?
to someone, maybe a woman whohas a very demanding job and is
staring at 40 plus pounds tolose.
I imagine that has to feel likeclimbing Mount Everest.
So what's your best advice tothat person?
I think that you have to reallylook at your mindset.

(54:51):
More than anything, and you haveto look at what's holding you
back.
That's easier said than done.
There are a lot of really greatbooks that can help you through
that.
One of them that my coach mademe read is the big leap.
Another one is think like awarrior by Donnelly.
There's a few books with thesame title.
I'm a big believer in thesecret, the book, the secret
where what you manifest is whathappens.
So if you tell yourself I'mtired, I'm fat, I'm ugly, I'm

(55:13):
never going to change.
What's going to happen.
You're tired.
You're fat.
You're never going to change.
That's what's going to happen.
So you have to really get upevery day and give yourself self
love.
No matter how bad you feel, youhave to sit there and say, I'm
worthy, I'm beautiful, I've gotthis.
Over and over and over and overuntil you believe it.
And changing your mindset willchange everything.
The rest is easy once your mindis trained.

(55:35):
Deadlifting.
I'm deadlifting 170 pounds rightnow.
That's a cakewalk.
Compared to training my mind.
So really work on your mindset,work on that self love and work
on saying, I am worthy to putmyself first and don't feel
guilty or like you're someweirdo narcissist for putting
yourself first.
Because once you put yourselffirst, You are able to better

(55:56):
take care of absolutely everyoneelse in your life.
And you, through your actions,you are teaching your children
how to behave.
You're teaching your clients howto treat you.
You're teaching your employeeshow to live.
You're teaching all thesepeople, wow, so that I can do
that?
You know, since I've done this,and I hope that my employees
have understood this, you know,I have explained to them ad

(56:17):
nauseum about boundaries.
You know, if somebody emails youat eight o'clock at night is not
your obligation to email themback.
Your obligation is to yourself.
Should you work between eightand five?
Yes.
After that, it is not yourobligation.
Your obligation is to take careof yourself, your family, fill
yourself up, meditate, giveyourself what you need to be

(56:38):
whole, because those peopledon't care about you.
Just because they had somethingto vomit into an email doesn't
mean that you have to respond toit.
So I think that it's reallychanged how everything has
worked in my business.
And I think it has helped myemployees learn how to train
their lives.
And it has taught me how tobetter be a parent and a spouse

(56:59):
and a daughter to everyone elsebecause I'm so much more present
in everything I'm doing in mylife.
And that all stemmed fromputting myself first and taking
care of myself.
So it's a worthwhile investment.
You get a great ROI.
Don't feel guilty about it.
Yeah, I totally agree.
And I think once you get shorehealth, if you apply intention

(57:22):
and discipline in one area ofyour life, the other areas of
your life can't help.
get better too.
I really believe that.
I mean, you learn skills and youcan begin to apply those skills
to other areas of your life.
So it really is an amazinginvestment that you can make in
yourself.
And really, if you, it doesn'tmatter how much money you have,
how successful you have, if youroll into 60, 70 without your

(57:44):
health.
I mean, those tools I boughtwhen I took them in my
Airstream, less than 200 worthof equipment, you know, and even
today, like I hate Bulgariansplit squats, like, Oh, I do
too.
So passionately my coach, mycoach loves them.
And so, you know, There's thattime where you're getting ready
to do them and you just want tocomplain, like, this is hard.

(58:05):
I don't like this.
And I think to myself, cause youknow, I'm always trying to hold
more weight as I'm doing themand I want to complain.
And I'm like, I can't do 30pounds in each hand.
I can't, I can't do that.
It's too hard.
And I'm like.
Shut up.
You were 220 pounds at onepoint.
Like you could hold literally 50pounds in each hand.
And it's the same as if you'redoing this with your body

(58:25):
weight.
So, you know, don't forget thatI, I mean, the other day I did
calf raises, just body weightand my calves are screaming.
I did a hundred of'em.
She had me do five sets of 20.
Today I can barely walk Andthat's just from my, my good old
body weight Mm-hmm, So you don'tneed money, you just need drive.
and ambition and the desire toactually better yourself.

(58:48):
That's all you really need.
And the rest is kind of acakewalk.
It sounds like what happenedwith you, but I always say get
on the path.
You have no idea how that pathwill branch, what opportunities
will come your way, but if youget on the path, like it will
all take care of itself.
You just, you have to get on thepath.
No one can get on it for you.
That, and let's not forget, youknow, we've been living through

(59:09):
a pandemic and we haven't heardanything about how health.
plays a part in not dying fromCOVID or, you know, getting
through it without a lot ofproblems.
You know, make it an investment,like let this pandemic be a
lesson that you got to get yourhouse in order because you don't
want something like that to takeyou down because you decided

(59:29):
that wine and Starbucks Andsitting in front of the
television was more important.
And now your kids are herewithout a mom.
So, you know, use it as a lessonand take care of yourself.
And, and I'm actually extremelygrateful for COVID because if
this hadn't happened, I wouldprobably be here at 230 pounds.
Yeah, I agree.
I would not.
I mean, I have a little bitdifferent story, but I was a

(59:52):
little bit different.
I was a chronic dieter, scaredto eat too much, and it did a
number on my metabolism and alot of other, I just had like
chronic injuries that wouldn'theal, and I was in kind of a
dead end job, and so I just kindof, enough was enough at some
point, and I decided to make achange, and so I'm, I'm
grateful.
I mean, I had the, kind of thequiet time to be like, oh, this
isn't the life I Wanted to beleading, so I made a change.

(01:00:15):
Yeah, there's so much gratitudearound that too, right?
Like, Oh my gosh, I was able tochange my life.
You're now in this wholedifferent life space that you're
like, wow, I didn't think itwould be this amazing.
And so there's so much gratitudearound that, that you're given
basically a second chance.
Yeah, I totally agree.
Well, where can we find you andhow can, um, I really encourage
anyone who isn't following youto, to follow you, but where all

(01:00:36):
can we find you and continue tobe inspired by you?
Well, basically I just live onInstagram with my story.
So I'm not anywhere else on timefor all the platforms.
So it's this.
phoenix.
rising on Instagram.
I tried really hard to show thegood and the bad, the ugly.
I talk about, like, it's notperfect.
The journey is not perfect.
Perfect.
And there are hard days andthere are struggles.
And I share that and I share,you know, my day to day kind of

(01:00:59):
routine and sometimes what Ieat, but then it's like a flood
of questions.
Why did you have this instead ofthat?
Because my plan is differentthan your plan because my
metabolism is different thanyour metabolism, you know, it's
hard, but I share as much as Ican and I try to help.
Women see that I'm not special,I'm not some kind of superhuman,
I'm not special.
I don't have like this perfectlife at all.

(01:01:22):
I'm just somebody who never gaveup and I'm somebody who never
cheated and somebody who neverskipped a workout.
I'm somebody who put myselffirst and you can too.
You're just as special as I am.
So that's what I try to show onthere.
No, you, you do show the good,the bad, the ugly.
And so, and that's soappreciated.
It's, we think that everyonejust wants to see the perfect,

(01:01:43):
you know, hologram of the life,but I mean, you have done so
many women, such a service byshowing your before pictures and
showing yourself in theairstream doing those very hard
workouts and not just, you know,the after picture on the stage
and the bikini.
So thank you for that.
Oh, yeah.
I think the number one questionthat I get that I really offends
me is people are always like, sohow did you have the downtime

(01:02:05):
for the plastic surgery?
Well, girls, number one, I amterrified of needles.
I've never been put under in myentire life.
And the only surgery I've had isa C section.
And so I've, I've had zerocosmetic surgery, plastic
surgery.
I did not remove my loose skin.
None of that.
I don't photoshop my photos.

(01:02:26):
I don't clean up my photos.
It's what you see is what youget.
And I know it's hard to believethat you can change your body
and you can get rid of yourcellulite and that, you know,
your skin can actually tightenback up over time, but it is
doable.
So no plastic surgery here.
Yeah.
We, what we tell everyone isresistance training is the only
non surgical way that you canchange your body and your body

(01:02:48):
shape and you can do it.
It's amazing.
So yeah, it is possible foreveryone.
Man, woman, young, old,everybody.
Well, this has been amazing.
Thank you so much.
And I hope maybe you'll considercoming back again sometime and
maybe right before your nextshow or after your next show,
and we can continue theconversation.
I do want to tell all of ourlisteners, like Trish said, you

(01:03:11):
can get started even if you'reYou know, money is an issue.
We host a monthly challengeevery month and our booster
metabolism after age 30 groupnext month in March, we'll be
focusing on steps, taking aheight and establishing the
habit of getting, you know, alot of movement in during your
day, what we call non exerciseactivity, thermogenesis, and

(01:03:31):
just becoming more active thismonth.
We're focusing on strengthtraining, stronger in 30 days.
But those challenges are freeand it's really our way of, of
helping people integrate thislifestyle in a way that, that
works for them.
And then also we are not quiteas hardcore as Trisha's coach,
but we do offer, if you, ifyou're interested in getting in
this journey and having someonehelp you calibrate the

(01:03:52):
nutrition.
The resistance training, thesteps, the cardio, we will have
openings in our program thatbegins in April, and you can go
get on our wait list on ourwebsite.
Details will be in the shownotes.
So thank you, Trish, so much.
It's been an amazingconversation.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
And I love that you guys arehelping women everywhere.
That's such a noble effort.

(01:04:13):
So thank you for all you'redoing.
Yeah, it's very rewarding.
So, okay.
Thanks everyone.
That's what we have for today.
All right.
Bye.
That's what we've got for youtoday about how you can invest
in your metabolism and startlosing weight by eating more and
exercising less.
Trust us, you aren't too old andit's never too late.
If you want to learn more aboutthis topic, head over to our

(01:04:36):
Facebook group Boost YourMetabolism After Age 30.
You can also follow us onInstagram or Facebook at Couture
Fitness Coaching.
And if you want to work with us,join us for our next 12 week
session.