June 6, 2025 • 12 mins
We’re done being the smallest version of ourselves to make others comfortable.
We’re lifting heavier, living louder, and surrounding ourselves with people who want to see us WIN—not stay small.
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5536OnOTy_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, welcome back to Strength inNumbers.
I'm your host, Katie Dunford,and listen, today's episode,
wow.
Get your coffee, get yourprotein shake, get your
creatine, because it's gonna be,it's gonna be part therapy, part
conversational.
Of course a pep talk from yourfavorite gym bestie.
We're talking about buildingmuscle in the middle of
(00:21):
perimenopause while survivingHRT, the HRT madness, the pros,
the cons, the side effects thatI had from dizziness, headaches,
and what I can only describe asleg pain.
Like you've done a billionBulgarian split squats in a Joe
program.
(00:41):
And of course, because itwouldn't be a journey without a
little medical gaslighting.
I mean, come on, we're, I'mgonna gaslight it.
We'll talk about the time that Iwent to the doctors and they
basically said to me, we don'tneed to do blood draws.
You don't need a blood draw.
We're just gonna go off of likehow you're feeling.
We're not gonna, we're not gonnalook at any underlying issues.
No, no, no, no, no.
(01:01):
We're just gonna.
It was like, kind of like thatwhole feeling that I got when I
went to the first doctor.
They were like, we're just gonnaput you on birth control.
Like, we're just gonna do birthcontrol.
No, no, no.
So, and of course we're alsogonna get in, into my journey,
um, on tonal a little bit more,kind of talk about how, you
know, how I felt going fromtaking up less space to wanting
(01:24):
to take up more space.
So, but most of all today isabout this.
We are not here to be small.
Big lifts.
Big energy, big confidence.
Let's get into it.
All right, let's go back alittle bit.
Let's paint a picture.
So this picture, stay at home,mom.
Running around after everyeveryone else.
Low key.
Forgetting who I was on theoutside.
(01:45):
I was on snack duty and laundryduty marathon.
Can you relate?
I think we can all relate.
I still relate to that.
To this day, tonal my beautifulmagical wall-mounted miracle.
At first, I just wanted to get alittle stronger.
Honestly, I was just like, if Icould bench 75 pounds, that is a
goal.
(02:06):
Little did I know that I wouldbe almost benching a hundred
today.
Maybe tone up.
Have some more energy.
Stop feeling like a tired bag ofbones and care when I'm carrying
groceries and doing normaltasks.
Because at that time I wasconstantly over training, doing
so much cardio.
I wasn't fueling properlybecause I was so obsessed in the
(02:27):
mind with I need to be smaller,so starving myself, not fueling
myself.
And being so concerned abouteverything else on the outside
instead of what, how I wasfeeling.
But y'all tonal flipped a switchon me.
Suddenly I was excited to train.
I was not chasing skinny.
(02:48):
I was chasing strong.
I went from, I just wanna to myarms to, I wanna bench press
like a Viking queen, like Iwanna be bear in forest.
It's wild.
Once you start seeing thosenumbers go up.
And I'm not just talking aboutstrength scores.
I mean confidence, focus, themain character energy, you can't
(03:08):
go back.
It wasn't about shrinkinganymore.
It was about expanding andstrength space and just being
loving my own skin.
So perimenopause and hormonaljust like totally gave a total
plot twist.
But you know what?
Loves to show up just whenyou're vibing are hormones.
(03:31):
One minute, you're fine.
The next, you're crying ingrocery stores because avocados
are too hard and you just don'tunderstand why you walked into
the kitchen.
I thought HRT would be thesolution, and it kind of was
until it wasn't.
Suddenly I was dizzy all thetime, like I'm on a boat.
(03:55):
Yeah, like on a boat, dizzy,headaches, legs hurting so bad.
I could barely walk.
It was like I was aging more.
I was feeling worse.
I'm becoming a rusty robot.
I would literally finish workoutand then just lay on the floor
trying not to cry because mylegs were just screaming.
(04:16):
And I don't mean sore.
I mean like.
Like someone please exercisethis pain demon out of my
thighs.
So I go to the doctor thinking,okay, cool.
They'll test my, they'll,they'll do blood work now
because I'm having side effects,right?
Help me tweak things.
Maybe recommend, you know, somedifferent vitamins and check my
(04:38):
vitamin levels.
No, no, no.
That didn't happen.
You know what was said?
We don't really need a blooddraw.
Your hormones fluctuate toomuch, which was total bs.
I'm like, yeah, okay.
Should I just do a tarot carreading and said Maybe, maybe I
should like consult like StarWars or something, you know,
(05:00):
look at the stars and like get,you know, Darth Vader involved.
It was a huge week.
It was a huge wake up call forme.
I realized if I didn't advocatefor myself.
No one else would.
So I decided to go and get myblood draw.
(05:20):
I had all my panels checked, Ihad my thyroid checked.
I had, uh, all my hormoneschecked, and long and behold,
guess what?
D-H-A-D-H-E-A levels fine.
Estradiol fine, progesterone alittle low, but testosterone
(05:41):
low.
So all the medi, like all thethings that they were trying to
fix me with could have been justfixed with maybe a sh a one
little shot a week oftestosterone would've solved all
the problems.
Is it to solve all the problems?
Who knows?
(06:02):
Um, I just had my first shot,uh, the other day.
So I got 10 weeks of, um, 10milligrams of testosterone.
So we're gonna see how thatworks.
Um, will I get another blooddraw?
Guess what?
We're doing another blood drawin 10 weeks.
So if a doctor is denying doingblood draws to check all your
(06:25):
levels, find a doctor that will,and I mean, sadly we're gonna
have to pay out of pocketbecause the medical system is
not in the preventative.
Um, they're in the wait tillwe're gonna charge you up the
yin yang.
To fix you to help get youhealthy.
So preventative, we gotta payout of pocket.
(06:47):
So the next part we're gonnatalk about is like, of course,
the main thing about this wholepodcast is taking up space.
This whole season taught mesomething I'll never forget.
I don't, I never wanna be smallanymore.
I see the old pictures of myselfand I'm just like, how did I let
it get so bad?
(07:08):
Not physically, not emotionally,but energetically taking up
space doesn't mean being loud orbossy or too much.
It means owning your place in aroom, in your body and in the
damn mirror.
And if someone's uncomfortablewith that, that's their
emotional pushup that they needto go do.
(07:29):
Not me.
Every rep I do on tonal, that'sme taking up space.
Every heavier lift.
That's me saying I'm allowed tobe powerful every time I say no
to someone draining my energy.
Yep.
That's still taking up space.
Even if it's on social media, itis okay to hide people.
(07:51):
It is okay to remove yourselffrom places, things, people,
whatever, that are draining you.
There is sometimes when I, Ihave to pull back because, you
know, we all know the world isfucked up right now.
Like we all know.
I don't need a reminder of it onsocial media.
(08:12):
I really don't.
Um, I go to social media to seefriends, see family, see their
kids, see somebody pring, seesomebody, you know, getting
stronger.
You know, the good things thatwe can look at.
Is it being naive that the worldis a dumpster fire right now?
No, the world has never beenperfect.
(08:36):
Never will I ever know becausewe're human and there's gonna be
good people, there's gonna bebad people.
But I refuse to live my life inanger.
Refuse to.
So remember all that taking upspace.
It is not you having an ego.
It is an evolution.
(08:57):
So let's talk about the peoplethat you're surrounding yourself
with.
At some point in time, yourjourney, you are gonna realize
not everyone is clapping for youand cheering.
Some folks are secretly hopingthat you fail so they don't have
to face their own comfort zones.
That is a big one.
Remember?
(09:18):
If people are talking shit andcrap about other people, they
are talking about you behindyour back.
If they are bashing somebody forwanting to be stronger, for
somebody wanting to do somethingdifferent, if they are
dismissing them, remindyourself.
There's gonna come a day whereyour goals, your training, what
(09:43):
you're doing is going to change.
And remind yourself that thosepeople are probably gonna exit
stage left.
So when I started gettingstronger and physically and
mentally, some people gotweirded out by that.
And I'm talking about like, I'mnot talking about like random
people on the internet.
I'm talking about people thatwere in my life.
(10:03):
But you know what, that's that,that's a them thing.
Because every person whocouldn't handle like me doing
something that was betteringmyself getting healthier.
Getting my eating under control,I found I found five more people
that said, girl, let's go.
(10:24):
People who understand thatlifting each other up doesn't
dim your own light.
That's what strength and numbersmeans.
It's spotting each other.
It's hyping each other up.
It's saying, I see you doing thething and I've got your back.
So now let's remind you what,especially women in our forties
(10:45):
and beyond are capable of.
You are capable of liftingheavy.
You are capable of buildingmuscle through hormonal chaos.
You are advocating for yourselfin doctor's offices, rewriting
the damn rules about what aginglooks like.
We're not fragile, we're notfading.
We're flipping the script andgetting fricking powerful if you
(11:07):
are in the messy middle rightnow.
Whether it's perimenopause,training fatigue, or just trying
to survive Wednesday with yoursanity intact, I got you.
You don't have to do it all.
You don't have to be perfect,but you know what you do have to
do?
You do have to show up foryourself, for your future, for
(11:28):
your strength, that's waitingfor you on the other side, ask
for the blood test.
Do the scary lift.
Say no to toxic energy, and yesto one more rep.
You were never meant to shrinkyourself in the background for
no one.
You were never meant, you werealways meant to take up space
(11:49):
and look that damn good doingit.
That's all for today's episode.
Strengthen numbers.
What?
What if you laughed a little?
Nodded or yelled yes out loud atsome point?
Do me a favor, share thisepisode with somebody, with a
woman who maybe needs to hear itbecause I needed to hear it.
And remember, standing strong isthe new small.
And you, my friend, are justgetting started.
(12:11):
So I'll catch you on the nextepisode to go lift something
heavy and walked tall.
Hey, welcome back to Strength inNumbers.
I'm your host, Katie Dunford,and listen, today's episode,
wow.
Get your coffee, get yourprotein shake, get your
creatine, because it's gonna be,it's gonna be part therapy, part
conversational.
Of course a pep talk from yourfavorite gym bestie.
We're talking about buildingmuscle in the middle of
(00:21):
perimenopause while survivingHRT, the HRT madness, the pros,
the cons, the side effects thatI had from dizziness, headaches,
and what I can only describe asleg pain.
Like you've done a billionBulgarian split squats in a Joe
program.
(00:41):
And of course, because itwouldn't be a journey without a
little medical gaslighting.
I mean, come on, we're, I'mgonna gaslight it.
We'll talk about the time that Iwent to the doctors and they
basically said to me, we don'tneed to do blood draws.
You don't need a blood draw.
We're just gonna go off of likehow you're feeling.
We're not gonna, we're not gonnalook at any underlying issues.
No, no, no, no, no.
(01:01):
We're just gonna.
It was like, kind of like thatwhole feeling that I got when I
went to the first doctor.
They were like, we're just gonnaput you on birth control.
Like, we're just gonna do birthcontrol.
No, no, no.
So, and of course we're alsogonna get in, into my journey,
um, on tonal a little bit more,kind of talk about how, you
know, how I felt going fromtaking up less space to wanting
(01:24):
to take up more space.
So, but most of all today isabout this.
We are not here to be small.
Big lifts.
Big energy, big confidence.
Let's get into it.
All right, let's go back alittle bit.
Let's paint a picture.
So this picture, stay at home,mom.
Running around after everyeveryone else.
Low key.
Forgetting who I was on theoutside.
(01:45):
I was on snack duty and laundryduty marathon.
Can you relate?
I think we can all relate.
I still relate to that.
To this day, tonal my beautifulmagical wall-mounted miracle.
At first, I just wanted to get alittle stronger.
Honestly, I was just like, if Icould bench 75 pounds, that is a
goal.
(02:06):
Little did I know that I wouldbe almost benching a hundred
today.
Maybe tone up.
Have some more energy.
Stop feeling like a tired bag ofbones and care when I'm carrying
groceries and doing normaltasks.
Because at that time I wasconstantly over training, doing
so much cardio.
I wasn't fueling properlybecause I was so obsessed in the
(02:27):
mind with I need to be smaller,so starving myself, not fueling
myself.
And being so concerned abouteverything else on the outside
instead of what, how I wasfeeling.
But y'all tonal flipped a switchon me.
Suddenly I was excited to train.
I was not chasing skinny.
(02:48):
I was chasing strong.
I went from, I just wanna to myarms to, I wanna bench press
like a Viking queen, like Iwanna be bear in forest.
It's wild.
Once you start seeing thosenumbers go up.
And I'm not just talking aboutstrength scores.
I mean confidence, focus, themain character energy, you can't
(03:08):
go back.
It wasn't about shrinkinganymore.
It was about expanding andstrength space and just being
loving my own skin.
So perimenopause and hormonaljust like totally gave a total
plot twist.
But you know what?
Loves to show up just whenyou're vibing are hormones.
(03:31):
One minute, you're fine.
The next, you're crying ingrocery stores because avocados
are too hard and you just don'tunderstand why you walked into
the kitchen.
I thought HRT would be thesolution, and it kind of was
until it wasn't.
Suddenly I was dizzy all thetime, like I'm on a boat.
(03:55):
Yeah, like on a boat, dizzy,headaches, legs hurting so bad.
I could barely walk.
It was like I was aging more.
I was feeling worse.
I'm becoming a rusty robot.
I would literally finish workoutand then just lay on the floor
trying not to cry because mylegs were just screaming.
(04:16):
And I don't mean sore.
I mean like.
Like someone please exercisethis pain demon out of my
thighs.
So I go to the doctor thinking,okay, cool.
They'll test my, they'll,they'll do blood work now
because I'm having side effects,right?
Help me tweak things.
Maybe recommend, you know, somedifferent vitamins and check my
(04:38):
vitamin levels.
No, no, no.
That didn't happen.
You know what was said?
We don't really need a blooddraw.
Your hormones fluctuate toomuch, which was total bs.
I'm like, yeah, okay.
Should I just do a tarot carreading and said Maybe, maybe I
should like consult like StarWars or something, you know,
(05:00):
look at the stars and like get,you know, Darth Vader involved.
It was a huge week.
It was a huge wake up call forme.
I realized if I didn't advocatefor myself.
No one else would.
So I decided to go and get myblood draw.
(05:20):
I had all my panels checked, Ihad my thyroid checked.
I had, uh, all my hormoneschecked, and long and behold,
guess what?
D-H-A-D-H-E-A levels fine.
Estradiol fine, progesterone alittle low, but testosterone
(05:41):
low.
So all the medi, like all thethings that they were trying to
fix me with could have been justfixed with maybe a sh a one
little shot a week oftestosterone would've solved all
the problems.
Is it to solve all the problems?
Who knows?
(06:02):
Um, I just had my first shot,uh, the other day.
So I got 10 weeks of, um, 10milligrams of testosterone.
So we're gonna see how thatworks.
Um, will I get another blooddraw?
Guess what?
We're doing another blood drawin 10 weeks.
So if a doctor is denying doingblood draws to check all your
(06:25):
levels, find a doctor that will,and I mean, sadly we're gonna
have to pay out of pocketbecause the medical system is
not in the preventative.
Um, they're in the wait tillwe're gonna charge you up the
yin yang.
To fix you to help get youhealthy.
So preventative, we gotta payout of pocket.
(06:47):
So the next part we're gonnatalk about is like, of course,
the main thing about this wholepodcast is taking up space.
This whole season taught mesomething I'll never forget.
I don't, I never wanna be smallanymore.
I see the old pictures of myselfand I'm just like, how did I let
it get so bad?
(07:08):
Not physically, not emotionally,but energetically taking up
space doesn't mean being loud orbossy or too much.
It means owning your place in aroom, in your body and in the
damn mirror.
And if someone's uncomfortablewith that, that's their
emotional pushup that they needto go do.
(07:29):
Not me.
Every rep I do on tonal, that'sme taking up space.
Every heavier lift.
That's me saying I'm allowed tobe powerful every time I say no
to someone draining my energy.
Yep.
That's still taking up space.
Even if it's on social media, itis okay to hide people.
(07:51):
It is okay to remove yourselffrom places, things, people,
whatever, that are draining you.
There is sometimes when I, Ihave to pull back because, you
know, we all know the world isfucked up right now.
Like we all know.
I don't need a reminder of it onsocial media.
(08:12):
I really don't.
Um, I go to social media to seefriends, see family, see their
kids, see somebody pring, seesomebody, you know, getting
stronger.
You know, the good things thatwe can look at.
Is it being naive that the worldis a dumpster fire right now?
No, the world has never beenperfect.
(08:36):
Never will I ever know becausewe're human and there's gonna be
good people, there's gonna bebad people.
But I refuse to live my life inanger.
Refuse to.
So remember all that taking upspace.
It is not you having an ego.
It is an evolution.
(08:57):
So let's talk about the peoplethat you're surrounding yourself
with.
At some point in time, yourjourney, you are gonna realize
not everyone is clapping for youand cheering.
Some folks are secretly hopingthat you fail so they don't have
to face their own comfort zones.
That is a big one.
Remember?
(09:18):
If people are talking shit andcrap about other people, they
are talking about you behindyour back.
If they are bashing somebody forwanting to be stronger, for
somebody wanting to do somethingdifferent, if they are
dismissing them, remindyourself.
There's gonna come a day whereyour goals, your training, what
(09:43):
you're doing is going to change.
And remind yourself that thosepeople are probably gonna exit
stage left.
So when I started gettingstronger and physically and
mentally, some people gotweirded out by that.
And I'm talking about like, I'mnot talking about like random
people on the internet.
I'm talking about people thatwere in my life.
(10:03):
But you know what, that's that,that's a them thing.
Because every person whocouldn't handle like me doing
something that was betteringmyself getting healthier.
Getting my eating under control,I found I found five more people
that said, girl, let's go.
(10:24):
People who understand thatlifting each other up doesn't
dim your own light.
That's what strength and numbersmeans.
It's spotting each other.
It's hyping each other up.
It's saying, I see you doing thething and I've got your back.
So now let's remind you what,especially women in our forties
(10:45):
and beyond are capable of.
You are capable of liftingheavy.
You are capable of buildingmuscle through hormonal chaos.
You are advocating for yourselfin doctor's offices, rewriting
the damn rules about what aginglooks like.
We're not fragile, we're notfading.
We're flipping the script andgetting fricking powerful if you
(11:07):
are in the messy middle rightnow.
Whether it's perimenopause,training fatigue, or just trying
to survive Wednesday with yoursanity intact, I got you.
You don't have to do it all.
You don't have to be perfect,but you know what you do have to
do?
You do have to show up foryourself, for your future, for
(11:28):
your strength, that's waitingfor you on the other side, ask
for the blood test.
Do the scary lift.
Say no to toxic energy, and yesto one more rep.
You were never meant to shrinkyourself in the background for
no one.
You were never meant, you werealways meant to take up space
(11:49):
and look that damn good doingit.
That's all for today's episode.
Strengthen numbers.
What?
What if you laughed a little?
Nodded or yelled yes out loud atsome point?
Do me a favor, share thisepisode with somebody, with a
woman who maybe needs to hear itbecause I needed to hear it.
And remember, standing strong isthe new small.
And you, my friend, are justgetting started.
(12:11):
So I'll catch you on the nextepisode to go lift something
heavy and walked tall.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.