Confidence Is Quiet: Trusting Yourself at 48

Send Jax a text!

Some stories start with a sprint. Ours starts with an old pair of sneakers, one lap around the block, and a breath that sounded like a beginning. From shy youngest child to single mom, from hospitalization and rapid weight gain to a quiet rebuild through walks, therapy, and financial grit, we open the door on a full midlife transformation—messy, real, and entirely possible at 48.

We talk about what confidence actually is when the applause fades: showing up at 4 a.m. to lift, prepping meals on Sundays, paying cash for groceries, and keeping promises no one sees. You’ll hear how small, repeatable actions stacked into big outcomes—162 pounds lost, $32,000 of debt paid, and a life that finally feels like home. We dig into the tools that mattered (movement, protein-forward meals, intermittent fasting, therapy, boundaries) and the traps that didn’t (comparison, perfectionism, chasing external validation). There’s an honest look at using and later stopping weight loss medication for financial reasons, and why identity must live beyond a number on a scale.

If you’ve ever felt behind, consider this your nudge: you’re right on time. Midlife isn’t a crisis; it’s a revelation where strength and softness meet, and where lessons harden into wisdom. Walk with us through the mindset shifts, the daily systems, and the hopeful proof that you can start over—broke, broken, or breathless—and still build a confident, purpose-filled life. Listen, share with someone who needs a spark, and if it resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us the one small promise you’ll keep this week.

Support the show

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
Well, hello.
Welcome back to the Midlife GlowReport, the space where we talk
about glowing up in midlife andreinventing yourself.
One honest story, tip, trick,and coachie cak at a time.
I'm Jax, your host, and today'sepisode is going to be a bit
more personal.

(01:21):
It's about confidence, how Ilost it, rebuilt it, and why at
48 I feel stronger, freer, andmore at peace than I ever did in
my 20s or 30s.
So if you're in midlifewondering whether it's too late
to feel confident again, totruly love who you are inside

(01:43):
and out, this one's for you.
So to start out with my earlyyears, I was the baby of the
family, quiet, overweight, shy,and very unsure of my place in
the world.
Confidence was not even a word Iunderstood back then.
I was a girl who tried to blendin, who avoided mirrors, who was

(02:08):
extremely unconfident, but stillvery innocent and lighthearted.
When I went to college, I reallydidn't have a dream of a certain
profession.
I had a goal, just to makemoney.
Really unsure of myself, mylikes, and my dislikes.
Just wanted a degree insomething basic and broad,

(02:30):
something where I could get ajob.
At 19, I met my son's father.
It was young love, sweet,confusing, full of life lessons
I didn't know I would need lateron in life.
By 21, I had had my son.
I wasn't married.
I was single.
Things didn't work out with hisdad and I, and he decided to

(02:52):
leave town.
So I was just me and my son.
Overnight, that insecure girlbecame a woman responsible for
another human being, all on myown.
I grew up fast, but emotionallyI was still learning how to
believe in myself.
So being a young single mom withmy son who was attending a

(03:15):
private Catholic school and wasin that setting was brutal at
times.
I was really the only one myage, always walking in late from
work for school events andsports games, where I wore tired
eyes and I was always stressedabout money.
Sitting next to two parentfamilies almost twice my age who

(03:39):
could afford vacations everyyear.
That just wasn't me and my son.
I smiled a lot, but I wasquietly drowning, insecurity and
guilt and exhaustion.
Every decision felt heavybecause it wasn't just mine
anymore.
I dated briefly twice, actually,but I never let anyone into my

(04:02):
son's world.
My focus was laser set on him.
I was determined to raise akind, educated, confident young
man, even though I didn't yetknow how to be a confident woman
myself.
So when my son was in eighthgrade, my body and mind finally

(04:22):
said enough.
I ended up hospitalized fordepression and anxiety.
I was so ashamed.
I felt like such a failure.
Like the mom who couldn't keepit together.
What I didn't realize then wasthat breakdowns are sometimes
the universe's brutal way ofsaying, stop pretending you're

(04:46):
fine.
The medications helped mestabilize, but everything
changed about me.
My energy, my focus, my body.
Within three years, I gained 240pounds.
My confidence didn't justdisappear, it disintegrated.
But my son, he was thriving.

(05:08):
Sports, studies, discipline.
He was the light when I hadnone.
And when he left for college, Ifell apart quietly behind closed
doors.
My son was in his junior year ofcollege, and I was broke, 390
pounds, and suddenly unemployedafter a company layoff, and I

(05:32):
was terrified.
Every version of myself I hadtried to build was suddenly
gone.
So that May of 2022, I hit whatI call my sidewalk moment.
I laced up an old pair ofsneakers and started walking

(05:53):
around my block.
Just one lap.
I remember breathing heavy,sweating, but feeling something
I hadn't felt in years.
A sense of hope.
But I had movement.
And suddenly within two weeks, Ilanded a new job, even though it

(06:16):
paid a bit less.
But that tiny bit of momentumchanged everything, and I felt
lightness.
A bit of my confidence cameback.
Walking became my therapy.
Fresh air replaced excuses.
I started eating better.
I experimented with intermittentfasting.

(06:38):
And within three months, I wasdown 20 pounds.
I found a new therapist.
I reduced my medications.
I worked a second job to chipaway at my debt.
My confidence didn't magicallyreturn.
It rebuilt itself onedisciplined day at a time.

(07:00):
So by August of 2024, lifelooked different.
I had lost 120 pounds naturally.
I paid off$32,000 in debtbecause of hard work.
My son graduated college, and Ifinally exhaled for the first

(07:20):
time in years.
That September, we went onvacation to Charleston, South
Carolina.
I laughed freely.
I walked beaches I once couldn'twalk.
I felt present, alive, andcapable.
And that's when I decided tostart sharing my story online.
Not because I had it all figuredout, but because I was proof

(07:44):
that starting over at any age ispossible.
I wanted other midlife women tosee that you can be broke,
broken, overweight, and stillchoose to rise.
So right after vacation, Istarted weight loss medication
called Zetbound.
And by February of 2025, I wasdown another 30 pounds.

(08:08):
But I decided to stop takingZetbound due to financial
reasons.
It was just too expensive.
But by then, my confidencewasn't tied to the number on the
scale anymore.
It was tied to consistency, tomy daily walks, to my gym
visits, to lifting weights, tomeal prepping on Sundays, to

(08:32):
that quiet pride of paying offone more credit card.
Right now I am down 162 poundsin total.
No more depression, no anxietymeds, no fear.
Just gratitude, movement, andpurpose.
I feel unstoppable.

(08:53):
Not because everything isperfect, but because I have
proof I could rebuild fromscratch.
Here's what I learned aboutconfidence.
It's not about how loud you are,how fit you look, or how many
people validate you online.
Confidence is quiet.

(09:13):
It's the moment you trustyourself again.
It's showing up when no oneclaps.
It's keeping your promises toyourself.
Even today on a Sunday morning,I woke up at 4 a.m.
I hit the gym.
I meal prep for the week.
I cleaned my house.
I did an everything shower.

(09:35):
I styled my hair.
I paid some bills.
So what my life looks like now?
It's buying groceries with cashinstead of credit.
It's choosing a salad instead ofself-sabotage.
It's walking into the gym at 48and saying, why not me?

(09:56):
Midlife has given me the gift ofperspective.
I don't chase approval anymore.
I protect my peace like it'sgold.
I know what matters, and I knowI matter.
At 48, I'm thriving.
I have an incrediblerelationship with my son,
friendships that feel likesunshine, work I enjoy, and a

(10:21):
body that finally feels likehome again.
I still have another 80 poundsto lose to reach my goal.
I know I will get therehopefully sooner than later.
This season of life isn't abouttrying to be who I was at 25.
It's about becoming who I wasalways meant to be.

(10:42):
Midlife isn't a crisis, it's arevelation.
It's where strength and softnessmeet.
It's where lessons turn intowisdom.
If you're listening and you feelbehind, you're not.
You're exactly where your glowup begins.
So that's my confidence story.

(11:04):
Messy, real, and ongoing.
I'm still walking, stilllearning, still glowing.
If you take one thing from thisepisode, let it be this.
Your confidence can be rebuilt.
You can lose everything money,jobs, health, and still come

(11:24):
back stronger.
Because confidence isn't lost.
It's buried under fear, waitingfor you to dig it up.
Thank you for listening to thisshort episode of the Midlife
Glow Report.
If this episode inspired you,share it with a friend.
Tag me on Instagram at JackSty'sand tell me what part of your

(11:49):
story you're ready to rewrite.
Until next time, keep glowing,keep going, and remember the
best season of your life mightbe this one you're in right now.
Love Jax.