Do you find yourself trying to build muscle and lose fat but always get off track before you do? Or do you feel like it’s not even an option for you to live in the body you've always wanted? Well, my friend, you're not alone! 

In this episode, my dear friend Jennifer Mead joins me to share the inspiring story of how she achieved the body transformation she always dreamed of just before turning 50. Despite facing setbacks and self-doubt, Jennifer committed to her goals and completely transformed her body in just five months! Her unbelievable transformation improved her mood, energy levels, and confidence – all things that are possible for you too! 

Throughout our chat, Jennifer opens up about her challenges, how she overcame them, and her advice for anyone who feels behind in their fitness journey. She shares her top tips for changing your nutrition habits to align with your energy needs, staying consistent with strength training, and shifting your mindset to believe in your capabilities. If you’re in need of a boost of motivation – look no further! 

Want FREE access to my brand new four-week strength training plan, Strength Without Stress? Head over to hollyperkins.com/review where you can upload a screenshot of your review and gain immediate access. This is a limited-time offer before it sells for $197, so be sure to grab it now!

Topics Covered:

• Jennifer’s initial struggle with consistent quitting
• Keeping yourself motivated and setting intentions 
• How Jennifer shifted her self-sabotaging mindset 
• Practical strategies for changing daily habits 
• Understanding macronutrient distribution 
• Simple diet tips for increasing your energy and muscle mass
• Why you don’t always need to be at 100% intensity in the gym 
• The reality of cardio vs. strength training 
• How Jennifer overcame the challenges in her journey 
• Jennifer’s significant mental and physical changes 
• Advice for becoming the woman you want to be 

Resources Mentioned:

• Listen to the first 23 episodes of Holly Perkins Health Podcast HERE
• Listen to How She Did It (Jennifer) HERE

Follow Me: 

Find me on Instagram: @hollyperkins

Learn more on my website: hollyperkins.com

Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/HollyPerkinsFitness/

Disclaimer: Content and information as part of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast is for general interest, education, and entertainment purposes only. The use of information on this podcast or materials or products linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Two of the biggest hurdles to becoming more muscle and less fat are one, an on again, off again pattern where you're on track for a week or two or three and then mysteriously, you find yourself off track. And it takes you weeks to get back on. And to the belief that for some reason, it's just not possible for you to get the body that you want, and that a body transformation isn't an option for you. This is exactly what Jennifer thought to until she decided to believe in herself, and get the abs that she always wanted. Keep listening for a powerful interview with a woman who will help you see that you too, can get the body that you want.

Hello, and welcome back. I am so excited. Today's episode introduces a new format to the show where I interview the women who have achieved a better body than they ever imagined. By getting out of the struggle. And stepping into the success. You'll hear. Number one, the specific struggles these women were facing before they decided to improve their health. Number two, exactly what they did to transform their body. And number three, how their transformation has improved their life overall. In this episode, you'll learn what happened when Jennifer finally committed to her goals. After a lifetime of on again, off again progress. And you'll hear the diet and exercise changes that she made to get the abs that she always dreamed of in time for her 50th birthday.

Here's the deal. If you'll just stop doubting yourself, you might find that the body you want isn't that far away. Yes, it'll take between four and six months of effort, consistent, dedicated effort. But it won't be nearly as hard as you think it will be. This episode will inspire the bleep out of you. So if you're ready to hear about one of the best transformations that I've seen in the past 10 years, let's jump in. I am so excited about today's episode. So a couple weeks ago, I just had a brainstorming session. And I wanted to bring something new to this podcast. And the thing that was top of mind for me was what do you need to hear. And I know that a lot of women tend to be in struggle. And you today as a listener, I'm curious if you can relate? What's your struggle, when you know you want to be someplace different in your health or your body, but you feel stuck. That is what these episodes are going to be about. I'm going to be interviewing women from within my community whose stories I'm very intimately connected to. They've worked with me in one capacity or another. And their stories I have found particularly inspiring and motivating, largely because they are women just like you and just like me, who finally decided to do something about it to get out of the struggle to take action to finally just get to that moment where you're ready for change. And that is what we're doing today.

So I am bringing to you my dear friend, Jennifer Mead, I'm so happy that she is here. And Jennifer has been in my community for quite a while. A number of years ago, she worked with me inside of one of my group coaching programs and had an unbelievable transformation in a very short period of time, about four to five months. And at the time of this interview. It's a number of years later, and Jennifer has had a little bit of a setback. And we are beginning that process again to get her back to 100% and beyond. I want to share her story with you through her words so that you can hear a little bit about where she was, what she did about it. And what happened on the other side. So I'm super excited to introduce you to Jennifer, welcome. I'm so glad you're here.

Thank you for having me.

So excited. I just think that your story is so special. As I said, for those of you listening, I did an interview with Jennifer a number of years ago it is on my website. We will link that longer interview. It was a video interview where you can see some of Jennifer's before and afters and you can hear more about hers. story over on my website, we will link it. So, Jennifer, take us back, tell me a little bit about what was your version of the struggle when you finally got to the point that you wanted to do something about it. You enrolled in my coaching program? And what was it that really, I guess, you know, pushed you over the edge, so to speak, to really want to make the change. Tell me a little bit about your version of your struggle at that time?

Well, I found myself caught in this vicious cycle of starting a program getting excited about it being super motivated. And within a few weeks, my motivations started to wear out, or something happened in life, some sort of events that threw me off track, and I would quit, I would give up by myself. And I just kept repeating this cycle of why do I keep starting something, and then I quit. And I give up. And I was finally to a point where I was sick and tired of it, frankly. And I remember very specifically, where I noticed that I was getting softer, I noticed that I didn't have much muscle. And I didn't have a whole lot of muscle prior to that. But I was noticing that I was losing that. And I noticed that my strength was decreasing. And I just didn't have stamina. And my body just felt like it was changing. And I was getting older. I was in my late 48. Maybe I was just like, What the heck is happening? And that's where I was, I just couldn't find that thing that kept me going. And I just kept quitting on myself. Yeah, first

of all, I think that is so common. I think that's a really, really common thing. I love that you shared that. Because I can't tell you how many women share the same thing, right. And so I think that, first of all, it's important to recognize that it's normal. So many women go through this. And at some point, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, right, something along those lines. And I think you're describing that exactly. Your motivation was clearly there. In a moment, I'm gonna have you tell me a little bit about what your motivation was, what your goals were, but clearly you were motivated, because you would find a program, you would start it, you'd feel great for a couple weeks. And then something would knock you off track. Something mysterious is what I would say, reading between the lines, right, because I see this all the time with my clients. And then there's that window where you have to then lick your wounds, feel bad about yourself for a week or two, and then feel failed for a week or two, and then muster up the desire and the motivation to start the whole process over again. And so it does become this really large scale cycle where you're just on and off and on and off and nothing sticks. Does that encapsulate what you're saying?

Absolutely. It's exhausting, frankly. Yeah. And it led me to a little bit of some depression of is this going to happen for the rest of my life? Am I ever going to have my energy back? Am I ever going to look great? I mean, my closet had multiple sizes in clothes that I couldn't wear clothes that I kept that I couldn't fit in, and I was tired of going between sizes. It was frustrating. Yep. So

hear you saying I've got to clothing sizes still, you know, and I think that's normal to some degree, we go up and we go down. But when it goes on for too long, it just gets to the point where it's madness, right? And it doesn't have to be that way. What was your biggest motivation? Obviously, you wanted to be in better shape, or maybe you just wanted to exercise for the sake of exercising. But if we go back to that time, what would you say at that time was your motivation? What was your goal? What did you want your reality to be?

Well, what I didn't want my reality to be was I didn't want to grow older and be frail. And I knew that the longer that I waited, the harder was going to be I felt like for me, and number one I wanted to look good. That was my first motivator. Let's just be honest, I wanted to look good. I was coming up on 50. And I needed something to change because I knew that if I didn't do something for myself now I felt like for me that it was just going to continue to get harder and I needed that this, I needed to find something or figure out what it was that was holding me back from my success. I wanted to be like, in the future of my future self, I wanted to be that older woman, instead of taking six trips to the car to get the groceries, I wanted to do it and to like, I wanted to have the energy and the stamina to go out and do my gardening, I wanted to be able to transplant bushes, and I wanted to be that woman. And the time had come. And I said, Enough is enough, I have to do this. And I've got to figure this out. I was tired of it. I

remember at the time, when you came in for that program, we were doing a lot of like ideal scene intention setting for the end of the program. And to you listener listening in, I'm not naming the program, because it's a program I don't offer anymore. And anytime I talk about programs publicly, and I mentioned the name of the program, people start emailing me, hey, I want to join that program. And I'm like, well, it's not available anymore. I do have a program similar to it. But it's way better. And it's what Jennifer is a part of now. But back to the story. That program at the time was a four month program. And Jennifer, if you remember, we did a lot of like intention setting for where you wanted to be what success looked like at the end of that program. I want you to describe that a little because what you achieved in that program was way better than what you just described about the future woman that you wanted to be right, your short term results were so jaw dropping and way beyond being able to garden and make one or two trips from the grocery store, like so far beyond that. Right? So tell us a little bit about at the start of that program, when we were visualizing your success at the end of the program after four months. What was it you wanted to make happen? In the short term,

I wanted to see my abs that you did? That's right. It's not silly. But now I look back. And it was so much more than that. And I got so much more than that. But that that was a goal that I could put down on paper that I wanted to see my abs, I wanted some muscle. But in that program really was the missing piece for me was that mindset piece, and envisioning that woman, me a better version of myself. And I will tell you, though, what I achieve was so much better than what I had envisioned. I'm in a better place, I'm in a healthier place. But that piece of it, the mindset piece of it was so crucial to my success. Because I've worked out before I've worked out for most of my life, I've had seasons of working out. But that's not new to me, the nutrition part of it. I've tried every diet under the sun. That wasn't new to me. So I was wondering, what was I missing in this whole puzzle. And I feel like the mindset part of it was crucial to my transformation. That's,

I think a great segue. Let's go from there, too. And in a minute, we will talk about the results that you got, because I think people want to know, what does it feel like? What does it look like? What was success for you after four months. But before we do that, let's go over some of the things that you did to overcome what you're frustrated by right so that you get the other side. So let's talk about some of the habits that you change the actions that you took. And very specifically, let's talk about what did you do around the mindset piece that made it so effective? So let's start with that. Let's start with the mindset piece since you said that it was so critical. What was it in that program that you were actually doing day to day or week to week that helped you make that mindset shift? What were the practices and why was it so successful for you?

I think one key to being in a program like this is there's an accountability piece. I'm trying to think of what I did with my with my mindset. I mean, I know that we worked on journaling. I think there's a part of it though that I really Just I needed to believe that I can do it. I think there was a part of me that didn't really truly believe that I was capable. Like I had the ability. But I was, I feel like there was some self sabotage in there for me.

So if you can remember back what happened in this program that neutralized the self sabotage? Because I would agree with you that, you know, I've got my own thoughts and ideas in terms of what happened for Yeah. But when we talk about the mindset piece of it, if you can remember back, what was it that shifted for you that made you say, Wait a second, I've got the ability. So I believe that I can, what are the biggest things that come to mind for you in terms that jumped out at you that were like, those were the things that I feel were the most powerful the things that you actually did? What were your habits? What were you eating? How are you exercising? What did your day look like? Ah, what were the actual actions that you did that you think were key towards your success?

Tracking was a big one. For me, first of all, the backup, I knew that I needed a plan that was going to fit in my lifestyle. And I needed to be surrounded by a community of other women that actually supported one another because I knew that that was going to keep me going. As the weeks went on. I followed a strength program, I committed to myself that I was going to get to the gym, three days a week, there was a no brainer, I had to do that. That was my commitment to myself. That was the first thing that I committed is to make sure that I'm consistent consistent with my workouts. The second thing was my mindset, I needed to push through that barrier to believing that I could do this, I had to envision myself achieving the body that I wanted, and truly believing that I really could do it. And I also had to switch my mindset to the fact that this was a lifestyle, that this wasn't a quick fix, that this wasn't a 30 day or 60 day, that this is how I wanted to live my life. This was a lifestyle change. And it wasn't going to happen overnight. But as I stayed consistent with my strength workouts, that I was able to focus on the nutrition piece, that's always been my hardest piece. And once I dialed in the nutrition part of it, things started to skyrocket. I tracked every single day, I followed your program, according to Macros.

And what did that look like? What was your macronutrient distribution at the time, and tell me like how you were eating or what you were eating? What did your eating life look like? So

before this, I will tell you that I tried different things, I was on a low carb keto, I had done, you know, a 30 day elimination diet. So before I started, I was a little carbohydrates, they kind of scared me a little bit. And so I had to ease myself into increasing my carbohydrates. So I think I started out with more on the 4030 30. And that took me a little bit to get up to 40% carbohydrates. Isn't that crazy?

I know. So for people who are listening 4030 30 If you are somewhat familiar with macronutrient distribution, that first number 40 is 40% of your daily calories coming from carbohydrates. The second number is the percentage of calories coming from protein. So 30% of your daily calories coming from protein. And the third number is 30% of your daily calories coming from fat. So the way that I represent it, it's carbohydrates, protein fat. And the thing that makes me laugh here, Jennifer is that like, it was scary for you to just get to 40% quote unquote, get up to 40% whereas in my community 40 percents the bare minimum, I don't like people to eat less than 40% unless you've got a bikini photo shoot coming up, and you need something extreme to get ripped for this short term situation we go below 30 But I don't think I have a single client right now eating less than 40% carbohydrate. So the fact that it took like some time to get you up is It makes me laugh. So tell us a little bit more about that. And what happened after that.

I was scared to eat 40% I'm like, Whoa. So I slowly started incorporating more carbohydrates. And the way I did that was through vegetables, I was adding more vegetables. I eat a lot of sweet potatoes. I'm surprised at how well sweet potatoes go with everything. I put sweet potatoes in a lot of things. I started to notice my energy levels started to go up. And I'm like, Okay, this is good. And by the end of the program, I was up hovering at 45%, carbohydrates, and above. And that is where I was feeling the best. Like I would go into my strength workouts and I would be able to just push it and felt like I had given it my all when I left. And I will tell you I lift weights heavier than I ever thought I could. I never imagined I would be lifting the weights that I could buy. I had the energy to do it. Do

you remember the time midway through the program where you reached out to me? Because you were getting like halfway through your workouts and you were bonking? Yes, you would get in, you'd be mentally excited about the workout looking forward to start your workout. But then you would just kind of like, have no juice in you. Do you remember that?

Absolutely. I did. What did they tell you? What

what happened? What did you discover? So

I remember telling you that I was like eating protein on the way to the gym. And you're like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah. You told me I needed to eat carbohydrates with the protein with the protein. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And it was like a switch in my energy levels. And I've never stopped since then. So I always eat a combination of protein and carbohydrates. before I work out. Always, that was a great lesson that I learned and it completely worked. And it was so beneficial to me being able to crush my workouts. Yeah, and

I always say the way to get into better shape is to crush your workouts, however it's defined for you, right. But in order to become more muscle and less fat, in order to perform better in order to be stronger in order to build a muscle. That's all how well you're performing in your workout. And yet so many people tried to do it by intermittent fasting and eating low carb. It's like but the way that you improve your body composition is in your workouts. And the way to do that is to show up for your workout in the best possible scenario. And the way you show up for a workout and ready for the workout is to fuel yourself, right? It's so Elementary. But so many women are so confused these days. And I'll never forget that because it was just like weight, you're only eating protein before your workout. Somehow we had missed that memo. And as soon as you changed it, I remember your progress. Photos just started changing every two weeks, there was discernible changes in your body composition. Because your performance changed, right?

Oh, I remember once I got my nutrition dialed in, it was about I want to say it was probably about six weeks into the program. And things just started to take off. I surprised myself. That was like the piece that was lagging. That was my last piece of the puzzle that I got. And as soon as I got that figured out, and I started implementing the proper nutrition and fueling my body the way that I needed to fuel it. Things just started to take off. It was awesome.

Yeah, let's go back again, remember, prior to this program, I want you to tell me how your the structure and the type of your workout life changed pre this program. And then what you did in this program that was different and there's something in particular that's coming into mind for me and I'm wondering if you'll remember it this way. You know, if one of our listeners was like, hey, Jennifer, what changed in your workouts right? So nutrition was there so that you could perform? But obviously, your workouts change. So what were you doing prior to this program? And then what were you doing in this program that was different, but

this program worked for me because I lifted heavier weights. I had never lifted weights like this before. I was one of those women who went to the circuit training section at the gym and went through the circuit thing in 30 minutes. And I was done. And I never saw progress. Once I started lifting heavy, and it was just heavy for me, that's when I started to see things happen. And week after week, I would keep pushing myself a little bit, I would increase my weight a little bit. So every week, I would tell myself on this exercise, I'm going to add, let's say, five pounds to my back squat, or I was going to add 10 pounds to it. You

made this commitment to yourself that each week you would go in and you would just challenge yourself a little bit harder. And you did that by every workout or every week, you would find maybe a couple of exercises, right where you could increase your weight load. If you had to quantify how hard you were working. Tell me what that would look like because some women will hear this and say, Oh, she was going in and leaving it all on the gym floor and crushing her squat so that she couldn't go down the stairs on the way out the door. I want to hear if you could qualify or quantify like how hard were you pushing yourself? Were you killing yourself? Or were you pushing yourself a little bit each workout? What did that look like in terms of intensity? And your experience of it from week to week?

That is a great question. Because I look back at it. I don't feel like I was exhausted and spent after my workouts. I feel like week after week, I just got stronger and stronger. And I needed to challenge myself more. It was hard. Don't get me wrong. I pushed myself I gave every workout what I had for that day. That was a promise to myself that even though that workout on that particular day, I may not have hit it out of the park, right. But I showed up for myself. I challenged myself and I gave it what I had. And that to me was progress. Yeah. And I didn't have to go in and kill myself. Every workout. I didn't have to do that. And that surprised me. Once I was eating what I was supposed to be eating to fuel my body, it started to become easier, believe it or not, yeah, I got stronger. It became easier. I pushed myself more. It made me feel better. I had more confidence in this just kept building and building and building. And I felt like I was on top of the world. And I don't think that it was that hard. It is but it isn't. I followed the plan. I tried to make it simple for myself. And I followed. This is what I'm doing today. Today is Friday. This is my plan. Last week, I did this, this week, I'm going to increase my weight load on this exercise. I'm going to challenge myself. And those little increments by the end of the program added up to huge results. You nailed it.

Exactly. I think a lot of people think they have to go in every single exercise that crush it. Right. And it's like they're dead by the end of the workout. And it's not what you have to do pick one or two exercises and challenge yourself doesn't mean you have to crush it. Right. So is it hard? Sure. But wouldn't you agree, Jennifer, that it wasn't as hard as you would think that it should have been? Right? It wasn't nearly as hard as people think it is?

Right. Right. I was I was completely surprised by that.

Yeah. I want to talk quickly about cardio. And how did that fit into the puzzle? What was cardio life? Like beforehand? Or what was your attitude about cardio beforehand? And how was your cardio different during this program? Oh, I

was a cardio bunny. Before this. I know. And I'm quite the opposite now. Yep, I was a runner. I love to run. Nothing. Nothing wrong with running. But I ran half marathons and marathons and I did scale my running back, but nothing was happening. And I remember that I signed up for a half marathon with a friend of mine and we were training together and I remember having a conversation with you because I wanted to build muscle. And I remember the day that you explained to me it was gonna be difficult to build muscle and to train for a half marathon at this Same time, and I had to come to terms with that, because I loved Ronnie. That was my thing. That was my sport. That was my exercise. So that was a hard thing for me to come to terms. And I remember the day that I had to tell my running partner, and she was cool with it. And it was great. And I still ran with her. I just didn't, you know, get into a lot of the longer distance running with her. But now that I've seen the results of what muscle has done for my body, I can never get that running. Never, never. I've changed the shape of my body. I'm not a skinnier version of myself. I'm a smaller version, and I look better. My body composition is, I think, sexier for me. And that's me. But now I struggled to get my cardio in. Yeah. Isn't that funny?

Right. Yeah. And that's the thing a lot of people don't know. And again, to underscore if you listening are a runner, we're not saying don't run, I was a running coach for 10 years, I ran a ton I trained people for marathons around the world, Paris, Rome, New York, Boston, Long Beach. I mean, literally, you know, I get it, but it's not compatible with really improving your body composition. It's just not and sure is there a person out there that does, yep. But take a look at the New York City marathon every year and who the winners are, when they cross the finish line. It's a particular type of body type, because that activity brings forward a certain kind of body type. Nothing wrong with that body type, if that's what the person is going for, but it's certainly not ideal body composition in terms of lean muscle mass reflective of body fat, it's just not it's not that lean, physique, athletic looking body, it tends to be a little more slender, lower on muscle mass, more on the skinny side, if you will, more on an ectomorph body type, if you will, and not that like athletic toned musculature that the women of my community come to me for, right again, nothing against that. But it's just not compatible. marathon running and half marathon running in my experience and I am at was a coach is it rarely does it produce the results that most women want outside of the wonderful accomplishment of completing a half marathon that in and of itself is amazing and worthwhile. But it's not compatible with body physique type goals, right. And it's generally isn't compatible with feeling good and pain free. Having a lot of energy. You don't feel great, right? And so I remember that that was like, the hardest part for me as a coach is to say to someone, I understand you love this activity. Sadly, I hate to tell you, it's not going to serve you. And I remember that I gave you the choice for us to figure out a way to keep you running, but cut back on it. And I know it was a big part of when your body really started changing and your body composition started getting better when you adjusted how you were running the intensity, the length and duration and you're eating and alignment with it. It really was everything. So thank you for sharing that. Tell me, what would you say? And I feel like you've already kind of touched upon it. And that's okay, if you want to reiterate it. When you look at from the days before to this great success that you had afterwards. What would you say was the hardest part along the road? And what did you do to stay on the path? I

think the hardest thing for me was giving up running now and I didn't give it up. And I shouldn't say that it was just kind of touching back on that a bit is I had to make a decision for myself. Yep. What did I want? What was my goal? I wanted muscle. So that was something that I had to come to terms with. I hung up that hat. And now I'm happy that I did because my goal was muscle. That's what I wanted. And I chose to do that. And you just helped me make that decision in directing me on Hey, this is your goal, then this is what you need to do. That was a tough thing for me to give that up. But I'm happy now that I did because I am where I am. But the hard thing for me motivation and stayin with something that was my thing before this.

I think you know, that's a big part of it is it's like giving up the running was was a huge piece of it for you. Right and I would argue and I think I may even set it back then that running is always there. You can always pick it up again, if you want you can always come back to it. But for every goal there There's a game plan. And a lot of people in fitness don't understand that a lot of people think that simply by exercising more or differently, you'll get into shape. So running gets a person into shape, right? Or yoga gets a person into shape, or walking or lifting weights, or circuit class or boot camp or whatever it is, and it actually doesn't work that way. It's really, what's your specific goal, there is a strategy and a game plan for every goal, if you want to run a half marathon, you have to train for a half marathon, right? If you want to win a pickleball tournament, you have to play pickleball. If you want to become more muscle, unless that you don't train for a half marathon follow, it's like there really is what we call specificity in training. And it means the body will reflect what you give it. And for every action, there's a reaction along those lines, right, it's like stimulus result, stimulus effect. And that is what we saw with you. And thankfully, we're willing to adjust your running because you didn't give it up completely. You adjusted it so that you could get the goal that you wanted, you could get the picture of success that you wanted. So tell me, what did success look like? Because again, I'll direct people to our longer interview over on my website, if you want to see photos and all but speaking as a coach who's been doing this for 30 years, Jennifer had one of my top 10 transformations ever. It was remarkable what she did in four months, and then even going into the fifth month, it just got even better and better and better. But the program itself was four months. So we look at, you know, from start to finish there. And it was really remarkable what happened. And if you could just describe your experience of what that success felt like, right? Like, how would you say like what happened? Because someone is like, okay, told us the punch line, ladies, after all of you know, Jennifer successful, what does it mean? Was there a change in body size? Was there a change in athleticism? How did you feel when you woke up in the morning? What were all the new things, or the exciting things or the proof of success that you experienced? After four to five months in this journey?

So many great things came about from this transformation. And it wasn't all physical, my mental clarity, I had confidence that load into the rest of my life. I felt invincible. I felt strong. I felt like that I could accomplish whatever I put my mind to. And I had reached a size that surprised me. Yeah. Because I mean, I weighed myself on the scale. Of course, it was lower, but it didn't. It wasn't as low as I had expected, based on the size of my clothing that I was fitting into. And that surprised me. That was huge. That was an eye opener. Yeah. It's like

you've got more muscle. So you weigh heavier, the scale is lower, but you're actually way smaller than the lower number on the scale. Yes,

way smaller. And so yeah, I remember going to get some new clothes because I had nothing that fit. That's a terrible place to be, let me tell you a horrible feeling. And I shocked myself for the size I was choosing. I got two different sizes. And I was shocked that the smaller size was what I wore. And I felt like crying. And I felt like screaming from the top of my lungs. Because I was shocked. I was so excited. And honestly, I don't feel like it was that difficult to do. Yeah. Once you get all those pieces together, the nutrition, the mindset, and the strength training, and you're dedicated to it and you're disciplined. And you come back week after week. I had energy. It was like I had sunshine in my life every day. I mean, I felt like I was on cloud nine. It's a weird thing to describe because it's such a great feeling. Yeah, it's so empowering

and so exciting and so rewarding. And that is the experience I want to provide for people. And it's hard to really even believe that it feels that good until it happens for you. And that is a big part of why I wanted to do an interview like this is so that people can hear from someone Other than me, explaining, like how different your outlook on life is, when you are so proud of yourself for the accomplishment, when you love how your body is functioning, and looking, I think aesthetics and wanting to look good is a very respectable motivation. I don't think it should be the end all be all. But we're not saying that all you cared about was getting abs, you got abs and so much more, you got a improved mood, improved energy, you felt so good about yourself. And oh, by the way, even if it was nothing else, just like being so proud of yourself for Finally, having stayed with something long enough to be successful. That in and of itself is huge, right after so many starts and stops and so many cycles in life where it was like you would do something and then fall off, get back on track and then fall off. Just simply seeing it through to success is huge for so many people. So if I can take you back now remember, at the beginning of the interview, we talked about, what were the things that you you worried about before you had your transformation, and one of them was you were worried about becoming frail and declining as you age and not being able to keep up with life? And so my question is, how do you feel now about those worries? Like, where's your perspective and your mindset? Do you even worry about that anymore? And if you do, how has your perspective changed?

I don't think about that anymore at all. That's awesome. This is my lifestyle, and I love it, I wouldn't have it any other way. That's amazing. This is who I am. This is how I live my life. And I love it. So

good. It's so gratifying and so fun to see you and to see your transformation. As we wrap up. I would love to know if there is and I know there is there is a woman listening right now in the struggle, who's in that phase where she's not happy with where she is. But she starts and stops. She doesn't know how to get out of it and she feels stuck. What advice would you give her that maybe would help her out of that

stuck place? I would say love yourself where you are right now. And stop beating yourself up. Second thing, envision the woman that you want to be really see that woman in detail? How does she feel? How does she look? And now that she's accomplished in your transformation? How does that look to her just envision that, thirdly, have a plan, you've got to have a strategy, you're going to get there, if you keep moving forward every day. But you've got to have a plan. You have to know how to get there. Nutrition, your strength training, and also community that was a big piece for me is having the support and being around other women who had the same goal of wanting to be healthier, to be more energetic to look better. That is an important piece for me, because my motivation quickly fades. And having those women come around you or even being there to support other women. It just keeps you going and knowing that you're not in this alone. Yeah,

it's so easy to adjust the plan and let yourself off the hook. When did you on your own. And I personally think that's a big reason why so many people struggle with success, right is because when we're left to our own devices, we can edit, we can change our mind, we can allow excuses, right? It's just too easy. But when you when you engage the actual real 3d world around you with other people that you know, are keeping an eye on you or even just checking in with you. It really makes such a difference in terms of keeping yourself motivated, you know, because in some ways, there's this notion that other people are expecting you to keep your word and to stay on track. So I agreed to meet communities everything, which is why, you know, pretty much all of my programs now are group coaching programs rather than being self LED or digital courses that you do on your own. I don't even do much one on one coaching anymore, because I've just seen the power of community when we all come together and we feel like we are accountable to someone else whether we are or not All right. So I so agree with you on that. You really are such an inspiration and your success is just incredible. And at some point, I think that we'll do a part two to this interview as we then share your success after this next endeavor. So Jennifer has had a little bit of a setback in her journey, and that she had an injury. And so she is now working out and working through that injury so that she can come back better and even stronger on the other side. So now there's a different journey, there's a different evolution at this point, it was like that was part one. Now we're into part two. And oh, by the way, that's generally how it goes. For all of us. There are phases to our evolution in terms of our fitness and physical strength and ability and mobility and all of that. And even as Jennifer has had such incredible success and progress, that doesn't mean you know, the job is done, and that it's just glory for the rest of your life, there's always going to be a little bit of a setback, always. It takes different forms, but it happens. And so I can't wait for part two of this when you are on the other side of your current season, and you are stronger and better than ever, because I know that you'll get there. So thank you so much for doing this. This was such a joy. I loved it. And I can't wait to do this with you again.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

Thank you so much for listening today. I hope that Jennifer story inspired you, and also helped you to realize that you too, can create the body that you need to keep up with the life that you love. It is possible for you to my friend. If you enjoyed this episode, I hope you'll let me know. Consider sharing what you loved about it by posting your review wherever you're listening, including Apple podcasts, Spotify, or even on the blog page associated with this episode on my website. If you grab a screenshot of your review and come over to Holly perkins.com forward slash review, you can upload it and get free access to my four week program strength without stress. Again, that's Holly perkins.com forward slash review. And stay tuned for a brand new episode on Tuesday next week. Stay strong my friend.