She had done a competition. She knew what to do. She traveled constantly for work, was raising a son on her own, and every time she hit a goal she watched it fall apart within weeks.
Jen is a 38-year-old single mom in marketing who travels two to three times a month and has been on the go her entire career. This episode is the story of what finally changed - including the week her relationship ended the same week she started the program, and why she says joining it is what held her together.
There is no right time. There never was. And Jen's story is the best proof of that.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why knowing what to do was never actually the problem
- How travel was the roadblock that every other program ignored
- What finally made her commit after following me for two years
- Why she almost backed out the week her life fell apart
- How the program held her together through one of the hardest seasons of her life
- How people started telling her she was glowing without her doing anything different
- Why she started wearing shorts to the gym again for the first time in two years
- What she would tell anyone who thinks there is never a right time
This is not a story about the perfect conditions. It is a story about what happens when you commit anyway. If you have been waiting for the right time, this episode is going to hit.
Ever wish you had a fit and straightforward BFF with over 15 years of experience to help you filter through all the information regarding fitness, nutrition, and life? That's exactly what you'll get when you listen to the Unfiltered Fit Life Podcast.
Join Former Bikini Olympia Champion, mom of 2, and fitness coach Nathalia Melo each week as she shares fitness, nutrition, and life tips to help busy working moms simplify their fitness journey so they can learn easy and simple strategies on how to lose weight and feel sexy AF.
After helping over 5000 busy working moms, Nathalia has found the blueprint to fitness, nutrition, and life success, which she will be sharing in this podcast: actionable tips that will help busy working moms be more present at work and at home.
This show is for you if you realize that nothing good comes from your comfort zone and are ready to challenge yourself to achieve great things. Follow Unfiltered Fit Life wherever you are listening to join us each week for a splash of sass, humor, and a whole lotta truth.
Podcast Transcript
How to Stay Fit When Your Life Never Slows Down: Jen's Story
INTRODUCTION
I introduce Jen and frame the conversation around something I noticed in our very first call - she was giving all the surface level answers and not wanting to go deeper. I explain that this is something I see constantly and that the real work begins when women are willing to look underneath the answers they think they are supposed to give. Jen confirms that opening up to that feedback is what changed everything.
JEN'S BACKGROUND
Jen is 38, a single mom to a 13-year-old son, and works in marketing and business development for a forensic engineering firm. She travels two to three times a month, sometimes for days, sometimes for a full week. Fitness had always been a big part of her life until a new job a year ago shifted everything - more travel, more eating out, more drinking, less exercise. She knew she needed a solution that would work around her actual life.
WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHEN SHE REACHED OUT
Jen had been following me on social media for a long time and had spoken with me a handful of times but was never ready to commit. She had competed ten years ago and believed she knew what to do. The problem was not knowledge - it was that every time she hit a goal she let it go immediately. She needed accountability, a real system, and someone who would help her figure out why consistency kept breaking down.
THE SIGNS SHE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE
The signs were practical and physical. Gym wear fitting differently. Going up a size in jeans. Stopping wearing shorts to the gym for two years because she was uncomfortable with her legs. She describes starting the program in winter as slightly odd timing but acknowledges it was exactly right - summer bodies are made in winter.
OTHER PROGRAMS SHE HAD TRIED
Jen had worked with a bodybuilding coach for her competition and done a six week cut with a social media influencer. Both worked while she was in them. Neither prepared her for after. She describes finishing the influencer cut and just saying done - the goal was hit and the habits disappeared with it. She acknowledges that support may have been offered but her mindset simply was not ready for it.
WHAT MAKES POWERHOUSE ACADEMY DIFFERENT
Jen highlights the support structure and response time as the defining difference. Being able to send restaurant menus to Kara before a work trip, getting guidance for a full day at a rifle match where she historically would go all day without eating and then binge at night, having someone available who actually knows her life and responds to it in real time. She describes it as leaps and bounds above anything she has experienced before.
THE HOLIDAY SEASON
Jen was nervous about navigating the holidays when she started in late October. She was already a month in and going strong when Thanksgiving hit. The guidance she got was simple - do not overeat, eat more protein, have some vegetables, enjoy the food, and get back on track the next day. She describes being almost shocked at how uncomplicated it was and how she either maintained or lost weight through Thanksgiving week while traveling the week before and after.
THE WEEK HER LIFE FELL APART
The same weekend Jen started the program her relationship ended. She had already committed, done the grocery shopping, and set her mindset - and then her life blew up. She remembers thinking about messaging to back out because she could not imagine focusing on a program while her relationship was falling apart. She did not back out. And she describes the program as what held her together - keeping her accountable, keeping her busy, and reminding her every day that she was becoming someone she was proud of even when everything else felt uncertain.
THE RESULTS
Six months in people are telling Jen she is glowing. People at her gym are coming up to her asking what she has been doing. She is wearing shorts to the gym again. She is showing up differently at work conferences - more confident, more magnetic, drawing people in. She describes it as a full energy shift that goes well beyond physical appearance and connects directly to how she is presenting herself both professionally and personally.
ADVICE FOR WOMEN ON THE FENCE
Jen's advice is to stop waiting for the right time because it does not exist. She spent two years following me before committing and says her mind simply was not ready. When it was, she pulled the string. She encourages women to stop thinking of health as something without a monetary value and to start seeing it as the investment with the highest return. Her final line: my goal is to stay healthy and be a bad bitch for life.
CLOSING
I thank Jen for being open, coachable, and willing to be challenged on her beliefs. I note that the people who succeed are the ones willing to sit with uncomfortable feedback and let it change something. Jen adds one final thought - that being vulnerable when she fell off the wagon and being met with support rather than judgment was one of the most important parts of staying in the process.
