Angela Gargano (00:00)
Hey there and welcome back to another episode of What If It All Goes Right. In this podcast, we are going to talk about overcoming obstacles, embracing change, and building the strongest, healthiest version of yourself at any age. I'm your host, Angela Gargano, and today's episode is all about navigating the changes your bodies go through after your 30s and what you can do to feel strong, energized, and empowered. So let me set the scene for you with a story about my mom.
The other day while I was home in New Jersey for the holidays, my mom and I took a yoga class together and my mom is in her 60s and recently retired from a long career as a special needs teacher. If you've ever been a teacher or no one, you know how demanding that job is and the work doesn't stop when the bell rings. It bleeds in after school, on the weekends, you name it. And because of her busy schedule, my mom wasn't able to get the movement in that she wanted, but now she's retired.
She's showing it for herself in a way that makes me so proud. And she's been going to yoga, Pilates regularly, and I can see how much is helping her both physically and mentally. So after class, we had a conversation with one of the instructors, and it really struck a chord with me, and I had to make this episode. She talked about how after she turned 40, her body felt like it started falling apart. She gained weight. She felt tired to move.
Her body just didn't behave the way it used to and she shared how discouraging that was. Honestly, it completely broke my heart to hear this. The truth is, I hear this story all the time with the women that I work with, so I wanted to dive in for you ladies on all about this. For so many women, the changes that come with age, whether it's perimetapause, metapause,
naturally slowing down a metabolism can feel so discouraging and so frustrating. But here's the thing, it doesn't have to be the end of your story.
And this is so important. There's such an important step when you're starting to go through these changes in your body is that you need to love yourself and your body right now, even as it's changing. I obviously know that that's easier said than done. But instead of beating yourself up, I want you to say to your body, hey, I hear you. Something's different. And I'm going to show up differently to support you.
Because the reality is as we age, it gets harder to hold on a muscle. And muscle isn't just about aesthetics. It's what keeps us moving. It helps us prevent injuries. It allows us to live that higher quality life, both physically and mentally. I feel like for so long, we've just been saying to ourselves, we want to live longer. And we weren't really thinking about, wait, I want to live longer, but I also want to still be able to do a ton of things, right? I want to be able to travel.
I want to be able to run around with my kids. I want to be able to hike that mountain, right? Now we're looking into more, wow, I not only want to age, I want to age gracefully and I want to be able to really live an extended part of my life, right? So the thing that gets really tricky is that what you used to do and what you used to get away with, like doing endless workouts or barely eating, it isn't...
just ineffective anymore, it can actually work against you. Okay? So I'm going to say that again. What you used to do and what you used to get away with, like doing endless workouts or barely eating, isn't just ineffective anymore. It can actually work against you. And what happens for so many women is that they want to fix it, right? So they double down on workouts. They cut calories even more. They throw money at like supplements, but they're
still feeling tired, they're feeling frustrated, they're feeling stuck. And if that sounds familiar, I want to encourage you to try something different this time. And it's gonna sound like, what? But I want it to go back to basics, okay? The things that truly work and the things that are truly sustainable, okay? So I wanna go through in here six steps to support your body after you're 30. Because I do feel like lot of this happens after 30. I'm 34 right now.
So if your body's changing and you're not sure what to do, here's where I want you to start, okay? I wanna give you something that you really need to start and you really need to make sure this is all the basics are fully down first, okay? So number one, we're gonna talk about what we just said. We're gonna forgive yourself and your body. So you're gonna start with compassion. Forgive yourself for any frustrations or feelings of I should've done more. And I want you to acknowledge everything your body has done for you up until now and say thank you, thank you body.
for carrying me through all these years. I love you and I'm so ready to listen to exactly what you need. Step two, I want you to make sure that you are strength training at least two to three times a week. Okay, I notice I'm not saying five, two to three times a week. And let's be real here, two to three times a week, it could be 30 minutes, it could be 45 minutes. That is a total of what, three hours? You can do that.
You can fit that in. And this is going to help you create muscle and muscle is the key to longevity. Strength training just two to three times a week for 30 minutes can literally help you build muscle, increase your energy, stay strong for everyday life. And don't worry, you don't need to do fancy equipment. You can grab some dumbbells and focus on form and consistency. You don't need to do anything crazy. I think what happens is we tend to over complicate it and then we get so
in this perfectionist mindset. Well, if I can't do it perfect and if I'm not doing the exact thing that I need to do, then I shouldn't go strength train. But just show up and do something, right? Pick like four moves, go in to the gym and say, I'm gonna pick four moves. I'm do a squat. I'm gonna do maybe a little deadlift. Maybe I'm gonna do some pushups. Just pick four moves and just do something. It doesn't need to be perfect. But as you go in and you start to do something, and even if it's just a couple moves,
You're going to get in that habit of that routine again, and then you'll be able to fine tune it even more. But the first step is just getting you to show up. First step is just getting you to show up and do it. Okay? Number three, eat strategically. So I know that diet culture has told us to eat less, but here's the truth. You need to eat and eat well. So I want you to start with this simple guideline, at least 30 grams of protein and about five to 10 grams of fiber in the morning and at night.
This will help you build muscle. It will help you regulate your hormones and improve digestion while keeping you satiated. Now, so I was talking to my mom about this the other day because when I was away with her, I know she has been really working on eating better and sometimes it's like tough because I don't want to, I don't want to like be like, go do this, right? But I noticed there was something that she was missing when, you know, she was talking about all these different things she was doing, the supplements she was taking and all this stuff. She was really just missing some fundamentals.
like this. So making sure that you have the 30 grams of protein in the morning. And for her, she was like, I don't want anything like too complicated, whatever. So her and I talked about a high protein chia seed pudding that has fiber in it and the protein. So something super simple that she could do. And then now, since I told her that, she's getting more awareness around what she needs to have on her plate. Right? So the fiber could be your vegetables, it could be your fruit, but having the 30 grams of protein in that fiber, if you could really nail that down in the morning and the night.
it's really gonna make a huge difference. And a lot of you might not realize it until you sit down and look at your plate right now that you don't have that at all. So let's keep it simple. You should be able to get these basics down before you get all complicated and spend a ton of money and all this crazy stuff. Like let's keep it simple. And with my clients in Strongfields Good when we go through nutrition, I keep it simple like this and we do 1 % changes every single week. And that's so important because
you if you're trying to make a full overhaul and do like 100 % change, you're never gonna be able to stick to it. You're never gonna see even like the effects of these basic things that are changing. So I really help them nail down the fundamentals. And then once we nail down the fundamentals, then we can go on to get more specific with things, right? So step four, walk daily. Now movement doesn't just.
have to mean intense. Workout, walking is one of the most underrated forms of exercise and start just by adding 2,000 extra steps to whatever it is you're doing right now, okay? 2,000 extra steps. And if you don't have a thing to monitor how many steps that you're taking, just try and walk for another, like for 30 minutes in a day. 30 minutes. I like to do that obviously with my dog in the morning so I can just walk her for 30 minutes. I'm so sad though right now in Austin, it's so cold. It's not that cold. I'm like so over exaggerating how cold it is, but.
It's been harder to get the steps in because of that. But yeah, try and get those steps in. It's going to be a game changer. When I used to live in New York City, I didn't realize how many steps. I wish I had a watch, like a Garmin on then, because it would be able to tell me that I probably did like 20,000 steps. Because in New York City, you'll look and you'll say, oh, okay, I need to get to this building. Oh, it's a 30 minute walk. Okay, cool, let's walk it. But I feel like that's not always the case in places, in other places that people live. That's a ramble, sorry.
Okay, step five, make it fun. One of the most favorite ways to make fitness fun is by working on a skill, okay? I love obviously working on a pull-up if you know me and if you know my background, I've literally helped thousands of women get their first pull-up. I love focusing on a skill. It allows them to show up for themselves and work on something fun. And when you shift your focus from losing weight to gaining strength or mastering a skill, it really becomes so much more empowering to show up for yourself. Plus building grip strength is literally a marker of longevity.
Yeah. If you ever want to join in to pull up revolution, I'm telling you that I've had this program for so long and it's such a game changer. The confidence the women get, the way they're able to show up for themselves by working on a skill that's hard like this. It's just super amazing.
Step number six, I guess I nailed down the basics. So don't overwhelm yourself with the complete life overhaul or expensive supplements. I want you to focus on these foundational habits first. And once these become second nature, like brushing your teeth, you'll find the process is so much more enjoyable and you're gonna see a huge difference in your energy level, in your life. You really wanna make these like actual habits. You wanna make them second nature. Some of the things that I do, I don't have it.
I have it somewhere over here, but I have a little habit tracker that I like to check off. So I have a couple of different things that I know would make me feel like I succeeded in my day. So I just check it off. Also, if I don't make some of the habits, I don't fret, but I just want to make sure I can stay consistent as I can with them. But I know that's probably counterintuitive what I just said, but it's so important to not be so stressful about perfection and just do the best that you can. Having that list, checking it off, doing the best that you can each day. I had recently had a client who
went away and took an entire week off working out and everything. And the reason she was able to do that was because she was so consistent for the past couple months. And when I looked at the consistency, it was really cool to show that she got three workouts one week, four workouts the next week, two workouts the next week. But you notice how it's consistent. What most people do is they'll do like five workouts, four workouts, no workouts, no workouts, no
So you really want to aim for that consistency. And the truth is this journey.
is simple, right? This is a simple solution, but it's not always easy. And the hardest part is honestly just taking the action. And maybe you already knew some of this, but knowing and doing are two very different things, okay? I'm not looking to give people New Year's resolutions. I'm looking to give you guys results and for you to help you take actual action. And that's where the support really comes in. If you are feeling overwhelmed and know that you don't have to do this alone, you can...
reach out to me and my team, we can guide you. You can book a free console call and we'll chat about where you're at in your journey and how we can help you build that momentum. And if you're not ready to dive in, that's okay too. I have this free training on the four steps to gain lean muscle, tone up and get stronger in just four hours a week. It's packed with actionable advice to help you get started and just get you to do something. I'll make sure that that's linked in here. So here's what I want you to remember. Your body's changing.
That's not a bad thing. It's an opportunity to show up for yourself in new and empowering ways. So forgive yourself, get strong, nourish your body and make it fun. Take small consistent steps and trust the process. Okay? And if this episode resonated with you, I want you to share it to someone who needs a reminder that they're not alone in this journey. And as always, I want you to keep asking yourself, what if it all goes right?
What if it's already going right? Until next time, keep growing, keep showing up, and keep loving the amazing body that cares you through life.
