If you Eat Clean and Exercise but Can't LOSE WEIGHT...watch this.

We just want to look healthy, and we want to be healthy. It's more about function at this point of, like, let me keep up with my kids. Let me do all the stuff I've always wanted to do. Well, welcome, Bridget, to the Fast of Faith podcast.

Thank you, Dr. T. I'm so grateful to be here and excited to share my story and just to hopefully reach a lot of women, women who might be flailing around and looking for the answers.

Yeah, you are no doubt gonna reach some women today because you have a really common scenario. Even though you're special and amazing, your situation wasn't super unique. You were just doing all the right things, trying to make good choices, live a healthy life, but you were going through that midlife transition and kind of everything felt like it wasn't working for you anymore, right?

Correct.

Tell us about that journey. I want women to hear, like, this is how it goes, because women think like, there's something special about health coaches or there's something special about doctors. They're set apart with their ability to just step into the role of helping other women. And really, we're just ordinary women who were brave enough to step into our calling. So I know it started with you healing yourself and going through all of that, but now you've shifted, and you are a certified Fast of Faith coach. But I want to start at the beginning, because that's where most women are at. We need to meet women where they're at. And I know a lot of women have cleaned up their diets, they're exercising, they're doing all the right stuff. So what was that piece for you? You're like, I just need something different at this point. Were you searching?

Well, I had started experiencing, like, horrible night sweatshirt. And I went to my doctor, who's a lovely man, and I only love for him, but his answer was birth control and antidepressants. And I was like, it's just not. That doesn't feel genuine to me. That feels like not the right answer. And I had gone to my regular practitioner because I was experiencing bilateral Achilles tendonitis, and she told me to stretch more. And at the time, I had been a yoga teacher, and I was practicing yoga six days a week. So the reality is I didn't need to stretch more. I was inflamed, and nobody told me that. I didn't even know what that meant. I didn't know how that was supposed to feel. All I knew was I gained 12 pounds out of nowhere. I was crying all the time. I was miserable. I was Not a good person to be around. My body ached. I was tired. I was anxious. You had asked me at one point, like, how's your stress? And I'm like, oh, my stress is fine. Fine. And then I started realizing how much I was internalizing all those little things, and I wasn't managing it well. And so it was manifesting itself in my body.

Oh, my gosh. That is such an important thing for women to understand. And let's just call out what's happening right now. You're going back and thinking about everything you went through, and your body is reliving some of those feelings and those memories, and it's showing up. As I can tell, you're a little anxious right now. Your. Your voice is speeding up and quivering a little bit. That is literally because our body keeps the score. It remembers those feelings and those experiences that we go through. And I don't think we respect that piece enough. You know what I mean? Because when that happens, you can get stuck in that space. You can be like, oh, my gosh, it is hard. I am miserable. I am anxious. And you can take on that past memory as your current identity. But you chose to be like, no, I'm gonna push through. I'm gonna keep figuring this out. And you went on all these podcast searches, everything else, trying to find me. You didn't know you were trying to find me, but you were trying to find, like, what you needed, right?

Yes.

And God just brought you here. It's really important for women to understand, like, now is the time to listen to those messages from your body. Your body, will, was trying to tell you it was inflamed, that it didn't like the way that you know what you were doing, even though you thought you were doing the right stuff. So tell me the biggest things, like the biggest ahas of why were you inflamed? Why was this all happening?

Well, I was not making great choices. I thought I was healthy. I was over exercising. I was eating Franken foods. I was eating things that had, you know, preservatives and gluten and sugar. And even though I. I thought I was, you know, I would only eat, like a handful of Cheez its. Well, that was still not good. I was drinking between one and three glasses of wine every night. That was. I had normalized that. I thought I was doing great. And I got hit with the, I don't even know, triple whammy, quadruple whammy of turning 50. We're in the middle of a pandemic. Everybody's drinking to escape everything. I would work out super hard in the morning, and then I would lay around the rest of the day and watch Netflix and, like, eat junk food, you know? Like, I thought that was balance.

Yeah, that's what we're told. Like, you just gotta get your 30 minutes in. But talk to me about. You said you were over exercising, and what did that look like? And what are you doing now? What's the difference?

Well, one of the big keys for me was healing my thyroid and healing my keeping my cortisol low. So I was really into, like, I wanted to sweat and work as hard as I could. And I was. I mean, if it wasn't two hours a day, it wasn't enough. And I just felt this need to have this, like, radical transformation. And it was almost like I was punishing myself for letting the weight come back on. Because I had been on a roller coaster before. This wasn't my first time where I gained weight. I mean, I've been on a roller coaster before, but my biggest thing was needing to find the middle. And that does, for me, require an hour of exercise every day. Like, and I know that. And it's also mental, right? It's not. This isn't just about, like, looking a certain way or being skinny. I mean, I just want to be strong and mobile at this point. But that doesn't take two hours a day. It just doesn't. So that I think that was inflaming me. I was pushing myself too hard.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that sometimes we can get addicted to the chemicals that we create when we exercise, because mentally we start to feel better. I think of it as, like, taking out the mental trash. Like, all of a sudden, you start to get some brain clarity. People talk about the runner's high, all that adrenaline, and so, like, that can feel really good. And sometimes that creates over exercising because you're constantly like, I need that feeling back. I need that feeling back. Especially if you're watching Netflix during a pandemic for 20 hours a day. Like, can we get any more BO hard? You know what I mean? So we're looking for that adrenaline rush. So I just remember, yeah, you were puffy, you were inflamed, your hormones were tanking. You were going through that transition, and all of that was affecting your gut. And so that's like a vicious cycle into leaky gut and food sensitivities and all those things. And what has it been about a year and a half since you went through the Healthy her program and really started to shift. What do you think was the biggest thing for you? Was it changing your exercise? Was it healing your gut? Was it a combination of everything?

I think it was multiple things, but I think the biggest thing was learning how to nourish my body in a way that was sustainable, that I wasn't, you know, I wasn't depriving myself, I wasn't overeating. I was able to manage the emotional eating and just learn how to like, just be grateful for my food and like happy for what food I have and be like, oh my gosh, like it's a feast day. I get to eat some dark chocolate today. Like, instead of it being like, oh, looking at like what I don't get to have, I really started focusing on what I do get to have. And I was so satisfied and I knew I was eating stuff that was really, it was building up my temple. It wasn't tearing me down.

I love that so much. And just to clarify, like, you started doing the Fast to Faith program and I remember during one of our coaching sessions you were like, I want women to understand that we're not deprived and fasting all of the time. We're actually like enjoying a ton of amazing food. Let's talk about the feasting part of it and how good that feels to nourish our bodies. So I love that you put that different spot spin on it. Because even though Fast to Faith is a carb cycling fasting program, most people, all they see is the fast and they freak out like, I can't do this, I can't do this. And you're like, let's focus on the food because it's amazing and it feels so good and it's nourishing me. And that was a game changer.

Morgan's recipes are so fantastic, so easy. I think the hardest thing I ever made took 40 minutes. So when you go through the program and you're doing it, you're like, oh, this is actually super easy. I don't have to eat junk food. I don't have to get takeout. I don't have to buy boxed and bagged and pre made meals. Like, this is not that hard.

Exactly. That was one of the most important pieces when I was creating the program. Like, I don't have a ton of time to cook or meal prep or do all of those things. Like, my life is full and I really wanted to be able to do stuff most meals in 20 minutes or less because it takes you 20 minutes to go to a drive through, you know, so take those 20 minutes and just create these simple recipes. You're getting your fats, you're getting your protein, you're getting your fiber. And I love that you put that spin on it. I think it's so important. Okay, let's talk about when you went through Healthy Her. You had a lot of aha moments. You really were like, okay, I'm getting it. I'm seeing all my puzzle pieces come together. I have figured out how to heal myself. What was it that got you to step into becoming a certified fast of faith coach? Like, what was God calling you to do at that point? What was your soul looking for and searching for? What was going on in your life?

So my youngest had gone away to college, and it was that, like, empty nest moment. And I think I mentioned I taught yoga. Before that, I had had an organizing business. I've always, like, dabbled in things before. Before I had children, I modeled for 13 years. So I'd always had, like, something, but Never like a 9 to 5 sit down at a desk job or have to be somewhere six days a week. And a certain, you know, like, that was not appealing to me. And on one of my calls with Ashley, I said, like, what do you need to do to be a coach? Like, how can I become, like, a health coach? And she was like, you could just become a health coach. And for me, that didn't feel like I needed a seat of authority. So probably six weeks later, I was out on my Just Walk and I was listening to your podcast and the we're starting a coaching program. I'm like, that Ashley, she's sneaky. She didn't tell me this. You know, let me find out about this. So I was walking and I literally just looked up at the sky and I was like, yes, God.

Oh, my gosh, you're going to make me cry. Like, oh, so much Providence. Wow. So good.

I was like, there's. There's not another option. I'm like, I've always loved health, wellness, beauty, fitness. Like, it just encompassed everything. And it helped me so much that, like, I want to help other women. Now I'm gonna cry.

I love that so much. I think, you know, once we start just asking God to bring us the resources, bring us the people, bring us the opportunities. Like, he's excited. He want to, right? He's our father, he wants to provide. But so often we're trying to do it on our own of our own will, and we're just, like, struggling the whole way. And he's in the background going, I got Lots of good stuff for you if you. If you want me to be a part of this. So the fact that you were asking him and. And searching, like, I know that was part of me creating this program, was women like you praying to him going, we need a solution. We need something to really make an impact. So I'm overwhelmed with our first cohort of coaches. You guys are, like, the most incredible women because you have gone through it. You know what all of this feels like. You know how it is to do the program, and you're thirsty for knowledge. But, man, when you just said I needed a seat of authority, like, we need to work for the kingdom.

Yeah. And so I. I had so much information. I knew so much, but I was being dismissed regularly because, like, what do you know? You've listened to a bunch of podcasts and read 800 books. And I probably have, like, a bachelor's degree in all this stuff at this point, just because I was digging and searching for answers. And this gave me that opportunity to be able to share that from a place of knowledge, you know, with all the functional stuff you taught us, which I'm still trying to, like, internalize that, because it's a lot, but it's all good stuff. Yeah. I think, really, it's amazing. It's amazing what you learn. But then also, you teaching us all this stuff was also showed me how much I already know. You know, how much is already inside me that is just dying to come out. Like, I want to talk about this all the time. I see people's eyes glaze over. They're like, oh, this again. Can she talk about anything else? No.

Well, you said something super important, like, you had all the knowledge. And this is what I hear, like, all of the time. Women will literally reach out, email me. Will you mentor me? Will you guide me? They are health coaches. They're nurse practitioners. They're other doctors, and they just want to figure out and learn what I'm doing. But the thing is, like, all of that information can be so overwhelming when it's coming from multiple sources and it starts to contradict each other, and you don't have time or you don't know how to go and look at the research and figure out, like, what's true, what's right. I just came from a place of, like, man, I've been researching all this stuff for so long. Like, I did all of that heavy lifting and hard work. I just want to share the truth as I know it from a biblical perspective. Like, God has really laid some truths on Me, like, you are not the savior as the surgeon. The doctor doesn't have all the answers. It is within these women. I have equipped them to heal and thrive. And you need to show them how their body works and so that they can take back that control. And so when I created the coaching program, that was like, my total mindset was like, help women understand what the heck's happening in their body, all of their systems, from a root cause, functional medicine standpoint. And I love that you are coming from a place. Like, I had all this information, but I didn't know how to, like, put the pieces together for me and my individual situation, and I didn't know how to share it with other people. Right. That I think you were like, I want to just share all this information and where to start. Right. And so when we did the program, we talk about our why? Why are we doing this? We talk about having integrity and coaching essential. Like, you figured out how to talk about all your information in a way that's appealing to women in a way that they're like, I want what Bridget has because Bridget is killing it. She's amazing. Like, let me reach out to her and see how she's doing this. So, yeah, you're coming from a total place of authority now because you put all your puzzle pieces together, right?

Yeah. So on that note, I was recently on a yoga retreat, and I met a woman. I really, just really liked her. Like, I was like, I just want to be friends. So I would, like, sit by her. We would talk. One day, we had an afternoon just with nothing going on talking. I wasn't even trying to be a health coach for her. I wasn't. I had nothing to sell. I mean, I was just, like, talking to her. And the more I talked to her, I was like, I think you have a cortisol problem. I think maybe your thyroid is a problem. Like, I'm not. I'm just doing this from everything you taught me. Well, guess what? As soon as she started getting rid of her stress, she started putting systems into place that helped her to manage her busyness more like, working through how she could work less, you know, work smarter and not harder. She has completely transformed her life. In the last five weeks, she's released 18 pounds.

Oh, my gosh.

He called me after the trip, and she was like, hey. She's like, I thought you were gonna be all pushy and telling me what to do. She's like, but you weren't. You were just open and you just listened to. And she's like, I have literally tried everything. I've done the shots, I've done the drugs, I've done this, I've done the packaged meals I've done. I've starved myself. I've done everything. I cannot lose this weight. Eighteen pounds released later, that was five weeks ago. That feeds my soul. Like, that just makes me so happy. And she is not. She's no longer stressed. We got her plugging her phone in in the kitchen. She's stretching in the morning. She's sleeping better. She's. Her relationships are better. Like she herself has. She's done the work. She's transformed her life. But with what you taught me, I was able to see what it was that was tripping her up.

That is fire. Oh, my gosh, I have goosebumps. That is so powerful. You took a woman who was stuck, like, super stuck in the mud and that. It's usually weight loss. Right? We just. We plateau. We get stuck in that space, but the extra weight we're carrying is just a symptom of something deeper going on. And you were able to see those issues within her and coach her in a loving way. You met her where she was. You didn't make her feel bad. You lifted her up. You just taught her about her body. Like, that is so beautiful and powerful. And I could see why, like, you're so pumped about it.

I'm so happy for her. I'm like. I just. It's hard because we're supposed to limit our amount of time with our clients. And I'm struggling with that with her because I. She's my friend now at this point.

And I love that. Yeah, I mean, that's how it should be.

We.

We have this incredible sisterhood in the fast to faith community. And it feels like we're all friends. We're all there for each other, supporting each other. And so I think that is why the coaching is so powerful, because we are honestly invested. We honestly care. We're not just, like, trying to teach you some macros and get paid and send you on your way. Like, we are invested in giving you a better life as a woman because we know the ripple effect. You're going to help your husbands, you're going to help your children, you're going to help your girlfriends. Like, what you're doing. You turn it around, now you're a coach, and who knows how many women you're going to help. So it's overwhelming what God is doing. Like, I don't see the full picture, but every day he's, like, showing me something new that he's done. And I hear stories from you and the other coaches and I'm just like, dang, God. Like, you are so good. It's so amazing. I love it so much. I did want to touch on one thing because there is a trend right now to get your protein in eats lots of protein. Protein, protein, protein. I want to really call this out for what it is because more protein isn't always better. It isn't always what you need. And you really have taught everybody in our coaching group and in our 40 day program, like, what can happen when you're not eating a balanced amount of protein. So will you share that story with us? Because somebody today listening, it's going to like be their light bulb moment and you're going to change them and they're never even going to hire you. They're just going to be changed by hearing this right now.

The first thing I want to say about it is, and I said this in our call yesterday, is that when you pick a path, stick on that path. Okay? So if you decide, you know What, I think Dr. Tabitha knows the answers and I'm going to listen to her. Stop casting around and reading other things and because that's what I did, right? I'm the queen of like, more information is better. I was working with the training group because I really wanted to learn how to lift weights effectively. And protein requirement was much higher than Dr. Tabitha calls for. And at the time I was still trying to lose some weight and build muscle. I had also found a book where another doctor was saying you had to have this many, you know, 120 grams of protein a day or whatever. So I was like, okay. So I was like doubling up my protein at every meal. And guess what? I didn't lose weight then or release weight. I like that term much better. I wasn't releasing the extra weight and the weight was coming on and it wasn't in all the places that I wanted it to. I wanted to build muscle. I wanted to be stronger. I want to look like I can kick your butt, not like I'm skinny. Right. I want to be a very capable, strong woman. I want to open the pickle jar myself.

Yes.

So it's kind of a joke in our family and sometimes I can't and it's a little embarrassing. But I just realized I. When I was having that much protein, it was just, it was too much. I mean, too much of anything is too much of anything. Right? There needs to be a balance. And the last maybe six months has me really been working on homeostasis. And homeostasis requires me to eat the correct amount of macros. Not too much of one thing or too much of another. You know, too much of anything is not good. We all know that. And if you can just find the middle. And I think this program has the middle because I never feel deprived. My musculature is strong. I'm comfortable at the weight I'm at. If it starts to go up a little bit, I know exactly what to do. I can, like, I can whip it back. I catch it now so I can catch myself when I start to. You know, the roller coaster starts to go up, and I've even seen times when it'll start to go down, and I'm like, oh, wait, I'm getting too thin. It's really about finding that balance. And the macros that you suggest are the balance.

Yeah. This was such an important epiphany. I remember just being on a call with you, and you were like, I am gaining weight. I am not understanding this. This is not making any sense. And then you started saying, I'm doing this with this girl program, and, you know, or eating this much protein. And nobody talks about the fact that protein can make you gain weight, and it's not always just in your muscle. So I think, you know, the important key was you had weight to lose. So we have to get you to your ideal weight before you try to really bump up your protein to build more muscle. It's like this delicate balance, and we.

Your goals are, too. Yes. If my goal is to be a bodybuilder, well, then I would have been lifting very differently, and my macros would look totally different. But my goal is to be comfortable in my body, to feel like myself, to be able to be strong enough to do my activities of daily living. I want to still be able to lift up the mattress to make the bed or move the couch and vacuum under it. Like, I don't. I'm not looking to be Miss Olympia, but, you know, I want to feel good, right?

And you. You look like Miss Olympia. You look incredible. Like, you have found that balance of really releasing that excess weight and building strong, lean muscle. You know, you just look lean and tone and strong. And I think that's what most women coming upon midlife want. It's like, we just want to look healthy, and we want to be healthy. It's more about function at this point of, like, let me keep up with my kids. Let me do all the stuff I've always wanted to Do. Like, I don't want to have to give up skiing and running around in the yard and doing those fun things with my kids. Like, that would be heartbreaking to me. So that's why I work out as.

Much as I do talk about the why. And it's like, you know, one of, one of the things I learned in my coaching program or in the program I was in, just the working out was she would say why and then dig deeper. Why seven times. Well, why? And my why got down to like, I want to be living my best life when I'm 80 years old. I want to be practicing yoga a couple times a week, going for walks, and I want my daughters to not have to worry about me. Mom's got it. We'll go visit her. But she's okay. Like, she can do it herself. I mean, there may come a point where I can't drive or I can't, you know, I will definitely. As you get older, you're limited, but I don't want to fall and break my hip. Right. There's no coming back from that in a lot of cases. So, like, I want to be strong and steady and stable.

I know you're listening right now and I hope that you heard Bridget, because her self care is the best gift she could ever give her children. It's not selfish, it's self preservation. She's giving her children the gift of not having to care for her and deal with all these hospital visits and doctor's appointments and all these things. They're going to be able to enjoy their midlife because you're going to be healthy and they're going to be like, mom's is good. Let's go have fun with her. As opposed to, let's take her to three doctor's appointments and physical therapy and rehab this week. You have to envision the future that you want and then work backwards. How do I get there? And that is one of the biggest things that we do in the 40 day program in the coaching academy is this future gazing with God. And you have got so much clarity around that. It's just absolutely, absolutely beautiful. And I can't wait to hear more testimonies from your other coaching clients because what you're doing is so needed and so powerful. So thank you for trusting God and just being brave enough to say yes even though you didn't know what it looked like.

Nope.

Right, Right.

Both feet. I closed. It was fine.

Yeah, exactly. Oh, well. You are such a blessing and I love that you shared your story. I know it's resonating with women. I know they got so much out of this today. And you're open for coaching, right? If women want to work with you, tell them what kind of coach you are.

So I am the kind of coach who I can be very gentle, but I'm also a little tough love. Right. Like, I don't, you know, not a whole lot of excuses are okay. I like to keep tabs with people and keep people accountable. And if I don't know the answer, I will find it for you. But a lot of times, you know, I can come up with that pretty quickly. Not. Not always with the brain because, you know, the age thing, I have the answers. They just don't always come as quickly as I'd like them to. But you can follow me @bridgetogreat health on Instagram if you're interested in seeing kind of my lifestyle and what I do. I share a slice of that. Yeah. So I. I would say that sort of encompasses my style.

Yeah. I think you are just like a no nonsense kind of person. Like, let's get some clarity on what you want, and I'm gonna make sure that you get there. You. You're the kind that wouldn't leave somebody behind. Like, you're waiting for the last person. You're getting them back up into the group.

And if for some reason you're not having success, I will. We will dig and we will find out why you're not having success. We're like, what's the thing that's, you know, preventing that? Like, what's tripping you up? I will help you find that. We'll figure it out.

Yeah, you're. You're almost like a little bulldog. You're just like, I'm not. You're gonna be successful.

I'm not gonna look at the golden retriever side, though. Too. Like, I can. I can be relaxed and silly and happy also.

Yes, absolutely. You are so fabulous. Well, I would love for women to reach out to you, start following you on Instagram. Instagram. And consider hiring you as a Fast to Faith coach. Do that one on one coaching, because there's no substitute for a woman coming alongside of you, holding your hand, praying over you, praying for you when you're not around, giving you the guidance and the insight that you've been praying for. Like, it is so powerful. It is everything. So thank you, Bridget.

Well, thank you so much, Dr. T. Yay.

All right, guys, check out Bridget. She's incredible. And let us know what else conversations you want us to talk about how we can support you and be here for you. Honestly, the sisterhood community in the Fast of Faith app is fire. It is so good. These women are just cheering each other on, lifting each other up, holding each other accountable, helping troubleshoot through the program and through life. And it's free. Like, just go to the Fast to Faith app. Get in that sisterhood, introduce yourself. Bridget will welcome you. The other coaches, the other women in the group, we want to love on you. If you've been looking for a community and you're just kind of feeling like my current friend situation, my current situation is not filling my cup up. I'm feeling a little bit like an outcast or, you know, just lost. Like, we got you. We are here for you. Check us out and let us know how we can support you till next time.