466: Shredded at 50 Trading Wine for Weights with Alicia Erickson

That I was believing this narrative about aging. And I like to just say, nope, you know what? I'm going to actually go ahead and do the opposite of what they say I'm supposed to do. And I'm going to flip this on its back and I'm going to actually get in the best shape of my life going into my 50th year.

Welcome to Midlife Conversations. I'm your host, Natalie Jill, and I'm passionate about having amazing conversations that matter to us midlife women. On this podcast, I do what I do best, taking complicated health topics and breaking them down simply so that we can optimize aging together. I share actionable steps to help you thrive in what I believe are our best years to come. Join me as I interview the most inspiring people living their best midlife years and dive into essential topics like hormone changes, health optimization, weight management, blood sugar, emotional well being, relationships, beauty, and so much more. Can you truly change your body in midlife? And what about after 50? And can you build muscle? And does it have to be that hard? And do your genetics or how you've always been play a role and how much of a role? And what are the tips and tricks and what's the common sense things that we might be skipping today? I can't wait to introduce you to Alicia Erickson. She's my newer friend. I met her through Instagram. I was so fascinated by her transformation. You all, you got to see some of these pictures. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure you're looking at this, because this is wild. This was her a few years ago. And she, uh, first of all, she didn't look. You wouldn't have looked at her and said, wow, you're overweight or. But she certainly didn't look like a fitness model. Now she could be on the COVID of any magazine. It is wild. She's 51 years old. She completely transformed her entire body in the last two and a half years. And this is not a woman that went from couch potato to now I'm working out. She was someone like many of you listening that thought she was doing everything right. She was working out even hard. She was eating relatively healthy. She was a social drinker. She did the things that a lot of midlife women do. And if anyone had asked her a couple years ago, she would have probably told you it was her genetics. Just the way it had to be. So I couldn't wait to dive into this conversation with her today. Thank you so much for being here today, Alicia.

Oh, my gosh, that was awesome. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.

This is going to be fun. So take us back. Like, who were you a few years ago, like, when you. When you first made this decision that I got to change something?

Yeah. Okay, so I'll kind of give you, like, just a little bit of a backstory. I have always been into fitness. I've always been into moving my body in one shape, way or form. I was a marathon runner for a long time. I did triathlons. I did dabble with lifting weights. I did boot camp classes. I did all the things. I was in CrossFit for a good eight years. Eight, nine years. But as I was coming into midlife, I noticed my body was changing. It wasn't responding the way that it once did. I just noticed that things were shifting. And the first thing that I did. This is before I really started this most recent chapter. This is kind of the first, I guess you could say, maybe like the first step was I decided that I needed to cut out alcohol. And that decision came honestly after many years of a love hate relationship with it. It was something that I really mentally struggled with. It wasn't anything that anybody in my life said, hey, you've got an issue. You really need to cut back. Nobody said anything. Which made it even actually that much more difficult because it was like, am I the only one noticing this is only. I'm the only one that this is really bothering, but I feel like I can't stop.

What was like, what was your pattern with alcohol? Was it like a daily thing? Was it a once a week thing? Was it just a social thing? Like, what was.

Was probably four to five days a week, Maybe even more sometimes.

Okay.

And I could easily have two, three, four glasses of wine.

So was it kind of like a habit? Like each night you would open it up. So it just didn't. And what was your story around it? Like, did you think it was healthy initially? Or what was your. What. What was your story about it?

You know, initially it was kind of just in my life growing up. So it was modeled for me a lot. And I. So it was just kind of like a given, thinking that, oh, this is just what we do at the end of the day and getting marri and then having kids, I noticed that it would be the thing I would do to kind of de stress at the end of the day with little toddlers, like, this is my mommy time. This is my me time. Put the kids to bed now. I'm gonna have my wine and relax and Watch my show. This feels amazing. Oh, my gosh. This is the only respite that I can get.

Yeah.

And that just kept going even as my kids got older. And I just kept thinking to myself, what am I modeling for my girls? Like, what am I modeling and showing them? And what am I showing myself? And why am I still doing this? And this is making me feel like crap, but I can't stop. And so I would try to do, like, the sober October or the dry January and, you know, give it up for little chunks of time, and it always just found its way back. And it really, really frustrated me. And I just finally got to a point where I said, this is. This is it. I just. My body is not recovering the way it once did. I need to model better behavior. I know that. I feel. I felt inside like I had this new chapter waiting for me in life and that it wasn't going to come to full fruition until I made this decision for myself. So it was like a last 90 days challenge that I joined. And so I was like, okay, I'm just gonna commit to 90 days. And I felt so amazing. And I felt like this time, it just. Something about it just clicked.

Yeah.

I don't know what it was. It just felt like, you know, when you do something and you just think.

This is it now. Were you craving it during those 90 days? Were you, like.

Yes. Yes, for sure. It was definitely something. I had to retrain my brain. I read the book. I would highly recommend this book, really, for anybody when it comes to changing your mindset and changing your brain and your thoughts around habits and addictions. This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. And it just changed. It just flipped everything upside down for me. The way I thought about it before, I thought about it in a new way. And it was all about your subconscious brain and your conscious brain and working to make them come together. And so that's what I worked on for those 90 days really hard, because I did have those days where I'd come home at the end of the day, just think, okay, what am I gonna.

Yeah, because what do you think? Is it the. I mean, I know this is, like, probably a really deep conversation that we could go into about. About that specifically, but what do you think was at. Because a lot of people listening to this, and it might not be drinking for them. Maybe it's taking Xanax. Maybe it's smoking pot. I don't know. Maybe it's even just something they assume is super innocent, like CBD oil or whatever. But what do you think is at the root of that? Like, do you. Is it like people not wanting to be with themselves or what do you like looking back now? What do you think that is?

I think it's the. The minute you're able to be alone in your thoughts or alone with any pain or any. Anything that feels uncomfortable, you want to soothe that. We look for things to soothe that and calm that down and distract us and kind of num. Rather than deal with it and acknowledge it and really recognize that. Oh, okay. And sit in that. Be able to. We don't really how to do that anymore.

So if someone had told you that when you were doing this, what would your. The old you have reacted to that thought to that what you just said because there's somebody listening that's going to be triggered by that or go what is she talking about? Or like if you could help who is the old you? Like, what would you have thought about that statement?

I mean I. For so long I just said I can't. There's no way I'm giving this up. There's no way that I'm. I thought that this was the best thing available for me to deal with alleviating stress. I there I. That was like you're gonna pry that from my cold dead hands.

So it didn't matter if you heard that it's unhealthy or whatever it was like it doesn't. My life would not be good without it kind of thing. It was the belief you had.

Yeah, that was the belief I had that this is just. And I also felt like this is just who I am and this is how I grew up thinking. And this is just what I. Who I am. This is just part. I'm just going to have this thorn on my side forever. That's what I thought.

What do you and I. And this won't. This is not going to be a full episode by the way you all about just about giving up alcohol. There's a lot of ask her here but. But I don't want to skip over this part because it's important and Alicia, I've never been a drinker, believe it or not. Like I don't know. Like I think some people are drawn to. But I'm not saying I haven't had vices with other things. I definitely have.

Yeah.

But I'm not drinking is not a thing. So sorry if I'm asking you a lot of questions here but I want to make sure were clear. Like somebody that is a drinker that can relate to what you're, what you're saying there, what do you want them to know on the other side right now?

I think that what. One thing that really resonated for me after I quit was I thought before that this was the best thing available to me. But what I didn't realize is like, you're giving up the good for the great. Like what you could have and what your life could be is so much better than you can even imagine. You just don't. You can't think because you're stuck in that place. Your brain is stuck and you're so limited, but you, you have so much more waiting for you on the other side of that. You just don't even realize how much more brighter and vivid and vivacious and energetic your life can be without it. You're just. You stuck.

You know, I find that people that drink a lot will and defend it. And again, I don't know enough. This is not my space that I'm an expert on at all. So I don't mean to be. But, but people I know that do like the daily, the wine or whatever, they will say, I'm not addicted, I just like it. What do you think about that statement? Do you think it's possible or do you think anyone that's doing that is. It's an addiction? What's your. I know you're not a therapist, but I want to, I want to get your opinion.

I mean, I feel like, you know, if it's a full blown addiction, it's something that if you stopped, you would have physical symptoms. Right. I mean, however, I think it's kind of, it's in that gray area a little bit because it is a super addictive substance.

Yeah.

So it's, it's like there's a reason why we get triggered and we crave alcohol. As you know, when you're doing something like that every day you get the cravings. It's. I do think there's a physical thing, but it's, it's also very psychological as well. But again, you know, when you're physically addicted to something, you're going to have withdrawal symptoms.

Totally.

I don't think I would have had. I didn't, I didn't really have withdrawal symptoms. It was more of just my body actually coming into homeostasis.

Finally you had the mental craving, but you didn't have like the physical withdrawal. Do you have any advice for someone that would. That is having the physical. Because I'm sure people have asked you this, like somebody that truly believes they Might have an actual chemical addiction or physical. Do you have advice that you'd want to give them?

Well, I mean, I would say you probably need to talk to a professional about that, to seek more professional help with the physical part. Just to make sure that you're, you know, physically, you're okay. Yeah, yeah, I would say, okay, that would be a good idea.

And I don't believe there's any shame around that. I think that addiction strikes a lot of people, and I think addiction actually starts from really good intentions. People just want feel better. Like, they. They don't want to feel in pain. So that's where it starts from.

Absolutely.

So you made this decision, you picked up that book. That book made a big difference for you. What was your next best action? Did you think you were going to, like, be off it permanently? Did you think, okay, I've got to replace this with something? What was your next step in changing your body and your.

Yeah. So, I mean, I felt like a new woman. I mean, I felt really. I felt so good. I felt better than I had ever felt. It was just kind of like this new life almost.

How quickly, though? Because some people would say, well, I tried to give it up for a couple days, and I didn't feel that way. Like, how quickly was that?

I would. I mean, you got to give it at least a month.

Okay, so for your body to just.

Kind of adjust to being in this new normal. Yeah, but I felt so good. I just thought to myself, okay, I don't want to say anything out loud yet, but because I think that you can go into it just saying, hey, I'm gonna give this up for 60 days or 90 days. You don't have to say forever. Just know that it doesn't have a grip on you. You know, give it up for a certain period, so it doesn't have that grip on you. But I just felt so good. I just thought, I'm the kind of person where I'm kind of all in or all out, which you can kind of see by my habits. But I just thought, I have a hard time regulating this, so I think I'm probably just going to not do it anymore. Because I feel so good. Why would I want to go back to it?

Right.

You know, people would ask me that, like, why would you want to go back to it? So I just kept sticking with it, and I felt so good. I just was like, we're going to keep going.

That's amazing. Okay, tell us how you were eating before the train. And then, like, compared to how did you then. Because your body, like, literally changed. I've never seen this kind of transformation in somebody, like, I ever. And I've worked in the fat loss space for years, but really. Yes. And what I have. I've seen obese go to fit. I've seen like. But to go from just being like. I don't know how I would have described you before, but like, you were, you were like an average midlife woman. That works out. That's how I describe your average midlife woman who is still active.

You were doing.

Your doctors probably said, you're checking the boxes, you're being healthy to like fitness model could be on the COVID of a magazine. Like, it was. It's extreme. I have not seen that happen. Now, I have seen people that were super fit at one point maybe get back, but this is like a whole different. It's an interesting transformation to watch yours. That's why I wanted to ask you, so what, tell me, like, let's start, I guess with workouts. Like, what were you doing before versus, like, what that had to change.

Okay, so two and a half. I'll go and I'll start from this, this chapter. When I started and I decided I had come off of a very stressful year. My oldest are my youngest daughters. I have two girls. The older one was already off in college. The younger one was about ready to leave to go to college. We were going to become empty nesters. I knew I was empty. Coming into a new chapter of life. I'm like, okay, this is like, this is it. This is a new thing. And it would have been just super stressful the year before. So I kind of like started. My alcohol addiction had slightly turned into a little bit of a sugar addiction.

Okay.

So I was doing sugar, trying to eat, I guess you would say. People say clean, you know, eating clean.

Which can mean a lot of different things. Like, what did that mean exactly?

But, but to me, when I look back, it's like you can be eating clean, but if you're eating 10 handfuls of almonds every day, that what you.

Were doing, like, tell us what.

Like, I'm like a notorious grazer. So I would, you know, kind of take a lap through the kitchen and grab a handful of nuts while I'm working at home. And you know, so things like that and just. I'm a grazer. I'm a total snacker. So I realize I'd be snacking a lot. And if you're snacking a lot, you're eating whole foods. That's Great. But, like, are you really managing your.

Yeah.

Food.

So. So you were having, you were grazing a lot. You were having healthy, considered foods, but a lot of them, like. So, like, take us through, like your old day, because then I'm going to ask you, like, what you're doing now. Like, what. Tell me, like, if this was you two and a half years ago and you're waking up, like, tell me, tell us, give us an example of a day. I want people to have a basic.

One of those. It's one of those things where I'm having, you know, like maybe some eggs and fruit for breakfast and then like a big salad, you know, with protein on it. And then by the aftern, I'm wanting a cookie, you know, maybe a crumble cookie run with my daughter that night. We do crumble cookie runs a lot together. And then, you know, something, you know, chicken and veggies and some kind of starch for dinner. So something like that.

But.

But there's always that element of, you know, the sweets that are coming in or the grazing that might happen in between meals.

So you weren't eating McDonald's, you weren't eating junk food. You were eating. You were eating healthy. Ish. You just didn't know really about portions. Now, if someone, if you were talking with a girlfriend at that time or you were hearing somebody on Instagram or whatever, and you were not feeling good about your body, what was the story you were telling yourself then? Like that Alicia, then were you saying, like, this is my genetics. It's just the way that is.

It's so hard, you know, like, I'm just getting older and this is just kind of what my body's doing now as I'm getting older. This is just the trajectory of what happens as you get older.

Got it?

That would probably be the story that I was telling myself. Okay, but. And I was. Oh, and my movement at that time, I was gonna say I was doing a little bit of CrossFit still, because I had been doing CrossFit for the eight years prior. So I was still dabbling a little bit in CrossFit, but it was starting to just make me feel more tired and fatigued to do CrossFit and then a little bit of kind of random home workouts in my garage gym, but not. But just kind of here and there, not a specific program.

So if someone had said to you, do you work out and eat clean? Your answer been, I'm doing all the things. You would have said, I do all the things.

Yep, Yep. But I would have probably admitted to having a little bit of a sweet tooth. Okay.

You know, you would have been like, I work out, I do CrossFit, and I'm eating healthy. Other than this. Okay.

Yes. Yep.

Now, where was your. Like, your. Did you. Would you have described yourself as depressed? Were you, like, what made you want something else for yourself?

I just knew, and I've just had this, and I've always believed this because I've done a lot of work on myself, you know, a lot of self development over the years, and I just knew deep down that there was something more for me. I just knew that I was going into a new chapter. And I like to. Whatever. I just. I decided that I was believing this narrative about aging, and I. I like to just say, no, you know what? I'm gonna actually go ahead and do the opposite of what they say I'm supposed to do, and I'm gonna flip this on its back and I'm gonna actually get in the best shape of. To my 50th year. I'm. This is. This is happening. And I.

That's.

I just decided, like, you made a decision.

You said I made it. Yep. This is what's happening.

I said, I'm. This is. I do not feel good about myself right now. I'm not feeling great. It's been a super stressful year. I want to feel better. I want to feel good, and I know that I can, and I believe that I can. I believe this is possible because I was actually seeing other women such as yourself online that were inspiring me. And I thought, if they can do it, if Natalie can do it, and she's ripped and she's in her 50s. Why. Why can't I? And I watch what women were doing, and I'm like, okay, this is what I'm gonna do.

So being in fat loss all these years, for me, I kind of have unw, like, and I. I've unwound. Like, what does it take for someone to have a transformation? And I've always said step one is literally what you just said. It's making a decision. So I wanted. I. I didn't coach you on that. I just wanted you to. I wanted to hear what you said, and you said it because I want people listening to hear this. I think if people skip that first step, it's not going to work because you have to literally make a decision that something's going to change something else. I notice I actually started following you probably two years ago, so you weren't at the beginning of your transformation. And I remember because I looked back in our messages. I think I sent you that when we were in Vegas together. I was, like, looking back to when did I start connecting with her? And what I found is you had reposted something from me, like, two or two and a half years ago, which told me you were not looking at social media or other people with, like, envy or hate or jealousy. It was very much like you were looking for motivation. And you weren't saying, why them and not me. You were saying, if they can, I can too.

So 100%, yes. 100. And that's. That's what I loved. I thought. I just thought, if they can do. If these girls can do this, why can't I do this? They are proof that this can happen. And I am going to choose to believe that this is possible for me. And I'm gonna put in the work. I'm gonna get laser freaking focused, and I'm putting in the work, and that's what I decided to do.

Now, did you start. Now, you were looking at other people and what they were doing, and I'm gonna ask you the how in a minute, but, yeah. Did you start to vision yourself, like, what you would look like? Or were you, like, did you. How did you get out of your own, like, this is me now. And get clear on where you were headed. Like, take us through that process. Like, what did you do?

I really. My ultimate goal was to just, like, really lean out a bit and get. Just get muscular. I really wanted to be. I love the feeling of having muscles. I love feeling strong. And I had felt that a bit in CrossFit, but it just didn't really show as much. But it feels powerful to do a lot of the movement, and I just thought. I. I honestly, to tell you the truth, I didn't realize that this physique was going to look like this.

Okay.

No idea.

You weren't clear on the outcome. You were just like, I want to be stronger, and I want to look.

And I want to feel good. Yeah. I want to feel better. And I. And I just kind of want to lean out a little bit. That's really. You know, and just get. Get muscular. That was my goal, but I didn't know I was. It was going to be to this extent.

That's crazy. So you know what? I also love that you didn't use the word skinny, because I think a lot of women say, I want to get skinny. You never use that word.

No, because skinny means that you're starving yourself and miserable. That's not a fun way to live. To me, that's frail. That's frailty, you know, that's being frail and weak. I want to be strong and powerful. That's what I want.

So did you change your workouts and your diet at the same time?

Yes, I did everything all at once.

And how did you first learn what to do?

I honestly, I was watching what other ladies were doing and then I, I actually first downloaded the first form app, if you're the first form. And they had a whole thing on their app where I could get my macros figured out. They had lifting programs. I was like, I'm gonna start lifting, I'm gonna get my nutrition figured out, I'm gonna increase my protein and I'm gonna start walking and I'm gonna stop doing CrossFit. I'm gonna stop running, I'm just gonna do. I call it the trifecta because it's like magic in mid age. And that's exactly what I'm gonna start doing. And that's exactly what I did.

You said you started stopped running or you started running? Stopped, stopped. Okay, so tell us about that because making it because you would think that CrossFit's like this great workout, it's making you strong, you're adding muscle and that running is going to lean you out.

Stop. Both of those, they're both, for me personally, stressful on my body, fatiguing my body, spiking my hunger hormones. CrossFit is not, it's, it's more of a, it's more cardio than it is building muscle. I was going towards building, I needed to get back into just bodybuilding, building muscle and that is following progressive overload with your weightlifting.

But did someone tell you that or did you just kind of connect the dots or did you like read that somewhere? How did you figure that out?

I read, I read up about it. I read up all about it. Got it, started reading all the things because once I, once I get laser focused on something, I start doing all the research and I become an expert in it.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

So, okay, so tell us then what, so how did you start changing your workouts? How did you start changing your nutrition? Like what were the big needle movers here?

So the first thing I really started doing was lifting weights and I, I think I was doing four days at first. Like a. Two upper body days, two lower body days and then started walking. Just making sure that I was hitting my 10,000 steps per day and I increased my protein. I really, that was an Eye opener for me, I thought I got a decent amount of protein. And then when I saw how much protein I really needed to be eating and started doing that, my digestion was like, what is going on? It took a minute for my digestion to actually start really moving. So I needed to make sure I had enough fiber in my diet to get that going.

It's.

It was. It was a definite. And I know for a lot of women, they say this is an adjustment, but. And I will say it took me a few weeks to a month for. For things to adjust that way. But it's filling. That's the great thing. It's more filling, it's more satiating. So. And then I, you know, my carbs and fats had everything in the proper ratios and. And I was in a calorie deficit. I think I was about maybe in like a. Whatever my maintenance was, I was probably a good like 15 to 20% below my maintenance. And I did that for about three to four months. And it took about a month for the scale to move. And then once it moved, it kind of happened quickly.

So when you say it moved because you were growing muscle too, so you were adding muscle. So did the scale go down? Did it go up? And what did you do about this sugar craving?

While all this was happening, I. I decided again. So I applied the same tools that I applied to quitting alcohol to cutting sugar. And I do stevia, I do monk fruit. I'll do honey, I'll do. I'll do coconut sugar sometimes, maple syrup sometimes. But I cut out all processed sugars.

You were like, I'm done.

I'm done with that. When I initially was in my calorie deficit, I was more doing the stevia and monk fruit route just to satisfy that sweet tooth. So that. That was like another thing that I decided, because some people are saying you don't have to go to that extreme and you don't have to cut it out, and you don't. I agree. You can fit anything in macros, but for me personally, I just needed to just cut it. I just needed to cut it out, be done with it. And I felt so much better. I felt so good. It's like, I want to keep feeling.

This way, which gives you the more energy to work out and do more, too, when you feel that way, I imagine. So how did you, like. So I would imagine you visibly didn't see a difference right away, but you were feeling different. So how long did it take till you were visibly like, whoa, check me out. What's happening.

It took a good like three to four months before I, you know, after the calorie deficit was done, I know obviously there was some weight loss. I had lost about 15 pounds. But from there I just decided, I saw some changes there, but I just decided this is from here. I want to maintain this body weight and I just want to push really hard in the gym and recomp my body. And that's like over the next year, when you see the year difference, we'll put the picture up here of a year difference in body recomp results. That's insane because I'm the same body weight, but you can see I'm totally way more muscular in the second photo.

Yeah, pretty cool. So how did you like. Because a lot of women, they give up before that three months. They're like, I'm doing all this work. Nothing's changing. What did, what were you telling yourself during that and what do you want to tell them?

I want to say that this has to be. This isn't your getting ready to go to your Cabo trip and you need to look hot in a bikini in three months. That's not what this is. This is your lifestyle now. This is who you are. This is how you live. And that's another thing I say. You have to love what you eat or you. It won't stick. You have to love the food you eat. You have to love how you're moving. You have to love your lifestyle or it's just not gonna. It's not gonna stick. That's why I love. I look forward to my food every single day. I look forward to going to my lift every single day. It feels so amazing. And it's just my lifestyle now. It's not a quick fix. It's not an end date. It's just, just who you are all the time, every day. It's how you live.

Yeah. Do you think that you could have done this if you didn't have, like, you become an empty nester at the same time? You had flexibility there? Do you think this could have happened without that? Like on a busy schedule or. Because I know some people have that, that story too. And I want, I want your honest opinion there. Like, do you think that the freedom helped you or do you think knowing what you know now, you could have done it even with a busy schedule?

I mean, I definitely, I will say the freedom helped me, but I think it just depends on what's important to you and what your goals are really. I mean, if it's something that you really really want. You can make anything happen. There's gonna have to be a sacrifice. You're gonna have to make space in your life. There's going to be maybe something you give up in order to make this happen. If this is really what you want, you can absolutely make it happen. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's 100 possible. It's just what's important to you? Why is it important to you? What are your goals? And then what are you willing to sacrifice to make it happen? Yeah, that would be. Yeah.

Okay, I'm gonna ask you, like, some tactical stuff because I know people are gonna be like, okay, I want to know exactly what happened here. So let's take. Walk us through kind of a day of eating and has that changed in the last year? Like, is that so just so people are like. Because the reason I'm asking, I want to know what you're actually doing, but I also know that somebody, somebody watching is like, they're trying to grasp, like what you mean by macros and stuff. So maybe if you could even make up, like what that means or what that looks like.

Yeah. So your macros are your proteins, fats, and carbs, and you should be getting appropriate amounts of all of them. Carbs are not bad. Carbs are great. I love carbs.

I.

My calories have changed as I have put more muscle on my body. Your calories go up because your muscles need food. And so that's the really cool part. I'm not currently tracking super close because I tracked for so long that I had it down. I knew exactly what I was getting. And a lot of times it's. It's kind of funny how I'll leave little measuring spoons and measuring cups in like my quinoa or in my rice bag. And I just, I know I'll leave the measuring cup so that I know exactly what I'm measuring out. Just to make it simple and make it easy. Sometimes I'll measure my, you know, my yogurt or whatever. I'll measure to make sure I'm getting a serving when I'm measuring my food out. But I'm not necessarily tracking it in the app and keeping super close. I just know from doing it for so long before, it's just kind of ingrained. I think. 101 tool. Yeah, it's more. It's totally more intuitive now. But I think it's such a great one on one tool for everybody to have. I think everybody should do it, at least for a time. You don't have to do it forever. But just to know and have an eyeball and, oh, this is how much I'm eating. And then weigh it out and see actually what your portion sizes are. Just to make that mental connection and that visual connection. Like I said, it doesn't have to be forever, but just even for a little bit of time to have that knowledge, because knowledge is power. So I typically eat, I'll do like, maybe I do like protein pancakes in the morning, protein waffles in the morning with a little bit of honey nut butter and blueberries. I love that. And then after my workout.

So when you say protein, are you using like a protein powder in that or.

Well, it's. It's a mix.

Okay.

It's a mix, a protein, A high protein pancake mix. And then, but like this morning I did egg whites and some cottage cheese and blueberries and a little bit of nut butter. I kind of do random concoctions.

Yeah, but you're. But your focus is protein. Your focus is like, how do I make sure I'm getting protein? Yeah.

Yep. Always getting enough protein. And then post workout, I'll do Greek yogurt, and I'll boost it with a little bit of protein powder and some apple slices. And then lunch, I typically do. I'll do like an egg, and then I cup of egg whites with spinach, a little bit of mozzarella. And then I'll do raspberries and Ezekiel bread. I love Ezekiel spreader grain. And sometimes my friend will make me sourdough because she has. She makes sourdough from scratch, and so she'll make me sourdough. So I'll have a loaf of that to ch. To pick from. And then sometimes I'll do even like a protein bar in the afternoon.

So it sounds like you are, you're higher protein, you are not afraid of carbs, but you're eating unprocessed, more natural carbs. Carbs. You are. It sounds like you're a little bit lower on fat than a lot of the trends or a lot of people talking about. Can you give us your take on that on fat?

I mean, you need a certain amount of fat for just hormone regulation, for your brain just to function. What are you meaning by high fat?

No, so meaning, like you as you're describing your meals, I'm like, okay, so you're. You do less fat in your diet than a lot of people would teach. So, like, for example, you're. You eat more like a fitness competitor or a bodybuilder would with like egg whites versus Egg. You haven't said much about adding like a lot of avocado or olive oil or I would say I eat more, a little bit more Mediterranean. Ish. So I just wanted to get your personal thoughts you on dietary fat and like how much you add in and like when you were doing and what is that just what your body responds better to. Like what, what's your Alicia's theory around fat?

I mean I just think you, you do need to have a certain amount to function properly. Right. As a human I try to stick between, you know they say 20 to 35% of your macros should be fat. So I try to stay in that window. Yeah, I do put olive oil and stuff and I'll. And sometimes I'll put avocado on my bread at lunch.

So you're not afraid of it, you're just not focusing your meal around it. Yes, got it.

Exactly.

And then what about. And are you a fan? Like do you eat three meals a day? Do you eat six meals a day? Do you intermittent fast at all? What's your.

I'm kind of in the five meals kind of five, five meals. And I don't do intermittent fasting. I, I need, I mean to me and it's enough of a fast because I usually am done eating by 6:30.

Yep.

Maybe seven at night. And then I don't eat again until. I mean my fast is broken in the morning when I do, I do collagen. Coffee. Maybe that's at 6:00am or 5:30 to me that's enough of a fast for me. I'm good. I don't see. I know that some people like to practice it.

That's fine.

I need to have fuel before my workout.

Yes. So the way that you're describing and I just want to make this clear for listeners because I don't, I want to make sure or anyone watching this or listening, especially people that are in my program or have, are doing different things. Everything is when it comes to nutrition, I really feel it's very goal specific. So like what, what are your goals? So for the level of workouts that Alicia does and the amount of muscle that you have and you're wanting and how you did that, you would critically, you would have to eat the way that she's eating. You would have to eat every few hours. You would have to eat enough protein. You would have to do that in order for your body to create that muscle. But I want people that are listening that are maybe not at your level or they don't, they don't have an intention of adding a lot of muscle or looking the way that you. I think you look phenomenal. But if somebody doesn't have that. That goal, you may not necessarily need to eat as frequently or as much or any of that. So I wanted to just kind of put that disclaimer out there because I'm interviewing Alicia right now uniquely about how she recompositioned her body, like how she went from A to B, like what happened there. And so to achieve what you. What you're describing is very similar to. Than if I was interviewing a fitness competitor or. And even how I ate specifically when I used to fitness model years ago. So it makes sense. So I wanted.

But I need to go into fitness modeling.

You could. You're like magazine cover ready. You are.

I mean, the thing is, I. I look at people because sometimes people say, well, how do you feel being that lean? And how, you know, is that just too extreme? And I feel freaking amazing.

Well, because you're doing in a way that's working for your body right now. I think where it gets dangerous is people that literally starve themselves or cardio themselves or deplete themselves for a competition or for something that's a very different. Your body naturally fell into this, being consistent doing this. So it's not like you had to go on a. Because a lot of times, like, I'll. I can speak for myself. Years ago, when I would do competitions years ago or get ready for magazine, it was a very clear, like, you're basically living on rice cake. It was like, it was such a strict thing those few weeks leading up to it, and then even how you manipulated your water. So of course you wouldn't feel healthy and you would have all that. The way you were doing it is different. This is your body. I have no doubt if you went and ate a pizza this weekend, you would bounce right back to this. It's not going to blow you up.

Yep. In fact, when I, When I have a day that's like, you know, like, recently there's like Mother's Day and we've had some, you know, Easter and I might have more carbs than normal, and I go in the next day to the gym and I am like, it.

Just filled you out.

You get like a pump.

Yeah.

And it feels awesome.

Yeah. So how have your workouts. How have your workouts changed? So, so now you're not. I mean, you're obviously, you're eating different. You said you're going heavier. You're not doing CrossFit. You're not, not running. Like how. How many days are you in the gym? How much time are you spending there? And do you split up parts?

So I usually do. This is just for me. And not everybody has. Has to do this, but I do three upper body days and three lower body. Okay. Typically you do full upper body.

When you do upper body or do you break it into parts?

Sometimes I'll break it up. Sometimes I'll do like, like a Tuesday might be like chest front delt, front delts, shoulders in general, triceps. Thursday might be backs, back and biceps rear delts. And then Saturday might be like a full upper body pump, like full upper body. So I just. And I love, I mean, I don't know, I love it. It feels so good to me. My body loves it. I'm usually in the gym for an hour to an hour and a half. Half depending for my lift.

Yeah, but this is her happy place, you all. I think if she didn't enjoy it, I believe that you'd probably could get the same results with less time. But you like being there and taking your time and doing that. I think you had also mentioned something. I heard you speak recently and maybe you can help clarify this. You mentioned that a lot of people, when they're super setting and going back and forth, they're putting themselves into a cardio state. Can you elaborate on that and why you don't like doing that?

It's you really. The whole point of it is that you need to let your muscles rest in between sets so that you can go back into your next set and be just as strong. You're. You're depleting yourself and you're also keeping your heart rate up. You need to let it go down and you need to rest in between your sets. I know lots of women like to walk around and they like to do their burpees in between. No, we're not doing that. You're resting. Sit down. Just relax. Contemplate life in between your sets. This is how you're going to grow muscle and get stronger.

So how long between sets are you doing that?

I'm usually typically at least like a minute and a half or a minute for my compound lifts, which are your, you know, your heavier, your squats, your rows, your deadlifting. I might do two minutes. Okay, Two and a half minutes might get just depending on how heavy I'm going, how much time I need to recover. I'll watch. I'll look at my watch and make sure my heart rate's coming down so that I can Recover in time for my next set so I can be strong in my next set. Okay. Typically like, you know, 90 seconds.

So you're not doing a bicep exercise and then a tricep and then a bicep and then a tricep. You're like doing biceps. I don't rest in between. Got it. And so and then if you're doing, let's say you're doing buys and tries, will you do all your bicep exercises together first and then move over to triceps or how do you do that?

I might, I might work them back and forth together a little bit.

You're just not supersetting them.

Depending on. I'm just not super setting. Yeah, I'm really superset.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay. This is good information. And then what are you doing for so. And then your cardio just moved to. Just walks. You just like to walk now?

Pretty much walking if. Sometimes I will do a sprint interval training session. Okay. But I haven't done one of those in a while. Usually just walking is my thing. I love to walk. I'm. I'm. You typically around now more closer to 12 to 14,000 steps a day. I just really, I really love, enjoy it. We've kind of gotten out of the habit, but my husband and I like to go hiking and that's a really great cardio activity. If we can get a hike in once a week. Because then we're up on the mountain, we're getting some elevation, we're huffing and puffing. So that's great. Sometimes I like I said I'll do a sit and that is sit is different than hit and that you're doing. You're. What I say is, you know, 10 minutes tops.

Okay.

Okay, 10 minutes tops. And you're doing 20 to 30 seconds as hard as you can. Like 100% going hard. And then a minute and a half to two minutes recovery and just repeat that until you get to 10 minutes and then you're done. I like the assault bike just because the assault bike I feel gets my heart rate up really fast. Some women actually sprint on the treadmill. I don't know. I just can't. I don't know.

That's used to go for a run and do like long drawn out cardio, which just makes you hungrier and breaks down your muscle. And then you've switched now to. I'm going to do short interval, like for intentional.

Yeah.

So you want anaerobic. You're doing anaerobic building muscle.

Ten minutes. You're Good.

Talk to us about your recovery and supplements.

So, okay. Recovery one day per week. Sometimes it might be two days, but I still walk on my recovery days. And I've really been trying to work on my mobility and stretching and getting a good, even like a 20 to 30 minute just. Which feels good anyway, just to get that long stretch session in. Yeah, I probably should pick up a yoga class is what I should do is like I should pick up a yo. I think that would feel really great. But again, I do. I always walk. Even when I'm not doing a lift, I still walk and get my steps in.

I think walking is good for everybody and anybody. Even. Even injuries. We got to walk through it. We. It's like, I feel like we. It's such an important piece.

Agree. It feels so good.

Yeah.

I mean, and walking. I even say walking outside like that to me. Yeah.

I will tell. I was telling.

Outside getting sunlight before we started recording.

I was telling you about my L5S1 disc rupture that I had had. And you know, I've had pain for years because of that because I had the rupture removed, but I never replaced anything. And walking will literally get me out of pain. Like, I won't feel like it. I'm like, I don't want to, but it just. That motion, like gets you out of pain. It's.

It's loose.

So I think walking is ideal for everybody. What about supplements? Like, are you doing aminos? Are you doing, like. Tell us everything.

Yeah, think through everything that I do. So I do first thing in the morning, I do my electrolytes.

Okay.

I take. I get a big thing of water and I just chug my electrolytes.

That's great. And if some of you listening don't want electrolytes, I don't have them. Even adding salt to your water is going to make a big difference.

Just super easy. Just regular Himalayan pink salt or whatever to your water. And especially if you're. If you're moving your body most days and working out, you probably need to be drinking electrolytes first thing in the morning. Yeah, first thing when I wake up. And then I do collagen in my coffee and I do a multivitamin. I do vitamin D. Especially important because I live in the Pacific Northwest.

Yep.

We need to get our extra.

You doing your vitamin D with K2?

Yes.

Okay, good.

Yeah.

And are you doing your collagen with vitamin C? The nutritionist. The nutritionist in me is going to speak up. So.

Okay. Should I be doing that? Yes.

Because your collagen is not going to. You're not get all the proper benefits from collagen if you're not combining with vitamin C, so.

Okay.

Okay.

And I don't typically take vitamin C.

I taught you something.

Okay. Maybe I need to start vitamin C now. Yeah.

Maybe it's also really good for your heart. So a lot of vitamin C. I'm.

Going to add that to my regimen.

Okay.

I do a probiotic. I do Omega 3.

Okay.

And then I do a magnesium complex at night by optimizers. I do their magnesium complex and then creatine.

Okay. How many times are you taking creatine? Once a day. Are you taking 5 grams? Are you taking less? More?

Yeah.

Okay.

Thumbs up. I do it after post workout and I do five grams.

Okay, great.

Yeah. Okay.

Do you have a brand of creatine that you love? Because I, I, that is one product. I'm still just trying different brands, figuring it out. Is there one that you're like, this is the, this is the one. Or you.

I use gains in bulk and I like it. Okay. Gains in bulk. It's three words. Yeah.

Cool.

Have you just found. What are you.

Well, I've been experimenting with like, the mono, like the monohydrate one is the one that's most researched. But then there's this new talk about each. It gets confusing. So that's why I'm curious what you've.

You like or use monohydrate?

If anyone listening is like, I love my creatine, let us know so we can. I'm. I always share what I find and love, but that's one. I'm like, still, still experimenting. Okay, so you do creatine and then what about. Do you do aminos?

So I think actually there's BCAAs in my hydration drink.

Okay. That's another thing I'm teach Alicia about that we need more than BCAAs because it's only the three, but there's nine in Aminos.

Okay. I feel like I saw you post something.

Yeah, I just did. I just did.

Okay, maybe I need to get, I need to comment and get the.

Yeah, Kion. Kion ones. They're great. That's my new favorite. The berry ones. Yes. I'm like, I constantly change up what I share about supplements because I. And I share a lot about supplements because I don't believe there's just one brand for everything I really don't like. So, yeah, gosh, for years and years, I was in. I still am, I guess, technically in Isagenix But I like, I never shared all their products. I'm like, I only shared what I like and I've never. I always have a like red flag when someone's just one brand for everything because I just don't. I don't believe it's possible for one company to master like everything.

So.

So I change up. I change up what I learn and I share. And the reason I actually started adding Kion aminos is I was looking for one without artificial sweeteners because the leucine tastes gross. So a lot of people put like a lot of aspartame or whatever else in to cover that up. So I was looking for a natural one. And then what I learned this is. I didn't know this until I actually did some recent interviews that. So branch chain amino acids is kind of like that was an old bodybuilding thing. Like that you only need these three, but we really need all nine. So what I liked about that particular brand, and they're not paying me to say this right now, but what I liked about it is that there's nine aminos. There's nothing artificial. They taste pretty darn good. So that's why I like that one.

But there, I'm sure there's other. What do you think? What do you think about. Because I've just things that I've read are that the. You should, you should be taking the branch chain or the, the nine essential amino acids if you're not getting enough in your daily diet or if you're in a deficit. Yes. Okay, so somebody who's eating enough.

Great question.

Great.

Well, to me, I'm looking at it as an insurance policy because most women are not doing what you're doing. They're not eating enough protein. So to me it's like, like it's like an insurance policy to me. Like, I just like vitamin D. I could say just go out and sun every day. But it's not. Are we really. And are we really absorbing it and all of that? And then so it's such as an extra insurance policy. Now you're. I would put you more in like the fitness category. You're a very targeted different. So you're probably totally fine with the BCAs. I just think the aminos are going to give you that full spectrum. So it's. So most people listening, I would say I would do Aminos over BCAAs. Yes. Because in fact, when I interviewed the founder of Kion, like this is his jam and he was, he was saying that people are just wasting their Money at bcaas. Now, I'm not the one that did all that research. I don't know, but it made sense how he was explaining that. So to me, it's like, if you're going to add them, why not just have the full spectrum? Like have all of it.

Okay.

And then mineral. Are you taking minerals? Alicia, look here, we're on like a coaching call. When I want arms, like.

No. Yes, minerals.

What minerals do I need be minerals. I'm going to have to text you a whole list after. I'll. I'll link you guys. I'm going to link up. And actually, if you have anything specific you want me to link up, Alicia, I'm going to link it up in the show notes too, but I'm also going to link up my supplement guide.

So.

So all these things we're talking about, people can find those as well. You guys can look. Okay, so beam. And then what is your. What is your sleep routine? Like, how much do you sleep? How much water do you drink? Tell us, like the. The little detail, things like that.

So I try to get. Well, two of these a day.

Okay.

In addition to my. In addition to my water bottle in the morning, first thing.

Okay.

And then sleep. I've recently. And I'm. I'll just. Oh, my gosh. I keep thumbsing up. I. I recently have. And I'll be honest with you, I. A lot of times I get into bed and I scroll and I've given that up.

Oh, good.

I'm not doing that anymore. I'm done scrolling in. I'm not doing that in bed.

So if you're wondering why she's not liking your Instagram post, those of you that love her, that's why she's no longer scrolling at night.

Okay, not scrolling at night anymore. I'll read a book if I need to.

That's great.

Other than that, we're not doing that. And I've been tape mouth taping and I actually really like it.

Okay, can we. Let's talk about that for a second because I don't even know. Do you know? Do you explain why you're mouth taping then I'm going to talk a little science behind it, but can. Do you know why I know?

Okay, so from what I understand it also, there's something about having your mouth closed. It's not. You're. You're not ingesting as much the toxins in your mouth. I don't know.

Do you want to know?

And then I feel like it does help me sleep Deeper.

Okay. So the reason is nitric oxide. You, when you, your body produces that, but when you are mouth, mouth breathing, you're not going to get that. So we will change. We don't actually get that. So also your nose acts like one of those expensive filters. So when we put air filters in our house, you know, like your nose actually filters toxins out. So that's what's happening. Your mouth will not. So typically people that wake up with bad breath or dry, really dry mouth or they are not actually getting enough nitrous oxide, it's because they are sleeping with their mouth open. Now you're either naturally a nose or a mouth breather at night. Like I naturally close my mouth, mouth, put breathe through my nose. My husband is the opposite. Sounds like you. For people that are naturally the opposite, the mouth taping forces you to train that. So that's really good. Now some people can't do mouth like my husband cannot. He's got damage in his nose. He will, he won't be able to breathe.

So right.

There are some people that cannot. And for those people, you want to take nitrous oxide supplements. But, but it's, but mouth taping is key for that reason. Now if you are naturally a nose breather, you don't necessarily need to. Also, this is something I just learned recently. This is super cool. So when you close your mouth and breathe through your nose, pay attention to where your tongue goes. Does it go on the roof of your mouth? Okay. Think about a baby. When they suck their thumb, they are pressing on the roof of their mouth. You naturally soothe yourself and put yourself into a deeper state of relaxation when you touch the roof of your mouth. So another reason to mouth tape is to force that response which is going to help you relax and sleep deeper. Do you use it? I don't use mouth because I sleep with my mouth closed. I wake up every day with my mouth closed. Like I, that's, I've naturally sleep. But if you don't naturally sleep, that's the importance. Now if you don't, if people are like, where do you get mouth tape? You can honestly just use bandage tape. Like you don't have to go buy a special mat. You can anything just to. It's just a little cue on your mouth. But yeah, yeah, just some fascinating stuff about that.

I feel like, I do feel like I've slept deeper.

But that's why it's the combination. It's that, it's the combination of the filter of that. But it's also that motion of Your tongue on the roof of your mouth. A lot of people don't know that.

So that is so cool. I love that.

Yeah. So you're working on your sleep. You're working on deep sleep. Do you. Are you, like, what do you think about some of the biohacking stuff? Let's get, like, are you thinking, do you do it?

I probably should know more about it because I don't know enough about necessarily. But my. So I'm. I'm getting usually typically, like seven to eight hours at night, and I'm sleeping really good. I honestly. So I started taking HRT this past.

Oh, yeah, let's talk about that. Let's talk about hrt.

Yeah, we can talk about that. But that's. My sleep was trash before that.

Okay.

Because I was waking up with hot flashes. Like, it was. Yeah, I was not sleeping. It was bad. So once I started getting on the HRT train, I was like, okay, now I'm finally.

That's amazing. A huge fan of hrt, and I've shared a lot on this podcast about it. But do you mind sharing just a little bit about, like. Like, your HRT journey and, like. And by the way, she's not going to share the amounts she's taking of everything you all, because that's customized based on labs, like, we all have to have left.

But can you share a little bit.

About, like, your journey and what. Like, what you do for that?

And honestly, I'm just. To be completely honest, I'm the kind of person where I'm like, let's just rub some dirt in it. We're good to go. So I was a little bit resistant at first to get on hrt, and then I started seeing all the studies coming out about. I thought, okay, I need to be open to this. I need to open my mind a little bit more, looking into it more. And when my hot flashes were. I mean, it was. We're talking multiple per hour, all throughout the day. It was making me miserable. And I had that same thing.

Alicia. Dagnabbit.

Oh, my gosh. I was like, I cannot. This is not a way to live. And I'm not sleeping, so I can't. It is misery. Yes. So that's when I finally decided to start. And I do transdermal estrogen, oral progesterone, and I added in testosterone.

Do you do the patch for estrogen? Do you do cream? Do you do oral.

It's a cream.

Okay. I do the pass.

Yeah, it's a cream.

And then for a progesterone, do you do oral?

Oral.

That's what I do at night.

Oral.

Do you cycle it or do you take it every night?

Every night.

Me too. And then what about your testosterone? You said you added that you're doing cream or injection or pellet.

That's cream.

Okay.

So they actually compound it with my estrogen.

Oh, so you do it together at the same time?

Yep. So you.

So you do the estrogen. Okay, so you do it together like. So every day you put that on, like, your wrist or where do you put it?

It. Yeah, I rotate it. So I'll do, like, my lower belly, my inner thigh, behind my knees, and I'll. I'll put it on my wrist and I'll just kind of rotate it around my body throughout the week.

You don't have to answer this question if you don't want, but I like to ask this question to people that are on HRT because you amounts are super unique. But do you fall into the camp of, like, I want my estradiol to be on my labs at, like, a certain number. Like, do you have, like, a number that you like it at? What are your thoughts around that? For women, do you have any.

I actually just got my labs done, so I need to know what my recent numbers are. I. I honest don't look at them. Super duper close. Okay. As long as with my doctor that we're looking at it and they look like the numbers look good and they're in well within range, I'm okay with that.

Okay.

And I'm feeling. And I'm feeling.

That's great. You know, I love that advice. And I. And I will say, because people ask me all the time, like, what are the numbers? What are this. I've had so many different guests on Alicia, and like, some doctors are of the mindset, like, let's get you out of symptoms. Let's get your estrogen. Your estradiol. I'm talking about specifically on your labs. Let's get it to, like, like, out of symptoms. So you're at like 50 to 75 for postmenopausal. And then there's some people I've had on that are like, that's too low. You want to have it at like 150 or 200. So I've. There's just been such a range. I personally, I don't mind sharing. I fall into the camp for me that I like to be in the out. I don't want to go aggressive. I'm more like in the 50 to 75 range. For me.

Yeah.

I've had experts on that, share all different, different things. And then same with testosterone. There's a big range there too, that. Because I know people are going to listen and ask, but it's a big range. It's working on you. But I think with testosterone we got to be careful. If we go too high on that, you could change your voice. Women can grow a penis. It's like, it's not good hair on your face. We don't want that.

Very. I think it's very minimal. And especially with the application with it being transdermal, it's just, it's. Yes, you're not, it's not going to be the same as doing pellets or injections.

Totally, totally.

Yeah.

And I do, I actually do injection, but I do very, very, very low dose dose of the injection. And I've been playing with whether I do it once a week or twice a week. I just kind of go off of how I feel and that's how I've been doing it. Anything else? I didn't ask you that. You're like, okay, this is like the best tip or this is the thing you have to talk about or that is helping with your whole journey here.

I mean, the only thing I will just say is that this is a long game, like with your health and fitness. It's not just. I think that's been something that's been so drilled into our brains and our generation is just expecting results and expecting things to happen. It's like if you've had, if you've had poor habits or if you've had the same habits for 10 years and you're expecting things to change in six weeks, that's totally unrealistic. It's going to take a long, long time to deprogram and to reprogram your mind and change your body. It's a, it's a process. It's not going to happen overnight and be in it for the long game and fall in love with the, with the process of it. It's not an end goal. It's your life now. It's just who you are, are.

Okay, so now what I want to know is how does your husband. He has like a new wife. Like what?

Yeah.

Did he have a transformation too? How did he respond to this? What did your kids say? Were they like, why is my mom getting hot all of a sudden? And how about your friends? Did those change? Do they come along with you? What happened?

That's so funny. So my kids think it's just the coolest Thing. My girls just think it's the coolest. And now they both lift and they love it. And they're cute bodies. They look little like sculpty little hotties. My youngest. Oh, my gosh. She's. Yeah, she's. They've got it down. Okay. And they think. Like I said, they think it's just the coolest thing ever.

That's amazing. Totally supportive.

Yeah, totally supportive. And hubby at the beginning, he. And so he's always been very active. Like, he was a D1 athlete in college. He played football at Boise State. He, you know, did taekwondo for years and years, was a third degree black belt. He's always been very active. He started his real estate business. Business in his mid-40s. And so really kind of his health and fitness went by the wayside.

Okay.

And he focused on his real estate business. And so it. When I started this whole thing, he was not in a great place for himself. He was. He actually was on high blood pressure medication. It was not looking good for him. But I just said to him, this is what I'm gonna do. And I understand. Like, whatever you want to do, you're gonna do, but this is the journey that I'm going on right now. Just to let you know, you can come with me. You can do what? But this is what I'm doing. Doing. He's like, okay. So it was literally, I'm not gonna nag, I'm not gonna say anything. I'm just gonna do my thing. And it was actually. And I knew that his health was not that great, and so it was something that was on my mind, but it doesn't. Somebody has to want the change for themselves, right?

Absolutely.

So I think it was maybe about a year. A little over a year in. Especially when I kind of started getting traction on social media. And then I was more, like, visible. There was actually somebody, a guy at the gym that said something to him, and he decided he was going to get back into the gym and start moving his body. He was going to train to climb Mount Rainier, which is. And he went on a whole journey himself and lost like 50, 60 pounds and just looks like a little unit now.

Now, was he super supportive of you when you were starting this, or was he in his own. Did he. Was he trying to not like, Like, I. That's a real question for women, too, because I. Since I'll hear couples, like, one's getting. Getting healthy and fit, and the other one's resentful.

Yeah, he. I don't. I wouldn't say he was resentful. He. I mean, he probably looked at me like, wow. You take things to the extreme, you know, like, wow, okay. Because when we would talk about it, he's like, you do not miss. You do. Because people were asking me as I was going through this transformation, like, what are you doing? And he's like, alicia, you are on lock with your food. You are on lock with your movement. And I don't realize it because I'm just. This is what I do, and this is just how I live. And I'm like, really? Am I.

That.

He's like, you are so locked in. And so I think that. I mean, for him, that's. That was kind of a new.

Do you know that this is actually very common with ex drinkers?

Yeah, it's a.

It's a common thing. I mean, the heck. I watched my. I've watched people in my life do this where they're like. When they stop drinking, it's like they flip it to this instead. Like, the healthier thing to focus on.

It's not uncommon, like, having a, like, healthy addictive habits.

Yeah. Yeah. What about. Okay, so what happened with your friends? Because, like, did your friends come along? Did you. Did you lose friends? Did you, like, tell us about that?

They're just supportive. I mean, they're just supportive of me. They're happy for me.

So good. You have the right people in your life then.

I have girlfriends that lift. But, like, maybe not to the extent that I'm dedicated, which.

But you didn't lose friends over not drinking or changing. That's amazing.

I know. It's pretty cool. It's pretty awesome.

Yeah.

Because I'm not. I think it's also, like, don't make it weird yourself. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, I'm fine with people drinking around me. Yeah.

You don't care.

Have your drink. You do you. This is just for me. It has. What I'm doing for me has no reflection on you.

I love that you do.

Like, you do what you're gonna do. I'm just doing this for me. I don't care if you drink or whatever. It doesn't make any difference.

It doesn't surprise me. That's the kind of friends you have. And I'll tell you why.

Why?

My fit, midlife baddie women that I. That I'm around, they tend to be very positive, very opportunity focused, very. They're not stuck in obstacle. They are like, it's all about possibility and potential versus problem. And we attract people like that. So. And I think a lot of times people that are fully out of shape, like, haven't had that decision to change yet. They might be in a different mindset, like in this negative, like circumstance dance, and they will attract people like that. So it sounds to me like you have operated from more of that place always. Even how you started your journey. Because you didn't start your journey from a place of jealousy or hate or you started from curiosity and being supportive. Like, literally. I remember you sharing my post like we didn't know each other. You're like, you were, you were sharing along your journey. Very opportunity oriented. Like, very like possibility.

Yep.

So it makes sense. That's what you have in your life.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Like, we support each other. We like, we pump each other up. You know, it's. Yeah, it's. I'm all about, I'm a girl's girl.

What are your thoughts around aging now? Because, like, you walk in the gym and you look better than most 20 year olds in there. So what, like, has that changed, like, how you view aging?

I mean, honestly, it feels super badass. Yeah, it feels pretty awesome. And I feel like a new person. And I, and I believe, honestly, really truly believe that muscle is the fountain of youth.

It is.

When you have muscle on your body, it just changes everything about you. It changes your whole entire person. And this is, this is like what's. This is longevity is putting muscle on your body. And it's just, it's, it's crazy amazing. And I have, I'm so excited. Yeah, Like, I'm excited to get older. I'm not afraid of it at all. I feel good. I feel excited. I'm like, have so much to look forward to and so much life to live. Live.

Yes. Where do you want people? Like, what do you, where do you want people to find you? Like, obviously go to her Instagram for sure because she's your daily inspiration there and she shared her whole journey, you all. So you can like scroll back. You could. She's shared from the. She never waited. She wasn't like, when I get fit, I'm gonna share you shared along the whole way. She wasn't strategically trying to grow on Instagram. She was just sharing the journey and people followed along, which is amazing. Can people work with you? How do they find more? Tell them all the things.

Yes. So obviously Instagram. My website is themidlife-maven.com.

Okay.

And then I have my app on Playbook where you can do all my workouts I have anywhere from a three day, you can do a three day full body split to six days, you know, three lower body, three upper body. I have all different kinds of workout lifting programs in there and I have recipes. I have a macro calculator in there. I've got some mindset stuff in there. We have a community, community of women in there.

Amazing.

Talking back and forth. It's, it's great. And then I am doing group coaching that's through the circle community.

I love circle.

Yeah, we're on circle. And then we meet every Monday at 4:00pm Pacific Standard Time. But we have a whole community in circle. We have a whole curriculum built around that. We go deep into mindset. We go deep into nutrition, deep into lifting and movement. We talk about all the Mindset is.

So like, yes, mindset's everything.

Mindset is literally people hate when you.

Say you're going to start with mindset, but I start all my programs with mindset.

You have to.

If you, if people are on their.

That's what I do in group coaching. Yeah, that's the same thing.

Yeah, it's the same. Even when we spoke on stage just recently, I, you know, I was told like, people don't want mindset. I'm like, they always say that, but if I don't trickle it in, they won't like my talk. Like that is the thing that helps people shift.

I know people want the quick thing like tell me what to buy, tell me what to get, tell me what to do do. But you, the mindset part is key or it's not going to stick. It's not going to stick.

So good.

So yeah, we do that. We do that in coaching. But yeah.

Thanks Alicia. This is so good. Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

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