Episode 258: Christine Strzepek: Crafting a Legacy of Wellness Beyond Fifty

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. Well, you guys, today I'm bringing on a very special guest who has been part of the do the Thing community for about six months. And the coolest thing is we met through the podcast workshop that I did. And man, it's cool because I didn't even really promote this workshop. And then somehow she joined it and just took control of the situation and did the thing and started her podcast. And now I just told her right before this started that just by her doing the thing and being able to be vulnerable and open on that podcast workshop recording, she's helped 25 more people start podcasts. Because that's the podcast workshop that I sell now, which is exciting. So anyway, you're going to get to meet her. And she also has this amazing way of eating and she does a lot of cooking and all kinds of stuff that I get slightly obsessed on when I'm on her Instagram and email list. So I'm so excited for you guys to meet Christine. Hi, Christine.

Hello. Hello. So I was blessed to have God bring Stacy in my life. And I'll tell you, it's just the weirdest thing. So one day I was scrolling Facebook and I decided that I wanted to do a podcast. And you know, when you decide something, somehow these things come into your life. And so I had signed up for a six month podcasting program and I don't have that kind of attention span. So then I was like, I need something really quick. I need something just to move me forward. And I had signed up for this other program to create small programs, basically webinars and things like that. And I got an email from them and they said, these are all the people that are offering webinars right now. And I saw Stacy's 90 minutes to a podcast and I'm like, oh my goodness, this is for me. This is for me. And when I reached out, she's like, how did you even find me? I haven't even promoted it yet. But then I knew, like, okay, God, I got the message. So I just did the thing. I joined Stacy's do the Thing challenge. I got my butt in gear and I just decided, I'm going to do it. I'm just going to do it. It doesn't have to be perfect. I just want progress. I just want to move forward. I wanted to get off the social media hamster wheel and this has been so great for me. So I have so much gratitude to Stacy.

So much. It's so good to hear you say that, because I think it's so. And we're on a Do the Thing podcast right now. Right. So what you're talking about is how easy it is to get distracted. Right? And I like that you said the attention span. I'm actually going through that right now. I'm building out a new program, doing an audience accelerator program.

And.

And I started building out this course and this whole thing. And then I was like, this is not gonna work. And so that's why now I'm doing it's with simple dares. Like I do the challenges. I'm just adding more support. And I think it's so important for people to realize that if you are going through something that's this thing that's gonna get you distracted, sometimes it's okay to switch and do something else that's gonna help you actually take charge of what you're doing.

Yes. It's so interesting. I definitely see myself when I'm on social media getting shiny object syndrome. I'm like, oh, look over there. Look at that, look at this, look at that. And so to focus my energy in one place has been a terrific hard task, but worth it because I have learned so much in the process. And your dares and your way to motivate people is fantastic. Just really, I think it's a lower barrier of entry. People get so nervous when you say, why don't you do a challenge? I want you to do 30 days with me. But if you say, I dare you to do something, I think that's a whole lot easier to say yes to. Especially for people like me that need that little rush of adrenaline, like, woo. Oh, yeah, let's go.

I love that. Well, tell us about your podcast since we're on that topic.

Sorry. Trying to get all that water in, you know, so. And plus, I don't know, just allergies everywhere, sneezing like crazy. But my podcast is called Lean and Clean with Fitness Chef Christine, and it is all focused on women pretty much over 50, you know, in that mid, midlife range, because you hit that perimenopause stage and you start to gain weight whether you want to or not. Nothing changed in my nutrition, nothing changed in what I was doing. And all of a sudden the pounds just kept packing on. And as a chef, I love to eat. And I'm like, I got to figure this out, because this is not. I can't just balloon up like crazy. So I went through a personal journey of weight loss in perimenopause. So in my 40s and coming into my 50s, I had already had all the certifications for nutrition and for fitness. I teach fitness. But I wanted a way to communicate to ladies in midlife that there is hope. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Don't lose focus. Just get rid of all the noise. Just breathe. You can get on Instagram and you look at all these teeny chicks, and you're like, oh, my gosh. Like, I just not good enough. You get in your head, you know that, Gosh, I just. I need to do better. I need to do better. I need to do better. And my goal is to get everybody just to take a. And make it simple enough that anybody can do it and get people back to cooking, back to having some family time, and get out of that whole rat race of diet syndrome. Stop going crazy with it.

And so is that how you ended up creating the lean and clean method?

Yes. So I started with teaching fitness and then people, but how did you lose the weight? And I explained what I did. And then the more people asked, the more I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was talking about. So I took nutrition class after nutrition class for CrossFit, for people that were vegans, for people that were elderly, for people that had diabetes. I took them all. But I needed a way to make it simple because it can be overwhelming. Do you fast? Do you eat every two hours? What do you do and what's going to work? And I personally love food. So as I was developing it, I wrote cookbooks for my favorite foods. I wrote an international one that was a kind of collaboration with other chefs because I truthfully, I live in the South. We don't eat a whole lot of curry, So I had to get more familiar with that. But in the end, I came up with a system that's very workable that the ladies in my free group loved. I did a nice test group with them, and I taught several programs, from a gut health to strength training, all different things. But this is just a nice, relaxed way to kind of find a rhythm of eating that works, that you don't have to overthink it. And so the cookbooks are there as a kind of a idea generator. I don't even follow my own recipes. I just kind of wing it. But some people like the methodology, so it kind of gives you both. And when you sign up for my email list, you get the free book. It's good.

Oh, why don't you say it right now? That way people, if they're driving.

Yeah. So if you're on the Lean and Clean podcast and you look at the show notes at the bottom of the show notes every time I have a link that allows you to sign up for my email and then you can get download the free cookbook so you can get cooking. I like it. And get a little bit of knowledge of nutrition because I think it's important for everybody to have base knowledge of nutrition. Like what do we need to be healthy? I mean it seems so easy, but if you think just our government alone, I mean we went through, everything should be low fat, everything should be fat free, everything. You should have a high carbohydrate diet. Look at the food pyramid. I mean, we've gone through all these different phases and the truth is it gets confusing to go back to basics. Like, what does your body need to fuel up? I mean it should be a positive and wonderful experience when you eat, but you have to keep fueling your body. I know so many ladies in their striving to lose weight, starve themselves, they just don't eat. And they're not eating a little piece of toast here and a little cracker there and they're wondering why they're not losing weight. Well, your body needs fuel, especially if you're weight training. Gotta pump up those muscles. Ladies.

What have you seen when you see people go through lean and cream? The lean and green method. Oh my God, say the name, hold on, I'll say it again. Lean and Lean and clean method. Yeah, it's.

Yeah, I'm tongue twister. So the first thing I notice is people are like, oh my gosh, that's way too much food. I cannot eat that much. I cannot eat three meals a day and some snacks. I'll never lose weight like you. Just trust the process. Just trust me. Because if you're eating a big serving of vegetables, it may look like a lot of food, but there are barely any calories in there. And there's so much nutrients in those foods, they're so nutrient dense. So trust the process. And then they'll get back to me after the first week or so like, oh my gosh, I actually lost weight. I've not been hungry. I've been eating a ton of food. But they're not eating processed foods so your body can recognize real food. It's like, yay. And I'm not saying you can end up like a bikini bottle. What I'm saying is our goal for everybody they work with is to be your best 90 year old self, that you can keep getting in and out of a chair, that you can walk without a walker, that you don't have a cane, that you're not hunched over, but you have flexibility. You can touch down and tie your shoes. It's the simple everyday things that we want to get at. And our LDL and our HDL and all those numbers are all good without worrying about, hey, I have a little cellulite on my thighs. Who cares? So, I mean, if your goal is to be a bikini competitor, more power to you. This will still work, but for the majority of my ladies, we just want to feel confident and healthy.

That's right. I love the phrase best 90 year old self. I don't think I've ever heard that before. And it's true, right? Especially as we're aging. I mean, what do you want? That's everything.

I started out with 6 year old self when I was in my 40s, and then it was 7 year old self. And the older I get, I'm like, oh, shoot, I'm just gonna go seven quick.

Well, I'd love to hear your do the thing story because you're doing so many things right. How do you do it?

Well, I don't know because I just. First of all, I have a trouble saying no. I have to really reel myself in. But I'm an idea person and I've always been this way. So coming out of college, I had this idea. I wanted to open a flower shop. So I worked in a bunch of flower shops. Dropped out of working for Xerox, opened a flower shop. From there, we moved to California. I sold the business and then I went to culinary school. And from culinary school, we moved again. And then I was went to pastry school, and then I did that, and then I went to bakery. And then I always in motion. I'm a woman in motion all the time. And so when it became apparent that I wanted to go more towards fitness and health, I needed to use the skills that I had as a chef and to provide recipes for people. So I did weekly meal plans for everybody, which were popular, but they didn't really know how to cook the foods I was suggesting that they eat. They're like, so do I steam the chicken? Do I saute the chicken? To me, it seemed obvious. You know, you say chicken breast with a mustard sauce. Well, okay, that seems obvious to me. But they didn't know, do I bake it? Do I saute it? Do I steam it? So I wrote out more detail. And then people are like, can I eat bread? Well, yes, but sourdough Bread is better than regular bread. Well, how do I make it? So then I became. I decided to write the cookbooks to show them how to make it. And with that came video tutorials. So I have the YouTube channel that does more of the video side of it, and some of it's on Instagram. And then I love inspirational things like I love T shirts with sayings and I love Christian uplifting saying. So then I added, because you on Etsy, you can't have just three products. The cookbooks just weren't getting enough traction. So I'm like, well, I'll do some T shirts together with that. I was like, oh, those are cool gym bags. I'm gonna do some gym bags. And then it just keeps. It just keeps rolling. So then it was the E Commerce, the cooking, the coaching, the podcast. And then it just keeps growing and growing. And so now I'm doing my Plus Pilates certification. And I. Somebody asked me today, oh, I even do live Pilates classes. And I was really, to be honest with you, I was doing it partially for myself and partially for my extra CECs just to keep all my accreditations because I have all these certifications and you have to keep them up every year. So I don't know, maybe I'll be teaching Pilates soon.

Who knows? I love this because you're just showing how much you can actually do when you're just in movement. Right. And not knowing each step. It's almost like each step then opens up the new step.

Yeah, for sure. Well, you've also taught me through, actually, your whole group has taught me too, that you can do all these different things and you don't have to be a hundred percent for each thing. You can sort of compartmentalize things. So in E commerce, you don't have to be on top of it a hundred percent all the time. You can put them up there and kind of let them sell themselves. And one of my biggest struggles is the whole blog thing. I would like to do a better job of blogging out my podcast. And I've also learned don't be afraid to farm things out. It's okay to get some help. I finally hired a virtual assistant because I just couldn't keep up with everything. Just answering people back quickly and talking to everybody. It's been great when people reach out in the podcast or in my free groups, but you're only one person. You gotta have a little help once in a while. So it's been really helpful. I've done some stuff with people at Upwork and people in fiverr just to help my technical skills, because I can spend hours trying to send one email sometimes and they could do it in five minutes. So worth it.

And you mentioned Xerox that you did. That was before you kind of started. Were you doing sales there or what.

Were you doing Xerox?

Okay.

You know, it's crazy. So when I was in high school, I worked at a flower shop, and I told my parents, I want to go to school for horticulture. And they said, no, we're not paying for that. You need to go to school for business. All right. So, of course, I'm a rebellious teen. I'm like, I'm going to go to school for business, but I'm going to get a job in a flower shop. So I worked probably 20 to 40 hours somewhere in there, kind of whenever I wanted at these flower shops in Dayton, Ohio, while I went to University of Dayton and got a degree in marketing and finance. And then I got hired by Xerox. I was probably the worst financial analyst because I. My heart was not in it. I worked a bazillion hours. But you'd go the next day, and you're like, well, we changed the numbers a little bit to make the story. And I was like, what? I was here, like, all night fixing that. And that was like, really? So that I knew was not for me. So I was biding my time, and I had gotten pregnant with our first child, and she had passed away at birth. And I just decided that I needed to change my life. This was no longer working for me. So I quit, took my 401k and converted into cash, bought a building and started my flower shop.

Wow.

I am a very risky person. My husband is completely the opposite. Thank God he's so supportive. He's like, we'll make it work somehow, I don't know how. So this is what we did. He was traveling for work. I brought my baby girl into the shop. I had another child and brought her into the flower shop with me. And then I had my second child, brought him into the flower shop with me every day, back and forth. We were doing weddings every weekend. And my wonderful husband was there with the brides, helping them get down the aisle while I was giving everybody the flowers. And then he got an opportunity to move to California with a job that was, like, to exit our income. So I let the flower shop go and we moved to California. But I didn't have any friends. I didn't know anybody. I had two toddlers. I was like, oh, it's not good. So my husband worked all day, and when he came home, I'm like, oh, my gosh. If I'm gonna start talking baby talks, you know, if I don't get around adults. So I'm gonna start taking some night classes. So I started local culinary school, taking some night classes, taking more night classes, and taking classes at every restaurant that offered them on the weekends. And then pretty soon, I took so many classes, I was ready to graduate.

Do you think you took those classes? To be around my people, I definitely.

Needed to be around humans in motion.

Yeah. So was it the cooking, or was it the people, or was it both?

It started out as a way to be around adults. I was around kids so often. But it also became my mission to be the best at it. I'm a very competitive person. So when my kids would take a nap, I would make these elaborate meals, and Drew would invite people home from work all the time because somebody's gotta eat all this food. I was trying to learn to make bread. I didn't make one loaf. I made 25 loaves. Every variety, every kind. And so I became very obsessed. And then we moved from California, where I had started doing pastry work, to Charlotte, North Carolina, where we are currently. And again, it's like a starting over. So I was like, well, I don't know anybody. I don't know any restaurants or anything. I'm going to go to school again. So I went to school, and I was a teacher's assistant at my local college with a guy who was in his 80s, the teacher, and he was in the baker's union. He was fascinating. And I learned more about baking from him and these old ladies at a pastry shop in California than I ever did in any other school. And that was where my love of baking came in. And I had started selling at the farmer's markets. Muffins and breads, the farmer's markets. And started gaining a really good following to the point where I would sell out in, like, an hour. And it was be, like, you know, hundred, two hundred items. And then I hired somebody to help me make more. Another chef. And it grew and grew and grew. Biggest mistake I ever made was taking it from my home to a commercial location, because that became a nightmare. But he came in one day, and he goes, this is it? This is what you've created? The chef that I taught with? Well, yeah, it's just a tiny little location. It's like, where are the big mixers? Where's the big. No, no, it's an artisan bakery. We make everything by hand. He goes, you do what?

How do you think you take such big risks? What goes through your process? Do you have a process that you go through?

No, I just don't think about it. I just do it. That's why your challenges work so well. I'm a very impulsive person. And it's funny because my daughter is the same way. She owns her own business. One day she came to me, she's like, I'm gonna sign a lease for some space. Like you are. Well, where is it? She's like, it's a five year lease. I'm like, a five year lease? Oh, that's bad. I don't know. I don't think you should do that. She's like, no, I'm gonna do it. Like, okay, okay. So it's good when I do it when other people do it. Like.

Is that so funny?

It is, it is. But you know what, what's the worst that can happen? You fail and you learn. Some of the biggest lessons I've had is in failure. So I no longer fear failure. That's hard. Now having said that, I also have a very tender skin. I had a hater. Serious, almost to the point of stalker. From May of last year to September, every day they would email me. They would email people I know they would call was working and just say horrible things about me. I have no idea who the person is. I never was able to find out. They were super clever. They used all the VPNs and all the fancy stuff. But it got in my head. Whenever you have that self doubt and you think I'm not good enough and then somebody says it like, oh well, maybe I'm not like, thanks, you know. So really I had to come to a place where I'm like, okay, this is who I am. If I'm not good enough, I'm still going to put myself out there. Cause even if I help one person, totally worth it. But man, did that take a lot of introspection. Yeah.

So there's so much in there, right? Because I think so many times we're hiding, right? Because we're scared of maybe something even like that.

And then, yeah, I hid afterwards. I did.

How did you get through that time to be able to tap back into your confidence again?

So I took a little break from social media because they joined all my free groups and were making disparaging comments. They went through my Facebook friends list and sent messages to people that I was friends with. Like I said, they called my Work. I did end up quitting my job because it was very personal and they knew people that I taught in class. And so I was thinking that it was somebody in class. And after a while, I got so paranoid. I was really nervous, you know, and so honestly, my husband had to talk to me. He's like, you are certified. You did take all these classes. Stop doubting yourself. You know your stuff. Why are you letting this bother you? The guys just don't overthink stuff like that. But me, it got in my head. Yeah. So I took some time. I journaled like crazy, like, you know, this is happening. And, like, I don't like this feeling. And I was worried about affecting my daughter's business. Like, all these thoughts go through your head, like, what's going to happen? So. So nothing ended up happening out of it. And I took a little break. I reframed myself. I decided to open up my message to a wider variety of people and march forward.

Yeah, I love that idea that you took space. I talk about that a lot because so many times we're walking through that fire and it's hard to see anything. But when you can actually stop everything, that's when you're able to really expand even more.

One of the things that somebody told me in this whole situation, we're like, how sad is it that somebody expends that much time to tear somebody down? And I got thinking about that. I'm like, and this is somebody I don't know. So, yeah, it's really sad that somebody would go that far, spend that much time. Invaluable time that we only have limited time of to tear someone else down for no reason. Because what they said be like, you're not certified. Well, I clearly was certified because they wouldn't have hired me if I had the certification. Yeah, crazy stuff.

What do you think you ended up learning from that experience?

I wish I could say I became mentally tougher. I'm not sure that's the case, but I definitely feel like I could have gone in couples different directions. I could have really put myself out there more and just said, look, here's all my certifications. Kind of waving the flag, I think. I wish that I hadn't engaged so much of my time thinking about it and worrying about it and going to the police, and it became this giant problem that I spent an enormous amount of time on. So I think if it ever happened again, I would just stop, breathe more, and then just not engage, just move on. Cause when they would make disparaging comments online I would try to be like, well, that's not true. You can't help but defend yourself.

Yeah. I almost wonder if you got more conviction afterward because you had to tap into who you really are in your certifications, and you're like, no, I'm actually pretty good.

Good.

So even though maybe you thought all these things before, but when someone says it and then maybe you believe it for a minute, but then after you had time to think about it, you're like, wait, that's not even true.

Yeah. I mean, it definitely made me more focused, like, okay, my messaging must be off or something, because how could they actually think that? Like, how could they. Where did I go wrong? That they thought that I was doing something that was out of my range? Like, they kept saying, stay in your lane. What are you even talking about?

Yeah.

But it did also make me recognize how much I love the nutrition aspect of it. Not just the. Just the exercise part. And so it forced me to really lean into what I love, really focus deeply. I love to cook. I love the thought of sharing that gift with people, having people come over for dinner, creating your own dishes. And it doesn't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to be hard. It can be quick foods. I love cooking with my grandchild. I think that everybody needs to get back to the basics. You can make food faster at home than you can go through the drive through. No, I mean, it doesn't take anything off. I can make bread dough in five minutes and a couple hours later, have a great loaf of bread. There's no reason to buy it in the grocery store. It doesn't take any time. Makes your house smell great, too.

Yeah. I think that's like the vision you have, right, Is being able to actually smell bread when you're home. I think that would be so cool.

I have it every day. So great.

I'd love to have you kind of talk to the people right now that maybe are working that job and they've been wanting to leave that job forever, and they're just so there, and they're still there, and they're listening to this podcast and they're like another person with a business. Okay, what is she saying? And then what could you say to that person?

So I say, do it. If you have a goal and you have a vision, do it. The worst thing that can happen is that you fail and you have to backpedal a little bit. But if you never try, then you're never going to know if you could have done it. And think of the people that you impact. One of my biggest goals is always when I die, what is the impact that I am going to leave on the world? And are they going to care if I'm sitting at a desk doing financials? No, I was replaced in 10 minutes. Guy said I was leaving. There you go. This girl's coming to take your job tomorrow. They don't care. They can walk in your office tomorrow and say you're gone and they don't really care about you. But when you work for yourself, the people that you work with do care about you. And that makes all the difference. Working. And I call it kingdom work because what I do is when I work with a client, 50% of the profits go to help single moms. So I'm helping a client, they're helping the single mom. So that's a win, win. And that it's just soul building just makes you feel like, wow, I made a difference in the world. How great is that compared to going to job, getting a paycheck, Going to a job, getting a paycheck. Maybe you won't be able to do it right away. Maybe find an exit strategy like I did when I was in business, I had an exit strategy. I knew I was only going to work for a certain amount of time and then I was leaving to pursue my dream, find a way to get that exit strategy implemented. And so maybe you do it in baby steps. So first paycheck I ever had at Xerox, I bought a floral cooler, which is ridiculous. This is a giant cooler. Then I kept accumulating equipment so that when I was ready to make the jump, everything was in place. I had all the equipment I needed. All I needed to do is buy a building, move it all in and be ready. So the more planning that you can do ahead of time with that vision, the more success you're going to have. Now I see every day online, you know, quit your job and do this great amazing e commerce thing, which E commerce is great, but it's slow unless you find that one product that's fantastical. But be realistic, I mean it's going to take time. It's taken me, I've been coaching now for six years, something like that. And it ebbs and flows. Sometimes you have a lot of clients, like the beginning of the year, everybody decides they want to get fit and healthy and whatever and sometimes you have a different client. Now I, I've moved that over by teaching a class all the time and because I used to do high ticket clients one on one and to be honest, that brought me less joy than doing a group of clients at a lower price and having more fun, because I like that interaction. So you have to do it. Kind of lights your heart and soul on fire.

Yeah. That's what I'm hearing from you, is that you've really been able to follow that ever since you left Xerox, where you're really able to follow that. How do you think I call it? Following the heart pangs? I think you heard me say that before. But what do you think helps you do that?

For me, it's faith. It's just faith in God that no matter what road I choose, I'll be successful. And it may not be financially successful, but that if I trust that this is my calling and this is where I need to go, that somehow it will work out, and it always does. I mean, there's some trials and tribulations along the way, but it. I don't know, it just does. Once you set a course for yourself and you're committed to that course, then it's just baby stepping your way through it. And sometimes you have to dig and zag and you don't see things coming. And, I mean, people come into your life that you're not expecting. Hello, Stacy. But really, I mean, it's amazing. It's really amazing when you stop and think about, I had a coach who was in Scotland for a year and a half. How did that happen? And through him, I met people in Ireland and South Africa and all over. And so that never would have happened had I not taken that leap of faith and just tried.

Hmm.

So many things happen when we kind of get out of our comfort zone.

So true. What would be your number one tip for eating healthy?

Eat. Don't starve yourself. So one of the things I love about the way I teach is that you really need to listen to your body. You have to know and trust yourself. So, for instance, in the morning, well, throughout the day, I start out with protein and vegetables. You can have unlimited protein and vegetables. You eat until you are satisfied. You're not stuffed, but you're satisfied. And then you move on. And if you need a snack, you have a snack. But theoretically, if you've had a big breakfast and you're satisfied, you're probably not gonna be hungry until lunch. So if you can hang out till lunchtime, that's what you do. And then you're going to have protein and vegetables, and you have to have a couple fruits each day. And we have to have things that have are good for our gut health. So we need some fermentation, like sauerkraut, fermented pickles, Greek yogurt, anything that's going to be good for our gut bacteria. And all of a sudden you're no longer focused on, my gosh, what's the portion size I should have? What am I? Your body will self regulate when you start listening to your body. And some people call it intuitive eating. But I also have some checks and balances. Like when you get older, you need a significant more protein as a lady, because your muscle tone is going down year over year over year. And if you are willing to lift, you can certainly negate some of that. But in order to do all that, you need a good amount of protein. And so rule of thumb, we usually say 1 gram per pound of body weight at your goal weight. So let's say your goal is, I don't know, £120. Then you would look for about 120 grams of protein a day. People are like, holy cow. The first thing I usually have people do is calculate how many grams of protein they eat during the day. And I'm not talking about getting out a calculator or anything. You just sort of look at the package and you're like, okay, how many grams of protein are on this thing? And then you jot it down and you kind of mentally add it up. So like if I had a serving of cottage cheese or something, a 17 grams of protein and then I had some yogurt and that's 20 grams of protein. Now I'm at 37. And so you sort of track during the day and all of a sudden you get. I had some ladies come back and like I did 30 grams today. I'm like, great. You're supposed to be at 110. Like, what? Oh my gosh, that's a lot. But once they trust the process and they start doing that, man, it's unbelievable. Their energy goes up, their clothes are fitting better. And I'm a non scale person. I mean, you can weigh yourself in the morning and you can weigh yourself at night and get two different answers. That's just not for me. Yeah, so I used to be really stuck on the scale. Like I would weigh myself constantly. Finally I ditched it and I never looked back. I couldn't even tell you how much away.

What's your number one piece of advice to help people do the thing?

Don't overthink it. You can be your own worst enemy. You can think of all the reasons why you shouldn't do something. And you know this because when it came to the Bucket List challenge, I was like, I got this coming up. I'm going to be babysitting my grandson for a week, and he's only three. He's got lots of energy. How am I going to do this? And then I have the podcast, and then I have all the E commerce stuff, and I'm teaching live fitness. How am I gonna fit all this in? And I said, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. We make time for things that are important, and so you just have to push yourself forward. You have to find a way. And really, you can. It's like when you're lifting that last weight and it's so heavy, and you're like, I can't do it. I can't do it. And then you do it. You're like, oh, I can do it. You just have to flex your mental muscle.

Yeah, what's so good about that? It's like every time you flex the mental muscle, then almost like when you're doing something new, you can remember, I've already done this before. Even though it might be a different thing.

Yeah, we can do hard things. Like I always say, I. I survived a hundred percent of my hard days. And you'll continue to survive those a hundred percent of hard days. You just have to choose your hard. You have to decide how much am I willing to put myself out there. And for me, the reward is great. So I take the great risk. I like it. I get that little adrenaline rush. You know, I'm curious.

Is there anything I didn't ask you that you wish I did?

I would really like to know how you got started. Like, I know some of this story, but I have really enjoyed the processes that we've gone through, you and I, but I don't even know the story of how we actually connected. Like, how did you get on that email list? And so it was just such a coincidence. It was not coincidence because things happen for a reason. But. But such a cool. Such a cool thing. It was perfect timing.

I know. It's actually Ann Marie in the group. She just published a podcast episode yesterday. She interviewed me on her podcast, and I think she hit because I had this thing for people in the challenge when they were at 20 that I'd come on their podcast. And so I think she. Oh, good.

I'm well aware of that.

Oh, good. Yeah, that'd be fun. Yeah. Then you can hear my whole story. We could do that. But, yeah, I think she hit, like, 25 or 30 episodes and then I went on there and I just heard it. She just published it yesterday. And it's such a good description of how do the thing started. But yeah, I mean, it was. It's literally started from a Facebook group. It's crazy. It's so crazy to me. But yeah, I'd love to come on your podcast.

Yeah, on this. We got on the same page and it was just a miraculous thing. Cause I think I'm on like the $7 email sequence or something. And then. Oh yeah.

So, yeah, so what happened was I finished the podcast challenge, which was a five week challenge, and I took like hundreds of people through you. I think you met a lot of them by now. And they started podcasts and it went really good. But then there was a percentage that didn't do it right because maybe the attention span, it's too long or something. And so I'm like, okay, I think I could just do what I did in five weeks in one day. So then I did a full day podcast intensive and took people through that and that went really good. And then I was like, I wonder if I could do it in a couple of hours. And that's when I found the workshop people. And they were awesome. And then that's where the workshop was created. Yeah, it was like. And then it ended up being even less. I think it was like an hour and 15 minutes after editing. And it's literally. Yeah. I mean, people are starting their. It's crazy to me. They're starting their podcast. So people are spending thousands of dollars to go through these podcast programs. But for $47, I'm like, we literally can start your podcast.

Let me tell your audience, it's a great investment. It really, really is. I mean, I'm still. Because I had previously paid for the bigger program with someone else. I. I'm still part of that because I paid for it. But it is so complicated that you made it so much easier. Because I was so like, oh my gosh, I'm never gonna get started.

Yeah.

And you know, I'm one of those people, I'm like, I just wanna start. I just wanna start. I just wanna.

I'm glad you said that. Cause I mentioned this in the beginning, but even the program I'm doing now, I just took a couple people through it and I'm gonna do the big launch for it in February. And so when I did everything, and I think you sound like you did things this way too, it was very intuitive where I didn't plan or anything. It just was like, okay, this is coming up. Okay, I'm going to do that. And so then I realized when I'm helping people, I know what I'm doing, but I didn't have it written down. And so I get that. And then I also know so much more now than when I did when I started. So I'm really trying to make it a whole expansive thing. But the problem with that is then it gets complicated. And so now I'm so excited because I've been working with them for I think, a month and a half now. And it's freaking so cool because now it's so simple and so easy. And it's because I did the thing and I just. Before I even knew what I was offering, two people signed up just because they were in the community and they already knew what I could do. And then now it's going to be really cool. But anyway, yeah, I think it's that idea. And I think it's good to stay here for a minute just because whatever you're doing, it sounds like you're doing the same thing with eating, right? It's like, don't do this really complicated thing, right? Just eat more protein.

Really? I mean, you can drive yourself crazy. Because of the amount of CECs I have to take, I have to take a lot of nutrition classes and usually the instructors are PhD level nutrition gurus or whatever. And even they don't agree. One will say, women in their 50s should definitely do intermittent fasting. It's important to balance your hormones. And the next guy will come on and be like, it's important to keep your hormones balanced by eating every two hours. And the next person. And you're like, wait a minute. This is the same seminar you just got asking yourself why this is really confusing.

Yeah.

So then as a coach, you're trying to go back and explain it. I thought that there has to be the bare bones, simple way to do it. Yes, that's me. I love that. That's why.

Yeah, I think that's why we connect so much, because there's so much noise out there. And that's where I think people get lost in that confusion because you're hearing so much. And if you're on the wrong algorithm, forget it. Crazy.

Even myself, though, you can start to get kind of lost. You start flipping through things and then you start to question yourself, like, wait a minute. Yeah, something. And they're like, back up, back up, back up.

Gosh, it's so true.

I love your simple formula. I love everything that you're doing. I love all the people that you're helping, and you are so deserving of all the people that follow you because you're just doing a great job.

Thank you so much. And I've been loving watching you, and it's so fun. I love watching, like I've mentioned in the beginning, your cooking videos. It's so awesome, because that's not my do the thing. I'm not cooking. And so anytime I can watch someone make something that in my head is complicated, simple, it's just. Yeah, it changes a lot of things, so.

Well, I have to laugh because I don't edit anything when it comes to the cooking video. So I drop stuff and things fling over and.

But that's what's great. I remember seeing the one when I asked you to post it in the find your voice challenge, and I was like, oh, my gosh, this is so freaking good. Because we're seeing you. We're seeing you do it. That's like, crazy town thing. It was great, because I think that's what you want to see. When you see someone real doing something, then all of a sudden, you're having the belief that you could do it too. Yeah.

I mean, I had a chef friend come over and do a couple episodes with me, and he's like, do you think we should hide the stuff on the back counter? Move it. I'm like, oh, no. I'm all about real. You know how I am. You don't like it, that's okay. I have stacks of stuff behind me. It's okay.

And you guys take a listen to that because it's so true. That's when you're really falling into yourself, because the more you know yourself, the more you can be yourself.

Yep.

My new quote. You're going to hear that tomorrow. Well, please share how everyone can find out about you and make sure they're following all your stuff.

Thanks. Okay, so let's see. Facebook, I have a group that's called menopause macros and movement. And I have lean and clean with Fitness Chef Christine. That is all recipes, all food, all the time. Same thing on YouTube. Different recipes, though. And then Instagram, it's just Chris NoelleHC health coach. And then, of course, the podcast lean and clean with fitness Chef Christine. That is me all the time.

Thanks so much for coming on. This was so much fun.

Thank you. And, of course, you can find me in the do the thing challenge too.

Oh, right.

Hang out there.

And thanks so much, guys, for joining. And do the thing. Don't wait for opportunity. Create it. And join the Facebook group. Do the thing community.com Bye.