How To Get Ripped at 51 w/Alicia Erickson

00:00Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. Like every woman needs to know their own potential. Every woman needs to know their own power and tap in and realize they can make changes.

00:31Like they are not victim to whatever else. They can take charge of their lives and they can make big time changes. Yo, yo, yo. Yo, yo, yo. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show. And guys, I feel like I can do this intro because once you get to know who I have on the podcast today and you go start to follow her, you're going to jam out on her morning hype sessions.

01:03Today, guys, I have Alicia here with me. She's also known as the midlife maven. And I know this is going to resonate so hard. At 51, Alicia completely transformed her entire health and fitness journey and proving that midlife is just the beginning. So after also a 13-year-long career as a portrait photographer, she's now on a mission to empower other women in their prime to embrace their strength and vitality through strength training and nutrition.

01:33And everybody listening, once you start following her, wait until you see how ripped and incredible she looks. I'm so excited. Yeah, let's go. I'm so excited to have you on here, Alicia. Thanks for being here. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for having me. This is so fun. I can't wait. We're going to have – your vibe is so great. Your energy is so great. We're going to have so much fun today. Yay! So let's kick it off. Like what initially – so your journey of transforming your health and embracing midlife as a time for growth and strength is so inspiring.

02:04I mean, I've been following you on social media and I love watching your stories. What initially sparked your decision to take this path and what did those like early steps look like as you began such an incredible transformation? So I've always been about my fitness and health. Like from a very young age. My dad was very active. My mom, she did kind of the Jane Fonda thing. But they were both good models for me. But my dad was an Ironman triathlete. And so he was super inspirational to me.

02:34But he took me to my first ever fun run. And I remember that feeling when I was done with that fun run. I was like, whoa, I got a little boost of something. This is like – this feels good. I like, you know, that endorphin kick. I'm like, I like this. So that carried through my life. Like that was just the theme of I knew that I needed to be moving my body on a regular basis for my mental health. Not just my physical health, but my mental health. Fast forward to having kids. Being a new mom. A stay-at-home mom. I was like, I need to do this or I'm going to lose my ever-loving mind.

03:07I need to sweat. Yeah, like ever. I seriously, I was like, I am going to fall deep and go deep down that hole if I do not keep moving my body. Somehow break a sweat. Like daily I need to do something or I'm going to lose my mind. So it's just been a theme throughout the course of my life. So I think probably in my early 30s was when I joined a gym and I really started to learn more about lifting weights.

03:37But I think what a lot of us women tend to do is what I tended to do. Even though I was, you remember Jamie Eason? Do you know Jamie Eason? I've heard of that name. She was on bodybuilding.com and I did her programs and I was like, this is amazing. But I kind of tended to go back to like the boot camp classes, you know, that a lot of women do. They kind of tend to, they want to be in community, which I understand. So I kind of tended to go back to that. So I kind of go back and forth. And then into my 40s, I really started getting into CrossFit. So I did CrossFit for about eight years and really loved that.

04:08And I loved everything that it taught me because I felt like it just taught me a lot about pushing myself, about trying new things that I didn't think I could do, you know, learning new things, new skills, how to move my body. And I know that that can be kind of a controversial thing with CrossFit and like proper movement and stuff. Our gym was really good about moving well. So I will say that. But as I was entering that perimenopause phase, I was like, this is just not, I just kind of felt like my body just wasn't responding as well anymore. And there was just also a lot going on with life, you know, running businesses.

04:42My husband also is a small business owner. So we just, you know, we're all about the entrepreneurial spirit, but it takes a lot of effort and then raising teenage girls. So then when they were finally, when my girls finally were gone and had left, I was like, oh, okay, well, what's, what are we doing now? Like, it's so all-consuming, you know, it's just so, you're just, you're going, going, going. Then I was like, okay, well, I'm going to actually, I want to really see what I made. I want to see what I can do with this. Like, this has always been a passion.

05:13It's always been a priority for me. But I'm like, let's take this next level. I'm going to figure out how I'm going to do this. And I was like, I need to go back to the, to the weight room and just start regular strength training. I need to get my, my, my protein in check. I need to up my protein. I knew I wasn't, my macronutrients were not where they needed to be. So I was like, I need to figure out what my macronutrients need to be, get back in the gym. I need to stop doing all this cardio because I was always a runner. And just all this high intense, long cardio.

05:44I'm like, we're going to lift weights. We're going to prioritize our protein. And we're going to, and I actually cut sugar, which I'll go back into all. I know. I think you have more questions about that, but I had cut out alcohol and then I, it kind of turned into sugar. So then I decided I was cutting sugar, just refined, you know, processed sugars. Um, so walking nutrition and weightlifting. And I was like laser freaking focused. I was like, we're freaking doing this. And I, I just was like on a mission and it just was like the results started to come. And I was like, dang, okay.

06:18Like, this is really working. Like once I got super focused and honed in on what I wanted to do and stuck with it, it was like, it just wasn't, it was amazing. Amazing. You mentioned the basics there. You mentioned back to the weight room. You mentioned protein intake and you mentioned macros. Yeah. And something I see too, that you do on social media, which is inspired me because I'm only at 2000 steps today. Don't yell at me is to get out there and get my 10 K steps in walking too. Yes. Huge.

06:49Like walking has is my new favorite, absolute favorite thing to do. I do not run anymore. I walk and I hike. I live in Washington state. So we have like a million hikes here and we just, we hike all summer long. We're snowshoeing this winter. Like it's just my favorite. It feels so good. And my body loves it. Yeah. Yeah. When you stopped CrossFit and you went back into what you just said you did, what did, like, where did you have to lose weight? Were you skinny fat? Were you overweight? Like what was the, I wanted to lose like 10 ish pounds, 10 to 15. I just had like a little extra layer going on.

07:22And so I went into a caloric deficit at first. Um, and I did that for about three to four months. And then from there, it took a minute for me to start losing weight because my body was adjusting to the protein. Cause I had not really tracked my protein like that before. And I was like, Whoa, hold on a second. And so it took a minute for things to kind of start happening. And then once they did, it was like really kind of quick. My body started to respond. And from that point I was like, okay, I'm happy with what I'm weighing. I just want to recon from here. I just want to like stick with what I'm doing, stay at maintenance and just push hard in the

07:54gym and recon. And that's like, that was crazy too. Watching what happened over the next year. You just said maintenance because I say maintenance is where the magic happens. Like sometimes, although people can go into a cut, some people shouldn't go into a calorie deficit or a cut. So you mentioned maintenance there. Like, yeah, just lifted heavier inside the gym. That's what you did. Yeah. And when you see the pictures of me, when I, when I was at the end of my cut, like a year later, it's insane how I just, and I wish I would have done a DEXA DEXA, like at the

08:25beginning of my maintenance. Cause I know that I put on so much muscle. You just like, I completely changed my body composition. It was crazy. Insane. And then my maintenance, like your, what women don't realize is that, you know, you, so you're in maintenance and then as you're putting on more muscle, your maintenance, actually your calories go up because muscle is so efficient and muscle burns through your food. So you get to eat more food. It's freaking awesome. It is freaking awesome. And I just wish more women understood that, which is why you doing what you're doing.

08:55And this, you know, you coming on and sharing this message. I always say like, whenever I hear, hear people saying the same thing that I'm saying, it just, it makes, uh, it makes it feel good because it's like, Oh, Nikki says this, but at least she's saying this too. So it actually might mean something and it gets more believability behind it. Totally. And I think especially with my generation, cause my generation, Gen X, it's just been taught something completely different. And so it's very hard to get this through. Yeah. A hundred percent. But yeah. Yeah. So you did all of this around 51, right?

09:26Yeah. As I was turning 50. So were you any experiencing any signs of pre-menopause or are you going through? Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, no. So yeah, definitely. I felt like as I was going into for sure into my mid forties, I was like perimenopause was coming on. And I definitely noticed that with just the activities that I was doing. And then also with alcohol, because I decided to cut out alcohol after like a 20 year relation, 25 plus years relationship with alcohol. I was like, this just is not doing it anymore. This is my body is just like, we are done.

09:57We are not handling this like we used to. We need to be done. It was just making me feel like crud. And then also I had goals. Like I had things I wanted to do and it was just getting in my way. So I completely cut that. You just notice things that your body just responds to differently as you're coming into Perry. It's like, uh, this ain't doing it anymore. Yeah. Yeah. I love watching your story. I think it was last night where you're pulling, pouring your seltzer into a wine glass. Yeah. Oh yeah. I drink it out of a goblet. A little goblet. Or like a chalice. I call it. Dancing to rap music at that. Yeah.

10:28Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah. Cause I'm just like, you know what? I'm more fun sober than I was before. I'm like more fun now. My energy is like skyrocket, you know? Oh yeah. What motivated you? Like you talked a little bit there. What motivated you to fully like take out alcohol, take out processed sugar? Well, you know, I am, well, I will say I am a woman of faith. So I definitely felt like something in my spirit, like, and I've heard somebody else say this before, like it just wasn't aligning with me just like spiritually, mentally, physically

10:58and every way, like every aspect of my life, it just like was not aligning. It was just not matching up. And I'm the kind of person, as you can see, I kind of go all in with what I do. And so alcohol was not like, I understand that some people are like, Hey, I just need to moderate. It's too much for me to completely cut it. Hey, if that works for you, if moderation works for you and you can, you know, moderation is zero to two glasses a week. That's moderation. And what people consider a glass. I mean, what I used to consider a glass was like more probably like three glasses.

11:29So if that works for you, that's great. But for me, I knew myself what I needed to do for me. Like every person has their own decision that they need to make and they don't need to compare with anybody else. As far as when it comes to alcohol, you need to do what you know is best for you. And I just knew in the depths of my soul that it needed to be completely gone because it was too habit forming for me. It was like four or five, six days a week. And I could, yeah. Oh yeah. I could do like an anywhere from a glass to a bottle. Easy, easy. Or even more on the weekends.

11:59I'm like, this is just not, I can't do this anymore. I need to completely be done. That's amazing. First of all, kudos to you. That's really hard for, for people to do. First of all, acknowledge. Like, I think I love that you said that you're a part of you, like you listen, you have faith or spiritual universe. God, that is, you had the voice inside of you and you followed it. And that is amazing. Yeah. What, at that point, was this when you were, um, like, were you still doing the cross? Like, where was this in the mix of your transition?

12:29CrossFit. CrossFit? Yeah. I was in the middle of CrossFit. And so when you stopped it, did you see like a result? Like come quicker? Well, you know, they call it the sober glow too. And like, I definitely, it was like my skin. It was like my eyes, my skin. I took selfies like every day for months. And even like it continued over the months, just my skin and everything just came. It was like, everything became more vibrant, so much more vibrant, so much more alive. So much just like glowy. Like, it's, it's, I mean, it's, it's a toxin at the end of the day.

13:00You're putting a toxin in your body. So, um, it was, it, to me, it was like, this is a game changer. I just felt like a new woman, new woman. Kudos to you. I hope you're inspiring anybody that's listening to this right now to take that first step. And just incredible that at 51, like you transformed your entire body and you did the basics. I just want to like drill that back in macros, protein, strength training. So for any woman that's listening to this, because majority of women are like 45 to 65 years old that listened to this podcast. For anyone that is in that like midlife, you might feel hesitant about starting strength

13:35training. Yeah. What advice would you give them to help them first take that first step? Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, warrior babe is here for you at warrior B. We've helped over 18,000 women, just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle and understand

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14:39Well, I mean, I know that it can be overwhelming, like to think about going into the gym or where do I even start? Or like, um, am I going to get, I know women think about getting bulky, but I mean, like, do I look bulky to you? I'm not, you know, like it's, it has, it's going to, your nutrition is going to indicate like how bulky you're going to get. So, um, I would just say, I don't know, like, don't get, get out of your own way with your

15:10mindset, like get out of your own way with whatever preconceived notions that you have. And like, look at these women who are transforming. And there's so many women online that you see and look at what they're doing and see what they're doing and listen to what they're saying. Like there's absolutely no reason why anybody couldn't do this. Like we're just doing the thing. We're just being consistent. And it doesn't, and that's another thing I think that our generation has been taught is that, oh, this is going to happen so quickly. Well, it's going to take months, if not years to build the body that you want.

15:41And so that's where you have to fall in love with the process. And you fall in love with the whole process of what happens because it's going to take time. You don't need to set a time limit on things like just start doing the thing and start chipping away and just fall in love with it as you're doing it because it's going to take time. Amen to that. Actually, I'm going to dive in a little bit further with you on that because if you do, like everyone listening, if you follow Alicia on Instagram, you can see the fact like she, her consistency shows in the results that she has with her body. Yeah. And you're speaking to like the generation of women that grow up with like Jenny Craig and Weight

16:11Watchers and like you're putting your body, I always say you're putting your body, they expect to put your body into a microwave and out comes a toned body. Then I say, you can just accept that your journey is going to take anywhere from eight months to 12 months, 18 months to two years. You stop looking and chasing the outcome and you just start getting addicted to the, to the journey. You start falling in love with the journey. You can start to be happy now, whether the rating for a result to happen and then you finally can be happy. So what would you say? Like, are the, like, cause I also say like people follow macros, people follow, like do

16:43strength training workouts, but it's the tip of the iceberg. What people don't see is like the bottom of the iceberg, like what you put in on a daily basis, your consistency, you show up, your willpower, your persistence, your patience. So like, can you talk to the audience about what that means to you and why you show up and you keep the promises to yourself every day? Well, I mean, who doesn't want to wake up feeling like a million bucks and you wake up feeling like, like you have confidence, you feel good. You have high energy. Like you walk around just, just owning your womanhood and feeling amazing.

17:17Like who doesn't want to wake up feeling like that? You prove to yourself that you're just a badass and that you can do hard things and your confidence like skyrockets and you feel so freaking good. Like who doesn't want to wake up that way? It takes work. And you know, I will say it takes a lot of mindset work too. And I think that's not touched on enough is just where your mindset is at and how you speak to yourself and, um, like just really getting your mind right for this. Cause I think that's where people get caught up with the mindset stuff.

17:49They get a little stuck. Yeah. Yeah. Totally agree with you on that. They're stuck in the old like stories, limiting beliefs, maybe even the patterns of where they saw their mom being on a diet after diet. So they think they have to do the same exact thing. And then that carries on into their habits. And then it's really hard to change the behaviors. And then, but recognizing that, like we mentioned earlier, it's like, you got to kind of get in your, out of your own way. I always like to say, if you're expecting, if you're doing the same thing over and over and over again, this definition of insanity, you're in expecting different results.

18:20It's definitely Albert Einstein. Big time. Yeah. Mindset. Like that's something that needs to be addressed at the beginning of the journey, at least like subtly to bring self-awareness to it. Because if that can't get right, people think that they can't do it, then they're not going to be able to do it. They think they can do it and they change the narrative. Then they're going to be able to see themselves excel. And that's exactly what I was telling myself when I started this whole thing. I was like, you can do this. You are absolutely able to do this. You can do this. And also telling myself, you know what? I love you like this too.

18:50I like telling myself, I appreciate you body for everything that you brought me through, for everything that you've done up to this point. Like, thank you for getting me to where I am today and for providing everything that you have. Like you can still love yourself and love your body, but want more. That's okay. You know, but still believe that you can do and accomplish more. And I think that's a sweet spot that a lot of us have a hard time finding, you know, but that's something that I honestly, I feel like I worked years to accomplish that with my mindset, like loving and accepting me where I am and like still saying, you know what?

19:25We can do more. We can do, we can go even further. Let's go. Unstoppable, baby. That's some resilience right there. Let's go. I love it. Yeah. Quick break. If you're finding this episode helpful so far, it would mean a lot if you could hit pause for just a second, leave a quick rating or a review or share it with someone who could benefit from it. Your support helps more women discover these tools to build muscle, lose fat and feel confident. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me.

19:58And you sharing your journey online is, I know it's inspired so many women. And I mean, you share on your story as a community that you're building, what made you decide to open up about your transformation and lessons that you've learned along the way? It's so crazy because I mean, honestly, everything has like really, truly exploded over the last year. And I've always loved social media and sharing on social media. And I've, you know, I've had businesses and everything. And so I've, you know, learned how to do that, how to navigate that. Um, but as I was really transforming, I was, I think because of my own, I was just thinking

20:33of like where I was at when I started and where I had been before in the past and where my mind had been, I was like, I know there's other women out there who have been, who have felt this way, who've experienced this and felt down in the dumps or felt, you know, down on themselves or felt like, Oh, I guess this is the best. This is like, you know, after this, it's just kind of like, I can't really do much else. Cause I've, I've kind of passed my prime or I've passed. And so then when I really started transforming, I was like, every woman needs to know about this. Like every woman needs to know their own potential.

21:05Every woman needs to know their own power and tap in and realize that they can make changes. Like they are not victim to whatever else they, they can take charge of their lives and they can make big time changes. I was like, if I can help somebody else see that. Cause I honestly, I had started sharing cause I quit alcohol six years ago and I, it took like, I don't know, maybe after a year for me to kind of start sharing and getting vulnerable about that. Cause that's kind of a vulnerable thing. Right. Absolutely. But when I started sharing about that and then I would get like, like DMS from people like,

21:37thank you so much for sharing about this has made such an impact on me. I'm like, you realize how much you inspire others by just showing up and putting yourself out there and being vulnerable. Like it might look crazy to somebody else, but you'd have no idea the impact that you might be having. And my, and like people are watching and they don't even say anything, especially when it comes to alcohol. I think a lot of people would watch and not necessarily, but like they'd send me a DM. Yeah. And so I kind of almost had like the same approach with this. Like other women need to know about this. I want everybody to feel amazing every day when they wake up.

22:10I want them to wake up with confidence, ready to take on the world and feel confident and amazing. Like every woman deserves to feel this way. No more of the negative self-talk, no more of the self-sabotage, like empowering. I just, I don't know. I'm huge into empowering. I've always been a girl's girl. Like I just wanted to share it till the ends of the earth. Heck yeah. I love that. Your energy is exuberant. It's, it's just, it radiates. I love it. But one thing that social media does though, is it emphasizes like being perfect and someone

22:41could look at your body and be like, damn, it's a perfect body. Right. And, but what you've been really open about is the realities of your journey. So why is it so important for you to share the ups and the downs with your audience? I mean, I don't know. I, to me, I've always been all been about just showing up as me. I'm just, this is just who I am, like, especially, I mean, especially on my stories. I'm like, I'll show up just however I am, whatever it is. If it's four o'clock in the morning and I'm talking on stories and I'm like, just waking

23:14up in puffy eyes. And that's, that's reality. That's life. The other day where you woke up, you're, you're whispering. I was like, I don't want to wake up my husband because he's sleeping, but I'm horrible sleep. And you're like, I'm still here. Yeah. I mean, it's just like, and then I decided to, um, especially when everything started taking off, I'm like, I'm not putting any filters on my stuff. Like I'm not doing any filters on any of my videos or, you know, like I'll, I'll edit maybe some of my photos, but never like filtery edits. Do you know what I mean?

23:44Like, and especially my videos and then showing up on stories. I'm like, I'm not doing any filters. Like, this is me. This is who I am. Like, just put it out there. Just be me. Yeah. People can tell. I feel like people can sniff stuff out. You know? People are so smart nowadays. A hundred percent. They can, you can just see it. You can just tell when somebody is, you're like, you know, you can just tell. A hundred percent. You can tell if someone's being real, they're being fake. If they're being authentic, if they're not, they're just trying to sell you something. Yeah. Yeah.

24:15Absolutely. One hundred. So I want to take it back to, um, the strength training into the macros because clearly like, do you track macros now or is it more intuitive eating to the point where you're at? It's more intuitive. Yeah. Um, I'm not really, yeah, I'm not really tracking right now. It's just cause I, a lot of the things I do eat are on, you know, I eat a lot of things on repeat. Wait, talk about that because people at the beginning of their journey, make it so complicated that they feel like they have, they have massive amounts of ingredients and they feel like it's almost like, it's so simple to that fact, but people overcomplicate it.

24:47So yeah, share a little bit about that. I mean, that's, that's kind of what I started learning to do at the beginning. Like obviously dinners might vary because you know, you're eating with your family or your, you know, your partner or whatever. But like my other meals during the day, a lot of them are just kind of same repeat because it makes it easy. It's a no binder. You don't have to think about it. And if you are tracking it, that also makes it even that much easier. You just don't have to. And then if you love the food, you'll look forward to eating it every day. Like, you know, it's like, Oh, I get to eat the same thing for, I actually just made a reel about this. And it's like, I can't remember the sound, but it's like when you eat the same meal every

25:21day and you still look forward to it every single time. And it's the same thing. It's just, it makes it easy. You know, you're going to love it. Like, you don't have to think about it. It's just like automatic, you know? And I do agree that women, we overcomplicate things. We don't need to make it so complicated. And it doesn't have to look, I'm always like joking on my stories because I'm like, this is my super aesthetic food. Like it looks so boring. It doesn't look cute. You had like normal dinner the other night and it was just basic, but like basic works. Just like you said, like you went back to weight training, you went back to the protein intake,

25:52you went back to macros. That's the basics. Yeah. To follow consistently. Yeah. It's like, we don't have to be overwhelmed. We don't need to overthink it. It's just so, it's actually so simple. Yeah. You know? It's crazy. Yeah. To make it so much more on the internet. Okay. With strength training, when you got back into it, how did you, like, were there any, like a lot of people experience some intimidations. They kind of don't know where to start. They're afraid of walking to the gym. We're coming up on a new year. What would be some, like, how would, how did you feel when you got back into it?

26:23And then what would be some like pieces of advice you could give somebody that's maybe just. Yeah. I mean, I completely understand how that can be intimidating. Cause I had been at CrossFit for years. And so I hadn't been back to like the regular gym, but I was scouting out gyms in my area. And I was like, I know I want to go to like a hardcore kind of gym. Like, I know I want to go to a gym that has people that are in there to win it. I just met you. But like, yeah, that makes so much sense. Right. Like, I was just like, I don't want to go to a dinky. I don't know. Like matters. Like the way you're working at home, which a lot of people can do successfully, but it's

26:55like you, you have your TV in the room, you have your kitchen, you have your, you know, your computer that you can sit down and work at. Like your environment matters where you're at. I completely agree. It just gets you in a different mindset. It gets you locked in. And so I've been scoping out gyms and I found this one. It's like a bodybuilding gym and it's kind of gritty. It's called big iron. And I was like, okay, I want to go there, but I'm super intimidated. Like, I don't know. So then I made friends with a gal at the front desk. I'm like, can you just like, I just don't want to look like an idiot for the first time

27:25I'm in here. Can you just like make sure I know where everything is? And you know, she said, oh yeah, of course, of course. So then I kind of started almost, there's like a back room. And so I kind of started working out more like in the back room more like with the barbells and the dumbbells. And then I was getting, as I was getting more familiar and more comfortable being there, I like expanded out more into the cables and the machines. And then I was like, just take the run over the whole gym. Pretty soon. I'm like, what's up? Mama's here. I'm here to F it up. But you know what I mean?

27:55Like, it's so funny how we get in our own heads and we get so nervous about it. And we think people are watching us. And it's like, nobody, if somebody is watching you and judging you, that's on them. That's not on you. At the end of the day, like nobody cares. People are more consumed with what they're doing. Nobody's really watching you. So like, take a deep breath. Go to the back corner if you need to. And just kind of scope things out while you're in the back corner. Check things out. You know, do like something small to get started. And then like, as you get more comfortable, you can branch out to new machines and new things

28:28as you're getting better and feel more comfortable. And pretty soon, everybody's going to know your name. Everybody's going to know who you are. You're going to feel like a badass. You're going to walk around. You're going to own the place. Amen. That's how it goes. Anything that you start at the beginning is going to be hard and going to be a change. Anything, you know, you just got to like, you got to, you got to push yourself over the edge. It's like, even just like how you walked into the gym and you had the confidence to go ask somebody, Hey, can you just show me around? Then you're not by yourself walking into the gym. You have somebody else. I can show you around. And like, and people want to help, you know, at the end of the day, if it's a good gym,

28:58like the people are going to be helpful and friendly and want to connect with you, you know? And you know what? You can hire a personal trainer too, if you want. The personal trainer is going to get you familiar with a hundred percent. There's so many resources and tools that people can do. It's just about the hardest part is getting there and then like walking and like just having the courage, but kind of to like piggyback off of that. Cause like building physical strength often has a ripple effect. So for you, like how has physical strength that you've built influence other areas of your

29:29life, like regarding your relationships, regarding the, your career, like what you're doing with your people and your, and your own mindset. I mean, I can tell you, like, it's so interesting. I saw something the other day and it was like talking about how, um, it was like a before and after physique, um, comparison. And it was like talking about how so much, it's not just the physical that changes. There's a whole entire mental transformation that changes when you are doing a physical transformation. Like they have to go hand in hand. Right. And I honestly feel like this whole last couple of years, I've just shown, I feel like, um,

30:05what you said, I honestly have felt just unstoppable. Whereas I used to talk to myself in a certain way and I used to feel limited and I used to compare just like, as I, I felt like actually owning my own business before this helped me too, um, with just my, my mind space, but just the confidence that I have built and just that mental, like, I feel like I can do freaking anything. I just feel like this guy is the limit and I am 51 and I feel like I have a whole world

30:35ahead of me. Like I have my whole life ahead of me. I have so much that I'm going to do and I am so excited. And I don't, I don't feel there'll be a, every once in a while, I might have like a moment where I'm like, oh gosh, I'm going to do this and do this. And I'm like, heck yes, we can. We're doing this. We can do this. And I just feel like it's just given me that confidence and that I can do freaking anything I want. Yeah. What is confidence? Cause you seem like you just would be naturally confident person, but what does that mean? Like, what does that mean? I have always been, I mean, I like, I've had that level of confidence, but it's just built

31:09and built and built over the years. And it builds through keeping promises to yourself, telling yourself, you are going to do this. You are going to do this. And then you keep that promise. And then you do it. You're like, freaking did it. Yes. Yes. And that means that the next thing that you want to do, you can go out and do the next thing too, because you prove to yourself that you did that thing. So now you can go do that thing too. And it just builds and builds and builds. It's like a freaking snowball. Let's go. I have such a random question. People will be like, why is she asking this? But if you know, what's your Zodiac?

31:41Leo. Oh, okay. That says enough. What? That says enough. I know. I know. Yeah, I know. I match it. Yeah, you do. But also, like I just said, I feel like you're my soul sister. I'm an Aries. And Aries and Leons get along so well. You're saying so many good, amazing things. I freaking love it. I love it. So your mom, your wife, you've juggled so many roles. Like, and while also prioritizing your health, I mean, you started back in the 30s and you

32:13went, you know, 40s across fit. And then you did this big old transformation that you've done with yourself now that you're 50. Are you? How old are you now? 50? 51. 50. Oh, you are 51. Holy shit. So this really is just like totally transpired over the, like you said, the last year. Yeah. Last couple of years. Woo. All right. How? So there's moms out there that are listening to this podcast right now. They're like, we don't have the same 24 hours in the day. We don't have enough time. How would you encourage those women to like, let go of that potential guilt that they experienced

32:43and make themselves a priority? Like you there, you can do a lot with a small amount of time and it's your priorities. It's like, what is important to you and boundaries, honestly, like boundaries are so key and saying, Hey, explaining to your family and your friends, you know, whoever needs to hear it. Like I really am wanting to make my health a priority and my fitness priority. I need this chunk of time out of my day each day to focus on me and to focus on my goals.

33:14And this is how it's going to be like communicating that and then making that promise to yourself. But you can get a lot done. You can get a lot done in a very small amount of time. If you really are intentional and focused with your time and maybe you need to give up some scrolling time and maybe you need to, you know, make a little sacrifice with your Netflix time. Maybe there just needs to be a place in your life where you need to give and something needs to budge so that you can focus on this because the rewards are going to pay off for you like big time. But it's just like, you got to set up boundaries and you got to, you got to set your priorities because we all have, you know, everybody's busy.

33:48We're all busy. We all have stuff. I mean, and I, and I know how crazy, but I could, I would always, always make it a priority no matter what. Always. Yeah. So circling back a little bit to the, we touched on it like slightly and you mentioned like women kind of just like accept this stage of life. And it's almost like, they're like, oh, it's like doom. I've heard women say it's like doom years ahead and they accept that they're like out of the control of it. But like you're living proof that you're, you've, are you, are you through menopause now?

34:21Are you on the other side? I would say I'm probably, I'm like. You're in it. In, cause I'd spin, cause they say like, once you haven't had your period for a year, you're like in menopause. Yeah. And I, I, I, it's like, oh my gosh, I went like 11 months without one. And then I got like a little, I was like, no way. So I would say I'm definitely more headed into the menopause. I just started doing a hormone replacement therapy. I started doing bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, which is actually, sorry, I know you had a question, but I'm kind of going off.

34:52But, um, it was, it is, so it's bioidentical. It's sourced from wild yam and soy, which is so freaking crazy. I know. Yeah. It's bioidentical. And so, uh, I do an estrogen cream and I actually, they just added a little bit of testosterone again, sourced from wild yam and soy, um, to the estrogen cream. And I do that every night. And then I do a progesterone pill every night. And so I started doing that when I turned 51 at the end of July, because my hot flashes were out of freaking control.

35:24I was like waking up all times of night. I'm like, my sleep is trash. I had been starting to have hot flashes for the last two years, but it just, they really started to amp up. And I was like, this is, I can't do this anymore. This is affecting my quality of life. My quality of sleep, sleep affects everything. And so definitely feeling so much better. Yeah. So much better. How did you get, did you get tested? Did you do blood work? Yep. Yep. I do blood work. So I have a functional medicine doctor and I like, we, we test usually every six months we test and see where everything is at.

35:55And we go based off of that. And so I would just highly suggest women stay on top of that. But I will say there's like, yes, hormone replacement therapy is great, but you still got to do the work, you know, and you can't make excuses to like, oh, well, this is just my body now. And this is what's happening. I'm telling you, when you put muscle on your body, you're going to run like a fine tune machine. I'm not kidding you. I'm dead serious. Like do it now because you're going to be, you're going to blow your mind with what happens when you put a layer of muscle on your body.

36:27Say it loud. It's going to be, it's going to be, it's going to be crazy. It's going to be crazy. And it's like, it just, I, if I could just encourage that one thing. And I, and I see it like with the women that are, I'm talking to every day, they're like, oh, I'm seeing this muscle coming. It feels so good. I feel so amazing. And I feel so powerful. And it's like, they just didn't realize that they had it in them. Yeah. And so I think a lot of women can be like, well, my ass is just, you know. Yeah. They literally go to the doctor and the doctor is like, oh yeah, this is kind of just what happens at this stage of life.

36:58And then like, literally they're just trying, they pretty much accept it. But find a new doctor. Thank you. It's time to toss that doctor out. I have heard great, I've heard great things about, and I don't like, I don't have any connection with them, but I've heard great things about MIDI health, M-I-D-I health. I think it's like a telemed and they, you can get on with somebody that's going to help you with hormones and all that stuff. Beautiful. Media health. Anyways, that's another resource.

37:29Because I know that this whole conversation is, it can be very polarizing and it can be very confusing for a lot of women just because of like previous information that's come out about HRT. And so it's like very. HRT is getting a good rep around now these days. Yeah, I feel like there's some doctors that are really loud right now that are like, nope, we're going to correct this. This is how, this is actually the facts. And so it's been, it's been great that they're being loud and, and, and spilling out facts because that's what we all need. Because it's been very confusing. Amen. And just make sure people find the right doctor, the right dose and what works for them.

38:02Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Doctor that's going to be their advocate, not just brush them off. Facts. You know. Wait, what did you say though? Nothing. What? Not going to brush them off. Oh, I thought it was going to be. Like it's going to be. No. Nothing. Brush them off. That was hilarious. My brain. That would have been, that would have been interesting. The joke of you are out there trying to get some money too. And they're. I mean, yeah. Right. Oh my gosh. That's so funny.

38:34Anyway. Oh, this has been so much fun. Alicia. Thank you so much for coming on and for sharing your story and your energy is so vibrant. Like where can listeners find you on? I'm going to have your information in the description too as well. Where can people find you? Alicia E. A-L-I-C-I-A-E. Alicia E. On Instagram. The midlife dash. The midlife dash maven.com. Yeah. I'm there. And before we head out. What's one piece of advice that you'd like to leave the women with that are listening

39:08to this that you'd like to leave them with as they're navigating the stage of life that they're going through? That it is not too late. You are still magnificent and powerful and you are actually just getting started. You have been pouring into everything else up until this point in your life. You've been pouring into your career, your spouse, your kids, everything, everyone else. Now it's your time. You're going to make you a priority. It's your time. And you are literally just going into that second half of your life.

39:38You need to make it the best. You want to be your best for the second half. This is the time when you get to like be you and do your thing. You want to feel good. You want to look good. You want to do all the things. You got to have that high energy. And it's not too late. Like you can start now and completely change your life. One hundred percent. No doubt. Yeah. Amen. Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you for all your insight and your energy and your words. Thanks for having me. Yeah. It's been a blast. All right. See you everyone.

40:08Bye. Hey, really quick before you go. I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all of the difference. Helping more women discover the tools they need to transform the fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much. Thank you.

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