Fit Strong Women Over 50

Henry Howard found running in his early 40s when he set out to achieve a bucket-list goal: run a marathon.  Since then he has finished more than 40 marathons and ultras, including four 100-milers. Along the way, he has qualified for the Boston Marathon twice, become a running coach and launched his RunSpirited website.  As a running coach, he guides awesome runners of all experience levels, backgrounds and fitness to achieve their amazing goals.  As a professional writer and editor, he has merged his background with his passion for running and desire to give back to the community. RunSpirited offers coaching tips, interviews with inspiring athletes, product reviews and much more.  More info: BecomingElli.com

  In episode 165, Jill and Chris speak with award-winning nutritionist and author, Nicki Williams. She is the founder of Happy Hormones for Life, helping women of all ages to rebalance their hormones, reclaim their health and feel better than ever. After failing to find any medical help for her health issues in your early 40’s, she discovered that she could turn things around using diet, lifestyle and natural supplements. For links and more information visit our website: BecomingElli.com

Jill and Chris talk with Pat Spencer, owner of Getting Your Mind in Gear, who helps endurance athletes hone the mental skills needed to achieve their endurance sports goals. Pat is an avid gravel cyclist, former long course triathlete, marathoner, and open water swimmer. A licensed clinical social worker and a therapist with a private practice in central New Jersey, she has worked in mental health for 25+ years in a variety of settings, including directly with clients, as a supervisor, as a adjunct professor and providing a number of professional trainings. In 2022, she decided to combine her understanding of mental health with her love of endurance sports. She knew she was not the only athlete out there dealing with all of the mental challenges that come with endurance sports. For more information visit our website at Becoming Elli

In episode 163, Jill and Chris talk with Kim Vopni, a leading authority in health & fitness coaching for women with pelvic floor dysfunction and is known as The Vagina Coach. She has helped thousands of women learn how to do pelvic floor exercises, ditch the incontinence pads,  eliminate their prolapse symptoms and get back to living life to the fullest! Kim is a certified fitness professional who became passionate about spreading information on pelvic health when she was pregnant with her first child.  She is the author of 2 books – Prepare to Push – What Your Pelvic Floor and Abdomen Want You To Know About Pregnancy and Birth and a second title Your Pelvic Floor – The Inside Story. Kim is the founder of Pelvienne Wellness Inc and co-founder of Bellies Inc. She is also the founder of Kegels and Cocktails™ – a women’s health event designed to empower and educate women on the importance of pelvic health.    For more info visit our website at www.becomingelli.com

Jill and Chris talk with Jackie Errico, a nationally certified strength and conditioning coach, a certified personal trainer, and co-owner of Just Lift Fitness training studios located in the Chicago area.  Jackie focuses on helping women gain confidence in their bodies. She educates women on the physical and mental benefits of strength training and how to fuel bodies with the right food; teach them how to lift weights properly and safely; and help them create a fitness and nutrition game plan so that they can achieve the results they deserve. For more info see our Becoming Elli website

Great conversation with Dr. Woods about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, the effects of menopause on weight loss and her advice for women 50 and over. A functional medicine doctor, Dr. Makaila Woods has Double Board Certification with the American Board of Obesity Medicine, and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology. We discuss: why she decided to get into both functional medicine and weight loss from gynecolocy and obstetrics. when to consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy the relationship of replacement hormones and cancer How to find a functional medicine doctor and how they are different than other types of doctors how she helps her clients lose weight for more information and the links we discuss, go to our website show notes page at https://becomingelli.com  

160 - Elite Athlete Bree Lambert Bree Lambert is a personal trainer, running coach, nutritionist and ultra runner. She has been pursuing endurance sports since her teenage years, starting with road triathlon, Xterra off-road triathlon and now ultra running. Bree completed her first 50K in 2005 and since then has completed distances from 50k to 100 miles. Each finish represents hundreds of hours of training, dedication and mental preparation. Bree coaches other runners to achieve their goals while providing personal training services to both runners and non-runners alike in San Jose, California and online. She believes in a healthy lifestyle and thinks that no matter where your health is now, you can make an improvement. For more information and links, visit our website at BecomingElli.com.

In episode 159 of the Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast, Jill and Chris talk with Alicia Jones who helps transform the health and the lives of women over 40 through her fitness and weight loss strategies.  She has a B.A in Kinesiology and has many certifications, including National Coach of Canada (NCCP), Advanced Sport Nutrition, Certified Group Fitness Instructor, and Personal Training Specialist: Canfit-pro. Alicia has appeared on various health and wellness television programs and produced and hosted Health Matters and The View: Health and Wellness On Rogers TV. For more information and links, visit our website at www.BecomingElli.com.  

In Food Finds with Chris and Jill, they discuss various websites and ideas for food challenges. They talk about what they love to eat in the summer and where they get inspiration.  For links and more info visit the Becoming Elli website.

In episode 157, Jill and Chris talk with Elaine Glass, author, speaker and personal coach. For over a decade, Elaine has helped countless people unlock their truest selves. She works with them to find purpose, peace, and self-empowerment. Elaine’s newest book, Get Quiet: 7 Simple Paths to the Truth of Who You Are, is a guide to healing and transforming yourself inspired by the classical form of the labyrinth. For more information, see our website at BecomingElli.com.

The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age with Gwendolyn Bounds Gwendolyn Bounds is an award-winning journalist and author of NOT TOO LATE: The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age. A few months shy of her 47th birthday, author and journalist Gwendolyn Bounds asked herself, “How is it possible to become good at something when you are already far behind and time isn’t on your side?”   Her intimate story takes us from playgrounds and gyms, where Bounds trains among children and athletes half her age, to far-flung Spartan Race courses – including the vast desert of the Middle East.  As she moves from the back of the pack to eventually become a podium finisher in her age group, Bounds captures the humility, challenge and elation of pursuing something bold and new amid the realities of midlife: caring for elderly parents, a demanding job, and a body no longer in its prime.  More information at our website: Becoming Elli.

  In episode 155, Jill and Chris speak with Glenn Scott Livingston, Ph.D. about dealing with food cravings. He was the long time CEO of a multi-million dollar consulting firm which has serviced several Fortune 500 clients in the food industry.  Disillusioned by what traditional psychology had to offer overweight and/or food obsessed individuals, Dr. Livingston spent several decades researching the nature of bingeing and overeating via work with his own clients AND a self-funded research program with more than 40,000 participants. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology in 1991. His work has appeared in many major newspapers and other media outlets.  He has a website defeatyourcravings.com, a podcast called “Defeat Your Cravings” and offers live individual coaching and support groups online. More important than his professional bio, however, is his personal journey out of food addiction and obesity into a more normal and peaceful relationship with food. For more information visit our website: www.BecomingElli.com  

In episode 154, Jill and Chris speak with Maddy Dychtwald, an internationally acclaimed author, public speaker, and thought leader on longevity, aging, the new retirement, and the ascent of women.  She co-founded Age Wave, the world’s leader in understanding and addressing the far-reaching impacts of our aging population.  She is the author of "Ageless Aging: A Woman’s Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan" published by the Mayo Clinic Press.  Maddy has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Newsweek, Time, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Fox Business News, CNBC, and NPR, and others.  Maddy is the author of two previous books: Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better and Cycles: How We Will Live, Work, and Buy.  For more information, see our website: BecomingElli.com

In episode 153, we feature an encore presentation of one of the inspiring stories of Fit Strong Women Over 50. This episode was first released five years ago as episode 31. We wanted to revisit this episode for our listeners who may not have had the opportunity to hear the story of this inspiring woman.  Enjoy!  More details at our website: BecomingElli.com

In episode 152 of the Fit Strong women Over 50 Podcast, Jill and Chris speak with Becoming Elli member, Maria Molvin about how she finds strategies to stay healthy and fit as she ages. Balancing work, family obligations, focusing on healthy eating, prioritizing sleep, and finding time to be active can be challenging. Maria lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband. She takes advantage of all the great local metro parks and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to walk and hike. We discussed: How Maria relies on habits over willpower and discipline How she uses her home gym. She has an elliptical. treadmill, stationery bike, and a weight bench. Why she gets on her stationary bike for 10 minutes each morning Her full workout routines and how they help her reduce stress after from working from home all day Strength training with bicep curls and skull crushers Overcoming a sleep disorder by prioritizing sleep. Maria makes sure she sleeps in a dark room, puts away her phone before bed, listens to yoga Nidra recordings, takes CBD and goes to sleep at about the same time each night. What she does to offset her joint hyper mobility.  Although she became a Yoga Instructor, now she does not work out for flexibility. Instead she focuses on functional movements, like standing on one foot to increase her balance. How she considers herself an "all-weather walker" and dresses for the conditions. Why taking belly dancing lessons was such a fun way to exercise Looking into the FODMAPS diet - the elimination diet where she found out about sensitivities to onions, garlic, beans and legumes Big salads at lunch, chicken breasts in the air fryer and grilled chicken/shrimp with seamed or roasted vegges for dinner Her advice for women who want start adapting for health: pick one thing you want to change and get good at adding that habit (or eliminating that bad habit.) For more information visit our website at BecomingElli.com

Episode #151 Get More Fit with Kathy Murray   Kathy Murray is a certified personal trainer with over thirty years’ experience in the fitness industry. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University where she was a member of the 1983 National Cheerleading Championship Team. After college she competed in and won the United States Aerobic Championship in 1986 and spent the year traveling the world as a Fitness Ambassador. Kathy worked as a free-lance educator to teach fitness to European Instructors. While in Munich, she coached the Munich Cowboys (American Football) Cheerleaders to six national titles in cheerleading and was head trainer/translator for the German Gladiators during a pilot TV show for the International Gladiators. I was in Germany where she started Fit Bodies Always an avid cyclist, Kathy dipped her toe into the world of multi-sport in 2000, first competing in duathlons then eventually moving to triathlons. Kathy has owned her personal training business Fit Bodies for 25 years and in 2022 co-authored the Audible book, The Munich Cowboy Cheerleaders based on her time coaching the squad. She lives in Atlanta with her husband Lutalo, dog Mingus and cat Sassy.   We discussed: Coaching teens in Germany for the Munich Cowboys Cheerleaders Preparing for a hip replacement and setting goals Her active online fitness coaching at Fit Bodies How she helps her clients get more fit at any age Learn more at our website: Becoming Elli

In episode 150, Jill McCauslin and Chris Brown interview Chris Freytag, the founder of Get Healthy U and Get Healthy U TV. Chris Freytag has been teaching, training, writing books, creating DVD’s, and speaking on the subject of health and fitness for the last 30 years. Get Healthy U TV is a streaming website with workouts for midlife women. They have over 700 workouts for all levels and ages. You can access the workouts on your computer, smart phone, Roku, Fire TV and the Get Healthy U app. Get Healthy U is the sister fitness hub that educates and inspires women to make healthy lifestyle choices as they age. Get Healthy U provides trustworthy information about health, fitness, wellbeing, nutrition, and recipes. Get Healthy U TV and Get Healthy U reach over 1 million women a month through their website, newsletters, social media and workouts. Chris lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband where they raised their three now-grown kids. More info at our website: BecomingElli.com

In episode 149, Jill and Chris talk with Emily and Mitchell Clionsky, the authors of Dementia Prevention: Using Your Head to Save Your Brain. Their book is the culmination of 45 years of extensive clinical evaluation and treatment.  A husband-and-wife team, they have a combined 70 years of professional and clinical experience in medicine and neuropsychology and have treated 20,000 patients. Emily Clionsky, MD, completed residencies in internal medicine and in psychiatry, and is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.  Mitchell Clionsky, PhD, is a board-certified neuropsychologist who specializes in evaluating and treating patients with cognitive impairment, dementia, ADHD, and traumatic brain injury.  They partner at a private practice, Clionsky Neuro Systems, Inc., based in Springfield, Massachusetts.  See more information at our website: BecomingElli.com

Amy Wilson is a Board-Certified Geriatric Pharmacist, a certified fitness professional, and a certified nutrition coach. She helps people prevent and reverse diseases with nutrition and fitness.  Amy believes diet and exercise can change a person’s life, and how the right nutritional program can be the key to improving health and fitness. She has seen her clients reverse their pre-diabetes, diabetes, high cholesterol, and more.  Amy uses a holistic approach to health to help her clients feel in control of their bodies and minds, while no longer feeling enslaved by their scale. For more information see our website: Becoming Elli.

Kim Rahir is a 60-year-old mother of three who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) 10 years ago. She decided to ignore her then doctor's advice... muscle her way back to a happy life...  and in 2023, become the European Champion in Masters Weightlifting in her age and weight category. Her journey inspired her to leave her career in journalism in her 50s and become a health coach for middle aged women - with a big focus on reactivating and rebuilding muscle. Today, Kim helps women tap into an abundant source of vitality by reactivating and maintaining their muscles, while ditching diet culture conditioning to actually eat to nourish and flourish. For details see our website: Becoming Elli.