1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,600 Well, hello ladies and gents, robertsykesketosavage.com. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,240 Today I've got special guest, good friend and client Jen 3 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,400 Potero on the line and we dive into all things competition. 4 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,120 So she did several shows this year. 5 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:15,120 She just recently finished competing at Worlds, WNBF 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,360 Worlds, which is an incredible honor in and of itself. 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,720 She absolutely killed it. And this was the first year she 8 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,280 transitioned from doing bikini to also figure. 9 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,320 So I wanted to just pick her brain as to what that whole 10 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,240 journey was like. The the macros, the prep, the 11 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,920 posing, the actual experience, the whole kit and caboodle. 12 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:35,640 So throw it into the conversation. 13 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,120 I've got utmost respect for Jen. I've got no doubt that you will 14 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,840 take something from it. So that further delay, sit back, 15 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,520 relax, do the conversation with my good friend Jen. 16 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,080 And we are live. Jen, how are you? 17 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:57,880 I'm doing great, Robert, how are you? 18 00:00:58,160 --> 00:00:59,240 I'm dandy. I'm dandy. 19 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:00,880 How many times have you been on the podcast You know? 20 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,440 Oh my goodness, mind blown. But I believe this is lucky #3. 21 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:07,200 Three times charm. Awesome. 22 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,240 We got lots to talk about today. We sure do. 23 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,560 It's been a busier year, a lot busier than I anticipated at the 24 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:18,680 start of 2024, that's for sure. I know, I know you you planned 25 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,480 when at the beginning of the year you planned on doing how 26 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:27,400 many shows you think? I planned on doing 2 and how 27 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,200 many? One in September and then one in 28 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,080 November with different federations, and that's not at 29 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,080 all what happened. Well, just give us a little 30 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,000 precursor. What actually how many shows did 31 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,960 you do? The end of the day, I ended up 32 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,400 competing in three different shows. 33 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,920 So a little bit more than originally anticipated. 34 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,840 I think I twisted your leg a little bit on that last one. 35 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,600 A little bit, but so glad that you did it. 36 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,360 It wasn't a very difficult twist and at the end of the day, so 37 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,120 happy that I did it. I'm happy you did it too. 38 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,320 So just to give the listeners some context here, definitely go 39 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,640 listen to the other ones that you've been on the show with. 40 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,200 But you just recently competed in Worlds. 41 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,600 WNBF Worlds in Boston absolutely killed it. 42 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:17,960 And I just want to kind of like peel the curtain back on your 43 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,320 entire prep. So you started prep on February 44 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:29,680 5th at a weight of 150.4 lbs and taken in about 2400 and 50 45 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,400 calories. 220 four, 170 calories on average more or less around 46 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,040 there. And we got you down as light as 47 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,400 scrolling down the spreadsheet here. 48 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:46,040 Looks like your lowest was like what, 117 I think 117 point No 49 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,920 116.4. That was the lowest clocked 50 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:52,560 weight I think, right? Sounds about right, yes? 51 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,440 And it's been quite a journey. You stepped on stage at Worlds 52 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,320 at 1:21. But yeah, I just want kind of 53 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:01,600 the curtain back on your entire prep. 54 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:03,120 So just talk to me through the motions. 55 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:04,960 What were you thinking? What were you thinking in 56 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,080 January, beginning of this year? What was your what was your 57 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,440 headspace amp as far as the motivation to compete, the 58 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:11,880 desire? Where were you at? 59 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:18,160 Well, I was very excited to compete and was coming off of a 60 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:23,320 pretty intense, like intense for me build where I really wanted 61 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,920 to build more muscle, hence me allowing my body to get out to 62 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:31,280 the weight that it was at and eating the calories I was eating 63 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:35,360 in a serious growth phase. And then excited because I 64 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:41,400 wanted to try a different class. I wanted to move from bikini 65 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,720 into figure and try something very new. 66 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:52,480 So I believe at the beginning of the calendar year, yeah, I think 67 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,120 that I honestly at that point, I think that I had one show in 68 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:01,960 mind and that was with the UFE, their worlds in November. 69 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,200 And I wanted to compete and figure. 70 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,600 And and then I believe you mentioned to me or asked me 71 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:14,040 about the WNBF, which I had heard of before, But up in 72 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,880 Canada, at least in my geography, I didn't think that 73 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,040 there was a show. I thought they were all out West 74 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,240 and I would have needed to get on a plane and travel out to 75 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,880 Vancouver or Alberta, to Calgary. 76 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,280 And I thought, no, that's a bit much for me and my family. 77 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:36,120 So probably won't be able to compete with that organization 78 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:41,200 or federation. But lo and behold, for the first 79 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,360 time ever in 2023, they hosted a show in my neck of the woods. 80 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,840 And so we decided, I think the two of us decided that I would 81 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:51,080 like to, to give that a go as well. 82 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,840 So the two shows, one in September and then one in 83 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:57,160 November, two different federations was the game plan 84 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,720 and I was humped and ready to give it a shot. 85 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,360 Well, the WNBF has a pretty prominent presence in Canada, 86 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,160 but Canada's so huge, I mean, you may have to travel for it if 87 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:09,960 you're in Canada. What what is your take on the 88 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,080 federation overall? That's that's the one that I've 89 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,720 gotten my pro status in. And I've done a lot of different 90 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,080 federations, as have you, but I've always felt like from an 91 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,800 athlete's perspective, the WNBF federation just kind of has a 92 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,560 higher caliber athlete and they just, they just do things in a 93 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,600 more professional kind of more higher tier way, if if you know 94 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,880 what I mean. Exactly. 95 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,200 And I think that's the word that I would use to best describe 96 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,880 like professional. I think all the athletes are 97 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,640 fantastic. There's great camaraderie. 98 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:46,640 I met a lot of incredible individuals, both those 99 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:51,280 organizing and coordinating these shows and the athletes 100 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:55,080 themselves. And it was just from the word, 101 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,760 from start to finish, just beyond professional. 102 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:06,320 And I love that they are incredibly like beyond natural. 103 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,920 Like you know, without a shadow of a doubt you are stepping on 104 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:14,280 stage with all natural competitors. 105 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,800 And they they seriously boot those that fail their tests. 106 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,680 Like some federations are kind of lackadaisical with the drug 107 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,280 testing. Like with the WBF, you have a 108 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:27,840 polygraph test that's mandated for all competitors. 109 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,520 And then people that win their class, they have to do an 110 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,200 immediate urinalysis test and they're rushed off stage before 111 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,360 they can talk to anybody, basically to get the urinalysis 112 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,760 test done. And if you fail any of those, 113 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,840 they don't have any qualms about making that public and booting 114 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:44,960 you from competing. No. 115 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,280 And actually we had that happen at one of the shows, I can't 116 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:51,720 remember which one, but one individual unfortunately was not 117 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,640 successful in in passing that polygraph test, so was not 118 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:57,800 allowed to step on stage the following day. 119 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,960 And then yes, the second they announce that winner, you see 120 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,600 them shuttling like they will do that urinalysis. 121 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:08,200 And so they take it very seriously. 122 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:15,080 And as a natural athlete and older female, it gives me a lot 123 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:22,880 of confidence in in where I sit, you know, in comparison to other 124 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,360 to athletes that are we've all, it's a level playing field, I 125 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,240 guess is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, totally, totally. 126 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,280 So what was the transition from bikini to figure like? 127 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,600 Because you've competed When? When was the first year you 128 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,080 actually stepped on stage and competed? 129 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,720 Oh my goodness, it was the plan. Was it 2021? 130 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:48,280 In June I was hoping to do a live show that went virtual and 131 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,880 then I actually stepped on a live and in person stage later 132 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,560 that year in November. So it was 2021. 133 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:59,360 And how old were you then? Oh my goodness, I must have 134 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:04,040 been. I was 4141. 135 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:08,040 Maybe I'm now 45. So first of all, let that be a 136 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:12,040 huge, you know, testament to you as an individual, as an athlete, 137 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,960 'cause there's so many people that feel like, you know, like 138 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:16,840 so many, so many male and female. 139 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,640 But I feel like a lot of people compete in their 20s and 30s and 140 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,720 then they just stop competing. They get into a new chapter in 141 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:25,960 life. They kind of like put them on 142 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:27,720 the back burner. Here you are starting your 143 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:33,320 competitive journey in your 40s now competing in Worlds, which 144 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,280 is like the Creme de la Creme, top of the heap at 45. 145 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,080 I mean, that alone should be a testament to people that are 146 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:42,600 kind of on the fence about whether or not they should do 147 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:44,800 this or if it's too late to just freaking do it. 148 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,400 Because here you are doing it at 45, totally natural and 149 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:50,680 absolutely kicking butt. I mean, I've told you multiple 150 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:53,960 times that when you're up on stage, you, no joke, look like 151 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,880 you're in your 20s. I love you so much for saying 152 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,640 it. I'm serious, I'm serious. 153 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,400 I'll put the the photos of you in the show notes here. 154 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:07,640 But like, people would not ever guess that you're 45 based off 155 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,240 of the way you're presenting yourself on stage. 156 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,880 I mean, like this is the closest thing we've come to the fountain 157 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:14,120 of youth. I've I've said that multiple 158 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,040 times and I stand by it. I totally agree. 159 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,280 I totally agree. And it's mind blowing that there 160 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,520 are so there are so many other women up there with me who are 161 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,560 my age and older looking fantastic. 162 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:33,720 And everybody's up there with different goals or for different 163 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:38,680 reasons. And I love that any age, any 164 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:41,080 stage. I remember when I first decided 165 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,160 or agreed to do a show, my brother said to me, oh, what 166 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,920 Jen, you think you're going to be able to compete against those 167 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:48,760 20 year olds? Ha, ha, ha. 168 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,840 And I said, well, I don't know, but I'm going to give it a shot. 169 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,560 And I am so glad that I did. And I didn't listen to him and 170 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,440 some of the naysayers that says, you know, you're too old to do 171 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,080 this because I don't think that you, you ever are. 172 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:07,760 And my ultimate goal is to live as long as I can and live as 173 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,160 well as I can. The mobility, flexibility, 174 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:16,120 strength and, and I, I think that we have tapped into a 175 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:20,120 little bit not just youthful in appearance, but also also, 176 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,640 excuse me, physically, right. Totally. 177 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,880 Well, I think I've pointed out to you that other competitor, 178 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,040 Lisa Lum, was it you? I was talking to her about her. 179 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:32,760 I think so, yeah. Yeah, she's like in her 60s. 180 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,680 And I think she's, I mean, she's definitely won worlds multiple 181 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,720 times, but I think she won in her 60s, certainly late 50s, but 182 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,600 like the overall female bodybuilding category. 183 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,440 And I mean, every time I interact with her 'cause she's a 184 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:46,920 judge too. So I interact with her as a 185 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,560 judge and she's just got this youthful glow about her and 186 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:54,240 she's in her 60s and she's got better abs and, you know, 187 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,960 striations than most guys I know in their prime. 188 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,680 So it's like, you know, the this, this stereotype around age 189 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:05,320 is just so misfounded. If you take care of yourself, 190 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:06,840 like if you take care of yourself and that's the 191 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,160 compounding effect over time, then you can do some pretty 192 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,800 impressive things. Absolutely fueling your body 193 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,880 appropriately. Autophagy is a serious thing. 194 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,280 Clearing out the junk, bringing in new healthy stuff with the 195 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,600 right nutrition. And yeah, fountain of youth. 196 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,600 I agree completely. So talk to me about the the prep 197 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:31,000 itself. So kind of looking at the 198 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,320 spreadsheet here, we were updating your macros on a weekly 199 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,520 basis per my seven phase protocol and we started you out 200 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:42,080 at right around just shy of the 2500 calorie mark, 80% fat 201 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,920 ratio. And I'm looking at the trend 202 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:46,840 lines now. You're pretty much steadily 203 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:51,280 dropping the whole time. Not linear, but nice and steady 204 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:55,360 drop the whole time. And you didn't have, I mean, you 205 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,360 were pretty much training. Talk to people about your 206 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,080 training because your training is a little unique in that you 207 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:03,400 are training predominantly from home. 208 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,760 And you just got a gym built out at your place, which is awesome. 209 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:08,640 I can't wait to see the pictures of your new setup. 210 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,280 But you were doing all this and have done all this primarily 211 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,720 using, you know, pretty, pretty basic equipment from the comfort 212 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,000 of your home. This is very true. 213 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,720 This is very true. I have built my gym. 214 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,400 My husband has well argue I've, you know, I've taken over the 215 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:29,560 basement of our home, which is why he has built for me this 216 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,440 wonderful gym outside of our home that we will be moving into 217 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,320 any day now. We, he we, he just did a test 218 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:39,120 run. We've got a wood burning stove 219 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,000 out there. He wanted to make sure living up 220 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,600 in Canada as it gets quite cold in the winter time, that I would 221 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,760 be warm enough out there and yeah, certainly going to be warm 222 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:58,080 enough and excited to move in. But it's, it's been a time And I 223 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:03,120 throughout this journey, I, my girlfriend has been writing or 224 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,240 putting together programs for me and I run them at home in my 225 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:12,720 gym. And part way through this, we 226 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:17,480 decided that maybe I should start to do my own programming. 227 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:24,800 So there was that shift. So, yeah, I've been, I, I've 228 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:29,120 done a personal training course and I'm now a certified personal 229 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:36,480 trainer and training myself with sort of basic equipment from 230 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:41,600 home. So I think part of me like it's 231 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,320 got good with bad, right? Like I've got no comparator. 232 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,120 I just know what I do and how I look. 233 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,640 I don't have any anybody else at the gym to, to compare myself 234 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,640 to. So I was a little bit nervous 235 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,480 going into moving from bikini to figure. 236 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,120 I think we talked about this like, do I have enough muscle? 237 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:07,280 Am I, you know, will I be able to compete at this level? 238 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:13,400 And evidently it it worked out and I am able to compete at a 239 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:18,720 figure level. But I just, I put my head down 240 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:26,400 and I do what I love to do, which is train and progressively 241 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:31,800 overload continuously. But I will say this prep, I've 242 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:36,160 had a different mindset than any other prep, other preps. 243 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:41,200 I feel I live in a vacuum, both with the nutrition and the 244 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:48,280 training. This time I was a little more 245 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:53,480 flexible, shall we say, with the nutrition and we can talk about 246 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,240 that maybe a little in more detail. 247 00:14:55,600 --> 00:15:01,280 But with the training, I feel like I pushed to an extreme and 248 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,680 I don't know that it served me too well. 249 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:10,760 Again, I don't have any other eyes on me, so I did shift the 250 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:12,920 way that I was training at the beginning. 251 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:19,280 It was all about the heaviest, the most I, I was more sore this 252 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,160 prep than I ever have been. I think I stressed my body as 253 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,320 much as the, you know, the trend was, was in the right direction. 254 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,880 I think I was over training. I was over stressing my body. 255 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,640 And then part way through, I identified this and made a bit 256 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:40,520 of a shift. And I think that that served me 257 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:42,720 well. And I will do things different 258 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:50,680 moving forward in that there's a time and place for the to 259 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,560 failure and there's a time and place for almost failure. 260 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:55,840 And then there's a time and place. 261 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,720 I feel this is a genpaterial brain, but I feel for more 262 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,200 endurance and that mind muscle connection. 263 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:07,960 And you know, especially when I'm targeting, I feel my glutes, 264 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,080 I've learned a lot and grown a lot over this last prep as far 265 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:21,240 as learning how to activate muscles and increasing that time 266 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:27,640 under tension, yes, but with intention on specific and even, 267 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:32,400 you know, I'm training shoulders or arms, but also my back and 268 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,480 really focusing on that. So that's been a learning for me 269 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:39,200 and over the course of this, this prep for sure. 270 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,720 Yeah, it's hard. Like when you're at a caloric 271 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,760 surplus, it's, I mean, if you're getting an ample food, it's 272 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,320 pretty hard to overtrain. Like a lot of people are worried 273 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:48,760 about overtraining. But if you're eating at a 274 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,400 surplus and you're getting ample sleep, it's pretty hard to 275 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,360 actually overtrain. But when you're in a deficit, as 276 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:00,720 you are in a prep, it becomes much easier to, you know, I 277 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,120 mean, you're in a depleted state, so it becomes easier to, 278 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:05,640 you know, shirk on your recovery. 279 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,400 And it is it is possible to overtrain. 280 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:11,880 And it's hard when you're in a prep because like your mind 281 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,839 state is such that you want to leave no stone left unturned. 282 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:19,680 You want to give it your all. And you know, like a competitive 283 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:25,040 mindset goes into it, which is good, but you have to be 284 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,720 sensible because like my first prep same way like I would just 285 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:34,360 go ape shit in the gym and I liked it, but I feel like it 286 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:38,440 definitely became more catabolic than anabolic and kind of did me 287 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,600 a disservice. I lost a bunch of muscle tissue. 288 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,600 I lost a bunch of strength. And like with this last prep, my 289 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,200 whole goal was just to preserve the strength that I had built, 290 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,600 not really build more, but then be very calculated, really 291 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,360 listen to my body, lean into what I was feeling, and then 292 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,360 just just become much more in tune with things. 293 00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:59,200 And that takes experience. And now that you've done several 294 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,240 shows, you can kind of tap into that much more than you can in 295 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,640 the very beginning. But the only way you can really 296 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:08,360 know what that level is for you is to go through multiple preps. 297 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:14,360 Completely, completely agree with all of what you just said 298 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:20,240 and learned so much. I evolved so much because I'm a 299 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:25,640 very process oriented person. I like to, I like consistency 300 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:28,360 and I like to know that I'm pushing harder, doing things 301 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:32,560 differently, challenging to make myself better always. 302 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:39,160 But with the experience and yeah, being able to listen to 303 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:45,000 your body and identify different signals and triggers, I'm 304 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,800 getting better and better at that all of the time. 305 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:54,000 And yeah, excited to well work with you and continue this 306 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,560 journey through a building phase because I think that I can take 307 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,520 these learnings and apply them a little bit differently and make 308 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:08,000 this year and a half to two year build even more effective than 309 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,560 the prior. And I thought, I, I thought the 310 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,520 last build was, was quite successful. 311 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:12,880 So. Totally, totally. 312 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,480 We'll talk about the nutrition. You mentioned that you were kind 313 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,920 of a little bit more forgiving, I guess, for the nutrition. 314 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:21,440 What, what? What does that mean exactly? 315 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:28,360 I mean, I wanted to do this in a more quote UN quote normal 316 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,440 fashion. I am a mother of two children 317 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:37,440 and a wife to a wonderful husband, and I can't always live 318 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:39,760 in a bubble and control everything. 319 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,600 So I wanted to loosen up a little bit and live things a 320 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:44,880 little bit or do things a little more normally. 321 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:49,680 Now, having said that, I do have a very intense goal. 322 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,080 I had a intense goal, so I stuck to the plan. 323 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:58,920 But we're in previous preps. You know, if I had a few extra 324 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,520 carbs left at the end of the day, that was OK. 325 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:04,760 That was good actually, the more carbs. 326 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,400 Left in my daily nutrition like I could have been eating more 327 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,680 carbs but I chose not to The basically my carbs came from 328 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:20,280 bricks and eggs. So this prep in order to try and 329 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,200 be a little bit more normal and participate in more family 330 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:27,840 functions and not and by participate you know, I mean 331 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:33,760 have a few extra vegetables. So I did eat, you know, a few 332 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:40,600 more Pickles, a little bit more celery I was letting loose. 333 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:44,800 And I know a lot of people would laugh at me saying that, but 334 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,440 it's the truth. Because when you have a goal 335 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,480 like this and your eyes said at the end of that tunnel, you want 336 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,560 to keep things as controlled as possible. 337 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,480 But I was trying to be a little more flexible, shall we say. 338 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,480 Well, if your idea is of letting loose is to have a little bit 339 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,480 more celery or Pickles, that's still pretty, pretty tight knit. 340 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,560 So let that be listen to the listeners, you know, like if 341 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,960 you're in a prep, you know, you can be flexible, but flexible 342 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,840 within reason. And a few extra stalks of celery 343 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,800 or a few more Spears of pickle. Probably not going to be the end 344 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,960 of the world at. The end of the world. 345 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:20,920 I will tell you it did slow the process. 346 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:26,560 It does. Everything you put in your 347 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,960 digestive system makes a difference. 348 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,960 But at the end of the day, and again, this is part of the 349 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:38,400 mental shift here too, and being more accepting and more normal 350 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,120 and stoic about all of this, it certainly helped. 351 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,320 Certainly helped. Totally. 352 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,680 All right, So I'm looking at your spreadsheet now and your 353 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:54,400 last show prior to Worlds was Saturday, October 26th at the 354 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:58,520 Calgary show and you stepped on stage at 119.1. 355 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:06,080 At that point your daily calories were around 13601390 356 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:12,480 with the refeed of 1880 and then talking about the placing at 357 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,920 that show. Oh, at that show. 358 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:24,000 Well, that was the show that qualified me for Worlds, so I 359 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:30,040 believe I came home with a second place medal in figure, a 360 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:36,120 third place medal in figure and a third in bikini as well. 361 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,640 And that was about a month away from Worlds. 362 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,320 And at that point, that was the the last show you were thinking 363 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,440 of doing. And I jumped on a call with you 364 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:48,960 like that next day or so. I think that's when I was elk 365 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:50,880 hunting. Yeah, that's exactly what 366 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,480 happened. I was elk hunting in Colorado 367 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,000 that week and had like a low period. 368 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,200 So I called you and, you know, I got a recap of the show, what 369 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,360 your experience was with it. And then I was just sitting 370 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:04,320 there at the table and the Airbnb and I'm like, all right, 371 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,520 Jen, let's let's level with each other here. 372 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,680 But yap world's qualification in the books world's is just a, you 373 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,480 know, a month away, which is a long time in the grand scheme of 374 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,760 things. When you are thinking that you 375 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,920 just stepped off the stage for the last time of your season. 376 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,320 You want to eat some food, you want to fill out, you want to 377 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:23,880 just return to some degree of normalcy. 378 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,880 And I'm like, all right, Jen, stepping on the world stage is 379 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,360 no joke. It's an honor to be there 380 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:32,880 regardless of the placing. I think you should just grit 381 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:34,600 your teeth for another month and do it. 382 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,000 And you, you were all going home about it. 383 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:44,240 I was, I was and there were a few reasons for that. 384 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,920 The first one is you pointed out to me, I've been reverse 385 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:50,960 dieting. I, I believe we started my 386 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:52,840 reverse diet back in September, right? 387 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,320 So I would have been eating the same way. 388 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:57,840 I'm continuing to eat the same way. 389 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,680 I'm going to continue to train the same way. 390 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,080 The only addition would was that I would need to practice my 391 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:10,200 posing on a daily moving forward for the next month. 392 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:15,280 And posing is probably my least favorite part of the whole 393 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,240 process. It's a very important piece of 394 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:22,320 this puzzle, but it's not something that I love to do. 395 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,800 But that was a challenge to me because when I stepped on the 396 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:32,600 Calgary stage in October, I it's a different experience. 397 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:37,280 There's an intimidation factor. There are so many competitors, 398 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:43,120 there's adrenaline and yeah, excitement. 399 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:48,240 And I don't, I didn't feel I did a very I, I didn't feel 400 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,360 confident about how I showed up on stage and how I presented 401 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:53,960 myself. It progressively improved over 402 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:58,600 the course of that day, which is why I love doing multiple 403 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:03,200 categories and multiple classes because the more stage time you 404 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,080 get, the better, at least for me, the better I become. 405 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:10,800 So I thought I will continue to do this. 406 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,000 I don't want to go out with that being my last show because I 407 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:20,240 didn't feel I did a great job. So I wanted to compete again to 408 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,480 give myself more stage opportunity, more posing 409 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,240 practice before I shut the season down. 410 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:28,960 Yeah, I'm glad you did. But you mentioned something I 411 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,160 want to definitely flesh out in greater detail. 412 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,400 So we reverse thated you into that show. 413 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,680 And you're right, we started to reverse that officially on 414 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,280 September 30th. So at that point, we've been 415 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,000 dieting down since February, which is a pretty good while. 416 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:49,880 And we were at, let's see, here at the end of your cut, we were 417 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,840 tiptoeing right around 1200 calories. 418 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,360 But with the refeed, it was putting your weekly average 419 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:03,880 right around 1300 or so, which is pretty much as low as I like 420 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,200 taking any of my female competitors. 421 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,560 And at that point your weight was right around 1:20 at the 422 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,560 beginning of the reverse that. So from that low caloric intake 423 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,280 from the the depth of that cut, we started reversed adding you 424 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:22,680 into the next two shows, the Calgary show and Worlds. 425 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:27,080 So all that while your calories were actually going up and you 426 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,640 were likely filling out more, but yet your weight wasn't 427 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,840 increasing. I mean we started bumping up the 428 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,480 calories and your weight actually dropped again from the 429 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:44,560 1:20 at the depth of the cut to 118 one 17116, all while your 430 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,520 calories were in fact increasing. 431 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:51,840 So pretty cool to reverse diet into the show as opposed to just 432 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,920 be depleted stepping on stage. Absolutely, absolutely. 433 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,840 And it was sort of mind blowing to me and a key learning moving 434 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,640 forward. And I think I'm still in that 435 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:11,480 state of fueling that metabolism with higher calories and 436 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:15,280 continuing to lose weight. I'm I'm not losing weight now. 437 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:18,840 I am gaining, maintaining, gaining weight right now. 438 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:22,880 I think a lot of it is water weight because I have started to 439 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,400 incorporate a lot more vegetables into my life. 440 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:32,920 But coming out of September into November years, I was still at 441 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,800 very much in that place of a caloric deficit. 442 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,720 As much as calories were increasing, I was still 443 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,640 continuing to progressively overload my training. 444 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:48,040 And with the refeeds and the metabolism shifts, I was, I, I 445 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:54,120 know I burned a lot more fat off of my body and came out leaner 446 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,080 stepping on the world stage. I did have a bit of a sodium, 447 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,480 like a, an electrolyte issue on the Day of worlds. 448 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:08,080 So I do feel I was a little bit inflamed and holding a little 449 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,120 excess water that day, unfortunately. 450 00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:16,240 But yeah, All in all, I would do that again, hands down. 451 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,960 I don't think I would ever do a single show. 452 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,720 I think that I would always do multiple shows for this reason 453 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:30,200 because if I rewind to I think it was 2022 show, the same thing 454 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,880 happened. I was very strategic or we were 455 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,320 very strategic with my reverse diet and I couldn't figure out 456 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,040 I'm getting leaner and leaner and why am I not doing another 457 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:40,960 show? Why am I not stepping on another 458 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:46,280 stage? So if I do, when I do another 459 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,760 season, because I know that I will, I'll, I'll certainly 460 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,360 incorporate multiple shows again. 461 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,360 Yeah, I feel like, you know, if you're doing, first of all, it 462 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,040 just makes sense to do more than one show anyways, because if 463 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,440 you're competing, you're putting all this work into the prep. 464 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,080 And then to just step on stage one time, you're kind of doing 465 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,960 yourself a disservice because you don't want to compete too 466 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,040 frequently. So when you do get the most bang 467 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,720 for the buck you can, that's, you know, within reason. 468 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,800 Like last season I did five shows and five shows was a lot 469 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,600 like, I don't know if I would recommend doing 5 shows every 470 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,000 time, but certainly more than one. 471 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:23,360 And if you've got a significant gap between shows of, you know, 472 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:27,480 a couple months, then dieting down into a show and then 473 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:31,840 reverse dieting up into a show makes the most sense in my book. 474 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,520 But like, even now, you know, several weeks post worlds. 475 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,400 I mean, your weight's still right around 1:20. 476 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,280 So like, you have not gained much weight at all. 477 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,720 And your calories now are just shy of 1800s. 478 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,240 So we've increased calories quite a quite a bit and your 479 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:49,640 weight's still holding pretty stable. 480 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,920 Yeah, it's been great. And it's it's challenging like 481 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,840 reverse dieting can be. It's harder for me to reverse 482 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:04,200 diet A without the goal, and B as your metabolism starts 483 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:09,160 revving up and you want to start consuming more calories, but 484 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,120 you've got no good reason not to. 485 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,080 So when you've got the show to help, especially at that 486 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,840 beginning phases of the reverse diet, like it was a beautiful, 487 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,120 beautiful thing for so many reasons. 488 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,320 Yeah, I totally agree. And there's a lot of different 489 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,360 ways people address reverse dieting. 490 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,120 A lot of coaches, like I had Eric Helms on the podcast, I got 491 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,560 a ton of respect for him, but he typically does, He calls it a 492 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,360 recovery diet. And he'll basically bring 493 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,600 people's calories up much more drastically in the beginning. 494 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,120 And I'd totally see the benefit there from a psychological 495 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:47,200 standpoint. But for me personally, I like to 496 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:53,400 kind of keep that same structure and discipline in place even as 497 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,760 I'm reversing. Like I'll still do posing and 498 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:57,640 all of that stuff long after my shows are over. 499 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,160 Because I feel like having that degree of just adherence post 500 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:05,840 show gives me so much time to reflect and just dial things in 501 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:07,960 for what I want to do the next time I do step on stage. 502 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:11,920 That's a good point, and I wish I could say that I've been 503 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,520 practicing posting full transparency. 504 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,000 I haven't, but I probably should you. 505 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:22,720 You're motivating me here, but I do agree. 506 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,360 Yeah, it's, I mean, I feel like you, you just get so much 507 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:29,240 insight from it when you kind of adhere to the same protocols and 508 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:31,200 principles that led to your success in the 1st place as 509 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,000 opposed to just totally going off the rails. 510 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:35,520 And it's hard. I mean, it's hard when you are 511 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,160 increasing calories and your ravenous and your metabolisms 512 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:40,040 ramping up and you especially when you're doing it through the 513 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:42,640 holidays because I mean, you got Thanksgiving, Christmas, you got 514 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,600 these social family gatherings and everybody's eating 515 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,240 everything in excess. So it's hard to kind of tap the 516 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,640 brakes on that to some extent. But I feel like the discipline 517 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:56,760 that you gain from it just totally and completely applies 518 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,960 and kind of builds into your own internal reservoir of what 519 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:02,560 you're capable of so that the next time you do step on stage, 520 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:04,560 you know what you're working with. 521 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,120 Completely, completely. And working on that mindset to 522 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:13,480 like keeping that mental control and focus and yeah, all very 523 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,960 important. Well, talk to me about long term 524 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:17,480 strategy here. I know you and I have talked 525 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,080 coaching client relationship wise, but just for the 526 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,200 listeners, what's your plan going forward? 527 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:29,800 Well, I do think that this, you know, 45 year old Mama still 528 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,200 would love to build a little bit more muscle. 529 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,720 So I'm going to continue with my training. 530 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:41,000 I mean, I want to build the muscle for aesthetic, you know, 531 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:46,680 purposes for my own mental, I guess, Peace of Mind, just end 532 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,960 the challenge. But it's it is it's more about 533 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,280 the challenge and the fact that I just love. 534 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,320 That's my happy time in the morning. 535 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:58,160 Is is doing my training. So certainly going to continue 536 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:04,000 to push there and grow to make things even better if possible, 537 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:10,840 and hoping to to go through this at least one more time. 538 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,320 I'd love to compete again in, I don't know, I haven't looked at 539 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:20,040 the shows or the calendar or, or I like the September time frame 540 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,240 perhaps in, in Arkansas in a couple years. 541 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:30,200 If, if that show, if somebody's going to put host that show in 542 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,120 2026. And I'd like to, yeah, of 543 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,520 course, continue to work with you because I learned so much 544 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,240 from you in more ways than you know. 545 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:46,920 Like the macros are one thing and the accountability is 546 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:54,720 another thing. But your support and your 547 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:59,720 knowledge, your experiences, all of it, Like, I get so much value 548 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:04,160 out of all of it. And I can't thank you enough for 549 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,080 all of your support and help through this. 550 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,040 And I'm so thankful that you're willing to continue working with 551 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:13,280 me until we hit another WNBF stage in a couple years. 552 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:15,520 Well, you are always a pleasure to work with. 553 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,080 I mean, I can say you much more so a friend than a client for 554 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,120 sure. So it's no, no questions asked 555 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:21,440 there. I'm I've always get you back 556 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,080 from a coaching standpoint. And I would be honored to have 557 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,960 you step on my stage when we host the show because we're 558 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,120 doing it next year, 2025, but we'll also hosted 2026. 559 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,239 Lord will and everything going properly. 560 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,639 So yeah, it's, it should be an annual thing. 561 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:36,400 So I would love to have you compete there as well. 562 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:40,639 That would be amazing, and Scott and I have already started 563 00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:44,719 talking plans to come and help support you with your first show 564 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,280 in September. It lines up nicely with our 565 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:52,600 anniversary, so I think we may pull the trailer down through 566 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:56,880 the States, maybe hit Nashville and then head over to Arkansas, 567 00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,240 help out with the show. We've already got it in the 568 00:34:59,240 --> 00:35:02,080 plan, so I hope you're OK with a few extra hands to help. 569 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:04,680 Hey, I need all the hands I can get so I am definitely OK. 570 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:06,920 I might I might sign you up for some guest posing or something, 571 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,640 so watch out. Look out now that. 572 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:12,280 'D be awesome. That'd be awesome. 573 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,120 What, what, what if your what if your kids thought about this 574 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:17,120 whole process, seeing you go through the transformation, 575 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:19,120 seeing you go through the journey and just all the 576 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,840 discipline you've applied. Oh, it's been great. 577 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,240 It's been the best bonding for my daughter and I. 578 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:30,960 She is my backstage coach. She has travelled with me to 579 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:34,600 every show. So supportive, so wonderful, 580 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,080 incredibly helpful and has learned a lot. 581 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,720 She and I have started to do some boot camps together. 582 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,120 So it's been a great experience and I, I hope I'm not speaking 583 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,320 out of term, but I think she would very much agree with all 584 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:50,680 of the statements that I'm making. 585 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,880 And for my son as well. I was a little bit worried. 586 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,640 I thought he might be embarrassed and all my mom doing 587 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:02,360 this thing on a stage, but no, he's incredibly supportive as 588 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,080 well. And he was actually upset when I 589 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,120 told him it's probably your dad coming with me to Arkansas, not 590 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,920 you, bud. You might have to stay home this 591 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,000 time. But he's actually tonight we're 592 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:17,440 going to a gym to work out. So he's 13 and he's starting to 593 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,240 get excited about training and he he's competing with me Mom, 594 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,840 how many push ups? I can almost do 20 push ups now. 595 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:27,680 And so it's a fun, it's a fun thing for the whole family, 596 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,400 really. I say fun, but there are times, 597 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,320 you know, they, they're very patient with me as I go through 598 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,720 these preps. But I think on a whole, it's 599 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:42,920 been a great learning experience for the whole family. 600 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:44,920 Yeah, no, that's awesome. Having people in your inner 601 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,680 circle that are in your corner makes all the difference in the 602 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,640 world because you, I mean, they sacrifice a lot and that never 603 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,120 really gets talked about when you're in a prep, like they 604 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,000 sacrifice a lot. So for them to be on board, 605 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,440 supportive, they're with you every step of the way, pushing 606 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:01,400 you through it, I mean that, that speaks volumes. 607 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:06,840 It sure does. We've got quite a great Patero 608 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,920 family support system going, so it's been great on many levels 609 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,360 for sure. I love it and appreciate it. 610 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:17,480 Let me ask you this, Jen, So you you're doing all this in natural 611 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,240 federations and I've had multiple people on the podcast 612 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,040 that are hormone experts, especially in the female 613 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:27,040 demographic realm, talking about the popularity and benefits 614 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,280 behind HRT, things of that nature. 615 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,960 You're doing all this obviously with the ketogenic approach as 616 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:34,920 you mentioned earlier, you're 45 years old now. 617 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:39,160 Is, is there much prevalence of, of the HRT clinics popping up in 618 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:40,480 Canada like there are here in the States? 619 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,360 And is there a lot of interest around that? 620 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:44,600 And have you given it any thought? 621 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,160 Have you stayed natural for any particular reason? 622 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,160 Like just talk to me about your your thoughts behind it all. 623 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:57,760 Yes, there is. There is quite a bit of of that 624 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,320 going on up here in Canada as well. 625 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:10,560 And I, I am hopeful that I don't need to go that route. 626 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:14,840 And that's a large part of the reason that I, not necessarily 627 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:18,080 the reason I started the ketogenic diet, but most 628 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:22,320 certainly one of the reasons I've continued to follow the 629 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:27,040 ketogenic diet and am in a strong proponent of high levels 630 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:30,760 of fats for my female friends in particular. 631 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:38,120 And, and so far, like my mom went through menopause at 40. 632 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,440 So I know genetics aren't everything. 633 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:47,040 And, and it, it wasn't a necessary, it wasn't 100% 634 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:51,640 certain that I would obviously, but like I have no effects of it 635 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:56,240 at all. And I'm hoping cross fingers 636 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:59,520 that I can maintain it this way. Yeah, yeah. 637 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:03,080 It's interesting because that just seems to be coming like it 638 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,000 seems to be the norm now, like in all the the podcast guests 639 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,800 I've brought on and just kind of getting the general consensus 640 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:12,880 like that seems to be where everything is going. 641 00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:16,360 But like for me, I obviously complete the natural shows as 642 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,480 well. So I'm not looking towards HRT 643 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:22,080 at this point in my life at 33 as even an option. 644 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:24,640 I don't feel there's a need for it for me personally. 645 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,760 And while there may be a lot of protective, you know, mechanisms 646 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:33,560 behind HRT for both male and females as they get older, like 647 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:38,680 so much of that can be mitigated drastically by just having the 648 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:40,440 right lifestyle factors in place. 649 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:43,320 And I feel like when you're weight training, that's 650 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,080 obviously going to do wonders for building and preserving lean 651 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,880 tissue and bone density. If you're eating a ketogenic 652 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,960 diet, you're obviously getting in plenty of quality fats that 653 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:53,720 are also going to help with hormone function. 654 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,320 And if you're kind of undulating between periods in a caloric 655 00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:00,680 deficit and periods in a caloric surplus, your body's metabolic 656 00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:02,400 needs are kind of getting answered for there. 657 00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:07,640 So I feel like if if there is a reason to jump on an HRT 658 00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:13,560 regimen, you can certainly push that down the road by setting 659 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:16,720 yourself up with success via these lifestyle choices. 660 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:24,600 I completely agree and yes, I I don't know with 100 nothing 100% 661 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:29,880 but that it won't be necessary. I'm hopeful that it will be a 662 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:33,400 far more manageable when I hit that phase and stage A. 663 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:37,160 I'd like to push it out as far away as I can and I think that I 664 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,440 am living the lifestyle that I am. 665 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:44,000 But when it does happen, because it's pretty inevitable that it 666 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:50,240 will, that any side effects of that will be greatly reduced 667 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:55,320 because of my lifestyle and that it won't be necessary or I won't 668 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,880 feel a need to even consider that. 669 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:03,880 Ave. for some it might be necessary. 670 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:10,720 But to your point, I do think that you can control a lot of it 671 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:13,960 with lifestyle. Yeah, 100 percent, 100%. 672 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:17,440 Well, Jen, where do people go to learn more about you, dive into 673 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,200 your world, follow along? You are also a coach, so 674 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:22,640 definitely shout that out and let anybody's interested in 675 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:24,360 working with you know how to do so. 676 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:29,800 I am a coach and I do love being a deeper state keto coach. 677 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:34,520 Currently working with some fantastic females who I feel I 678 00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:37,360 get to know on a very intimate level. 679 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:41,360 I care an awful lot about the people that I work with and I 680 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:46,440 love to get involved in their worlds and help them in any way 681 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:49,400 that I can, through nutrition, through the personal training, 682 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:54,120 like all of it. And so certainly through the 683 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:58,640 Deeper State Keto website. If you are interested in some 684 00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:02,760 accountability and some help with your, your ketogenic 685 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:06,560 lifestyle, I would be more than happy to help support in any way 686 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:10,440 that I can. And then I am on social media, 687 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:15,800 but I must say I am not very active as of late. 688 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:23,880 I Jen Patero wait, yes, Jen patero keto fit mom on Instagram 689 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:31,880 and Facebook, Jen Dixon Patero and I don't know maybe I need 690 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,440 some I don't know. I just haven't been sharing very 691 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:40,640 much there recently, but hopefully someday soon I will. 692 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:44,280 Well, I need to see some updated build out shots of that gym 693 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:45,960 you're building. So you ought to do you had to 694 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:50,520 leverage that process for reason to post more on social because 695 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:52,800 you could post your workouts and everything in your new gym setup 696 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:56,560 because I love gym setup. So let that be motivation to 697 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:00,280 start posting more. There we go this, there we go. 698 00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:02,840 Now I've got a reason. I will start to share some of 699 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:05,320 those photos and it might help me leverage. 700 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:09,480 And after like a New Year's, some New Year's new gym 701 00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:14,320 equipment sales for Jen Patero with Scotty might help me. 702 00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:17,280 What's totally going off on tangent now, but what? 703 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,440 What are you equipping your gym with as far as new pieces? 704 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:23,840 Well, I don't even have a squat rack. 705 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:29,240 You got to fix that up for sure. So I would like a proper cage. 706 00:43:29,240 --> 00:43:32,720 I bought a Smith machine. It's so old it's wonderful, but 707 00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:36,800 I think I paid $300.00 for it on marketplace through Facebook or 708 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,000 whatever. But so I feel like I'd like to 709 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,200 upgrade that and get myself a proper squat rack as well. 710 00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:45,200 Nice. Yeah, definitely get you a squat 711 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:46,440 rack. That's going to open up a lot of 712 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:49,760 opportunities for you. But again, I mean, you have 713 00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:53,320 built your physique with pretty basic equipment and body weight 714 00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:56,720 stuff and you've shaved 20 years off your life in doing something 715 00:43:56,720 --> 00:43:59,040 and it looks shaved 20 years off in a good way. 716 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:02,800 Like you look 20 years younger, not your lifestyle lifespan 20 717 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:04,480 years shorter. So whatever you're doing with 718 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:06,240 the equipment you get is obviously working. 719 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:09,440 Well, thank you so much for saying it. 720 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:13,200 And yes, when the world shut down now over many years ago, I 721 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:18,120 had a pair of 8 LB dumbbells and a pair of 12 LB dumbbells and at 722 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:20,120 that time you could not buy new equipment. 723 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:25,400 So I have done it very minimalistically here and had a 724 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:26,480 lot of fun in the process. I. 725 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:27,800 Love it. I love it. 726 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,040 Well, Jen, always a pleasure chatting with you. 727 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:34,080 I've got utmost respect for you as a client, athlete, person. 728 00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:36,640 I am grateful to know you and call you a friend. 729 00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:39,320 If there's ever anything I could do to help in any way, please 730 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:40,680 don't hesitate to reach out and let me know. 731 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,440 Well, likewise, Robert, you've been wonderful and changed my 732 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:49,040 life in so many ways. So thank you, thank you, thank 733 00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:51,640 you. And I absolutely will have you 734 00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:54,160 busy during the weekend of the show. 735 00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:55,640 I'm grateful to have you down here for that. 736 00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:57,080 I think it's going to be an awesome experience. 737 00:44:57,080 --> 00:45:00,200 So stoked to hear that you're coming down to Arkansas. 738 00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:02,440 Beautiful. Sign me up. 739 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:04,480 We'll pack the trailer and be on our way. 740 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,280 Can't wait. Awesome, Jim. 741 00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:08,720 Until then, keep killing it and keep in touch. 742 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:10,920 Will do. Thanks, Robert. 743 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:12,800 Take care, bye bye. Bye.