Welcome back to another empowering episode of the midlife Makeover show

Wendy Valentine: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another empowering episode of the midlife Makeover show. I’m Wendy Valentine, and today we’ve got a guest who is the epitome of, strength, confidence, and fearlessness. Meet Jodi Harrison Bauer. With 35 years of experience as a fitness coach, trainer, and mentor, Jody is all about helping women achieve their best themselves. Hot, healthy, confident, and fearless as they age. I don’t know why I said it like that, but she made waves. Listen to this. This is so cool. As the oldest woman to audition for the Sports Illustrated Swim suit edition. You go, girl. Proving that age is just a number when it comes to breaking societal norms and pushing boundaries, Jodie is here to share her insights on healthy eating, strength training, goal setting, and cultivating a powerful mindset. As the host of the podcast fearlessly authentic, and creator of the hot and healthy accelerator, she’s passionate about educating, empowering, and inspiring others to live their most authentic lives. At 63 years young, Jodi is just getting started, and she’s here to show us all that it’s never too late to start something new. Get ready for an uplifting conversation that will leave you feeling motivated and ready to take on the world.

Wendy Boyden welcomes Jodi Harrison Bauer to the show

Boyden, let’s give a warm welcome to Jodi Harrison Bauer.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: thank you for that nice intro. I usually don’t get to hear intros. It’s usually afterwards. I loved it. I love your energy. Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Someone said the other day, they’re like, you know, I should just, like, take that recording and listen to it every morning, like, when I wake up and then.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right. No, thank you. That was beautiful. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Wendy Valentine: Well, welcome to the show.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Thanks, Wendy.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, we took, like, at least 20 minutes to get started because we were, like, chatting so much.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yes, yes.

Wendy Valentine: I knew. I knew we would connect.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I did, too.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, 60. three.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah. I know. When you said it, it’s like, wow, I do. I’m already starting to write 64 because I’m, like, four months away from 64, and I’m thinking, oh, my God, how is this happening so fast? It’s crazy. And I don’t feel old until I say how old I am.

Wendy Valentine: I know, right?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: That’s inspiring to people, you know, or. Yeah, aspirational to some people.

Wendy Valentine: I think it’s like, when my kids have birthdays is when I feel I’m, like, 32. I have a 32 year old.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Like, I know my daughter turned 35 in June, and I’m like, oh, now that makes me feel old.

What do you think is the key for staying healthy and young

Wendy Valentine: So I’m sure you get this question a lot. What do you think is the key for staying healthy and young?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: well, healthy and young. I think that it’s a lot of things. Healthy is having a healthy diet, including regular exercise, including strength training, something I’ve been doing since I was 20 years old. And then just, like, mental wellbeing. And I talk about this a lot. I know that sounds like what everybody says. but way back when, when I was 20 years old, back in 1980. Yeah, that would be 1980. you know, I was the only woman that I knew that was lifting weights, that was going to a gym. there were only gyms for men, or they were like, women who didn’t want to lift heavy weight. So it was really hard to figure out where I belonged. But I knew that there were a few of me. And I think that when I go back in time and I think of the tough times that I’ve had, like a divorce, for example, that’s a tough time for everybody. That I realized then that that’s where I got my mental strength from, was going to the gym, being disciplined, being consistent about what I was eating and what I was doing at the gym gave me the mental strength to carry on past a tough time. And now, like, maybe in the past ten years, they’ve been talking about how you can get mentally fit by going to the gym.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, I could have told you that 40 years ago. Right. 43 years ago, I could have told you that was happening, but I didn’t really realize it until I started going through some more struggles. That that was the thing that kept me strong. So for staying healthy, obviously the foundation of everybody’s life should be regular exercise healthy, eating healthy. eating is looks different for everybody because it depends on your goals and your activity level and feeling young. Those things will help you feel young, and if you stay out of the sun. Something I didn’t do until I was in my mid fifties, so.

Wendy Valentine: You and I are so similar.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah. Like, I grew up in a time. I was born in 1960. We didn’t have sunscreen. You know, it just. We didn’t have sunscreen. I remember in college, laying out on the roof of one of the dorms with the baby oil and the Peter Frampton comes alive albumen. It was a trifold album with baby oil on my face, for God’s sake. You know, that certainly wasn’t helping me feel young.

Wendy Valentine: I think there was an, episode of Laverne and Shirley where they’re holding up, like, remember, like the foiled little trifle? Yeah. They would hold those up just to get even more burnt. And I remember watching, I was like, oh, that’s a great idea.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I was like, crazy.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I was in the gym and in the sun. That was my thing.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right? It was crazy. I remember in being in Florida with my grandmother, and I would come in and she’d say, what are you doing inside, jody? Go outside. Get more sun. Like, there was no, there was no real application of sunscreen. It wasn’t like, jodi, do you have sunscreen on? No. And I ended up getting third degree burns on my face.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, gosh.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I know, I know, I know.

Wendy Valentine: But, you know, I think, and I’m sure you have this on your podcast, too. You probably have a lot of health experts that come on, which is great. I mean, it’s amazing. There’s so many. There’s so, so much out there that we can learn from. Right. But it’s. It’s overwhelming, though, too.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It is, it is.

Wendy Valentine: And I feel I love, like, when the blue zones came out, because it’s like, yes, it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Like, just the basics. Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It doesn’t have to be extreme. There is science behind it, but it’s not rocket science. And I think you’ll hear a lot of people say that. I’ve been saying it for a long time when it comes to eating and macronutrients, I would tell my clients, this is not rocket science, but there is a scientific thought behind this. There is. This is scientific based. No.

I want to prepare younger women to be prepared for menopause

You do need protein. You do need your carbohydrates. You do need your good fats. You do need to sleep. You do need to hydrate. You do need to move your body again. I’ve been talking about this before. There was social media. So what I hear, it’s really. I feel that your generation, the women, Gen X, I think, yeah, that generation is the first generation to have a social platform. Like, we have to talk about menopause, diet, exercise, eating healthy. And that’s why I think so much of it is in our face also, because these ladies are screaming from the rooftops. And I appreciate it, but I, you know, I. I want to prepare the younger women, like in their thirties, to be prepared for menopause. And the women, we were talking before we got on the air, the post menopausal women, specifically the women over 60, that it’s not too late. Like, you don’t have to give up. And I just went to my 45th high school reunion, and, you know, it was unfortunate to see what I saw.

Wendy Valentine: I know, but, you know, that’s the key. It’s like taking care of your body today is taking care of your body tomorrow, like taking care of your 90 year old self. Right. And that’s so important to be like, okay. And it’s never too late. It’s never too late to like, okay. If you spent the last 30 years eating McDonald’s, okay, no problem. Like, the body is amazing. And how it can repair itself, how it can rejuvenate, awesome. Like, within 30 days, your whole body can be completely different. Maybe not completely different, but your cells, your skin, everything is turning over. Right? Right.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Everything is turning over and you’ll feel better mentally and physically, you’ll sleep better. Everything does change and it can happen within 30 days if you stay consistent. You know, consistency is really important. We talk about discipline a lot. I talk about discipline a lot. but discipline and consistency, they go together. If, ah, you don’t create that discipline and those healthy habits in your life, then it’s very hard to be consistent. M they go hand in hand. They really do.

Have you changed how you work out as you’ve gotten older

Wendy Valentine: have you changed how you work out as you’ve gotten older?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I think so. I’m asked this question often. you know, obviously it changed a lot. For the ten years I was competing in fitness shows. So that was a very regimented diet and so many young girls. So when I was competing, I was from 47 to 57, which was very old, and everybody told me I was too old to compete. What are you doing? Why are you going to get on stage in a bikini? And at that time, that was 2006, nobody my age was competing. I was, at 46, 47 years old, considered old to the point that they didn’t even have a division for 45 and over. So I was nuts.

Wendy Valentine: To me, I still think that’s so young.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It is, it is, yeah. But I was competing against 35 year olds, and I finally told the organizer of all these fitness shows, hey, listen, you know, you’ve got a bunch of women over 45 backstage and you’re putting us up against the 35 year olds. Do you know the difference? It was a man. Do you know the difference between a 35 and a 45 year old woman? It’s huge. I didn’t get into the whole menopause thing. Eventually, he did switch it over to 45 and over. but going back to, I forgot what you were asking me.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, yes. Did you, do you find that, like, have you changed how you work out as you’ve gotten older?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right. So during that time, I was lifting very, very heavy with a very strict diet. And so I would say that, yes, it’s changed from that point. So that was a big part of my life, from 47 to 57. So after I finished competing, I went to a more of a full body workout rather than breaking it up in body parts for about five years. A lot of that had to do with that. I was teaching a full body pump type, of course, at m my studio and training women who maybe only came to train with me two times a week. So I was training them full body. So then I decided, well, I don’t have a lot of time because I’m in the studio training clients all the time. Why don’t I become more efficient? So that changed from breaking down a body part to full body workouts, which I really loved.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, that’s nice.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It was nice. It was more efficient, less hit, so less high intensity interval training. I was like, f*** that. I don’t want to feel that. I don’t want to do that anymore. Screw that. So I went to maybe more like 20 to 30 minutes of cardio after my workouts, like three, four times a day. And now at 63, for the last couple of years, I have been going back to my old school training of, m breaking it down to body parts, but not lifting as heavy. So it has changed because you do have to listen to your body. Luckily, nothing hurts. I mean, I had a slight tear in my rotator cuff, which is very common for women over 60. whether you’ve worked out or not, it’s just lack of estrogen, so on.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And I think that’s key, just listening to your body. What does your body want to do? And, like, it’s good to push yourself a bit. Right. But you also have to be like. Exactly.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: You have to be smart. You have to be really, really smart. And it’s so important to listen to your body, and that’s why that mind body connection is so huge. And, you know, when I would train women in the studio and I would see a woman come in for the first two weeks, they would just train without weights until I felt like they can take them, depending on the client. But I would see if they had that mind body connection.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Because some women don’t. Some people don’t. Not just women. And. But once you do start working out, that connection gets closer and closer. And I love that. I love to see that.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I’ve changed quite a bit. And what I do, like, I love cycling, spinning, indoor spinning.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yep.

Wendy Valentine: Love that. Like, that. Does what I have three to four, ruptured disc in my spine, so I have to be really careful. And I love running, but I can’t.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Like, you can’t run is great for you.

Wendy Valentine: Yes, exactly. So I don’t have the impact. as a matter of fact, last time I was here in Portugal, my oldest son was like, hey, mom, you want to do a marathon back in LA? And I was like, ok, like, three weeks later, starting in my training, and I slipped a disc and ended up in the ER. So I was like, d*** it. But listening to my body. So, yeah, the cycling does very well for me. Yoga does very well for me. Weights I do very good with, like, but I’ve had, it’s taken a while, kind of learning what my body likes and what my body doesn’t like. I mean, you don’t have to. It’s just going back to the blue zones, right. Just moving your body. Like, if that’s all you do, then just take a walk around the neighborhood. Like, you don’t have to do all the things to be healthy.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right. You.

Wendy Valentine: Depends on your goals. I think you said that earlier. Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right.

It always depends on your activity level and your goal. So if you want to drop 20 pounds and lose 10% body fat

It always depends on your activity level and your goal. So if you’re somebody who wants to drop 20 pounds and lose 10% body fat, then we’re really going to have a different conversation than the person that just says, I feel like I need to move more.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And that’s. That’s the person who I’ll say, get up and walk around your house for ten days. For ten minutes. Not ten days. Ten minutes. ten days would be hard.

Wendy Valentine: He is serious about this.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I am serious. and so it really depends on what they want and where they come to me from. You know, somebody comes to me and they’re sedentary. Well, we got to get you to move. Someone’s active, and they just want to get tighter and tighter and leaner and fitter and stronger, then that’s a different workout. So, like you, you know, I listen to my body. I know that because I have been depositing muscle in my body since I was 20 years old, and I danced for ten years and was a cheerleader. So all of those years. But at 20, lifting weights, I’ve been depositing muscle, and that muscle is going to help me live longer. So for somebody like me that has very muscular legs, I don’t need to do a lot to maintain that muscle. How much am I going to build at this age?

Wendy Valentine: Right?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Not much, to be honest. Can I still build? Sure.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Sure. I can but if you’ve made the deposits, like, if you’ve made the deposits for your retirement fund starting at 20, by the time you’re 63, you will have a lot of money in your retirement fund. If you start lifting weights in your 20, by the time you’re 63, you will have gained a f*** ton of muscle mass on your body. And the more muscle mass you have on your body, the less body fat you have on your body.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. So.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And that’s what’s beautiful about having muscle.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And I always say, like, it’s easier to prevent rather than repair to. Right. Being proactive rather than reactive. And even just starting today, by doing more things for your body in a positive way. And, like, once you get to that point of whatever your goals are, then you can sit back. Maybe not sit back, but relax a little bit more. Maintain, maintain. Right. So it’s not like you’re always having to go, go, go with the exercise and the, you know, I mean, there’s been times in my life where I’ve had inflammation or I’ve. I’ve had things going on. I had, like, lyme disease, black mold toxicity, where I had to be super strict on what I ate. Right.

Wendy Valentine: And. But then, like, once I got over that, and then I could maintain, and then I don’t have to worry about that anymore. So sometimes it’s temporary things that you have to do.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Exactly. And you know what the biggest misconception amongst women is that women who want to lose weight, or when I say lose weight, they want to transform their body. They. They want to become stronger, fitter.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: you know, just healthier. And they think the way is to do lots of cardio. And that’s such a big misconception. Then they don’t eat enough food. They might eat two eggs a day and think, well, I got my protein in. And no, all you’re doing is losing muscle by doing tons, extreme cardio and not eating, you’re starving yourself. And it’s the biggest revelation for women to understand is the more you eat of all the good stuff, the right stuff in the right portion size for you at the right time, you will see bigger gains in the long run, because all you see when you’re not eating is you’re not firing up your metabolism. Every time you eat, you fire up your metabolism. Every time you exercise, you’re firing up your metabolism. If you’re fueling your body to reach your goals, to match your exercise goals, and. And look and feel the way you want, then it all comes together beautifully. But, doing extreme cardio and not eating enough food is. Is just going to be disastrous. It’s unhealthy.

Wendy Valentine: So do you. Do you work with, people remotely, too?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I do.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, nice.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, my. Right now, my website is down. It’s under construction, so if anybody wants to work with me, reach out to me on Instagram. Dm meredith. but I do offer one on one coaching, and I will have another hot and healthy accelerated program coming up, like, in October.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, nice.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Working on all that. But I do work with clients to create their meal plans for them and their workout programs for them based on their goals. And everybody’s meal plan, nutrition guide is different, and even though I can come up with a template, I have a meal plan already. It just. It differs for each person because we’re all different sizes.

Wendy Valentine: If you’re wanting to lose weight or gain more muscle or get more lean.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: In tone, and all those things will help you with energy levels.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: The more muscle you have, the more energetic you will be. It’s.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, totally.

Lean protein is what moves the needle. Without lean protein, nothing changes

I was just going to say, like, I’ll admit since I’ve been here in Portugal, I’ve been wanting to do more weights because I know my body needs that.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, do it.

Wendy Valentine: But I’ve been so intimidated because, first of all, I have to calculate out the kilograms, and I’m like, oh, my God, I don’t even know.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I would not know either.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I know. So I’m like, I don’t even know. But. But I have been wanting, like, a new routine, a new, like, for weight training, because what I used to do before is I don’t think it’s, like, doing much. I feel like my body’s wanting to change it up.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right, right. So your body gets accustomed to what you’re doing. It’s like eating the same foods. Eventually you’re not going to want to eat them anymore. And, you know, we were kind of talking about sex before we got on here. It’s like sex. If you keep doing. If your partner’s going to keep doing the same things, you’re like, okay, I don’t care anymore. Right. Like, can we. Can we bring in something fresh and new here? And it’s the same thing with your body. It’s going to want a variety of foods to eat, a variety of cardio to do, a variety of weightlifting. And that’s why I like breaking it out into different parts. But one day, I might just get to the gym and I’m like, I feel like doing a full body workout and I’ll just do it, you know, because my body wants that. So, again, going back to your point of, you know, like, lean into what your body wants, you know, if it wants ice cream every single day, what’s going to happen is eventually you’re going to start feeling sick from eating that ice cream every single day because your body is incredibly smart and will let you know that it’s going to make you feel sick eventually, and you won’t want to eat it. The problem is, is that, like, in life, we don’t, we don’t ignore the red flags so that somebody who’s going to get ice cream every day and then eventually starts feeling sick after they eat the ice cream, but they keep going and eating it.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. Oh, exactly. I know.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, eventually. So your body is smart. It gets accustomed to things. So, yes, I. You got to change up that workout.

Wendy Valentine: Are there foods that can help you lose weight quicker? Like, just certain foods that burn fat?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah. Lean protein. Lean protein. If you’re not incorporating enough lean protein, your body will never, ever transform.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Lean protein is what moves the needle. Without lean protein, nothing changes. Nothing changes.

Wendy Valentine: Nothing.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Nothing. it does, it doesn’t, it doesn’t. You need. And the amount of lean protein you need, again, depends on your activity level and your goals. But also, what is your ideal body weight?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: So if you were to take your ideal body weight.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: That is how much protein you need. So if I have a 300 pound client, obviously she doesn’t want to weigh 300 pounds.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: So I would take her to, okay, 200, 2180, depending on everything else.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: So I would try to get her to consume 180 grams of protein. It’s very hard to take somebody who is not eating enough food because 99.9% of my clients that come to me are not eating enough of the right food. And when I throw all this food at them, they’re like, whoa, I can’t eat that. Yeah, you can, but we need to do it slowly. So if you think about it, 180, I’m taking out my little calculator. If you took 180 and you divide it by four, that’s 45 grams of protein per meal, which is. Which is about 8oz. Six to 8oz of a lean protein.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I was just thinking, like, salmon.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And salmon’s a good fat. Wild salmon, you’re in Portugal, so you probably get wild caught fish. Yes, wild, caught fish is the best fish to have. If you get farm raised salmon, that’s like eating a steak yeah. So you’re not getting the good fat from it.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And plus, it’s icky.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It’s disgusting. Like what I think about those fish swimming around in a little swimming pool. It’s eating other feces. It’s just disgusting. And that’s what you’re putting in your body, so.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly. Beware, be careful about what you buy. Yeah, yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: But that’s the biggest challenge. That is the biggest challenge.

Many people fear carbohydrates because they think they’re going to gain weight

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I mean, if you think, I know you know this, but I’m sure so many people just do not get enough protein in their diet.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It’s carburetor. I see it with women, too. And then they fear carbohydrates. And I, Just for your audience, I want to explain that carbohydrates are just not, it’s not just pasta, bread, rice, beans. That’s not it. It’s also fruits and vegetables, and we need fruits and vegetables and we need starches, but in the right portion based on your activity levels and your goals. So for somebody like me, when I was competing, my goals are different than what I had now. Like, when I was competing, I was taking in, in the, like, eight week range about, I would cycle with my carbohydrates, but we, would, sometimes they would be putting me on like 145 grams of protein.

Wendy Valentine: Mmm.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And you know, I only weighed 105.

Wendy Valentine: Wow.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: But I know there’s so many women, especially will think if you’re eating more than they’re going to gain weight.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: No, that is completely false. If you’re eating the right foods and the right portions.

Wendy Valentine: Mm

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I’ll say it. When we’re trying goals and activity levels, then you will get the results you want. It’s that pushback. And I see it with men, too. It’s not just women see it with men who are really hypersent sensitive about what they eat, what they look like. And that’s great. because, you know, if you want to look aesthetically pleasing, there’s, I mean, I get it. You know, we all want to look great, but we’re working for our insides first. If we work from the inside, you know, inside out, it all works. But I see it with men, too. I remember sitting down with somebody, a big guy, like six foot three, and I was, we were talking about food, and he was telling me how much he ate. And I’m like, you’re not eating enough food. He goes, yeah, I am. like, you’re not, but you go ahead, you do it. You go listen to your trainer. Yeah. So, yeah. And, that is the biggest hurdle for women. That’s the biggest question I get is what do you eat? When, when everything happened with Sports Illustrated, the biggest question I got was what do you eat?

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Like, I eat all of this.

Wendy Valentine: And I’m sure they were. Yeah, they were probably so surprised you were eating that much food. But it was good food.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It’s good food. Yeah. And that, you know, overall, that helps you build muscle when you’re in your prime. And when I say prime, twenties, thirties, forties. Before you hit menopause.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: So those primes. So think of the prime baby making time. The prime baby making time is twenties, thirties, forties. Right. Because your hormones are balanced. When your hormones are balanced, it’s saying, give me muscle, give me a baby, give me all the good things that I can consume right now because my body is ready to produce babies and ready to create muscle and, and that’s what it is. So if you are in your sixties or you are a post menopausal woman, it’s not too late. It’s just going to be a little bit harder. But don’t give up because you will feel better.

You will never regret not working out, Wendy says

Jodi Harrison Bauer: You will feel better.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Going back to what you were saying earlier about, how helpful it is to exercise and how it helps you mentally. Right. When we get depressed or we’re, you know, stressed and frustrated, we have a tendency to not go and work out or to go for that walk or to do some yoga or whatever. Right. But it’s actually what you need the most to help you out of that funky funk, so.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Well, wendy. Yes, very, yeah. Really? You will never regret a workout, but you will always regret not working out.

Wendy Valentine: No, I know.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And it’s that hit of dopamine that you get after a workout. It’s the same hit of dopamine when you laugh, when you smile. You know, I watched Love island. Do you watch that show at all?

Wendy Valentine: No, I haven’t seen that.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It’s really good. And so with every epic, with every season of Love island, they do this, heart rate check. So the guys and the girls come out and they like sexy and they try to get everybody’s heart rate up. but one kid just this last season came out and he acted like a nerd and he had the women laughing and that he had the highest, he got them to their highest heart rate. So that was that hit of dopamine. So it’s not just feeling sexy or alive or hot, it’s laughter. It’s the smiling and you will feel better. Nobody ever leaves the gym not feeling better or after a workout. So many women dragged themselves, oh, I didn’t feel like working out together, and they’re, like, crying at the end, thanking me. So. Yeah, very good point. I appreciate you bringing that.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I always feel good after spending class, especially, like, even though I’m, like, drenched. I was like, yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: yeah, yeah.

Wendy Valentine: And you dragging, you plan your day around your workout. Like, that should be like, you’re okay. When am I gonna work out? You know, tomorrow? What time am I gonna go? And then you plan the rest of your day. Otherwise, you get to the end of the day and you’re like, s***, I didn’t work out again.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Oh, yeah. And that’s happened to me where I’ve said, okay, I’ll book that appointment. Okay, well, this is the only time I could get this person on my podcast or whatever it is. And then it’s 536 o’clock and there have been times I drag my b*** to the gym and I’m like, I’m doing it and I feel so much better. but, yeah, put it in your book, in your phone as an appointment. What time do you work out? When’s your favorite time?

Wendy Valentine: It depends right now with writing the book, it’s been a look, because when I start writing, I get, like, in the zone and I just don’t even want to come out of my cave. so I’m usually, I’m usually like, twelve noon. So here in Portugal, I’ll get up, like 05:00 a.m. i work, and then I’ll go work out, come back, shower, boop, boop, and then go on the rest of my day. But I mean, I. And that’s all changed, right? Like, I mean, I used to be like, I’d get up in the morning and work out first, but. And sometimes if I’m right here, then in, in the rv, I do yoga inside the rv.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Like, I love that.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I mean, that was actually the selling point with that rv. I was like, okay, if I can do yoga here, I’ll take it.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Like, and I’m glad you brought up I’m glad you brought up yoga because besides strength training.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Lifting weights or any type of exercise that you’re doing that feels, let’s just say it’s worth masculine energy, right? Like being on a spin bike, you know, it’s that hard energy, that aggressive energy. and doing something peaceful like yoga. and meditating and taking that time to get centered and feeling that balance of. That’s very feminine energy.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. That is so. That’s very interesting. and I think maybe that’s why I’ve kind of done that, like, over the last couple of years, while I have a little bit, you know, because, yeah, when you’re in spinning clash, you’re like, it’s very masculine energy, very competitive in a way.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right.

Wendy Valentine: And the yoga is very serene, very feminine.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It is. And that was the thing that I loved about competing, also, was that it brought together that masculine and feminine energy. And because you’d be working out so hard at the gym and eating so specifically hard.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Walk on. And you have your hair and your makeup and your spray tan, and you’re in these high heels and these beautiful bedazzled bikinis, and you’re in your feminine energy. There’s nothing aggressive about this beautifully fit woman that walks on stage. And, you know, it’s. I’ve often thought about, why did I love it so much? And I just. It goes back to that balance. I felt that balance in my life. When everything else was maybe falling apart. I felt I could be. That’s where I found my peace.

Many women will self isolate as they get older due to empty nest

Wendy Valentine: I was just thinking, too, that especially in midlife, many of us have an empty nest, and you really do have more time to dedicate to yourself and to your health and to your body and exercise. And there’s so many cool new things to do out there for ex. Like, pickleball. Like, I just took a pickleball last year.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I love it.

Wendy Valentine: It’s so much fun and such a good workout.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Well, right. And so, you’re moving your body and you’re socializing, so that’s what happens a lot as we get older. Is that a lot of women. Look, you move to a whole new country by yourself.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And some women will self isolate as they get older. You know, empty nest. Maybe they’re a single mom. maybe they’re just all by themselves. Maybe they’re in a new place, and then they start, or they don’t feel good in their body. They get unhealthy and they isolate. Socialization is so important. It sounds so corny, because growing up, of course you have friends, right? Of course we have friends. But then you get older, and you don’t have those kids to, like, keep you connected to those friends sometimes. And so I love pickleball for that. Or tennis or any type of.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I was gonna say, then you meet like minded people that are doing the same thing. I even did pole dancing classes, which was a blast.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I love that. I’ve never done it and I’ve wanted to do it cool.

Wendy Valentine: Different classes you could do now. Yeah, dancing classes, zumba, whatever. But it’s so much fun. Like, I mean, exercise can be fun, right?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Exercise, exercise doesn’t necessarily mean lifting weight, but I do advise m doing resistance training. Resistance training is the same thing as lifting weights, right. If you’re resisting your body, your body weight, that’s resistance training. If you’re in a pole dancing class, if you’re, you’ll pick a ball. I wouldn’t say is resistance training. Right. So that’s your cardio, that’s your socialization. Your heart rate goes up really fast, comes down fast, down fast, down. So it’s almost like a hIpaa workout, but maybe not as severe. but dancing, dancing brings so much joy to so many people. I did ballroom dancing. I competed in ballroom dancing for like six months.

Wendy Valentine: Of course you did.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It was, I just wanted to win. I’m very competitive like you are, and I just, I did it as like, an homage to my mom after she passed away because she had me taking ballroom dancing at the age of twelve because I was really shy and I hated it. And anyway, I had, I was looking for another outlet also, and so I did latin dancing and it was really scary. And I did win a couple of times, so, but it takes a lot of time, so you’ve got to be devoted to that. It’s like competing in fitness shows. Like you’ve got to choose a lane. And not that I was going back to competing, but I just want to get back to just doing whatever the h*** I wanted to do and not just spending 3 hours a day practicing. Mm.

Wendy Valentine: So great just to change it up too, because you, I think you mentioned about that earlier, but like, you can get bored. It’s like doing the same thing, then it’s like, okay, then take a different class or whatever, or hire a trainer, hire you like something just to change it up like I expressed earlier. Like, right now I’m like, okay, I’m kind of getting a little bored with what I’m doing. I need to change, even if my body’s okay, that I’m just, I’m mentally bored with it.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right, right. Well, sometimes I just want to take a break. Yeah, you just want to take a break. I don’t feel like going to the gym for two weeks, but I feel like doing pilates and bar. Okay, but do something. Pilates is has a big resurgence lately, and, everybody’s doing pilates. It’s like, okay, guys, it’s been around for a really long time. I know, and that’s okay, but I love it because it’s really gentle on your joints and you’re doing resistance training. So again, it’s more of a feminine energy versus that masculine, aggressive energy that maybe a lot of women don’t want to even experience. Maybe it intimidates them. They don’t want to go to a gym. You don’t have to go to a gym. You don’t have to. In order for you to live a long, healthy, happy life, m. You don’t have to ever join a gym. But resistance training, using resistance bands, using, a ball, a resist, like a ball they use in bar, pilates, morin bar. I can’t think of what the ball is called, but, like a pilates ball, I think it is. It’s a little bit weighted, and just using that as resistance.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I’m like, right, right. Something like that. Yeah.

Do something you love to do, because eventually something will become a job

Wendy Valentine: Demonstrating over here.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, it’s a little bit weighted. And I used it when I used to teach bar at my studio. And, you know, any type of resistance. Rock climbing. Yes, rock climbing. I mean, it’s, it’s really endless what you can do. But I always say, like I said to my daughters, look, eventually, every job will become a job, right? But choose something you love to do, because eventually, eventually something will become a job. So if you feel like your exercise regimen, your routine, whatever you’re doing is boring the heck out of you.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Change it up. Do something different. Just.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Keep the ball rolling because you will be happy you did it. When you get to be 60, 70, 80 years old, your body thank you. Your mind and body will thank you for it.

Wendy Valentine: My, which I’ve talked about her before on the show, my aunt Annie. She is 91 or 92, and she has always, she has been active, like, her whole life. Not like. And she hasn’t been a perfect eater, you know, but she’s. She’s had her protein, her carbs, her veggies. She has a little glass of wine at night, you know, like. But she. I mean, and she is the healthiest person I know. 92 years old.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Look at people like that. Look at their, habits. Look what she does. Look at her mindset. Yeah. And look at how small her portions are. Right? If she’s probably a little person, m so her, she’s portioned. She doesn’t sit down to a huge meal. Right. She doesn’t overeat. Right. It’s. It’s the best way to.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I was gonna say I’ve. I’ve tried the, like, the 70%, you know, like, eating slower. And then as soon as I feel like from, you know, one to ten, if I’m a seven of, like, feeling full, I stop. Because then it takes a while for your gut to catch up with your brain or your brain to catch up with your gut. Right?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: You’re right. The first time. Your gut.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. and then you’re like, oh, my God, I’m really full. But I try to, like, now that I’m mindful of that, I’m more of a mindful eater to where I’m like, okay, I’m getting full. I’m just going to stop. Because then it’s like, it’s always just, like, crappy feeling of when you’re full.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It’s like, ugh. Right. And I don’t remember how many, times you should chew. I think it’s something like 40 times to chew your food up. Because eventually, And I know all this only because I had a nutritionist on my show last week, that when you see the food, you start salivating, and eventually what you want to do. So if you’re mindful of that, salivating like a dog does, but we’re not doing all that. It’s to liquefy the solid foods that we’re eating and to break it down and swallow it. And so many of us are in such a hurry to eat their food. I’m a fast eater. I am, but I am very. But I’m very mindful, like you’re saying, I don’t want to be on the phone. I don’t really want to talk to somebody while I’m eating. and just very steady on what it is, how the food tastes to me now, you know, when you’re out with friends, it’s hard. Excuse me, I’m just chewing my food here. Can you leave me alone? No, that’s not going to happen. So, you know, they’re like, Jodi.

Wendy Valentine: Enough with your 40 times per bite.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: My husband chews that. That many times. He’s really good at that. It’s like, okay.

Wendy Valentine: I’ve never.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Just getting an appetizer, I’m like, I.

Wendy Valentine: Just want to hurry up and eat. One of the things I love doing is veggie juicing.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Mmm.

Wendy Valentine: M yeah.

The older we get, it’s harder to fight off diseases, um

And plus, like, it gives my body, like, if I’m feeling sluggish, I’ll do just veggie juicing with a little bit of fruit, like green apple, like low sugar fruit. because it gives my body a break from digesting and it’s just like, ah. And I actually have more energy when I do the veggie juicing. So sometimes I’ll do like breakfast, lunch, and snacks as just veggie juicing. And then, you know, my dinner with good protein and things like that. If, if I’m feeling a little like rundown or like after I’ve been traveling or something like that, then, like, that actually helps. But I think that’s just learning your body though, too. Like, what works and what doesn’t work.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right. And your body is probably craving greens.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Because it’s run down. and you need to build back your immune system, right. Yes. The older we get, it’s harder to fight off diseases, because our immune system isn’t as strong. So that’s another reason why it’s so important to get all the foods that we need from the macronutrients, the protein, the fruits, the vegetables, the leafy greens, and the good fats, which so many women and men don’t get enough of it. Just two serving sizes a day. But going back to your, your green smoothie, do you put any protein in that?

Wendy Valentine: Sometimes. Sometimes I’ll put like protein powder in there.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, yeah. Again, you know, if it’s just temporary, I would say fine, but if you were doing it every day, I would just check yourself to make sure you’re getting more protein. That’s all.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: You know, it is almost a holistic approach of just always listening to your body, but also understanding the science behind, why do we need to do resistance training? Why do we need to get this food in our body? And just like, talking about your aunt, like, she had all the food groups on her plate.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: The portion size that was right for her, I, and that’s how she maintained her weight, her mind, her energy, you know, and she probably, and she flew.

Wendy Valentine: Through, she flew through menopause, like, and perimenopause, like, so the better you take care of your body, you know, they’re.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Not going to be as difficult to go through 100%. And again, that’s with, you know, I think you and I are on the same page. It’s about being proactive, preventative. whereas the old school of thinking about medicine was, well, I’ll wait until I feel sick, then go see a doctor who’s going to prescribe medicine for me that’s going to have side effects in other parts of my life, in my body. So the more proactive we can be by being educated and empowered with that education and then living that life out and sharing it with other people, spreading all the good news, like I hope we’re doing here, then, you know, more women will maybe say to their daughters who are in their twenties or thirties, hey, honey, you know what? Don’t be like me or be like me and start lifting. You know, both of my daughters have been working out forever and I understand what a healthy diet is and they also understand why they just aren’t doing it right now. You know, they might be away and then they come back and they, they get back on the saddle. And that’s what I want to see for people to do is to just understand what it is that they need in order to put those deposits into longevity.

Wendy Valentine: Right. Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And when, you know, maybe you didn’t make a, deposit into your retirement fund that month, so now you got to put in double work and just go easy and be easy on yourself. Know that you have a plan. And that’s where a trainer or coach comes in who can educate you and help guide you and hold you accountable.

Wendy Valentine: I need you as my coach. Help me with kilograms over here.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I am, I am tough. I am tough. I don’t like excuses, but I’m very nurturing, so I think we would get along great.

Wendy Valentine: just come here, just come here to Portugal.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I will, I will, I’ll come there. Let’s do it. Oh, my God. I could never do the kilograms thing. I had somebody on my show recently, oh, I think it was the nutritionist. and she was saying something about kilograms. I’m like, can you just, can you convert it to pounds for me, please? Like, she’s like, oh, I’m sorry. Like, I can figure it out, but like, can you just figure it out here, please?

Wendy Valentine: I mean, the good thing about spinning class, I mean, it’s all taught in.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Portuguese, literally, so I guess it doesn’t make sense.

Wendy Valentine: I just watch them. Yeah, I just, like, watch that they are turning up the dial on the resistance, you know, or turning it down or something like, okay, I’ll just watch you. Sorry, I’m always in the front row.

You need to feed your body after a workout, right

Jodi Harrison Bauer: How’s the music?

Wendy Valentine: What’s that?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: how’s the music?

Wendy Valentine: It’s actually, it’s american music. It’s all like the top stuff, but they just do the whole thing in Portuguese.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I would love that.

Wendy Valentine: So funny. It’s just like, mersh, mush, mush.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Mush.

Wendy Valentine: That’s all I can understand. They’re like, mush. M mush, mush. I’m like, okay, I’ll just keep spinning.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Like a pediatric over here. Oh, my God. I used to spin all the time. I actually started in a, I was in a relationship for like ten years, and he was a spin instructor, and that was like his part time job. And he’s like, you gotta. You gotta spin. Like, I hate cardio. For everybody listening, I hate cardio. I will just tell you, I hate cardio. yeah, so I started coming to a spin classes, and it was very empowering, but I really, literally hated every minute of it because I’ll push myself really hard and then I want to feel like I’m vomit. Because, you know, you’re hitting your target heart rate and you’re just, oh, my God.

Wendy Valentine: And then you’re sweating for like hours.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: That.

Wendy Valentine: What’s funny is that when I, when I did spinning in back in Virginia.

Wendy Valentine: And I was in Toastmasters, where I was always like doing speeches and stuff all the time. But I would do spinning class in the morning. I’d go home, shower, and then I’d go straight to toastmasters and give a speech, no joke, even 2 hours later, and I’d tell them, I’m like, y’all, I’m sweating because I was in spinning class, not because I’m nervous about this speech.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Right, right. Well, that’s a great sign that you’ve really put wedding.

Wendy Valentine: Like, she’s so nervous.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: So I’m like, no, no, no. And that is like the key to other things. The other benefits about working out is that you are burning those calories and burning, burning, burning fat for the next 24 to 36 hours. So, ladies and gents, you need to feed your body. Your body is going like, I’m hungry. Feed me, feed me.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: You need to be fed. So you have like an I hour. And that’s why that’s so great that you keep sweating and sweating and sweating. I used to do that all the time. It’s like, oh, my God, could I stop? I can’t even imagine. but that’s when your great window of opportunity to eat and have the smoothie. Have the smoothie with lots of berries in it. That’s when your body. With a scoop of peanut butter in it. Your body’s saying, I need this right now. Feed. yes, yes, yes. And you’ve got a good hour to feed yourself. So when you come home and you’re sweaty, that’s the time to eat.

Wendy Valentine: Interesting. M. See, I’ve already learned something.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yes, yes. And what I like about having a shake after a workout is that it gets into your body right away. It’s doing its work right away. Versus, I mean, it’s fine if you want to eat an omelet or eat whatever sandwich or something like that. but don’t be shy about eating, like, food.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Having your shake, it’s important. Like, that’s when your body needs to be fed.

Wendy Valentine: I’m hungry.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, I know.

Wendy Valentine: It’s dinner time in Portugal right now.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I know. What time is it? Yeah, it’s like 06:00 right?

Wendy Valentine: yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah. Oh, my God.

Wendy Valentine: Thank you so much. This has been great.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Love you. I’m so glad we met, and this has been a lot of fun. And I hope that I brought some value to your podcast today and that, you know, everybody listening could walk away learning something that’s important.

What’s the best, um, place to find you on Instagram

Wendy Valentine: What’s the best, place to find you? Instagram.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I would say Instagram at. Jodi Harrison Bauer. Like I said, my website’s under. Under, construction right now.

Wendy Valentine: Okay.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah. And I answered the DM’s myself. I don’t really have time.

Wendy Valentine: You’ve got, like, a kajillion followers.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: You know what? I just. I just do it. I mean, not. Yeah, I’ll do it, like, every 48 hours, but I will respond to you. Yeah. and, yeah, I’m really not on TikTok anymore because a few people have impersonated me on there and. Yeah, and I can’t get TikTok to get rid of them, so it’s just people.

Wendy Valentine: You’re so mean.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I know.

Wendy Valentine: It’s not.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I’ve reached out to the people who have impersonated me and say, can you please take this profile down?

Wendy Valentine: Wow.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah, so I just. I’m sticking with Instagram right now.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Yeah. Jodi Harrison Bauer. That’s the best place to reach out to me for any of your needs.

Wendy Valentine: And then you’ve got your, you’ve got a course coming up here soon.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: And October, hot and healthy accelerator. one on one coaching is always offered. And then, coming soon, maybe retreats. Me too. I know people want to be connected. Like minded women want to be connected.

Wendy Valentine: Yep. I’ve actually already. I found a place in Portugal where I want to teach retreats. You’ll have to look it up. It’s called cocoon Portugal. Amazing. Wow, it’s gorgeous. Yeah. but they have, like, little cabins and they do little excursions, horseback riding on the beach, all sorts of cool stuff. And they cook all the food there, like farm to table.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: I love that. No, that’s so.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, that’s in the works. We’re good. Yeah. We’ll have to do a retreat together. It would be fun.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: It would be really fun.

Wendy Valentine: Too much?

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Oh, my God. Thank you so much.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Thank you, Jody. Everyone have a great day.

Jodi Harrison Bauer: Bye.