Jen Dugard (00:01.112)
Tony, welcome to the Mumsafe Pro podcast. How are you going? I'm good. I'm excited for this chat.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:03.649)
Thank you. Good in yourself.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:09.363)
excited I finally could get on after a while.
Jen Dugard (00:11.71)
I know it's like a Friday once a month it doesn't give you a lot of leeway does it to jump in. I had to get really strict with that because last year I was doing like I chasing my tail and doing podcasts all over the place and this year I've gone it's on a Friday if you can't do it sorry but we made it happen. Hey share with me a word that tells me how you're showing up today.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:15.895)
Yep.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:28.137)
Yeah.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:37.163)
I'm to say foggy. Just because I'm sleep deprived from a toddler, but I'm I'm energetic with other things happening in my business. So I'm not exhausted, but fit brain foggy.
Jen Dugard (00:39.66)
Okay.
Jen Dugard (00:49.105)
Okay. Foggy. Yeah, fair. And then share with what something you're winning at.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:56.087)
I am sold out term four, so officially last week. So was week two of trial week. I usually do three weeks and was sold out before then. And it's my third sellout for this year. And the one I didn't sell out, was only, yeah. And I was only two spots short of the one that I didn't sell out. So it's been a good year. Yeah, yeah, it's been nice. Yeah.
Jen Dugard (00:58.862)
Noooo
Jen Dugard (01:09.336)
So third lock.
Jen Dugard (01:16.204)
That's pretty cool. So that's like a whole year of being sold out pretty much. We'll dig into that because I'm sure there's some people listening that go, how? What did you do? So we'll dig into that one. And then tell me something that you're working on aside from getting sold out, of course.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (01:26.857)
Yeah.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (01:33.399)
Well, because I've been constantly sold out this term, am currently in the process of redoing my website to compliment more digital products to provide for more, just so I can help more women in the world if I can. Definitely I'm in Australia without adding more face to face. So I'm rejigging my whole website to provide more digital products.
Jen Dugard (01:57.536)
Amazing and I like how you then said because I'm sold out because if your business is sold out and you have the capacity When you're then delivering to your clients to work on something else. How have you found that?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (02:08.555)
Yeah. Yeah. Like a bowl at the moment, all my time and energy is going into the website, but usually in trial weeks, it's all about like hustling to get people in. So it's been nice. like the term before everyone stayed on. So I didn't have to go out to the public at all and had all this extra time and energy. And that's when I started my podcast. So
It is nice to have that extra time and energy up your sleeve, even though you're still working the same amount of hours. It's that work that people don't see behind the scenes of more that hustling. It's nice to not have to hustle as much.
Jen Dugard (02:46.208)
Yeah, absolutely. And it's that the stuff that's then starts to move your business forward because you've nailed that and we don't want to say too much because we've got to, you know, always be forward thinking and making sure that we're doing the things in order to say stay sold out and oversubscribed. But it's the things that then start to elevate your business or increase your income. And I heard you say that without adding more time for money exchange, which I think is something a lot of trainers strive for. Yeah.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (03:10.933)
Yeah, especially after being burnt out before.
Jen Dugard (03:14.016)
Yes. So speaking of being burnt out, give me a little bit of a background, Tony, on your, did you get into the fitness industry? And then also how did you, obviously you are not obviously, but you are a Mumsafe trainer. Like give me a little bit of a, you know, how you ended up in our sphere.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (03:32.579)
So I'm someone that went straight into personal training fresh out of high school. When it came to year 12 and deciding what I wanted to do, all I knew is was that I was over school and I liked sports. So a six month PT course sounded right up my alley. And I was very fortunate. My gym that I did my work experience at, which was a women's only gym here in Sunbury where I live, offered me a job.
And then I worked there for nine years. I loved that gym throughout and it was a women's only, so I've only ever worked with women. And throughout my time there, I was constantly getting bombarded with, I'm doing this side and it's not working. I'm trying to lose weight. And I was just constantly seeing women feel unhappy in themselves because whatever they were eating wasn't right for them.
So that led me to look into studying nutrition and instead of just doing a short course, I decided to enroll in a three year bachelor of health science degree. So I am a qualified holistic nutritionist, but my degree was a dietetic and nutritional medicine. And throughout that, that gave me a real great insight on how the body works.
And I love the education side of things. So currently now I'm not a clinical nutritionist or practice nutrition one-on-one, but I absolutely love the nutrition education side. my whole mission is to help as many women as possible understand how their body works so they can make those informed decisions for themselves that work best for their health. So yeah, I worked at that gym for nine years. Once I graduated from uni, I was
completely burnt out. I think working at the gym in the morning, then going to uni five days a week, totally burnt me out. At my job, in my, so my gym was quite different to other gyms. I did shift work instead of contracting work. So on my one shift from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m., I was teaching three group fitness classes, back to back PTs, and just getting paid.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (05:51.561)
my hourly rate. So by the end I was pretty burnt out so I decided I'm going to move up to my dad's house. But fortunately the time I decided to leave the gym I found out that the gym was closing down as well. it was kind of an I don't want to say nice end but it was it came to the end and it was all in good timing because the next year COVID hit us down here and gyms
Jen Dugard (06:05.848)
Hmm.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (06:18.165)
was the first to go. So I actually took a whole break off the fitness industry and fell pregnant with my first daughter. And about when she was four months postpartum, I started to get that bug again that I wanted to get back into the fitness industry. So I did another year of just contracting at local gyms, teaching group fitness classes, because group fitness is my favorite style of classes.
And I was just kind of sick of working at places that didn't have the same principles as me. So I'm a very much all inclusive, like working with women, making sure everyone feels comfortable. I don't like the whole no pain, no gain or hyper focusing on weight loss. So I struggled to work at a lot of gyms that had those kinds of principles.
And I'm always someone to think as myself as never the leader. I always wanted to be vice captain. I never wanted to be captain. And I just could not find the perfect job out there for me. So I finally put my big yellow panties on and decided to launch my own business in 2022 now. The day before I launched, I found out I was pregnant with my second. So that.
Jen Dugard (07:37.674)
we do.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (07:38.447)
Yeah, that threw a huge banner in the works and the whole week leading up to my first class, I was like, what am I going to do? Do I tell them now how it's going to work? But thankfully, so in that first year, I just ran group fitness classes at a I hired out a venue. That was probably my toughest year, like the burnt out year was tough, but that year trying to run my own business solo was I had no one that I could talk to.
Every day I was coming home stressing about the numbers and hustling every week to get those numbers in. But I and I think I've shared this in the Mumsafe before. I remember writing in my diary going, this is what I want to do. I'm so passionate about it. But how can I do it where I'm not this stressed? And then thankfully, when I was on maternity leave, someone one of the Mumsafe trainers posted their at home studio and I was like.
what I want to do and I clicked liked on mum save you slid into my DMs we had a 15 minute chat and I was like this is what I need I need that support and people that are in the fitness industry that know exactly what I'm going through and it's been the best decision ever.
Jen Dugard (08:56.494)
How cool is that? Was it easy though, Tony, to make, I mean, because that makes it sound so simple. knew exactly what I wanted to do and I, you know, I followed Mum Safe and then we message, which we do, you know, if anyone follows us, we just shoot a quick message and we have a conversation or not. But was it that simple for you to just invest in yourself?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (08:57.611)
Yes!
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (09:15.367)
No. So, lucky, for myself, that that whole year, kind of when I was running my business on my own, I was really doing background work on money mindset. I have been someone that has one never spent money on myself ever. And I always kind of came from that thought, like I was always going paycheck to paycheck only
like rich people were evil and you know, I just wanted to make enough money to get through. when I was in my business, was like, I need to make enough money. Like I wanted to be able to buy presents for the people I love. I wanted to give gifts to my members. And so I realized that I needed to have more money coming in to provide those services that I wanted to give. So I actually read a whole bunch of books, really worked on my money mindset and
realized that if I want to make the money to give me the freedom that I want, wasn't about being filthy rich or anything, but just to offer what I wanted to offer without being burnt out, to have that freedom that I had to spend money to make money. So when the Mum Safe come up, I was very much like, my gosh, can I do this? I'm on maternity leave. To be honest, I didn't tell my husband for a whole year that I joined Mum Safe. kept a secret.
Jen Dugard (10:41.59)
It
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (10:43.157)
I go, when my business is making money, I'll tell him and he'll be like, it will be all worth it. But cause he heard me that whole year when I was running my business on my own and he's like, just quit and go get a nine to five job. And I was like, no, I want to do this. So yeah, changing my money mindset was huge. And like I said before, it was the best decision. And now I'm the most financially successful I've ever been. But besides the money, like the services.
I'm able to give my members in a place where I'm not burnt out, that I feel comfortable enough that I'm not stressing about money. Like that's the ultimate win.
Jen Dugard (11:23.367)
Mmm, not being burnt out is a really good strategy.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (11:26.537)
Yeah, yeah.
Jen Dugard (11:29.56)
Tony, what were some of the fundamental things that you learnt when you came into MumSafe in order to get you to where, know, sold out for a year kind of situation?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (11:40.395)
The biggest one was the oversubscribe method you teach us. So I was someone my first year on my own in business was like, how many people can I get into my classes? Like I want as many classes, people in there because I've come from a group fitness environment. So making that shift to small group personal training sessions and actually cutting down to maxing out at like, so at the first venue I taught at it was in
I could only fit seven people in the space. And at first, because I'm a, I'm a giver and I give quite a lot. It felt really against my natural ability to say no to people. it's like, no, I want to help as many people as I can. But when I realized in that small group environment that I can give that personal training, one-on-one modifications that I need to make it as comfortable for that person as possible, but still get that really
high vibe group environment and then making it also oversubscribed. you're known in the, you your local community is like, you're sold out. I want to get to know what's happening in those classes. I even had a lady who's just joined us this term. She goes, I have been trying to get into your classes for over a year. They're so hard to get into. And I was like, I know, I wish I could put more people in.
but it was actually quite nice to hear that there's that, you know, what's the word, like built up around the business. It's almost like an exclusive club.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (13:26.241)
Hang on, Jen. I've lost, sorry, I've lost your sound.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (13:35.339)
No, I can't hear you. Let me see.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (13:42.859)
See this happened with Danielle but at the start. I can hear me.
I can't either.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (14:07.786)
I still can't.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (14:36.387)
We had to... She got out and came back in, but this was before we started to record, so I don't know about that.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (14:49.951)
I don't want, like, if you have to lose all that.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (14:56.587)
Okay. So do you want me to press leave?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (15:24.215)
I'll get that again.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (16:37.471)
Alright. I can't hear you still.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (16:47.435)
What was that?
Jen Dugard (00:02.99)
Okay, so in order to get to that exclusive club, you've got, you're using that oversight, oversubscribe philosophy, which for anyone listening is, you know, the whole focus is that we don't, you know, we don't want to have 10 sessions with three people per session. We want to have one per one session with 10 people in the session. We want to fill it out. We're going to create a wait list. And then we, then we build out more sessions. So Tony, what are some of the fundamental ways that you've got from being on maternity leave or, you know,
returning to running your business to becoming oversubscribed? Like what are the actual tangible things that you've gone out and done? And also what size is your business? Like how many sessions a week are you running and things like that?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:45.103)
So a subtle for the size so I run 12 small group PT sessions a week so.
Jen Dugard (00:52.236)
Okay, so it's not like you're just one or two.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:56.409)
What was that?
Jen Dugard (00:58.594)
said it's not it's not like you're just running one or two sessions you've got a decent amount of sessions running.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (00:59.299)
the Internet.
No, yes. So when I first came back in, I started off with six and that's where I kind of the previous year, that's how many I ran. And like I said before, they were capped at seven. After doing that for six months, I went into my home studio, my hubby transfer transformed our garage into a studio. So I had that more work life balance with the two kids. Like my son used to nap.
and I'd have him on the monitor while I taught a class. It was nice. My classes at my home studio were originally capped at five, but because I was selling out, was managing to squeeze an extra person in. So I've got six. So my member base, I've got 50, this term 57 members over the whole week. And then I run a Saturday class at another venue, which is just more a community class. Anyone can...
turn up. But to get to that oversubscribed at first, it was all about getting locally famous. So really posting in the Sunbury community groups, I was very fortunate because my gym did shut down. A lot of those members from that gym were looking for that safe space again to train and they knew me as a trainer. So I got a lot of them coming across. My I run two types of classes, my empower classes are more for just
Women, they're generally like I've got a lot of perimenopausal menopausal women that are in those classes. And then through doing the safe return to exercise, I launched my restore classes, which is was more focused at the mums and bums and retraining that core and pelvic floor. So I jumped into a whole bunch of summary mums and bums group Facebook pages. I teamed up with a local pelvic health physio, which we had a really good relationship. She sent a lot.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (02:59.055)
my way. I was also fortunate enough that because I was going through postpartum at the same time, I had like a couple of people I knew that was also going through it at the same time. And then from there is just as the years have gone by, so this is my third year running over subscribed, or the oversubscribed method. It's just generally been word of mouth. Like I'm very fortunate that most of my empower members
been with me since day dot, there's not a lot of turnover in that class and they stick by me, which is fantastic. And then my mums and bums, as most trainers would know, they've returned back to work or the middle of the day doesn't work for them anymore. So they want to go into my other classes. But fortunately this year I had a whole mother's group reach out to me.
and so I put on an extra class for them. So again, it's just that word of mouth that I've found once I did get my face out there. like I don't even really have to post on the Facebook group. If someone, like my community Facebook group, if someone's looking for a trainer, I'm usually tagged in it several times. So it's, nice to be that.
Jen Dugard (04:15.596)
Hahaha
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (04:15.723)
local face that you don't have to feel like you're bombarding people with your services, they come to you. So that's been the game changer.
Jen Dugard (04:23.266)
Yeah. Do you get out into your community and do presentations and things like that, or you've not gone down that road?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (04:30.357)
No, I find my Saturday morning classes is a good leeway. if people are thinking of maybe joining and they're not sure committing to the term, they'll come to a few Saturdays and that kind of is a pathway in. I would love to do more chats. I've reached out to our library who runs our mother's groups and all that, but I've heard crickets. So next year, the idea if it's another year of
being sold out that I'm going to do a lot more public speaking now that I've popped that cherry this year at the Mumsafe retreat. Yeah. So I'd love to do more presentations in the local community. And now with my new podcast, I haven't advertised it yet to the local community. I've got a lot of my members supporting it and sharing it, but I'm going to pop that in and just to get my voice more heard in the local space and help more women that way.
Jen Dugard (05:05.868)
You did!
Jen Dugard (05:26.638)
what kind of guests do you have on the podcast? Or are they local guests or are they further afield?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (05:32.793)
So at the moment, it's just all me just providing the education. So the idea came, I used to run master classes for my members. Again, this was all that nutrition education that I was giving them, but no one could make it live to the master classes when I had the time. You know, as a PT, we work opposite hours to most people. And then my members would come to class with an issue.
with their health or their fitness. And I'd be like, I've got the masterclass about that. And they're like, I haven't watched that. So it's for how can I get my message out to my members? And that was the podcast where they could go for a walk and listen to it that way. So it's more that nutrition education and that support. Like I said before, it was all about educating women on their bodies. So, so far it's 20 to 30 minutes, solo episodes, but I am
looking at getting the pelvic health physio on, local naturopaths on, and dig deeper into some other health topics with guests as well.
Jen Dugard (06:39.214)
And I think you know from the I mean obviously you're oversubscribed but one of the biggest things that we talk about is Make hay while the sun shines. So do you build a waitlist as well or no?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (06:48.751)
Yeah, so that's what I was going to mention when you were saying about the steps of the oversubscribed. The waitlist has been great for me. So when I did sell out, it always runs on my website to join the waitlist. Because of the small groups, a lot of people would see a spot in a class on my booking system and book in, but that class would actually be full, just someone hasn't booked in properly. So I created the waitlist more to balance that out.
and that was really good cause I've got this, well, it was a lead generation and every time if we're halfway through term and someone mentions my name and they want to join, they'll join that wait list. Then they're on my mailing list and then closer to the end of term, I'll reach out to everyone and say, this is what spots are available. And then it comes back to that oversubscribe. If there's only a couple of spots available, there's usually that real urgency to jump on and get in.
And then it's also good because if someone's joined the wait list and then they weren't a hundred percent keen, I give that all the information upfront. So if they don't join, I'm like, well, as much as I'd love to help you, if you're not a hundred percent committed now, like someone else is, so that's what I'd rather get them in. Um, but yeah, it's a great lead generation for me and I'll have people all year joining my wait lists no matter what, cause it's my front and center on my website.
Jen Dugard (08:16.29)
Mmm.
And then when a spot becomes available, like let's say halfway through a term, I'm assuming most of your people sign up for the whole term, but if you know someone gets sick or someone has a baby or there's certain reasons why people don't join, is your strategy to go to the person on the top of the list or do you go to everyone and go, I've got one spot available, there's seven people on the wait list, first in best dress? Like how do you manage that?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (08:41.017)
So first I go to my members, which that's actually how I sold out this term. had two people very last second say they couldn't commit to next term. But then I knew of a couple of members that wanted an extra session. So I went to them. And then if there's still an extra spot, I'll go to the wait list. And again, just tell them.
with the limited spots, generally you'll get those that are really keen. And then if I don't fill it or sometimes like I've sent emails to wait lists and just hear crickets sometimes, that's when I put it to the social media. And it's funny, cause I was trying my boxing class on a Monday, I've never been able to fully book yet and I put it out there and I actually had one of my members going, you know what? I need a boxing session in my life. So she joined. it's.
Really, like I love our community and I love when new people join, but it's nice when everyone's just wanting to stay with you and, you know, they're looking for that little extra help through you. And it makes my life easier and I can help them even more on their health and fitness journey.
Jen Dugard (09:43.118)
Mm-hmm.
Jen Dugard (09:49.837)
So yeah, I've got two questions. Question number one is when you go to your socials and say, so let's say you've exhausted your wait list, no one's responded. When you go to the wait list, do you name how many spots you've got available?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (10:03.095)
Yeah, I really like just to create that urgency. And also I don't want a whole bunch of people saying, I'll jump in and then I'm like, I don't have the spot for you. So it's nice to, yeah, but it's more that urgency. Once they see that they're like, okay. I've got to jump on and jump in.
Jen Dugard (10:20.684)
Yep, fantastic. And then Tony, obviously your retention is really high. What do you put that down to?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (10:26.959)
I think the small group environment really changed that. I know my members say the whole booking in for the whole term has really kept them accountable. So the last two years over winter, yes, there's illnesses and that, but they come straight back when they're ready. Whereas when I, my first year in the business, like I was getting one person to a class in winter because everyone just drops off. So
My members love the accountability that they're booked in each week. And because it's the same people each week, they love seeing the friendly faces. like they've built friendships throughout that. And then I also try to nurture my members as much as I can. So it's not just a class you walk into at the gym. I know everyone's name. I know everyone's injuries. I can modify any exercise to suit them. I also help.
to nurture them through their nutrition and other health. We do a monthly challenge each month. So this month's all about 21 days to make or break a habit. We've done one this year which was get comfortable being uncomfortable. And we did things like an ice bath challenge. Then we all got in our underwear and did a photo shoot together. they really liked that kind of coming together group community vibes as well.
Jen Dugard (11:38.606)
That's cool.
Jen Dugard (11:48.687)
Awesome. Before we flip directions, because I want to talk about some other things with you, but are there any other things from your Mumsafe journey that you feel like have been fundamental in getting you to where you are right now?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (12:03.471)
Just the support, like that Facebook group, I don't know where I would be without that Facebook group. Like my first year in the business, had no one I could talk to. I didn't know anyone. well, I knew people in the fitness industry around me, but not running their own business. So just to have those people that understand exactly where you are. And it's not sometimes about business. It's more like.
that mental and emotional health or being a mum running your own business is a whole other world. So just that ongoing support, you being our number one cheerleader, like you've pushed me in directions I don't think I'd ever go like this year, I've been a finalist for the Ozactive PT. I would never have put my hand up for that and to do my first public speaking, which is now like
my visions of my business, like I really want to go down that path as well. So just the general support of everyone just being your number one cheerleader and backing you.
Jen Dugard (13:05.782)
I love that you spoke this year at the retreat and your presentation, number one your presentation was fantastic but number two you were fantastic, your confidence and we all get a little bit nervous but your confidence was amazing. Tell us about what made you, because we put our hands up, we put a call out and we get people to put their hands up, what made you decide to do that?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (13:28.367)
Well, my word for the year that I chose was amplify, which at the start of the year was I just wanted my voice more heard in the health and fitness industry. And originally the idea was, maybe just get on a few podcasts. And that was it. So when around the time that I wrote that, I think I got the email to say, would you like, is anyone wanting to public speak? And I go, it's been something I've wanted to do, but also very scared.
to do. So I was like, you know what, it, it aligns with my word amplify. Let's just do it. And even though I was battling the flu and had no voice when I did my presentation, like when I came home, I was just like, I loved that. Like I would love to use my voice in that way to help more and more women. and like watching all the other
people speak, Chantelle the next day who actually gave us tips about that. was like, yes, like I wanted, I want to be able to do that. So yeah, that kind of alignment of the amplify and, you sending the email. I was like, just do it. It was scary, but if I can do it with no voice, I can do it feeling a hundred percent healthy.
Jen Dugard (14:45.134)
Absolutely. And you've the bandage off now, which is good. Yeah, absolutely. Now, Tony, have the, obviously you've got the nutrition side of things in your business. What would you say the number one thing that women or even trainers that coach women get wrong when it comes to nutrition for themselves or for their clients?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (14:49.932)
Yeah. Yeah.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (15:11.087)
telling women to eat less. I'm one that is not confrontational, but lately on my Instagram feed, I am ready to say something to some people. But funny, before I did my mum safe retreat chat, I got asked to public speak at a just a local footy netball ladies day. And it was all about empowerment, but I had 10 minutes and I was like, how can I empower these women in 10 minutes?
Jen Dugard (15:13.87)
Hmm.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (15:41.057)
And my whole talk was literally on encouraging them to eat more because working in the fitness industry for 13 years with just solely women, the disservice that the diet industry has done to tell them to eat less. this is why women think their bodies are broken, their metabolism broken, they're not energized, they're not feeling their a hundred percent best and it's still running rampant in the fitness industry. Whereas if I encourage my members
to eat more and it's usually the reoccurring talk that I have with my members. If they come with me, they want to lose weight and they tell me what they're eating. The number one thing that I come back to is you're not eating enough to get through, to fuel your body, to boost that metabolism. And I find I'm repeating it more and more. So yeah, if you're listening trainers, it's all about eating more, not eating less.
Jen Dugard (16:36.854)
It's really hard though, isn't it? I, I mean, I definitely have underate and over-exercise. And I remember the, that when I got a personal trainer, like he gave me strategies to eat less. He's like, just don't eat the full sandwich and go and get the, the no calorie yogurt. And like, I got to the point where I was binge eating and I was, you know, I wouldn't say that I was bulimic, but I definitely had some practices that were.
not less than ideal but it's a really hard mindset shift to start to eat more and even now it's like I you know you skip lunch and it's like maybe that was a good no that's not a good thing like get your shit together like it's so ingrained like how would you and you're a bit younger than me so I don't know whether it's kind of was different for you growing up but we grew up in like the you know literal size zero was
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (17:19.661)
Yeah.
Jen Dugard (17:33.849)
You know, we say social media is bad, but we had size zero models on magazines and that's all that we saw. There wasn't the opportunity to snooze people or go look for other, other body shapes and sizes. That was it. What would you say to someone that's maybe a little bit older that still got the head noise? And of course, we're the, you know, we're the examples for our, you know, some of us have got teenagers.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (17:58.659)
Yeah. Yeah. So I, the magazines, like I still had them, but I was 18 when I started at that women's only gym. And from the moment I stepped foot in there, I was seeing all these women that have just gone through their whole life, trying to be that size zero. And they were always saying, why isn't my diet working? And it all came back to, because the diet industry has told them less. Like I always use the example. I don't believe in calculating.
Jen Dugard (18:11.47)
you
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (18:27.023)
calories, it's just an extra stressor. But if we talk about a standard basal metabolic rate, which is the absolute minimum your body needs to just keep your organs functioning, if you were to lie in bed all day for an average size woman in her forties is upwards of 1500 calories. And you've got the major people telling them, no, you've got to eat 1200 calories on top of that. Go exercise six days a week and burn as many calories as you can.
And then your metabolism will just go, well, that's under what we need. Let's shut everything down. Let's slow down this burning of energy because we need to hold onto it. Like your body's sole purpose is to keep you alive and to keep you in balance. That's why the balanced body is coming to my name because the more women are in that balance, the better they're going to feel. And the...
health and diet and fitness industry, always focus on the size and they're not really focusing on the health. So it's like, well, yes, if you eat that amount, you will lose some weight, but it's going to be detrimental to the point where you'll probably plateau and hold on to that weight. If you give up on the diet because it's too hard and you return to your normal eating, metabolic rate is lower. So you're not going to burn those calories off as efficiently. And most people put on that extra weight.
And then again, they feel like the failure when really it's what the diet industry has prescribed that has set them up for failure. So I always like to remind people that you didn't fail the diet, the diet failed you. it's, comes back to that. Yes, it still runs rampant in the health and fitness industry, but if it hasn't worked before maybe eating more in a really fueling nourishing balanced way.
will help and the weight loss is definitely less sustainable, but how much stronger and more energetic you're gonna feel and how better your health outcomes are. Like I've got members, we did a monthly challenge where we focused on boosting fiber and so many members were like, I couldn't believe I wasn't eating enough. One member came back saying her cholesterol levels are great now because she's boosted that fiber. Like they should be the health.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (20:45.771)
outcomes we're reaching for rather than to pay as high zero.
Jen Dugard (20:51.372)
Yeah, and the fitness industry has done a really good job, haven't they? If it's not size zero, it's ripped and lean, and this is what healthy looks like. So it's this constant dichotomy of what we're told is a healthy and fit looking body versus what actually is a healthy and fit capable body. What does that even look like, Tony? Like, what does a normal body look like?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (21:13.673)
Well, as we age, find, yeah, like if you're feeling the most energetic you felt, lack of health issues, you can do all the exercise and activity that you would like and feel good about it. And, you know, mentally you're feeling good. Like I always say, eat in the way that mentally, that works for you both mentally and physically. So we obviously want to nourish our bodies.
Jen Dugard (21:41.058)
Hmm.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (21:43.023)
for that physical health. But if like a lot of diets are steady, like they're such a stressor, which causes a whole nother ray of issues, especially when it comes to weight. But we just like the world we're here to, I put an Instagram real yesterday, we're born to be alive. We don't need to shrink our bodies and walking around like the half dead just to be a smaller size.
Jen Dugard (22:06.828)
Hmm. Yeah, and it can be really detrimental to performance as well, right? Like if you are somebody that is trying to move well, lift, lift heavy, get stronger, when you're under fueling, it makes such a difference to performance.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (22:22.357)
sorry. And especially for moms, like, I don't know if you saw the viral Instagram reel of that male that said that, no.
Jen Dugard (22:29.878)
I did. Have you been down his whole feed? Like, it's not, like his whole feed, and I've been deliberating what we talking about before about whether you do a response or not, his whole feed is about clapping for women. Like, there's a reel about a woman getting gradually smaller, and he's like, yep, thumbs up, like clapping. And it's like, why are we in this space at the moment where men get to applaud shrinking women's bodies? Like, what is that about?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (22:51.62)
Are you?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (22:58.009)
Yeah. When I saw that and like the whole talk about, you know, calorie counting for moms, when we're in that postpartum, we need to heal and our demands are so much higher that we need more calories in that stage of life. And again, if we talk about under fueling, like if that mom is cutting those calories, well, first she's going to be even more energetically drained. You could use lose your breast milk supply.
You're not going to heal as well from birth. There's this whole catastrophe that can happen for a mom. And again, if it's that sole purpose to lose weight, well, we're not looking at that health, that mental health, physical health. And it's just, it's missing in the total picture. Like there's so many fitness influences. Like I see it in nutrition, they'll say, Oh, well, you didn't lose weight because you're not in a calorie deficit talking to midlife women. And I go, well, what about their sleep? What about their stress? What about.
all these issues, but they're like, no, the Calorinian versus calorie out is the only thing that matters. And that's all that they focus on.
Jen Dugard (24:05.218)
Yeah, yeah, it's so tricky. It's such a landscape. I'm aware of time, but what I would love to touch on very, that's okay. I know that you had the children out and this is the nature of the podcast. For those of you listening, we had a little bit of an intermission where we lost sound. So we may have a little bit of noise in the background, but what I would like, and that's absolutely okay. What I would like Tony, just to hear from you because your business is called Beautiful Balanced Bodies.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (24:11.341)
Yeah, hubby just walked home.
Jen Dugard (24:32.824)
and we've just talked about the balanced and we talked about the bodies. Tell me a little bit about your philosophy around helping women too. And I guess we've touched on it a little bit, but really appreciate their body in all its shapes and sizes.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (24:46.093)
Yeah. Like I said, my whole thing is to help women feel strong, confident, and empowered in their bodies. And I find when we solely focus on just the weight, we are missing so much. And so many women think their weight determines their value or their body size determines their worth. And the more and more I can get women on scene, what their bodies can do. I
Majority of my members, be honest, come to me to lose weight in my empower classes. And then through my training, because I don't focus on the weight loss at all. Like if they ask me questions, I'll support them, but we don't focus on that. Like I've got members that are lifting 90 kilos squats and they're like, that's incredible. I've got a member that stands out. She always says like,
I've never felt so much stronger in my life now. And that's all that she cares about now. Whereas when she first joined me, it was the weight loss. Whereas now, and if more women could feel that like, how better the world could be. And the best example was, I mentioned earlier about how we all got in our underwear and took a photo together. And all of us at start was a bit like, you know, this is daunting. As soon as we all stripped off,
Jen Dugard (25:51.683)
Hmm.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (26:06.485)
I have never felt more comfortable. I not once did I feel like I needed to suck in in front of the camera. I wasn't looking at any of my other members' bodies. We were just in the moment and every single member came back and was like, same thing. They just felt in the moment. It just felt like we were standing there in clothes. And when we actually uploaded that photo to social media, I had a hundred comments. I've never had that many comments on a post. And so many women were like, I wish I could do that. And I was like,
If more women could, you know, go out in their underwear and feel that like the support that we felt and how comfortable we felt just being as one in our bodies was so empowering. And yeah, if more women could feel like that, you don't have to get in your undies, just changing that perspective of what can your body do rather than what it looks like is a huge change.
Jen Dugard (26:49.368)
Mm.
Jen Dugard (27:00.3)
Yeah, and your value is not the size or shape of your body. Yeah, yeah. Tony, if you could change just one thing about the industry and leave your stamp on it, what would that be?
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (27:03.939)
that.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (27:18.295)
Well, I think I've mentioned a couple of times that just cutting through the BS that's out there and helping if it, it's just not to women. If more people understood how their biology works, we would have such a greater appreciation of how our bodies and wouldn't just look at it for the look value or anything. We would appreciate so much. Like there are so many little micro things that are happening in our body every day just to keep us.
balance and like I said before, our body soul purpose is to keep us alive and to keep us in this balance that we feel our best. It's when we go against that, when we feel our worst. So if more people understood their biology, we'd have such an appreciation for our bodies and can cut through all the noise that is in social media land.
Jen Dugard (28:05.558)
it
Jen Dugard (28:09.098)
Yeah and you know what just clicked for me it's like we talk about what we teach our kids in school and they're learning all these biology things but if we could teach them that and about their metabolism and about their you know inner school environment like there's so much we could do be doing better in schools it's fascinating. Yeah.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (28:23.607)
yeah. Well, cause the biology I speak about is human biology. I remember in year nine dropping science straight away cause I hated science. And then my whole uni degree was a bachelor of health science and the whole first year was that human biology. And it just blew my mind. Like all the different mechanisms that are going on in our body. Like if we could look at our body like that, we wouldn't
Jen Dugard (28:29.079)
Yeah.
Jen Dugard (28:41.838)
Hmm.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (28:48.111)
care what it looks like because we appreciate what's going on underneath the surface. like it relays back to if everything's working well, we feel better, we're more energetic, we can move better. We feel better mentally and everyone will just be walking around feeling at their optimal best.
Jen Dugard (29:08.512)
I love it. love it. Tony, thank you so much for taking time. Thank you for persisting through our tech issues. We got there in the end. And thank you for being such, you know, a wonderful human and such a valuable part of the Mumsafe community. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with you and to see you hop on stage at the retreat this year. It was awesome. And obviously celebrating your oversubscribedness, which I think is a new word.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (29:09.828)
Mm-hmm.
Thank you as well.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (29:27.023)
You
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (29:33.891)
Yes.
Jen Dugard (29:35.278)
I can't wait to watch you expand and grow your business from a non-face-to-face approach moving forward so you can continue to increase your income.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (29:48.291)
well, thank you so much for having me, Jen. Sorry if it was my end that stuffed all up the recording, but yeah. And thank you for being my number one support and cheerleader in this industry, because if I didn't find you after that first year, hands down, I'd either be burnt out again or would have given up on the dream. And I can honestly say I live, I have the best job. doesn't even feel like a job. I
Jen Dugard (29:53.282)
Don't apologize, we're here, we did it.
Jen Dugard (30:10.2)
you
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (30:15.363)
look forward to going to work every day. So thank you for getting me into that position by all your knowledge and support.
Jen Dugard (30:18.798)
I love it.
Jen Dugard (30:22.807)
My absolute pleasure. Thanks, Tony. I'll talk to you soon. Take care.
Beautiful And Balanced Bodies (30:23.663)
Mm-hmm.
Bye.
