Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30 Podcast

Ep 16 - It's Not Too Late And You Are Never Too Old! Interview with 73 Year Old Bodybuilding Competitor and Judge Rebecca Woody

April 12, 2022 Couture Fitness & Lifestyle Coaching
Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30 Podcast
Ep 16 - It's Not Too Late And You Are Never Too Old! Interview with 73 Year Old Bodybuilding Competitor and Judge Rebecca Woody
Show Notes Transcript

You are never too old and it's never too late to get fit and healthy!  But don't take it from us, take it from today's guest, Rebecca Woody.  Rebecca found weightlifting and resistance training nearly 40 years ago, after the birth of her third child when she found herself unable to lose the weight she had gained over the years despite being quite active.   Shortly after she started lifting, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and told by her doctor to stop lifting and start gardening.  She did not listen to that doctor and went on to become a competitive body builder.   (Her doctor has since changed his tune and was so impressed by Rebecca that he now tells his patients to stay mobile, no matter what).  At age 73, she  is still going strong,  feeling great, and competing in shows! 

Rebecca discusses her exercise regimen, nutrition, the importance of having a coach, and how she maintains her physical and mental strength.  Get ready to be inspired by her no-excuses approach to fitness and life. 

Follow Rebecca on Instagram @rebeccarwoody.

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Welcome to the Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30 Podcast. I'm Joe. And I'm Allison and we're your co hosts and the founders of Couture Fitness and Lifestyle Coaching. We're on a quest to help women design lives they love and bodies they adore. We were fed up with the dieting industry and decided to create something different. We're starting a calories up revolution where women are nourished, their metabolisms are healed and their bodies and brains start working for them in the battle against weight loss. If you feel like your metabolism is racked, and you want to lose weight once and for all, you are in the right place. Welcome everyone. You've got just me, Allison here today. But I do have a very special guest on with me, who I will introduce in just a minute. She is a body builder. She is Rebecca, how old are you again? Are you over 70? Yes, I am 72 years old 73. This Cinco Demayo. Awesome. And so one of the messages that we really, really like to promote to our clients, and just to anyone who's following us or listening to this podcast is that you're never too old. And it's never too late, you know, if you are 40, or 50, or 60, or 70, or even 80. And you have never really been in great shape you've never trained before, we really want you to know that you can get started at any age, and you really can be in amazing shape at any age. And so Rebecca is going to talk a little bit more in detail about you know, her background and her training and how she stays in absolutely amazing shape past the age of 70. But first I want to talk just a little bit about how I discovered Rebecca. So back in 2015, I competed in a bodybuilding competition. And Rebecca was also there. And she was the only one in the 60 Plus category. And I remember being backstage with my friends, and we were all just in awe of her saying we want that to be us one day, what an inspiration. And so I started following her on Instagram and I followed her ever since then I'm sure she didn't know who I was. But I certainly loved following you, Rebecca. And so when we started this podcast, you were actually one of the first people that I thought of, to come on and just kind of tell your story. So Rebecca, why don't you just start out tell us a little bit about yourself and then maybe talk about how you got into fitness. I believe I got into fitness after my third child, I ate quite a bit of whey and I was 32 years old, and I couldn't seem to get rid of it. Even though I was active with coaching my kids and softball and volleyball. I still couldn't get a grip on it. One day I decided to go to the gym and see if there was there and I was as jet with a lot of men at the time. It was an old gym in Independence, Missouri. That was a gas station turned into a gym. It looked like a place from rocking. The mirror in the machinery was not real good but Zinner lifting weights along with Ben. And one day one of them approached me and said, like I powerlifting and I started powerlifting. And that's what changed my body lifting powerlifting. And at the same time, I came up with unfortunately a debilitating disease called rheumatoid arthritis. Basically, my doctor told me I would prefer you just to plant flowers rather than lift weights. And he said, lifting weights only irritates your joints more, we have to get stabilized, you're going to have taken some medication. Well, to make a long story short, it took me a while to get stabilized but I am on a drug called humera. It's kept me in remission for several years. I very seldom take anything but an anti inflammatory. And every once in a while I'll get a flare up and I'll unfortunately have to take prednisone but I noticed that as long as I'm moving I actually feel bad and the doctors told me over repeatedly over and over again I think this is going to reach your joint hands can be crippled when my hands are fine in I do have some joint choose little swaddling here and there and they are slightly formed and gently that's with with the disease. No one really notices that unless it out to them. The doctor is an amazing he said I don't tell my people to stay stagnated anymore. Like them if they can move doesn't have to be something like what I do Do but if they can do yoga, if they can do some jazz dance or some kind of stretching, or just get on a treadmill, go for walks, but to keep mobilized, you're better off with that movement. Plus, the muscles around my joints have gotten very strong and hold up, they hold me up quite well. That is great. I was actually going to say that not that I'm a doctor, but I was going to say just strengthening all of those muscles around your joints, I'm sure has helped with with stability, at least of those joints and has helped to support them. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, that is amazing. My dad actually has rheumatoid arthritis and takes humera as well. But that story and hopefully, hopefully, if anybody listening also has rheumatoid arthritis, they can see that you know, this staying active is only going to help them. Absolutely I'm a firm believer in that and have good days bad days. Absolutely. I make the most out of my good days. And I spoke, be mentally strong on bad days do something. And that's the key is to keep moving. And for me I have to keep moving. And if I don't I become stiff, like the tin man in the Wizard of Oz. I mean, I, I cannot. It's just like a stiff, and I feel every 72 I move in, I get to the gym and I lift your weights, I actually feel younger. That's amazing. Okay, so that's kind of how you got started. Tell me when did you do your first bodybuilding competition? Okay, so I actually powerlifting before I got into a bodybuilding show, I was pretty strong pound for pound even though these women would come in on these power teammates, and they weigh about one at 170 and here I go, I weigh in and about 1051 12 that just depends on the day, but for pound I could outweigh them so with them I mean, because that's what you you go in and you weigh in and it depends on how many pounds you can lift has weight used to always walk with the trophy. The guys at the gym told me to try a bodybuilding show and I went to go watch and I got hooked and I decided I think I didn't do that with my dance background as a young girl posing be super easy for me. And I have so many festivals or trophies and not to mention trophies that I've won. I think I have 30 Something trophies, I haven't sat down and counted off, but I did. Okay. That is awesome. And so you said you were 72 Are you still competing in bodybuilding says so matter of fact, I'm have to make up my mind which contests I wanted this, I let my coach Oh, I'm going to do one in July or wait till September. But I am training now for it. And I am semi on my college diet, trying to eat quite a bit of food to keep my body full, but income. In other words, some never hungry, I sometimes can't pletely everything on my plate that I'm posting. But I have a coach that I believe that everyone should have a coach, if you decide to compete with this accountability. I went without a coach for years. And this gentleman by the name of Jason, he reached out to me and he wanted to coach me, I have someone be able to which I've never had in my life. I've always got myself on stage on my own. And I believe now we all need accountability. I help so many other people I could never figure out why I didn't reach out to a coach but he reached out to me and he's been blessing. Yeah, you know, that's so true. I do believe the accountability is so important. And especially in bodybuilding, just having an outside eye who can maybe see things about your you know, physique that you might want to build up or change or tweak just a little bit that you might not notice yourself. So I completely agree with that. Especially in the sport. Absolutely. I am a judge and an aNbf. Judge, I did judge NPC shows for about 10 years. In my career, there was only see now there's so many different federal judges, a federation that guess test for druggies, natural contests. I've been doing that for quite a few years training and I do a lot of posing classes and effort pains men and women as well. That's awesome. I want to talk a little bit more about your training. Can you walk through you know a typical week what your workout plan looks like? Sure, absolutely. I'm going to do legs that's no issue I sometimes do not to wrap my knees or or anything like that. I'm my legs, my ankles. My joints from the waist down are pretty Strong, so I have no issues there. But when I'm working with my upper body is might be a little hard for me to explain but I actually use bowling gloves that have a ribbon in the front and underneath the palm, and it keeps my wrists simple. In other words, I have a hard time moving forward or downward, keeps straight and I've learned to lift weights with that support around my wrist and I'm surprised I can lift the amount of weight I can lift because the bowling straps actually help keep me mobilizing strong and supportive around my wrist. That was interesting. First time I've heard that. Yeah, yeah, I a lot of people will see me on Facebook and asked me what kind of gloves are you wearing? Try to explain what it is that bowling gloves and they have this this piece this rod in between it I wrapped around it and it keeps it keeps it stiff and gives me a lot more interesting. So how many days a week do you typically lift weights? I lift five days a week, I usually am what I call a cycle of two days on one day off three days on the other day off. So it gives me that good space of rest of my body. Yeah, yeah, that's perfect. And would you say you focus your workouts around lifting or cardio actually lifting. I do only 10 minutes of cardio. And I might go up to eight minutes on days that I am very close to contest. So my body fat is actually fairly low. So I'd have to kill myself on a treadmill or Stairmaster for contest. Yeah, that's great. And that's another message that we really, really like to get across is that exercise for health and and for changing your physique should definitely be centered around the lifting. The heavy lifting and cardio should just be used, like you said, as a tool when it's needed. And you mentioned how you kind of add in a little bit more cardio just as you get closer to your contest. So that's great, right? Mm hmm. Okay, let's jump to the nutrition piece. So you were talking earlier how you know, you eat a lot of food, and you're never hungry? Do you do more of like a meal plan style? Or do you prefer to track your macros? How do you like to do your nutrition? Yes, I do a meal plan style, it does consist of a lot of protein, I'll just give you an example. This just be my breakfast example. I will have a muffin. And I'll have a couple of eggs. And along with a couple of eggs, I have about four ounces of white chicken breasts and two links of turkey sausage, I allow myself reserved jelly. But there are about a couple of tables that gives me feels like I'm meeting some something very sweet. And that right there is my breakfast, there's days, I can eat every bit of it off my plate, then there's days I'm going around like a child. And I have to just put it away and come back in an hour, 40 minutes or so and finish it off. I do try to consume the meals that I'm sucking on a daily basis. Yeah, that's a that's a good size breakfast. I agree. And it's honestly it sounds great. It's got a good mix of protein, carbs and fats. And I'm sure it definitely keeps you full. You touched on a point. Another point that I want to make that it's getting enough protein is so so important for so many reasons, definitely for preserving or building muscle. And it actually becomes even more important. The older we get, I would say if I would change one thing about somebody's nutrition as they get older, I would skew them to eat even probably a little bit more protein than somebody who was say, you know, 2025 years old. So absolutely, I agree with you. Yeah, it sounds like you definitely center your meals around protein. And then good fats. I like have peanut butter that has no palm oil in it palm oil. It's really a good receptor for the bottle. I find peanut butter with no palm oil. And the other thing I like his avocados, it's good fat. And ideally, I love San. So it's a good fat that I eat. I love all of those things, too. Yes, those are all. And it also sounds like you are focusing on what I call real food like single ingredient Whole Foods, things that aren't made somewhere in a lab just pure, you know. Vegetables. Yeah, absolutely. Yep, that is great. Okay, so what do you feel are some of the biggest benefits of lifting past the age of 4050 6070? I think it's my blood pressure is extremely low. My heart rate is good. I get nothing but Kuta for my doctor, I mean, even one of the things he does and He might do this to your dad who has unfortunately rheumatoid arthritis, he will hand out four or five fingers there. And he wants me to squeeze. And he says, my strength and my hands are very strong in comparison to even when that are healthy. He said, You got real good grip, which tells me a whole lot. Yes, I see. He says, I see train wreck every day, because it's always a good base to see you come in, and you have no issues. Yeah. But right now, I'm pretty lucky. That is great. One comment that we hear a lot from women, especially but men too, that after a certain age, they feel like their metabolism has just slowed down, and they can't keep weight off anymore. Do you feel like because of all of the lifting that you do that you still have a good metabolism after the age of 70? Absolutely, I do have a good metabolism. I truly believe it has to do with lifting my cardio. I mean, 15 minutes, does that sound like a lot. But as you move along, you can make it difficult as long or just walk in the park. And I believe the food that is an actually it burns the fat, I believe the protein and watching your costs, the amount of carbs duty, and all that's keeping you very energetic. It's good for your skin, too. I mean, it really helps everything. And of course, I drink a lot of water, I noticed you're drinking water. And that's a definite plus you hydrate body, hydrate the skin, it hydrates, everything is good for you. And it gives you that full feeling to you're not hungry. Yeah, absolutely. I just don't feel right. If I don't start my day out with at least like eight ounces, sometimes more of water. It's just I currently and it shows it shows a complexion. I mean, you've got beautiful skin. And that's kind of what it was about and just hydrates everything. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, we we have so many women who come to us who are eating, I mean, what I consider a starvation diet, there and then they're want and they're not lifting weights, but they wonder why their metabolism is so slow, and we have to retrain them their brains to say hey, it's not the goal is should not be to eat as little as possible. The goal should be properly fuel your body, lift weights, keep some healthy muscle on your body. And that's how you will keep your metabolism healthy. And you are such a great example of that you are 72 and you have a rockin metabolism before the end of the show. I want you to tell everybody your Instagram handle so they can go check you out. Because I think they will be happy. On that note, I guess let's just end with what advice do you have women who are 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 and think that it's too late for them to get in shape. What would you tell them the same words that you've been using, it's never too late to start seriously. Working with a woman right now, this is her second year with me. And she had never lifted weights and take her a long time to lose 50 pounds. But she has lost 50 pounds, she feels good enough to possibly might want to do a concert this year, she feels really good. And all she's doing is just basically being one on eating and she has lost quite a bit of weight with little effort for her. And she said until it become a habit was to go to the gym five days a week. But she goes now I can't do without it. It's it becomes addictive. And eating becomes addictive. And the other thing that I just thought about was received meal. I don't call it a cheat meal. But I do have a refeed meal every week, sometimes two week a basically lead some cheat or I have a couple of fish tacos or can have a couple of slices of pizza and a salad. It's a reef meal. Along with the rest of this that I eat, it's an additional meal to whatever I'm eating. And I actually sometimes lose weight that then the next day I wake up and I'm like one pound two pounds smaller than I was the day before. And I don't know what it is about refeed meal. But it has done that to me for the past three years. If I eat an extra meal, instead of my five meals, I'll eat a six meal. And then the next day I'd seem to be dropping and I can't figure that out. I have any idea why I think it's a sign that your body just needed more fuel and it's finally saying okay, you you gave me what I needed. Well then that's what it is. I was just popped into my head about feed meats. A lot of people call them cheat meals. I don't like to say it's a cheat meal. I like to say it's a refeed meal. Great. Yeah. And I you know I do it a little differently. I kind of build it My calories pretty high pretty much all of the time. I'm not really competing right now. I'm mostly just that maintenance. But my calories are so high. I don't even at this point. I don't even use the refeed meals. But I have used those before when I've been training for competitions as well. Very good. They're a great yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Awesome. Well, Rebecca, this was amazing. And like I mentioned, I want you to share your Instagram handle. Do you want to share it? Or do you want me to? Yeah, you do? Yeah, it is Rebecca, our Woody. Do I have that right? I'm gonna double chats, right, Rebecca are woody and you can check out what amazing shape Rebecca is in at age 72. I remember seeing a video of you not too long ago training some pull ups and I thought that was so amazing. Books are absolutely my favorite exercise both to do and to program for my clients whether they are assisted pull ups or unassisted. Exactly. Looks there. So yes, you keep pushing them on those those are, that's amazing. Yeah. So that go go scroll through her feet. If you start following her and check out Rebecca doing her pull ups and just check check her out. She looks absolutely amazing, and is a true inspiration. So I think we'll go ahead and wrap it up. Thank you so so much for being here. Rebecca, do you have anything else you want to add before we end? No, just keep moving. That's all I think everyone should do is just keep it moving. Don't they'll be stagnated. I completely agree. Yep. So, so important. Keep moving. Oh, nice. Talk to you, Joe. I appreciate it. It was so nice to talk to you. And we're gonna wrap it up here. That's all we've got for you guys today. Thank you for listening. That's what we've got for you today about how you can invest in your metabolism and start losing weight by eating more and exercising less. Trust us you aren't too old and it's never too late. If you want to learn more about this topic, head over to our Facebook group, Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30. You can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook at Couture Fitness Coaching. And if you want to work with us, join us for our next 12 weeks session.