Two Sisters, Two Goals: Half Marathon vs Bodybuilding Prep

On Fit Fuel and Busy, Janine welcomes her twin sister Kristen (two minutes older) to discuss pursuing fitness goals in different ways: Janine is training for an end-of-April half marathon while maintaining lifting and increasing calories, and Kristen is preparing for her first bodybuilding show in the new Fit Model division on May 2 at Union Station in St. Louis. Kristen shares her background in dance, her shift to weightlifting, and how Janine pushed her to stop making excuses and commit by hiring a local coach, Shannon Wil Trapp. They cover the importance of a support system (coach, husband, friend, family), the realities of a 16-week prep starting after Christmas (lowering calories, increasing cardio, lifting five days, cardio six days, rest and sleep), mental “wall” weeks, and how discipline, priorities, and adjustments—rather than perfect timing or constant motivation—drive success and model perseverance for their kids.

00:00 Twin Intro and Goals

01:28 Kristen’s Fitness Journey

02:07 Signing Up to Compete

04:10 Building a Support Team

06:14 Prep Timeline and Routine

08:12 Mental Wall and Why

10:33 Kids and Leading by Example

14:51 Why Not Me Mindset

15:49 Stop Waiting Start Now

19:21 Discipline Over Motivation

21:57 Wrap Up and Next Steps

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Transcript

0:24

Welcome back to Fit Fuel, then Busy. I'm so glad that you're here today with us. This is an exciting episode. I do have a guest with me, uh, my twin sister, Kristen. And before we get into this everybody's always curious. They always have these like twin like questions, right? So, she is the older twin. She's two minutes older than I am. Uh, we do live fairly close to each other now, so that's exciting. We went through a period where we didn't we are very similar but also very different. And one thing that's really different that we have going on right now is, as you all know, I am currently training for a half marathon coming up at the end of April, and so I am. Really fueling my body for all the training that I'm doing. I'm doing a lot of extra cardio than I normally do. I'm still lifting to maintain my muscle mass. And so I'm like eating a whole bunch of calories. And then Kristen is going to kinda introduce herself to you, let you know, a little bit about herself, her background, and then she's gonna share her goal. And I wanna talk about, just approaching that goal in a different way setting a goal for yourself from a fitness and health perspective. And we're, so let's just, let's just dive in. So, Kristen, welcome to Fit Fuel and Busy. Yeah, thanks for having me. Kind of funny, weird to like, talk to you on this because you're my twin sister. I talk to you all the time. But yeah, so I, Janine obviously I'm sure has talked about. Playing soccer in her past. I grew up dancing. I didn't play any sports. I danced my entire life. And so, after college, the, you know, kind of where do you go to dance, there's not very many options. And so I really fell into weightlifting and really, I found my passion for lifting weights and kind of being able to like build and sculpt my physique the way I want to that way. Um, which is one thing that I love about bodybuilding is it's like a constant work in progress and you can always be changing the way your body looks you know, with time and dedication and patience. And so I've always had a goal of stepping on back on stage, not necessarily as a dancer, but through a bodybuilding show. And I had put it off for years and always said like, oh, I'd love to do that, but I can't because X, Y, z, and always found an excuse. And I was actually texting you I think it was in November or December, and I was like, gosh, I just, I really wanna the bodybuilding world came out with a new division called Fit Model last year and I was like, oh, I really wanna compete in this fit model division. Um. And you responded, stop talking about it and just do it. Like I can kinda like sense annoyance in your text of like, you always say this, just do it. And I was like, you know what? Okay, I'm gonna do it. And so I found a coach. I, I researched for about a week or two, interviewed a couple of coaches. I found a coach actually here locally in Ashland, and decided to sign up for my first bodybuilding show so I can step back on stage and I will be competing May 2nd at the at Union Station in St. Louis. That is awesome. Um, it's so funny that you say that. I didn't really realize that I was the one too. Push you to finally take the step and, and move forward with this goal. Um, so that's kind of fun and I'm excited to be there to support you when you do step on stage. Um, I'm looking forward to that, but I totally remember doing that. And I will say there's something that is so beneficial to having. People in your circle that will sometimes just call you out on your bluff almost. Right? Like, well, do you really wanna do it? Because you keep saying you wanna do it? Because I will say I've, I know for years you have talked about this and you've never done it. There's always been some excuse to your point. So, uh, I think it's really good and healthy to have people in your circle that will eventually. Call your bluff, right? And be like are you just saying you wanna do it? Or are you scared to do it? Or are you just making excuses? Things like that. So tell me who else is in your circle that is kind of supporting you and, and helping you through the prep and the training. And then we can talk a little bit more about the prep. Prep and training.'cause I'm very curious about how that's going. Yeah, so I have my, like I said, I have a coach locally. Her name is Shannon Wil Trapp. And she has been absolutely amazing. The nice part of her. We live in the same town. The nice part of her being locally is. We can get together in person. She can help. She's helped me with posing, but she is always in my corner, always encouraging me, even when I've had weeks where I'm like, oh, I just, the scale hasn't moved. And she, um, so she has just been, I mean, she's. Taught me so much too. And she's so knowledgeable about the sport itself. Um, so I'm super thankful for her. And then obviously my husband, who's been very supportive. I mean, he supports every single one of my crazy dreams running for Board of Alderman and trying to get my real estate life, like just all the things, any crazy idea I have, he's always on board with it. Even if he probably thinks I'm just insane. Um, so he, and there's been several times throughout like this prep where I like want to take a bite of something and he'll say, is it gonna be worth it? Are you sure you wanna do that? What are you doing? So I really appreciate his support in that. And then obviously my best friend Amanda, she is always encouraging me and she's just super excited for me even though this is like completely out of her, like something completely unknown to her. And then of course you've been supportive as well too. Um, I know we were texting this week kind of just about like how we. I was struggling big time this week, so, but yeah, I mean, I, I have a lot of people who are supporting me, which is, which is great. Honestly, I even have people at work who they will go to Taco Bell'cause it's right next door and bring me back. So hot sauce packets, because that's my condiment of choice. Um, so I have, I really do feel like I have a big circle of support. Yeah. That's awesome. And a, and a goal like that is, uh, necessary to kinda have that support, especially so like. That's what I wanna talk about. Your next is your prep. It's not just something you decide you're gonna do and you go out and do it. It takes like, how long have you been prepping for your show? I don't know if you said when your show is, you said it's at the beginning of May, right? Yeah, May 2nd. Okay. So when did your prep start and what did how has that gone? What's been the fun parts? What's been the hard parts? What, where have you learned about yourself, like all of those things? I started the week after Christmas. And I'm not like a big drinker or anything, but I do enjoy some wine and so I have not had anything to drink since Christmas. But, um. And some people were like, well, why don't you wait until after the new year? And I'm like, well, because I've lived through how many New Years and you know, there's gonna be many more. Like, it's okay. You know, it's just like realizing like, this is temporary. This is only, right now, it's not forever. But overall, I would say like my prep has gone, it was, has been pretty I don't wanna say easy, but like, I haven't struggled big time, um, really until just this last week. But, um, prep, yeah, I've been in prep for, I think it's 10 weeks now, and I have six weeks until show day. So it'll be a total of 16 weeks. And, um, obviously throughout prep we, you know, slowly lower calories as to keep my body responding and then increase cardio. Um, I've still been lifting five days a week and cardio six days a week. Well, yes, split between six days a week and then one full rest day. Rest is so important. And obviously prioritizing sleep. Sorry, what else did you ask? Just how your prep is in general, right. So like. Oh yeah. Okay. What does it look like? Things like that. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, overall overall it has been like, I would say like I haven't struggled too bad until this last week and this last week. I was just mentally struggling, which I knew was coming. Like, you hear about it all the time when people are in prep, like your, your body fat gets low, your hormones get outta whack, and you're kind of, the mental struggle sets in at some point. Just like when you're running a half marathon or a marathon, you know, they call hitting a wall. I did run a marathon I think it was in 2014 or 2015. Mm-hmm. Um. So I've done the training that you're doing also, and you know, no matter how much you train, you get to a point where you do hit a wall and you have to push through and it's more of a mental game versus a physical game. And that was me this week. Like I mentally was just tapped out. I, and I kind of blame it on the weather'cause it was freezing on Monday, but I didn't wanna pose at all. Um, I still got my lifting in and I had good lifts, but I just, like, I mentally was tapped out. Like I didn't want to, I was hungry. So it was, it was a struggle for sure. Um, I do, but I know that this is temporary and I only have six weeks left and I wanna like, I wanna step on stage knowing that I did everything that I possibly could to bring my best. You know, this is an investment. It's not. It's not easy. It takes time, it takes money. Um, and so I, I wanna give it my all one for the people who are showing up and supporting me. You know, I do it. Do it for them in a way I do it for myself, um, because this was something I've always wanted to do. And then I also do it, like to show an example for my kids. I mean, my kids watch me pose, they watch me practice posing. They ask me, why, why are you doing this? And you know, I explain like, well, I am gonna do this competition and I'm gonna step on stage. And the only way that you can, really. I have to show up for myself and practice and you know, I have to put in the time if I wanna be the best or if I wanna win. Um, and I might not win even if I have completely executed everything 100%. You know, it, it really comes down to what the judges are looking for that day. But I at least like I will win to myself just for stepping on stage and doing something that I've always wanted to do. Yeah, totally. Yeah, so there are so many good things that you just talked about that I wanna try to hit on real quick. Before we pivot away from your kiddos we, I have two girls. Kristen has a girl and a boy. Mine are five and eight. Hers are three and almost seven. And so they're very comparable for the most part in age. And, you know, at, at. Those ages, they're still, while they're learning their independence and it, it's not, it's still not always easy to get your workouts in. Uh, not always easy to get my long runs in. I have to be very strategic and think about my weeks and what we have going on and try to plan around the schedule. Sometimes that means long treadmill runs, which is what I really prefer not to do. Right. So, but like you just said. You know, I, part of what I've chosen to do this half marathon was all about a lot of it, not all of it, but some of it was about you know, I show up for my kids in every single way that I possibly can. And I think something that was really instilled in us as kids from our parents that I am so glad they did is we have two other sisters as well. So there's four of us girls and our parents. They never made us because I never felt like I had to go to any one of my sister's events that they were doing to support them and show up for them. But somehow we all just knew that's what we had to do to support our family and to support each other. Right? I don't know. That's hard to explain, but like it was just instilled in us in like the most indirect way, I feel like. And I think that's what. Kind of makes our family as tight as we are, like we are also different. But at the same time, we always know we have each other's back, right? We could call each other up at any moment and there's almost this thing that comes from when we're pursuing our dreams as a mom and letting sharing with our kids like why we are pursuing this goal. Um, and how we're going to pursue it. Talking to them about the plan we have and then showing them how we're executing it, the same way that we show and support them in them, in the goals that they have for themselves, right? With Heidi's gymnastics or Colton's soccer or football. Um, all of those things. So I just, I love that. Um. Your kids are asking questions that you're not afraid to do your prep in front of them so they can see it. Right? Like actions are so much louder than words and more is caught than taught. I firmly believe that, especially with kids. So I love that. Anything else to add about just how your, like are your kids gonna be there on your show day? I haven't even asked. So honestly, I don't think so. I think they're gonna stay with mom and dad. And it's mainly just because one, it's a, an extremely long day. I mean, sure. I think pre-judging starts at like 10:00 AM and then finals aren't until 7:00 PM so it's like a really long day. There'll be a lot of downtime for me. Nate's obviously gonna be there, but, um. Yeah, I mean not, and it's expensive. It's like$30 for pre-judging and then$45 for finals to attend. And so I'm just not sure that, that they will come to this one. But my coach, she has two young ones too. And, um, she's brought her kids to shows before and it is always good. Like she's talked about, we've talked about how it's like nice for them to like see the end result and to like see what it was that you're working towards. So if not this show. Then definitely a show in the future. I'd like to have them there. But yeah, I wanna circle back too, to like our family just being there. Like I I couldn't agree more. It's it's interesting, like, I think it even goes back to like how like our aunts and uncles have like, always been there for our parents and how we've like seen that like, I don't know. I just like always it's like been, yeah, it's totally been like. Set in stone for us that like, no matter what, like I, I mean, between us four girls, like we're all so busy and we don't always talk all the time, but like, I, like you said, always know that they're always in my corner and it, it is like one of the best feelings and I'm so thankful for. But yeah, having a, a support system, whether you talk to'em every day or not, is huge in, in fulfilling your goals. And there was actually, like I said, I, I've wanted to do this for a long time and I've always made an excuse, but there was a podcast I was listening to, it was like, of another competitor. And, um, she was talking about how she was like watching one of someone that she, you know, had admired and looked up to in the fitness industry, had she'd like won the Olympia or something and she. Have this thought of like, well, if she can do it, why not me? And so literally this entire prep, like when I've, questioned if I'm gonna be ready is my posing good enough? Like can I do this? Like I, I have, I like keep circling back to this girl that I heard say, well, why not me? You know, I mean like, I think it's ourselves that are always like limiting like our capabilities. And so I'm just trying really hard to like remember like, why not me? Yeah, that is so good. Why can't I be the one to do it? Yeah. I love that. That is so good. And I agree with you that well actually that kind of ties back to something else that I wanted to touch on that you said earlier. When you were talking about starting your prep the week after Christmas, meaning that you didn't drink during New Year's, and people were like, well, why don't you wait till after New Year's? And how It's funny how often things like that. Stop people from pursuing their dreams, right? Or pursuing that goal, or delay them from doing, from starting a prep or like even something simple, even if it's, if their goal is just, I just wanna lose 10 pounds or I wanna lose 20 pounds. Um, it's always often I hear people say, well, I'm waiting until after Memorial Day because we always have a big party and there's drinking and, and great food, and I just wanna enjoy that. Right? Or you know, I'm, I'm gonna wait till after my birthday, or I'm waiting till after the holidays. Or different things like that. And it's like if we just stopped ourselves for a second and said exactly what we talked about earlier in, in this podcast. Why am I do I actually want to pursue that goal or am I just making, am I just saying that I want to, but I don't actually wanna put the effort in?'cause sometimes effort means sacrifice. And that's, we're always willing to do something as long as it doesn't force us to sacrifice things that we enjoy. Or, yeah, to give things up like that. Yeah. Well, and that's the thing too, it's like for there's, oh gosh, there's so many points I can touch on here. But you know, people wanna lose weight and but they always find an excuse like, oh, well so-and-so's birthday, or We have this trip, or we have that. Here's the thing, there, you can, whatever you make a priority is what you're gonna be successful at. And, there's always gonna be an excuse. There's never, like I tell people all the time, there's never a good time to have a baby. There's never a good time to buy a house. There's never a good time to try and lose 10 pounds. There's always gonna be an obstacle in front of you. But if it was easy, everyone would do it. And that's the thing too. Like you, you figure it out and obstacle comes your way. You figure it out. We all do it. We do it every day. We do it at work. Like why can't you do it for the goals that you want? You can lead a horse to water, which you can't make'em drink. So until until you choose that, this is what I'm gonna do and this is what I truly want, you're not gonna be successful at it until you're willing to make it a priority. And until you're willing to, it doesn't mean that you can't go to a birthday party. It doesn't mean that you can't go on vacation. It just means that you have to be willing to make an adjustment. Adjustments in maybe. Like the foods that you're consuming, like what you're gonna order or, I, I'm definitely not saying that you can't drink and still lose weight. We all know you can. Um, but it's just being mindful and making decisions or, you know what, say you take the whole weekend off and you eat whatever you want and you drink what you want. It's about making the choice to get back on track on Monday or back on track when you get back from your vacation. It's, you know, these are all choices that everyone has the ability to make, but. The thing is, is it's not gonna be easy because if it was easy, everyone would do it. If it was easy, everyone would be in shape. If it was easy, everyone would be stepping on stage for a bodybuilding or running a marathon. But it's not easy. And that's where you grow, when you get through the hard weeks of. Like for me, like this week I just kept telling myself like, okay, this is like a week of growth. This is a week of growth. Like I'm mentally, I have to push through, I have to show up. I don't want to, but I have to, and that's, that's where the growth is. It's when it's really hard and you wanna give up, that's when growth happens. Absolutely. This ties back to a concept I've talked about before. Uh, and really what you practiced this last week was discipline, and I think that I. I firmly believe discipline is a skill and something that we have to continue to sharpen, right? And we have to put ourselves in spaces to practice that discipline to make it stronger and. As you just said, you know, last week for you was a week of growth. Um, what was, in my opinion and just from my viewpoint, it was a week of you practicing discipline, right? And getting stronger at executing in a discipline, like executing discipline. And what I love about that is that actually as what you're saying, it flows into all areas of your life, right? Like it's not just in your. The pursuit of your goal for this bodybuilding competition, it will flow over into your career. It will flow over into just your personal life as you and Nate. You know, everybody's gonna have ups and downs with you know, financially and just stuff going on in the, in the world and stuff going on in their personal life. Um, and, by practicing and sharpening that skill of discipline, knowing that you can overcome whatever. Comes your way. Uh, you can overcome the hard mental battles. You can overcome, like those emotional battles. It only makes you stronger as a person in every single way, right? Not just your health and fitness and pursuing your goal. It really does flow into every other area of your life. Oh, absolutely. And you know, I mean, people ask all the time, like, how do you say I'm motivated and I know you can relate to this too. And probably like, eh, 70, maybe 60% of the time I'm not motivated, but I'm disciplined. Right? And I know that, to be successful, I have to do what I don't wanna do sometimes. And when it comes to workouts, like I always I've never regretted a workout, never. Doesn't, like I could walk in the gym and just be kind of, there was one time I, I was at the gym maybe a week or so ago and, um. I, my tooth was actually hurting me'cause I had a filling and they didn't like file it enough or whatever. And so I was in some tooth pain and someone came up to me and they're like, you really don't look like you wanna be here. And I was like, I don't like, I'm in pain. I don't wanna be here, but I gotta get my workouts in. You know, and it's not about always being motivated, it's about doing what you know needs to be done. Yep. Absolutely. I love that. Well maybe that's a great place to, to let you go and get back to your kiddos, but I just wanna say good luck on your show. Hopefully I would love to have you back on after the show. Uh, it's funny, my. Half marathon is literally the weekend before your show. So I'll have my half marathon done. Then I can come and support you in your show, which will be super fun. And then maybe we can get back together and just talk about how it went and yeah, we're really not that far out. I have five weeks to go. You have six weeks to go. So good luck. Um, stay focused and disciplined. And I'm anxious to hear how everything goes. Yeah. Thank you. I really enjoyed, um, oh gosh. I feel like we probably could have talked for like two hours, but I know, um, yeah, no, I'm excited to see you run your first half marathon and, i'm excited to step on stage and it'll be really fun to circle back and about how, what our experience was, what we learned, what we overcame, celebrate, completing those goals. So I, I look forward to it. Yeah, watch out. I'm gonna have you coming back to our podcast like. All the time now, because you're right. I think we could have just kept talking and talking. Uh, anyway, um, thank you all for tuning into Fit Fuel and Busy this week. I hope this was fun just to hear someone else's perspective. Um, like I said, we're very similar but also very different. And so, uh, but what one. There's a few things we do have in common. We're both moms. We both have young kids that are active and we both are passionate about health and fitness and pursuing goals and setting goals for ourselves. Um, and so anyway, I hope this was helpful and if you are looking for somebody to come alongside you in pursuing your health and fitness goals we. I, I love to meet people where they're at, um, and help support them, not just in weight loss, but in any kind of health and fitness school that you all have. So, uh, check out couture fitness coaching.com and we'll see you at the next episode.