Confidence Is Quiet: Trusting Yourself at 48

Some stories start with a sprint. Ours starts with an old pair of sneakers, one lap around the block, and a breath that sounded like a beginning. From shy youngest child to single mom, from hospitalization and rapid weight gain to a quiet rebuild through walks, therapy, and financial grit, we open the door on a full midlife transformation—messy, real, and entirely possible at 48.

We talk about what confidence actually is when the applause fades: showing up at 4 a.m. to lift, prepping meals on Sundays, paying cash for groceries, and keeping promises no one sees. You’ll hear how small, repeatable actions stacked into big outcomes—162 pounds lost, $32,000 of debt paid, and a life that finally feels like home. We dig into the tools that mattered (movement, protein-forward meals, intermittent fasting, therapy, boundaries) and the traps that didn’t (comparison, perfectionism, chasing external validation). There’s an honest look at using and later stopping weight loss medication for financial reasons, and why identity must live beyond a number on a scale.

If you’ve ever felt behind, consider this your nudge: you’re right on time. Midlife isn’t a crisis; it’s a revelation where strength and softness meet, and where lessons harden into wisdom. Walk with us through the mindset shifts, the daily systems, and the hopeful proof that you can start over—broke, broken, or breathless—and still build a confident, purpose-filled life. Listen, share with someone who needs a spark, and if it resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us the one small promise you’ll keep this week.

Chapters

• 1:36 Setting the Stage: Midlife Confidence
• 2:21 Early Years and Young Motherhood
• 4:52 Breakdown, Weight Gain, and Rock Bottom
• 6:16 The Sidewalk Moment and Small Wins
• 7:07 Habits, Therapy, and Debt Paydown
• 7:34 Big Turnaround: Health, Work, and Joy
• 8:33 Medication, Momentum, and Identity Shift
• 9:36 What Confidence Really Means
• 10:14 Daily Discipline and Financial Peace
• 11:01 Thriving in Midlife and What’s Next
• 11:29 A Reminder: Your Glow Starts Here
• 12:09 Closing and Listener Invitation

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:01

Well, hello. Welcome back to the Midlife Glow Report, the space where we talk about glowing up in midlife and reinventing yourself. One honest story, tip, trick, and coachie cak at a time. I'm Jax, your host, and today's episode is going to be a bit more personal. It's about confidence, how I lost it, rebuilt it, and why at 48 I feel stronger, freer, and more at peace than I ever did in my 20s or 30s. So if you're in midlife wondering whether it's too late to feel confident again, to truly love who you are inside and out, this one's for you. So to start out with my early years, I was the baby of the family, quiet, overweight, shy, and very unsure of my place in the world. Confidence was not even a word I understood back then. I was a girl who tried to blend in, who avoided mirrors, who was extremely unconfident, but still very innocent and lighthearted. When I went to college, I really didn't have a dream of a certain profession. I had a goal, just to make money. Really unsure of myself, my likes, and my dislikes. Just wanted a degree in something basic and broad, something where I could get a job. At 19, I met my son's father. It was young love, sweet, confusing, full of life lessons I didn't know I would need later on in life. By 21, I had had my son. I wasn't married. I was single. Things didn't work out with his dad and I, and he decided to leave town. So I was just me and my son. Overnight, that insecure girl became a woman responsible for another human being, all on my own. I grew up fast, but emotionally I was still learning how to believe in myself. So being a young single mom with my son who was attending a private Catholic school and was in that setting was brutal at times. I was really the only one my age, always walking in late from work for school events and sports games, where I wore tired eyes and I was always stressed about money. Sitting next to two parent families almost twice my age who could afford vacations every year. That just wasn't me and my son. I smiled a lot, but I was quietly drowning, insecurity and guilt and exhaustion. Every decision felt heavy because it wasn't just mine anymore. I dated briefly twice, actually, but I never let anyone into my son's world. My focus was laser set on him. I was determined to raise a kind, educated, confident young man, even though I didn't yet know how to be a confident woman myself. So when my son was in eighth grade, my body and mind finally said enough. I ended up hospitalized for depression and anxiety. I was so ashamed. I felt like such a failure. Like the mom who couldn't keep it together. What I didn't realize then was that breakdowns are sometimes the universe's brutal way of saying, stop pretending you're fine. The medications helped me stabilize, but everything changed about me. My energy, my focus, my body. Within three years, I gained 240 pounds. My confidence didn't just disappear, it disintegrated. But my son, he was thriving. Sports, studies, discipline. He was the light when I had none. And when he left for college, I fell apart quietly behind closed doors. My son was in his junior year of college, and I was broke, 390 pounds, and suddenly unemployed after a company layoff, and I was terrified. Every version of myself I had tried to build was suddenly gone. So that May of 2022, I hit what I call my sidewalk moment. I laced up an old pair of sneakers and started walking around my block. Just one lap. I remember breathing heavy, sweating, but feeling something I hadn't felt in years. A sense of hope. But I had movement. And suddenly within two weeks, I landed a new job, even though it paid a bit less. But that tiny bit of momentum changed everything, and I felt lightness. A bit of my confidence came back. Walking became my therapy. Fresh air replaced excuses. I started eating better. I experimented with intermittent fasting. And within three months, I was down 20 pounds. I found a new therapist. I reduced my medications. I worked a second job to chip away at my debt. My confidence didn't magically return. It rebuilt itself one disciplined day at a time. So by August of 2024, life looked different. I had lost 120 pounds naturally. I paid off$32,000 in debt because of hard work. My son graduated college, and I finally exhaled for the first time in years. That September, we went on vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. I laughed freely. I walked beaches I once couldn't walk. I felt present, alive, and capable. And that's when I decided to start sharing my story online. Not because I had it all figured out, but because I was proof that starting over at any age is possible. I wanted other midlife women to see that you can be broke, broken, overweight, and still choose to rise. So right after vacation, I started weight loss medication called Zetbound. And by February of 2025, I was down another 30 pounds. But I decided to stop taking Zetbound due to financial reasons. It was just too expensive. But by then, my confidence wasn't tied to the number on the scale anymore. It was tied to consistency, to my daily walks, to my gym visits, to lifting weights, to meal prepping on Sundays, to that quiet pride of paying off one more credit card. Right now I am down 162 pounds in total. No more depression, no anxiety meds, no fear. Just gratitude, movement, and purpose. I feel unstoppable. Not because everything is perfect, but because I have proof I could rebuild from scratch. Here's what I learned about confidence. It's not about how loud you are, how fit you look, or how many people validate you online. Confidence is quiet. It's the moment you trust yourself again. It's showing up when no one claps. It's keeping your promises to yourself. Even today on a Sunday morning, I woke up at 4 a.m. I hit the gym. I meal prep for the week. I cleaned my house. I did an everything shower. I styled my hair. I paid some bills. So what my life looks like now? It's buying groceries with cash instead of credit. It's choosing a salad instead of self-sabotage. It's walking into the gym at 48 and saying, why not me? Midlife has given me the gift of perspective. I don't chase approval anymore. I protect my peace like it's gold. I know what matters, and I know I matter. At 48, I'm thriving. I have an incredible relationship with my son, friendships that feel like sunshine, work I enjoy, and a body that finally feels like home again. I still have another 80 pounds to lose to reach my goal. I know I will get there hopefully sooner than later. This season of life isn't about trying to be who I was at 25. It's about becoming who I was always meant to be. Midlife isn't a crisis, it's a revelation. It's where strength and softness meet. It's where lessons turn into wisdom. If you're listening and you feel behind, you're not. You're exactly where your glow up begins. So that's my confidence story. Messy, real, and ongoing. I'm still walking, still learning, still glowing. If you take one thing from this episode, let it be this. Your confidence can be rebuilt. You can lose everything money, jobs, health, and still come back stronger. Because confidence isn't lost. It's buried under fear, waiting for you to dig it up. Thank you for listening to this short episode of the Midlife Glow Report. If this episode inspired you, share it with a friend. Tag me on Instagram at JackSty's and tell me what part of your story you're ready to rewrite. Until next time, keep glowing, keep going, and remember the best season of your life might be this one you're in right now. Love Jax.