Mind and Muscle Beyond 40

Episode 1: Why I started MMB40

• Anneli Marinovich • Season 1 • Episode 1

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In this episode, I share my own personal transformation journey. It wasn't so long ago that I was feeling the frustration of not recognising my own reflection and wanting desperately to feel healthy, strong, and happy in my skin again. My own mind & muscle journey over two decades has given me a deep understanding of what it takes to transform and in this episide recorded on a beach in Marbella, you'll hear all about it!

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Speaker:

Welcome to the Mind and Muscle Beyond 40 podcast. I'm Anneli, founder of MMB40, weight training junkie, motivational speaker, dog mum, certified men opause coach, and proud South African. If you're a woman navigating your 40s or beyond, and you're ready to reclaim your energy, build strength, and create a lifestyle that helps you thrive as you age, you have found your podcast. On this podcast, we're all about empowering you to take control of your health and wellness journey. And to do that, we focus on the five pillars for ageing strong: mindset, muscle, nutrition, biohacking, and managing menopause. On this podcast, you can expect practical tips, myth busting discussions, QA's, and even some follow-along content. All of this designed to help you age with power and feel amazing. In today's episode, I am gonna share my journey to now. My story, really. Why I started Mind and Muscle Beyond 40, what my journey looked like, the years and years of trying to figure out what my body actually needed. And I hope you enjoy it. I recorded this episode on a beach in Marbella, so you will hear a little bit of wave action in the background. I hope you enjoy it. And if you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe so that you can listen to it wherever you are and you never miss an episode. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram, MindMuscleBeyond40, for quick tips and daily inspiration. So in 2005, I decided to leave South Africa, the sunny shores of South Africa, to come to the UK. It was the middle of winter, it was January, and I don't think I was prepared for the adjustment of the weather, um, leaving my family behind and adjusting to life in London. So within a year, I had gained around 10 to 12 kilograms. I completely lost my confidence. I had started developing uh toxic habits like binge eating, binge drinking. Um, I was working in a very male-dominated sales environment. And so it was all the things, it was the perfect storm. So ultimately, what happened was I lost my confidence. I just didn't feel like me anymore. And I knew something had to change. And what I did was what most women do when they panic. They turned to cardio. So um by so I arrived in London when I was 22. By the time I was about 27, so five years in, you know, I had gained quite a lot of weight. I was unhappy, but then I turned to cardio. So I then lost all the weight, but I also lost all my muscle mass. So I'm five foot eleven. I'm a tall girl, I'm a long, tall Sally, right? So I lost all my muscle mass and I was just skinny fat. So I had no definition. I had lots of loose skin and I just wasn't feeling my best. But I had lost the weight, so I was happy, right? But I was tired all the time. I had lots of niggles. Um, you know, runners will know that if your form is not on point, we pick up all the injuries. I picked up all the injuries. I'm a tall girl. I was kind of hunching when I was running. I started developing hip issues, um, and I just knew that I couldn't keep doing that, but I didn't know what to do. So, fast forward 27, I meet my husband Wayne, who is an ex-Ion man, and Wayne introduces me to weight training. So I started going to the gym with Wayne. I started lifting weights while still doing the cardio because God forbid I should give up the cardio while I do weight training. So started doing the weight training, still did the cardio. I then started noticing a change in my body, my body composition, and also my relationship with food because the penny dropped and I realized that I have to feel my body to be able to lift well in the gym. So I stopped being scared of carbohydrates, I stopped um worrying so much about the calories, but I did start keeping track of what I was eating. So I knew how many calories I was eating, I knew what kind of foods made me feel better than others. And I just tried to stick to those foods 80% of the time, and it worked. So by the time I turned 30, um, I had changed my body composition. I now had decent arms. I always used to joke with Wayne and say, I want to have arms that people will tell me, oh my god, you work out, don't you? I mean, it's I know, I know, it's so superficial, but I always wanted that because I was always so self-conscious about my arms. Um, I remember always wearing cardigans where I wouldn't actually get my arms out because I was so embarrassed because my arms were so fat. Now, that's my my issues, but it was so nice to get to a point where I could wear the sleeveless tops, right? Rock the little strappy tops, and now it's a million years later, and I can walk around in a crop top in the gym, which I never thought I would do in a million years. So the journey has spanned over about 20 years to where I am now. Anyway, back to my story. Um, so ultimately I changed my I started changing my body composition, but then I started throwing in HIIT a lot of high intensity interval training because I still thought I had to sweat it out. I had to sweat it out alongside the weight training. So I did. I threw in all the HIIT, I did my weight training at that point, probably four or five times a week. Um and I was also working a lot. So um I'm a serial entrepreneur, I have multiple businesses, and the main part being photography. So I was traveling all over the world, I was shooting all over, I was carrying lots of gear on me. Um and it started taking its toll. And in 2019, um, I had just come out of a very busy season and I burnt out. I had a mini meltdown in France when a wasp bit my hand and it wouldn't stop biting me. I had to literally yank it off my hand and I just cried and I couldn't stop crying. And so I burnt out and I realized okay, something had to give. So, you know, work being work, obviously having a better work-life balance is important, but I knew that something had to give with my training. So then I started in going into my 30s, by the time I was 35, I had a better balance of more focus on weight training and nutrition, and less focus on the really high-intensity workouts. And it also started paying off because I wasn't tired all the time. I didn't have all the niggles, and I was able to recover better. So my little burnout coming into my 30s taught me a lot. And I think when I turned 40, again, everything shifted for me because then the hormonal lens sort of um came into play. I started noticing shifts in my mood and just how I felt in terms of how I was handling stress in my life. And so the weight training again became my refuge because for me, weight training has created a very strong growth mindset over the years because I'm incredibly comfortable being uncomfortable. I know it sounds strange, but that is what a growth mindset is, and it also means that you're constantly looking to challenge yourself. So there's one thing I've learned over the years is to challenge myself continuously. And I do. I every year I do something new. I always try and like follow a new program. So I write my own programs, but ever so often I will buy a program just to shape things up because I want to push myself in more ways than one. So coming into my 40s, I really leaned into my personal development uh sort of phase, and I started really um spending more time reading the books that would challenge my mindset um that would help me grow and really focus on being as resilient as I possibly could be going into my 40s. So today I'm 42. I'm turning 43 actually, in just over a week and a half's time. 43, baby. And um, I think this became my journey, my own transformation, my own understanding my body better, learning to work with it, not against it, became the reason for me starting mind and muscle beyond 40, which is an all-in-well, all-in-one wellness ecosystem. It's a framework that helps women aged over 35 to combine the different aspects of what it means for us to look after ourselves. So it focuses on mind, muscle, nutrition, um, biohacking, which just means simple biology hacks that you can use in your life to hack your body and then managing menopausal symptoms. I am perimenopausal, um, and I am very fit, I'm very healthy, I'm very strong. And so this just shows you as well that perimenopause and hormonal shifts can happen to all of us. It does happen to all of us just to varying degrees, and it's nothing to be ashamed about. Um I have been on HRT already. I came off HRT, and I'm navigating that journey in terms of what it means for me as my hormones shift and what it means also in terms of my training. So I'm using all my knowledge, I'm using my own transformation and being a growth mindset junkie. Um I'm a qualified personal trainer, level three personal trainer, I'm also a spinning instructor, I love spin. I'm also a cold plunge coach. So I help women and men. I just help people really delve into that resilience. So challenging them from a mindset point of view and a physical point of view to do hard things like cold plunging because it makes you stronger. Um, I also teach a strength circuit in a heated studio, and that is an example of biohacking. You've got the hot, you've got the cold, and it all helps, it all improves your metabolism. So, and your mindset always there. Um, and I'm also a certified menopause movement coach because as I started navigating my own perimetopause symptoms, I realized that I needed to understand what it meant from a movement point of view, what it means from a nutrition point of view, what it means from a mindset point of view, and the changes that we are undergoing in midlife. So I understand where you're coming from, and I'm using all of these knowledge points to help you navigate your own journey. So, by the way, if you're listening to this on my podcast, please subscribe to the channel. And if you're on here on YouTube watching me on this lovely beach in Marbella, please hit the like button and subscribe. But I am here to share the journey with you. I'm here to guide you in your journey of strength, resilience, um, so that you can age well as you head into your 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond. I have women in uh the Mind and Muscle Beyond 40 coaching group who range from their mid-30s to 40s into their 60s. And you know what? What I love most is kind of seeing how the journey is different for each of them. But MMB40 is built on compassion. So, what I like to encourage women to do is to pull on the lever that is going to make the most difference to you right now. So maybe it's just sleeping better. So I guide women on their sleeping habits. Maybe it's learning how to actually start doing weight training in a safe way that works for your body. So I've got programs designed suitable for all levels, beginner, intermediate, advanced, I've got you, babes. And then we look at nutrition. Maybe it's just understanding how much protein you need to be eating. Women don't eat enough protein. I eat so much protein, honestly. But it's so important as we age and as our bodies change and as our hormones shift, the protein is your main focus. So I have women coming into the community where they don't want to track their macros, their macronutrients, and their calories. That's fine. At least just focus on protein. That's your most important aspect. And we have seen some fantastic results from women just doing that. Um, and then from a mindset point of view, you know, I think it's understanding that this is not, midlife is not a slippery slope. It's not downhill. This could be a wonderful period for you to transform yourself if you lean into it and you embrace change. You embrace new things. And that's exactly why I created Mind and Muscle Beyond 40. Because I want to use what I've learned in my journey, and I want to help you navigate your own in a supportive, kind, compassionate way. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you enjoyed it, don't forget to click subscribe so that you can listen wherever you are and that you never miss an episode. You can also follow me on Instagram on Mind Muscle Beyond40 for quick tips and daily inspiration. And don't forget to head over to the website mindandmuscle40.com. That is your hub for all things MMB40. And I will see you in the next episode.