Interview with IFBB Figure Pro Mindy Muyleart

In this interview, which stemmed from a drawing Rich did of Mindy, Mindy discusses the challenges of turning pro in her 40's, while balancing a career, a marriage and kids. A must listen for people who want to understand how fitness can be woven into a busy life!

Transcript

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Rich 0:05

So welcome everyone and welcome Mindy. Mindy, the first thing I need you to do is um tell me how to pronounce your last name.

Mindy 0:12

Oh, that's a good one. Um it's Muellert.

Rich 0:15

Muellert.

Mindy 0:16

Yes.

Rich 0:16

Oh, okay. That's much easier than I thought it was gonna be.

Mindy 0:18

So can you like tell me how you thought it was pronounced?

Rich 0:21

Well, so the the M U Y, I was doing like a MUI kind of uh and then and then I was pronouncing too many vowels. So my guess was Muy Laert.

Mindy 0:32

I get that a lot to be quite honest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Rich 0:35

Yeah. So Mueller. Well, welcome, Mindy Mueller, to the podcast.

Mindy 0:39

Thank you.

Rich 0:40

Uh and for those who who haven't figured it out yet, the um if you're watching on on YouTube, okay. This is a trick. Every time I try to point to the drawing behind me, I always use the wrong okay. No, I got it. So there we go. So that's um that's Mindy there. That's a recent drawing that I did. So we're just here to to talk and and find out about Mindy. And we can probably start. When you posted this drawing, oh sorry, you didn't post the drawing, you posted the uh photo, the reference image at first. And obviously it was a stunning photo, but one of the things that I really liked was your caption.

Mindy 1:12

Okay. Do you know I actually had to delete that?

Rich 1:15

You deleted the the original photo?

Mindy 1:18

Photo, everything, yeah, because um I was shadow banned from Instagram. It was like, yeah, the nudity. Yeah. But your drawing still is like I'm still able to have your drawing. It it hasn't affected it at all. But yeah, it like um prevented me from doing a lot of things on Instagram. So I had to delete it.

Rich 1:38

Like, were you getting messages or you just knew your engagement was down?

Mindy 1:42

My engagement was down. Um, and I yeah, like I and it it like every so often I go in and I just kind of check to see to make sure I'm following all the guidelines. Right. Um and yeah, this picture came up and it said like no non-followers would never be able to see any of my stuff.

Rich 2:00

Just because you had that picture up.

Mindy 2:02

Mm-hmm. Which is ironic when you think about a lot of the thing you think about like all the stuff that you see on Instagram, like some of the stuff is like pretty graphic. Um and it it was like to me, it this picture was art. Like it it didn't I didn't look at it the way that they are like deeming it. And it could have been somebody, you know, reported it. I'm not really sure, but anyways, yeah. So I don't even remember what I wrote on the caption.

Rich 2:30

I'm gonna look it up.

Mindy 2:31

Okay.

Rich 2:32

So we could talk about it. Let me go to because I quoted it in the drawing. So the caption still lives.

Mindy 2:37

Okay.

Rich 2:38

Um, so here's what you said. You said call it what you want, but I see strength, discipline, and art. This body is built from years of grit, sacrifice, and fire. I'm not here to hide it, shrink it, or make it easier to swallow. I show up raw, powerful, and unapologetically feminine. Confidence cannot be stripped away. That was your caption.

Mindy 2:57

It gives me goosebumps actually reading it back to me.

Rich 3:00

Yeah. It really struck me because there's different reasons why people post stuff on Instagram, you know. Um, and a picture like that. I mean, you know, I wish I could. I guess I can't really magically pull up the original photo anymore.

Mindy 3:18

Well, maybe Brian still has it on his I have the actual no, he had to delete it from his as well.

Rich 3:23

Oh, really?

Mindy 3:24

Yeah, yeah. So um he originally had posted, and you know, you can um like you collab with it. So I was like collabed with the photo and it he had to delete it. So I thought, okay, well, I'm just gonna now repost it under my, you know, because I thought maybe he was like um, you know, flagged for a different photo, and and they just kind of put that one in with them it as well, right? So he had to clean up his page a little bit, anyways. So I went back and I put it in myself. And and it was funny, I didn't really pay much attention until like I was, you know, I always have like a ton of notifications, and then I was like, okay, I'm not getting really any notifications. And then I went back in, and sure enough, that photo was flat.

Rich 4:12

I have a story that's similar to that, which I'll I'll tell you in a second. What I what I was going to do, I I can't figure out a way to do it quickly, was bring up the photo. I also have it because I saved it when I did the reference for the drawing.

Mindy 4:22

Oh, right, right, right.

Rich 4:23

When I saw it, so I'm scrolling through my feed and I see the photo and and I'm like, well, that's a fantastic photo. And then I look at the caption and I'm like, well, that's perfect. Because basically, what you're saying, if I'm reading it right, is you're just proud of what you've done. You're proud of it. And you might and and and anybody who knows how this works and how the fitness, how fitness really works, and how one can can go about looking like you do in that photo, especially you know, as we get older, it's it's like this isn't about bragging. This is about look what I did. And this is this is years of of just discipline, commitment, um, a lot of sacrifice. And if I may, because I get this a lot because a lot of the drawings I do are of female fitness models, people will say with when when they see women with muscles, they'll say, Oh, that she looks like a man. And you were like, No, this is femininity. And I really, I really that really resonated as well because I don't know how anybody could ever look at that stuff and go, oh, well, that looks masculine. Give me a give me a break, right?

Mindy 5:29

Right, absolutely. So that's what struck me.

Rich 5:31

Go ahead.

Mindy 5:32

Yeah, and you were you're you're absolutely right. Like for me, it was like I I look at it and um, you know, I do I work, I have two boys, a husband, a house, a family. Um, you know, I like I'm 49 now. I believe that photo I was 47. So it was just like a two years ago, just after I won my pro card that I had this photo shoot done. And so I have accomplished a lot in I started competing. It will be 10 years this year. So I had accomplished a lot in a short period of time, I found, and I've evolved quite a bit. And yeah, exactly what you said. I that picture to me speaks volumes and how much dedication and hard work that it took me to get to that point. And I am, I am proud of it because, you know, I did get up, you know, I was working at when I first started working at um the hospital working 12-hour shifts. Um, and then we eventually went to eight hours, but my shifts were seven to three. I have two young boys. So it's like I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning so I could be at the gym by four, home by six, so I could be at work by seven, because at three, they're home from school at like 3.30. I don't really have time to go to the gym. I have to come home, I have to make dinner. Like, you know, there's all these things, right? So yeah, like to get up and do though that every day and show up for yourself, yeah, that's a reflection of what I did.

Rich 7:02

Yeah, I love it. Really. I mean, it's it's just um it's unbelievably inspiring. And also, I find uh a common theme among people. Um, I think especially women who who who go as far as to earn their pro card, it's never somebody who isn't busy. It it seems to always be somebody who's like super busy and then finding a way to fit that in. Do you find that with other competitors?

Mindy 7:28

And I do. I feel like I a lot of my close friends that I've come to meet, like through competing, yeah, we're all extremely busy. And I do find we all have kind of like the same, like similar mindset. I don't know if it's like we need to be busy. We have, you know, we thrive off of having too much on our plate. Um, but there is a similarity to a lot of uh fitness competitors. We all like it's true what they say. You there's only so many p kind of people that can kind of do that, right? You have to have a certain mindset to be able to do that. So we all are kind of similar in the same sense. And we're all, I I do find a lot of the women too, like they're, you know, um, the older women that are close to my age, they uh work full-time, have big careers, and also have families, kids, you know, and they're they're doing it all as well.

Rich 8:27

Yeah, it's there's a there's a serious lesson there. I don't know, I don't know if it's personality first, like you need to have the personality for it. Or, and I'm just because of so many people that I've talked to, if the busier become, the more committed you have to be, like the more disciplined you have to be. I don't know if there's like a chicken and egg thing there.

Mindy 8:48

Yeah, and I'm not sure. And I know something like sometimes with me, I've um I've always been a person that if once I make a decision or I have my mind set on something, and it can be absolutely ludicrous, but I'm gonna get it done. You know, like I just I have it's almost like I have to prove that I can do it or I I you know I'm capable of doing whatever I want and I can do it. Like it doesn't sound crazy to me, I'll get it done. So I'm not sure if like you know, a lot of people have that kind of like mindset as well when they do this. They're like, yeah, I can totally prep for a show, no problem. Easy. Anybody who's prepped for a show knows knows that easy is not no, what but when you like once you go through it all and you and it it's interesting too when you do it. Like I remember the first time it didn't seem so hard. I was like, oh yeah, I could totally do it. And then the first time you do it, you and then it's over, you almost think, I could never do that again. That was crazy, right? But you're almost addicted to the the process, like it was like, okay, now I want to do it again, but this time I want to do it better, right? And then each time you do it, you do become better. And you it's like you become a professional, like prepper. You can you get better every time you do it.

Rich 10:09

So tell me, so then let's talk about that. Tell me when you first for your first competition, what made you decide to compete? And then and then how did you go about your prep?

Mindy 10:19

Okay, so it's actually kind of funny. So I had just had my second. Well, I wouldn't say I just had him. He was probably like two at the time. And I always tell this story because it's quite funny. Um, I have a friend who did this program. It was um, it was called Four Weeks to Fab. Um, one of my good friends actually runs this program. Her name's Rita Catalino, and she has so what she basically does is she takes a group of girls um and she puts them in this four weeks program. They follow her program. It's a uh a workout plan, an eating plan. And what's nice about it at the very end, they do a photo shoot just to kind of like show off the hard work that they had done. So one of my friends did this program and she looked amazing in four weeks. I thought, that's great, that's amazing, right? Um, we happened to do a girls' weekend this particular uh weekend. It was like uh end of August, and um, we were on the beach, and my friend who had just finished the program, she looked incredible in her swimsuit. You know, she looked great. You know, and I I remember being mesmerized by it. Like I was like, wow, that looks awesome. And it's funny enough, I thought I actually looked pretty decent for just having a baby, you know, not even two years, right? So, but you know, when you have those like candid photos taken that you're not like yeah, I know what you mean. You weren't ready for it. And then I was like, oh gosh, is that what I look like? Because in my mind and what I look like or what I looked at in a mirror looked totally different to what I had thought had pictured or imagined, right? Until I had this picture. So I was like, you know what? After that girl's weekend, my friend had motivated me. I thought, yeah, I'm gonna go to the gym and I'm gonna commit myself to four weeks myself. I'm gonna just do my own little program. And it was just more or less just going committing to going to the gym five days a week, maybe throw in some cardio and watch what I eat, right? So I did I and I I did that for the four weeks. I committed to four weeks on my own. And then interesting enough, I started to actually really enjoy it. So then it was like I kept going, kept going, kept going. And it wasn't until um probably a few weeks had passed um somebody at the gym had asked me if I was prepping for a show. And I had no idea what he was talking about. I'm like, what show? Where? Um, and he's like, Oh, you look like you're prepping for maybe like a bodybuilding show or something. And I'm like, oh my gosh, no, I I could never do that. That's so not me, right? And I remember coming home and telling my husband that um how this person had said that to me. And he's like, you know, you could do it. You are built for it. So I happened to tell my friend Rita, who does this four weeks to fab, that the and she's she was on board. She's like, let's do it. She's like, I will train you for it. We'll do your first show. I'll train you and we'll get you prepped and we'll get you ready. And that's basically how it started. And then it snowballed from there.

Rich 13:24

So you, so you accidentally prepped for the show.

Mindy 13:27

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.

Rich 13:29

Yeah. So you must have been, I mean, you must have been lifting for a while before that.

Mindy 13:34

I've always I had no, actually. Um, I've just been a very athletic person. I have really good jeans. My whole life I was, I did sports, every sport to mankind. I was I played. Um, I was a gymnast when I was growing up. I also figure skated. Um, you know, I was on the basketball team, I was on the track team, like I did all these things. So I always had an athletic build. So I feel like I already had the foundation there. Um, and then, you know, and I I dabbled with like going to the gym before. Like I've had a membership. Oh my gosh, my gym membership. It was when I first got it. Um, I got my gym membership in 1992. And it was called the Nautilus. And the quote was living the good life. Uh-huh. And then, you know, years later, now they're called the good life. But yeah, I've literally had my membership since 1992. And I wasn't a consistent gym goer. Like I kind of would go for like maybe a month, but then maybe I didn't go for three, you know, it was I but I I did enjoy it when I went. I just was never consistent with it.

Rich 14:44

So when you were doing this, this four weeks to fab thing, and then and then somebody uh So I yeah, I never actually did the I did my own little four weeks.

Mindy 14:54

Right, right, right. Yeah.

Rich 14:55

Yeah. So, but like you decided you would do it, and then somebody was looking at you going, it looks like you're prepping for a bodybuilding show.

Mindy 15:01

Yeah.

Rich 15:02

But at the time you weren't really even lifting, it was just your natural athletic physique that that was showing.

Mindy 15:08

Yeah, and and around that time as well, I was running a lot. I got into running. I don't know why I did. Now I can't even run down the driveway, but um, I was like doing um, you know, 5K after dinner, no problem. Just, you know, something to do it, you know, kind of got addicted to that, like what they call like the runner's high, I guess. And then I ended up running, uh training for like a 10K, because I ran a 10K with my brother. Um, yeah. And then so amongst doing all of that and then lifting weights, yeah. This gentleman had asked me about that, about bodybuilding or if I was competing in a show and or trying to or working towards that. Yeah.

Rich 15:52

So a lot of a lot of times when I'm talking to women who've built up muscularity, it's usually there's I don't know if this happened for you. You could tell me, there's usually this moment in their life where they decided that they should lean into their natural muscularity. Like I've I've heard stories where they're saying, well, you know, as I was growing up and I I sort of was bigger muscular-wise, and I didn't like it. And so I would do what I could to sort of minimize it, and then one day just decided to lean into it. Is that something that sort of happened?

Mindy 16:19

Oh, absolutely. It cracks me up when I think about it now because I've always been, I'm also very tall. So I can remember it being in public school and I was always the tallest girl. So, you know, when you go get your photo done, like with the class, I was always back row middle, tallest in the class with all the boys, where all the cute little dainty girls were in the front, like sitting on the bench. And I remember too, like always like sitting and looking at my my quads, like my legs, they would always like kind of like touch where because I always had muscular legs and and I would like almost be embarrassed of it. Like I wanted the thigh gap, I guess, like what like the skinny girls had. And I never had that because I've always had a muscular build. And then it, you know, fast forward to like competing, it's like now it's like that's like my I want them bigger. Like, how can we get these bigger?

Rich 17:16

Yeah. Another thing I like to I like to hear is um from from women like yourself is like if there was a young woman now, a teenager, who was feeling that way, like like thinking that she was too muscular, her her her thighs were too wide because of muscle. You know, maybe the answer is obvious, but what would you say to her at this point?

Mindy 17:37

Well, it's interesting because if I I look back on it and if I could tell my young self, I would say, um, embrace it. One day you are going to want those muscular thighs. You're gonna crave to have them and wish that you had big legs. So just embrace what you have and love every bit of you as you are, because when you're older and you, you know, you have you can you realize more that in fact that's your body, that's what's meant to look like, and you'll love it one day.

Rich 18:13

I I really really think that's an important message for so many people, not just physically. Some people have like a quirky character and they they they try to hide it or they try to conform in ways that like I think we all do when we're teenagers.

Mindy 18:30

Yeah.

Rich 18:30

And then there seems to come this moment where you for some people where they just lean into who they are and then everything opens up.

Mindy 18:37

Right.

Rich 18:39

So that's kind of interesting. And you know, as you're talking about your legs, and I'm looking, of course, at the drawing. So this by this podcast will be on YouTube, but also some people listen only audio.

Mindy 18:48

Oh, okay.

Rich 18:49

So sometimes I have to describe what's happening because I just I just moved over so the people who are watching could see more of the let's see if we can get me completely out of the way here. Um the yeah, now okay, now you can't see me at all, but there we go. So um the muscularity in your legs is clear in this uh the calves, um, your hamstrings, your your your quads, everything. And that's just so many people would kill for that. I mean, not kill for it, but just like you've done that, you had a good foundation, but it doesn't happen by accident.

Mindy 19:27

No.

Rich 19:28

So once once you started focusing, like you said, you sort of got like into the process and you did well, you wanted to do better, um, you must have started lifting more like in a more committed way.

Mindy 19:42

Well, and it was interesting because like um I had saw my first um show I did with Rita, and then from there I went to a new coach. Um, and her name is Jodi Boehm, and I was with her for quite some time. Um, and then from her, I went to my current coach now, who's Adam Headlin. And since I've been with him, and we've been together now, um, I believe I started with him in 2020, and that's where majority of my growth happened. And that's because the difference that I found with him is him feeding me. I've I like ate a lot, like a lot, a lot more than my with the previous coaches, right? Um, so yeah, so him feeding me, and then um his workout plan was just a little bit different than the other the other programs that I have done previous. Um, so not a lot of cardio, and it was just a lot of eating and lifting heavy.

Rich 20:47

Yeah. Um, and were was there a part of your body you had to bring up a bit more than others?

Mindy 20:52

So my upper body has always been kind of um smaller compared to my lower body. So there was a time where I actually Adam had me like kind of not working a lot of lower body at all, just so that my upper body could catch up. Um, I'm I feel now I'm I have pretty good symmetry. My back is actually becoming something that I'm really proud of. Um, it's definitely come a long way.

Rich 21:22

What so like when I was doing this drawing, um, it's interesting when you're doing a drawing, or if you're a photographer, you're taking a photo, there's gonna be there's a plan for what will draw the eye. Um and yes, your legs are gonna draw the eye because of the pose and because of how like elongated your back leg is. Um but when you're doing a drawing, nothing happens by accident. That you have to focus on every single thing that's gonna be visible. Okay. And so it was when I got to your upper body and I was doing your that I was working on the the lats that I saw just how much work you've got put in there. Um It's so prominent. I mean, you can see it just over my shoulder. Um was and I guess it wasn't always like that. I guess you were working to bring that up.

Mindy 22:09

Yeah, absolutely. And um, and it's interesting enough. I'm like, I can't wait to even see the difference between say that I would love to probably do this uh photo again and see what it would be like from then to now because I've had two years off where I haven't competed and I've just been building. So I know I've grown quite a bit just in the last two years. So it'd be interesting to see the difference even now between that photo and what I have accomplished today.

Rich 22:44

I guess two questions. So your pro card, when did you get that?

Mindy 22:47

Um, it was September of 2023, and I competed in Pittsburgh at the North Americans.

Rich 22:54

And how was that? How did that feel when you when you knew you earned your pro card?

Mindy 22:58

It was pretty incredible. So um it's obviously it had been a dream of mine for quite some time. When like once I started competing, I was like, okay, I want that card, right? And I'm not gonna stop until I get it. Um, and I actually ended up winning two pro cards that show, and I won the overall as well. So it was a very successful show for me. It was some, it just, I don't know how to describe it, but like such a big, huge relief off my shoulders in a sense, because I was like working so hard, and you know, you're almost like you're tense the whole entire time because you're just you want something so bad, right? And you're working so hard for it. And then in that moment, when everything that you've worked for and how hard you've worked for, you know, to just even to get one card to come out that successful and have two and win the overall, I was like on cloud nine.

Rich 23:55

And in the moment when you when you knew that you'd won, um were you were you present? Like were you really sort of letting it resonate or was it surreal?

Mindy 24:06

Yeah, like uh so you kind of know you've so in the pre-judging, you know you've won by where um Oh they they had they had you centered. They had me center. I I was center actually in three of my categories, but you know you so then you have finals later. So um prejudges was around 10 in the morning. We wrapped up maybe around 11, 11:30, and then you go back at like six o'clock at night, and I think um it was around probably 8:39 when I when you're going up for the awards. So you have quite a few hours in between the show to start playing mental games with yourself. Like, are you sure I was in the center? Like, do you think and I can't, I'm pretty sure I probably drove my coach crazy. He was with me, which was great. And I'm like, are you sure I was in the center? Like, what if I was like, like maybe there was two of us in the center and it could go either way? And he's like, You were in the center, like, you know, so uh, you know, you almost like start to play little games and and you don't want to get too ahead of yourself because you've been in a position before where you thought you were gonna do well and then it didn't work pan out for you, right? So there's in that time, like during the day prior to finals, I did play a little head games thinking maybe I maybe I won't get a card, you know, like maybe it's not my time, right? Right. And then, you know, like as you're standing on stage and they're calling everybody out, like, you know, fifth, fourth, third, and I'm like, okay, you know, and it's getting close. Me even talking about it right now, it's giving me goosebumps. And it's it and it's finally like, you know, my name gets called out. Best feeling ever. I I can't even put it into words.

Rich 25:55

Well, that it must be, it has to be. I mean, it's it's not just about winning because it was everything that led to it.

Mindy 26:02

Mm-hmm. And like everybody that like basically helped you to get to that point too, right? Like my family had to sacrifice so much for me to be able to do what I do, right? Um, yeah, so it was just it was relief, but as well exciting.

Rich 26:20

So leading up to that show, you you actually you talked about it earlier, but let's just tell me about enduring prep for that show, and you talk about the sacrifice that your family had to make. Um give me a typical day, like like from morning to to bedtime.

Mindy 26:34

Okay, so um I I get up early. I would like to be at at that time, I've uh when I competed for this show, I now work at a different employer. So I was working um just three days a week part-time, 10 to 6 is my shift, and it's about a 45-minute drive from where I live. Um, so get up uh 4:30, quarter to five, so that I could be at the gym roughly quarter after five. It's not very far, it's like a three-minute drive for me. Um, just so as long as I was home by eight, eight fifteen at the latest. Um, so I would do my workout. And it it all depends, like in the beginning of your prep, my cardio probably wasn't really all that high until towards the end. I I had to uh make more time to like it was like I was getting up a little bit earlier because now my cardio had increased. And because I didn't really have time to do finish it later in the day, I would do say a half an hour in the morning of cardio uh before my workout, do my hour and a bit workout, and then finish with another half hour of cardio. That was more towards the end of the prep. In the beginning, it was like maybe 20 minutes of cardio total. But um, and then I would come home eight o'clock, eight fifteen, eat, make my lunch, shower, go to work, work 10 to 6, come home, eat, um, clean up, do whatever it is that I do, and then it you need to eat again before you go to bed. But I would like to go to bed, try to get to bed 8:30, 9 o'clock because I'm, you know, I would still want to try to get seven to eight hours of sleep so that I can do that all over again.

Rich 28:23

And so if you're going to bed at um 8 30, nine o'clock, are your your kids staying up later than you at that point?

Mindy 28:29

Oh, absolutely. It's gotten to the point that now you've like I still go to bed pretty early, but if I'm up past like nine o'clock, they're like, Mom, you're still up.

Rich 28:43

So that's that's that's intense. That's like that's like you're on the go all day. You you're you're moving from one thing to the next.

Mindy 28:50

Yeah, you don't really have time for anything else or anybody else for that matter, right? And then usually I so I'm off Thursday, Fridays, and that's like where I would meal prep, you know, clean my house, do the laundry, do all that sort of stuff. And then, you know, the week I I have two rest days technically a week. Um, I usually use in prep, one of them's basically just a cardio day. Um, and the other one, it would be a little bit of cardio, maybe and some stretching or abs or something like that. But yeah, but yeah, I'm still at the gym seven days a week.

Rich 29:28

Like now you're talking about your your current life.

Mindy 29:31

Oh, I guess still I go to the gym, yeah, seven days a week. But I now it's like because I I like it there and it's a routine, and I find that if I don't do something, like some sort of movement, um, then I feel like lethargic all day. Like I need I need something. Um, and actually after this uh past show, I felt like I didn't know if I was gonna compete again or what I was gonna do. So I needed something else. I needed something to like work towards. So I actually ended up hiring a handstand coach. And um, so then I was kind of doing still doing my bodybuilding, but also learning this new trick. Um, so that's where on my, I guess, my two rest days, I was doing my handstand practice.

Rich 30:26

So you said earlier when you were younger that you you did gymnastics a little bit. That must that must remind you of those days.

Mindy 30:32

Totally. Um, and but you know what's interesting? I thought it was gonna be like riding a bike, you know? I'll be like, oh, this will be easy. It's not easy at all. Like my it was like, yeah, starting from scratch again to learn how to do a handstand again, like the proper alignment and to be able to hold it for. So my goal was to hold it for a minute, right? Um, when I was a kid, I could, I remember you could, I would walk on my hands down like through the backyard, no problem. I could be up there for days, it felt like. Oh, but you know, what's interesting though, um, uh like obviously I was younger when I did it and I had no muscle mass, so it was easy to hold a handstand, but now I'm heavy. I have a lot of muscle, so it it's uh it's a lot of work to hold that handstand.

Rich 31:19

Yeah, I imagine. I'm also thinking about the center of gravity, um, especially because you've got very, very muscular legs, that they're all up there.

Mindy 31:29

Yeah.

Rich 31:30

Um and your your center of gravity, if I would be in your hips with all that weight above it, yeah, that would be tough.

Mindy 31:37

It's it's it is tough, but what I've also noticed from doing it, so she has um she had me do certain exercises to to uh bring up my shoulder strength. So I've noticed since doing the hand stance as well that I've developed like n like bigger shoulders, like they it's actually working quite well towards like my figure right now. Um my shoulders have definitely put on some size.

Rich 32:04

Right. Good. So so you've so you said you've essentially been off season for two years, I think you said.

Mindy 32:10

Yeah, that's right.

Rich 32:10

Uh, but you're thinking about competing again.

Mindy 32:13

June. Yeah. So um I decided to do June this year. The Toronto Pro Show is the second weekend of June, which that never happens. It's usually always the first weekend of June. For some reason, this week this year, June 2026, it's the second weekend. So uh the pro show lands on June the 14th. Um, I actually turned 50 on June the 12th. So I thought, what a kind of cool way to kind of celebrate my 50th birthday, do my pro debut like on my 50th birthday weekend.

Rich 32:51

That's perfect. So, what have you been doing in your in your two years off season, like uh gym-wise, to build yourself up? Because you said you want to see, you want to try that pose again. So, what's the what's the strategy been?

Mindy 33:04

So I same thing, like um, I follow the program that my coach has given me. Um, I follow his workouts, the meal plan. I still did everything like I had any pre like previous years. It's just uh there was no show in between. It's just it was constant just working um with no cuts. So same.

Rich 33:30

The food discipline has to be a little more relaxed, I imagine.

Mindy 33:33

Absolutely, it does, but I am kind of um I'm creature of habit. I I like what I like to eat. I eat the same thing every day. Um, my meals really don't change from off season into prep. It's just quantity that has changed. Um, because I I eat the same thing and I don't it it doesn't bother me. Um I do have two, um, I guess you would call like free meals a week or you know, cheat meals, however you want to call them. Um, you know, we go out for family dinners or I go out for dinner with my girlfriends, you know, that sort of thing. I'll and I still have enjoy beverages or whatnot. I still enjoy life, but when it comes down, like I would say I still follow my meal plan like 80%.

Rich 34:21

So what so give me just when you when you're following it, like on a non-free meal day, what um what does that look like? What are you eating in a day?

Mindy 34:28

Okay, the exact same thing every day. So um my meal, well, first before I go to the gym, I have a protein coffee. So I just mix a scoop of protein powder in with my coffee, and I have that before I go to the gym. And then um after my post-workout meal would be my first meal of the day. Um, I do uh egg whites with spinach, onions, some goat cheese, and two slices of sourdough. Um, my second meal, I usually do a protein pancake that I just make and it's just with like egg whites. Um, I'll either do like pumpkin puree or like banana, some oats, um, season it up with some, you know, whatever I, you know, some stevia or um I love uh pumpkin pie spice in it. Um and I usually have that with a little bit of peanut butter. Um my third meal of the day, I usually do chicken, sweet potato, and a veg. When I'm at work, I don't really um have time to kind of like leave and eat a meal. So I usually do a protein shake for my fourth meal. Um and then because I'm supposed to have carbs in that meal, but I like when I'm working, I can't really I I work in pharmacy and I work with the public. Like I can't really be eating oatmeal while I'm serving customers, right? So I usually just add those carbs to my next meal. So I just do the protein shake and then um meal five, I usually do beef, rice, and it's usually extra rice because I didn't have the carbs in meal four. I just kind of replaced them in meal five. Um, and then my last meal of the day, I I like Greek yogurt with some oats, some protein powder, blueberries, and maybe a little granola or peanut butter, and that's it. And I literally eat that every day.

Rich 36:23

I love it. Every meal you described sounded great to me. Um I'm I'm thinking about some of the other some people I know who would listen to what you just said you eat in a day and think that was a ton of food. Well, it is a ton of food.

Mindy 36:34

It yeah, it is actually a lot, and the like the quantities is a lot, yeah.

Rich 36:40

Yeah. Uh is it a chore sometimes for you to to eat all that much, or is it just you just do it?

Mindy 36:46

Yeah, no, I have no problem eating it. There's never really where I'm like, oh that I can't eat that today. No, I'm usually pretty good at shoveling it in and oftentimes still hungry after.

Rich 36:56

Yeah. And you're now you're not doing much cardio now, I'm guessing.

Mindy 37:00

No, I think I have cardio four days a week, like 20 minutes. And usually what I do is I like uh 10 to 15 minutes to warm up even before I I start my my workout. For me, I just like to get that a little bit of a sweat going to start. And then I'll uh post-workout, I'll do maybe 10 minutes and then head out.

Rich 37:22

And that's pretty much so the warm up, the 10-minute warm up and then a little bit post-workout, and that's yeah, that's sufficient for cardio.

Mindy 37:28

Yeah, and then I I and you could I do a um I'm I don't sit still, so my steps are always really high.

Rich 37:36

Right. Um, so you said well, there were two questions I wanted to ask you about what you were saying. So one of them was you talked about uh the free meal day, or or actually what you said was you're eating more or less clean 80% of the time. Yes. Um because you're off season and and you know that's I I I have known people who when they're off season, they everything goes out the window and they'll put on like 30 pounds of fat. Like, that's not off-season, that's just irresponsible.

Mindy 38:05

Right.

Rich 38:06

Um that's not happening. But I do have some inside information uh on on some of the things that uh that you do, and and one quote I have from your best friend is um uh essentially Mindy does not share dessert.

Mindy 38:22

That is so true. I love my desserts.

Rich 38:26

Oh so I was thinking about those, you know, those free meals, and I was thinking that's so it must be coming from there. It must be when it's dessert time.

Mindy 38:35

Well, this is so funny. We'll do like a girls' um dinner, and I always order dessert because I love dessert, right? And I we'll be at the restaurant and the waiter will come out with like say if there's six of us, they'll come out with like six forks, and I'm like, who are the six forks for? I only need one. I'm not sharing with them. It's mine, but it cracks me up. So yeah, that's probably where and I I love her, she's like my best friend. Um, but she'll be like, Oh, can I have a taste? I'm like, order your own.

Rich 39:12

Were you uh were you a friends fan?

Mindy 39:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rich 39:16

Yeah, Joey. There's a line from Friends where somebody somebody's talking about Joey, you know, wanting to share his food, and it says, it's like, no, Joey does not share food.

Mindy 39:26

Right. Yeah, I don't share dessert. No, thank you. Order your own.

Rich 39:31

Yeah, that's that's really funny. And you can't do that when you're in prep. I mean, that's that's a whole different thing.

Mindy 39:36

And I think that's my issue. Like, whereas other people, they probably like they will eat a dessert during the week. Well, I don't. So, like when it comes to I've waited all week for this, and it's mine. Don't touch.

Rich 39:54

She also says, since we're talking about your desserts, she says, um, you're one of the best cooks she's ever met, and you make a focaccia sourdough pizza.

Mindy 40:02

I do.

Rich 40:03

That's amazing.

Mindy 40:04

Yeah.

Rich 40:05

Um, and sourdough chocolate chip cookies.

Mindy 40:07

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I do. Yes. They, you know, um, I got into sourdough about it will be a year. I think it was last January. I ended up actually buying this like package for one of my girlfriends for her birthday for us to take this sourdough class. I just thought it would be a fun birthday gift and something for us to do kind of together that's, you know, uh like a memory to share as opposed to just like buying like a random gift, right? So it's something that we would could do together, learn together. And anyways, I've been obsessed with it ever since. So yeah, I'm constantly making sourdough.

Rich 40:45

Yeah, I guess your family must love it.

Mindy 40:47

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Rich 40:49

Do you ever, do you ever, if if if it's not a day where you're gonna have cookies, are you ever making them and just taking pleasure out of watching other people eating them?

Mindy 40:57

I think that's a huge thing for me. Like even um a lot of the times, like every Thursday, I've been doing like the focaccia pizza. Um, I think I get more joy out of watching my family enjoy it than me actually eating it. I don't normally eat it because it I stick to my meal plan. Um, there's times where I have made it and I have had a slice. It all depends. Um, but for the most part, no. It's I think I I enjoyed more having them eat it and enjoy it than me actually physically eating it.

Rich 41:31

I I get that. But that um you know, during COVID we were all doing strange things, and uh I decided I wanted to learn how to make ribs, like smoke ribs on the barbecue. I've never I'd never done it before. And it's a it's a full-day commitment. Like you you start in the morning and you're eating at night, and I I wouldn't eat them because I because it wasn't part of what I was eating. So but I would make them and then just get so much pleasure watching everybody eat them.

Mindy 42:00

Yeah, my husband does the same has done the same thing. He's um has a smoker and has made ribs, and yeah, it is a full day event.

Rich 42:08

Yeah. Yeah, it's uh back to the COVID days where you didn't have anything to do.

Mindy 42:14

So yeah, absolutely.

Rich 42:16

Some other things, uh just Denise. Um she thinks you're superwoman. She's she's just she she's she talks about, and we talked about this too, about how you aren't just busy, you're you're juggling so many things. So um and I want to talk about your family, but first just tell me a little bit about your your work because she talked about that as well. So your day job, your day job, the thing that pays the bills, so to speak. Um, what are you doing? Because you you you alluded to it a couple times that you're in pharmacy, so so what's going on?

Mindy 42:48

So I I'm a registered pharmacy tech. I worked for LHSC in London here for 20, almost 23 years. Um I had different roles throughout my career there. Um, I ended in clinical trials. I worked in clinical trials for the last, I think, 14 years of my career there. Wow and that was probably the most um rewarding, incredible job. Like it's pretty, pretty cool the things that I learned, the things that I saw. Um shortly, I would say, I think it was in 2022, during we were still kind of going through COVID and stuff, and the the rules and like just things were um happening at like with my work there that I wasn't happy with. And ironically enough, I was asking for some vacation time so that I could peep for um at North Americans and like that September, which it landed on um September long weekend, Labor Day weekend. And I had put my vacation request in um March, because that's how Early in advance, you needed to put in your time. And I kept getting denied, denied, denied. And I and I'm like top one third of the senior seniority list at this point. Like I'm like the fourth person down. Like, how am I? And I need one day, one day. And I remember saying to my boss, I I need this day off. I won't even take any vacation all summer. If that if that means I need to just, I just need this time off. And they they weren't budging.

Rich 44:29

That's bizarre.

Mindy 44:30

Isn't it? Yeah, it's a it's a crazy um environment. Um, anyways, needless to say, I quit. Yeah. And um I ended up, I'm now at an independent pharmacy in a small town about 40 minutes from where I live. It's a guardian pharmacy, retail pharmacy, and I'm the main uh registered tech there. So I I enter a lot of the orders, I do a lot of the blister packs, checking, that sort of thing, um, checking prescriptions. Yeah. And I work three days a week there. And I actually I it's funny. Um I didn't know if I was gonna like retail because I worked in hospital for so long. Um, but I I I love it there. Um, it's great. It's a small town. The the customers are lovely, a lot of retired um communities. So um I just find everybody knows everybody. They're kind, they're nice. Um, I like who I work with. Um, it feels very family oriented. So I enjoyed there, yeah.

Rich 45:35

That's great. So that you ended up in a good place.

Mindy 45:38

Yeah, I did. Yeah. Yeah.

Rich 45:40

Nice. The the other thing she says is okay, so you're working as a pharmacy tech. She says, and I quote, runs her home like a machine. Like a crazy person.

Mindy 45:51

Um, I just I like I I like like I said, I like routine and I like to have things clean. And uh, you know, I like to have make sure my house is clean. Um, so yeah, so and I like to make sure foods prepped for everybody. Um I just try to make it comfortable for everyone and I but and I enjoy doing that.

Rich 46:15

Right. Well it sounds like they're lucky to have you. So are you are you doing are you doing meal prep? Um like are you cooking daily or are you doing meal prep for a few days at a time?

Mindy 46:25

I I prep for um usually I think it lasts us all for about a week. So I always make um I do like uh a Costco size chicken thighs. I usually make that, and then I do about I get capon chicken breasts, so they're quite large. Um I usually make about five of those, and then I um do some ground beef and then I make some sweet potato rice, and I I just always usually Thursdays, Fridays, I kind of like will do that. Um, and it depends if I how quickly we kind of all go through it when I need to make it again, but it usually lasts for the week. How old are your boys? So my oldest is 16 and the youngest is 13.

Rich 47:12

Oh, so they're right in the so you've hit the boys, teenage boys eating.

Mindy 47:17

Yeah, I feel like not really though. My oldest, no, we're we struggle with him. Um, he we don't he uh we actually don't live very far from the school school, like where he goes to high school, but he eats out all the time, like just gets pizza at the pizza place nearby. And um my youngest though, though, he comes home every day for lunch and he he'll eat the chicken and rice. Um, he's a much better eater than the oldest for sure.

Rich 47:47

She um Denise mentions that you've you've always encouraged them to experiment with foods, and so they have they both have good palates.

Mindy 47:53

Yeah, I think um my husband and I are really lucky that way with the kids. Like we can pretty much go anywhere out for dinner and not have to worry about like if they're gonna like it or not. They love everything. We can go anywhere. Um, there's really nothing that they there's like like my youngest doesn't like mushrooms. That's the the first thing I can think of that he doesn't like. But a lot of people don't like mushrooms, and I think it's a texture thing and not so much a taste thing. Um, the oldest can be a little bit picky, but for the most part, I uh like compared to a lot of other homes or families that I see, my kids eat pretty, pretty good. They have pretty good palettes, yeah.

Rich 48:33

Is that something you and your husband did deliberately, or it's just the way you are?

Mindy 48:36

I think that's just the way we we were both, I think, raised. Um, you know, you kind of like eat what's on what you're what you had for dinner. Like we never accommodated for them really. Like we've never made different meals for them because they didn't like something. They just always ate what we ate.

Rich 48:54

So I'm asking, I'm asking these questions uh, you know, out of interest because I'm always interested in learning. But also just based on so many people that I've talked to who feel like they can't manage what you're doing. Like they like, you know, feeding, taking care of the family, making sure everybody has the meals, and you know, you're doing this meal prep essentially once a week. Right? You're just you're preparing for the week. Um and I think I think that's a good strategy that I think a lot of people maybe don't realize they could do. How much time does it take you when you're doing that for the it doesn't take long.

Mindy 49:29

I usually I barbecue the chicken and barbecue the thighs. Um, and I'll do that even as long as I can. It depends on how much snow we get in the backyard, but I can do that pretty much all the way even through the winter. There's times where it gets we get too much back there, and I can't get to the barbecue, but uh for the most part, yeah, I always barbecue the chicken. That's kind of like what the the boys tend to like that the most. Um, so I do that. And then I usually make taco beef, like ground beef, and I do two packages at a time. Um and I just feel like you can make lots of meals with that, with it already being made. Like once everything's already made, you can pretty much make anything with it. I think a lot of times people get overwhelmed because they are maybe overcomplicating when in reality it's just like, you know, there's beef in the fridge, make a chicken quesadilla, make a beef quesadilla, you know, or um, or just keep it plain. I I personally keep it plain, like just eating chicken, veg, and like really you just have to make your vegetables that day, like fresh and your rice, and heat it up, and you know, you have a meal that's quite easy or quick. Um yeah, burritos are another good thing you can do with stuff that's already been made. Stir fries already been made. Um, yeah, quick, quick and easy stuff.

Rich 50:56

Right. I hope there are people listening to this eventually that are hearing that and understanding that, yeah, it takes commitment, but it's not as hard as it seems.

Mindy 51:05

No, and I don't like I'll I'll get people ask me, like, oh, how do you do your chicken? I do nothing elaborate. I put a little salt and pepper on it, maybe a little garlic powder, and I barbecue it. And then that way, um, like my kids love ramen. They love ramen. So they'll they'll like make their ramen and they add, you know, um their chicken to it. And it's not crazy seasoned, so it goes well with their ramen, and then they add, like, you know, some carrots and green onion and whatever else they want to put in with it. Um, but yeah, like I don't and with my ground beef, I always just do taco seasoning. It's quick, it's easy. And it's and I like the flavor of it.

Rich 51:47

Yeah, actually, I do a similar, use just a little packet of taco seasoning that you could get, or yeah. And for the chicken, Clubhouse has uh a barbecue spice, it's just called barbecue chicken spice.

Mindy 51:58

And yeah, I like that one too.

Rich 51:59

Yeah, we use that on the on the chicken as well. Very easy.

Mindy 52:02

Yeah, and the air fryer is a great thing. I have air fried like the chicken too. So like if the weather is I can't get to the barbecue, I will I've air fried it before and it's nice and juicy.

Rich 52:15

So for for listeners who don't know, Mindy and I both live in Canada. Uh we we don't live in the same city, a couple hours apart, but we deal with um we deal with Canadian winters. And uh so when she's talking about depending on the weather, every Canadian knows you could barbecue year round. There's it's gotta take a blizzard to um to keep you away from your barbecue. But I'm wondering how far from your door is your barbecue.

Mindy 52:40

It's actually not that far. It's just we don't have like uh like an overhang or anything. So um sometimes the way the house is designed and the way the wind comes in, you can get like snow drifts. Like, you know, I could shovel it out, but I'm I'll be honest, I don't feel like doing that. So I don't. I'll just like wait.

Rich 53:01

Yeah, yeah. No, I've I think we've all been there, but my my barbecue is literally two steps from my door. Like, I yeah, it's not far. Yeah, um that what sucks, I don't know if this happens to you. I have a barbecue cover, you take it off to to barbecue in the winter and then it snows before you put it back on. Yeah, does that ever happen?

Mindy 53:19

That or it's like that wet rain, too, and you're like, yeah. And your like covers like frozen.

Rich 53:29

Yeah, that's right. Canadian problems, um, which is why we all need to move somewhere else in the winter.

Mindy 53:36

We do, yes.

Rich 53:37

Um, a couple comments I think you'll laugh at just uh from Denise. Um she said, um, she says you're on a break, so you're off season. And then she says, which has been great because drunk Mindy is the funniest human alive.

Mindy 53:53

I'm glad she thinks so. I know she always says, she's like, I hate when you're in prep. Apparently I'm not fun.

Rich 54:03

Well, she does say that you're funny anyway, but uh, but apparently apparently when you we do, we have some good times together, yeah. Yeah. Um yeah, she really paints a picture, just so you know, of um of just this devoted friend, uh, devoted wife, devoted mother. Um and and from what I'm seeing just or hearing, just just talking to you, is you know, all of those things, nothing really seems to be separate. Um, it just seems to be, if if if this is fair to say, it's all part of who you are, and that includes the you know, building the fitness in and and being devoted and committed. Um if you if you you so you are gonna compete in June, you said.

Mindy 54:49

I am, yes.

Rich 54:50

Um it's been two years since the plan. It's been two years since you had to do a prep.

Mindy 54:54

Right.

Rich 54:55

Everybody's a little bit older. How do you feel like that's gonna go?

Mindy 54:59

Um yeah, it'll be interesting. We'll we'll see, because like I said, it is like uh it is it's a selfish sport, obviously. Um, you know, yeah, it'll be it'll towards the end I can get a little moody. Um because you're you know, you're just at that point you're you're tired and you're you're hungry and you just kind of like want to um get to the finish line, right? So um I just I know for myself I have to be a little more mindful because my family didn't ask for this. Do you know what I mean? Like I need to be um mindful of my attitude and just kind of like try to be still present and like do what I want to do, but not penalize them in the process, if you know what I mean.

Rich 55:51

Yeah. How many weeks prep do you think you'll want to do?

Mindy 55:56

I usually like to do 20. And the reason being is the first four weeks, nothing actually really changes. It's just more the four weeks is a mental thing for me of getting into the swing of, you know, making sure I'm following my meal plan to a T. Um, I call, like obviously in my offseason, I call it BLTs, Bite Licks Tastes. You know, if I'm cooking or making something and I'm making a sauce for the family or whatever the case may be, I'm gonna taste it to make sure it tastes okay. Well, I need to get into the habit that I cannot do that anymore, especially now since I haven't been doing it in two years, right? So just uh I like just to take the four weeks as my own mental preparation of what's gonna come like what's coming, getting into the routine of being in a prep again. And then 16 weeks usually. And again, even then, it's not like my calories drop drastically um at 16 or even 12 weeks. Um, it gets, I I would say, more serious around the 10, eight week marker.

Rich 57:10

Right. Right.

Mindy 57:12

And that's like and also too, it all depends too how your body's responding, right? I've had uh props where, you know, I'm coasting all the way, you know, up till like about six weeks, and then it's like we're grinding, right? And then I've had where I've kind of been lagging, where it's like, you know, at 16 weeks, we gotta up this. You're you're kind of like behind, or whatever the case may be, right? So it all depends on how my body's responding, how I'm handling everything, and just kind of go by that.

Rich 57:46

Uh last couple of weeks are generally pretty miserable.

Mindy 57:49

Well, so it's they are like they're I think at that point it's just like you're over it almost. Like, and for some reason, the two-week market, it feels like it's gonna take forever, like that it's a long two weeks. Um luckily for me, depending on how my preps have gone, I still get weekly cheats right up until some like I've had it where I've rate up until like the two-week mark. So I find having that also really helps you mentally, like you know what I mean, like to have that like refeed every week. Um, and then usually the second, I think that's the second week it gets taken from me. So that's probably why it feels like a long two weeks. And but then I get it again, like when we carb up, you know, like the a few days prior to the show. But um, yeah, it all depends on how I'm responding to everything.

Rich 58:45

I did one show uh when I was much younger, and I remember the last two weeks. Actually, I don't remember the last two weeks because I'm told that I was quite miserable and not fun to be around. Um I know those last two weeks.

Mindy 59:01

Yeah. So it's interesting because like I think in my head that I'm doing well and I'm not being the way that I being, but clearly I am because I'm being called out for it, right? But like you think in your head that you're like, no, I'm doing really well. I'm not like that, I'm not being like that. And then once you actually get past it and then you, I don't know, get food and you're thinking straight, you're like, Yeah, I wasn't really nice.

Rich 59:29

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how it goes. So it's it's it's uh it's intense. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the package that you bring because I think uh just from what you've been saying, you know, two years of off-season and building it up, that's gonna be pretty cool. You're gonna hopefully you'll do a photo shoot right after.

Mindy 59:47

I hope, yeah, I would like to. Like I said, I wouldn't mind do like doing that exact pose and just almost seeing what the difference would be like. Do you shoot with Brian often, or was this just um I actually have shot with him uh a few times. I do uh the and the reason being is um I feel like when he makes his um clients feel comfortable, like I don't like like he's a friend. You know what I mean? Like I don't feel weird or shy, or I can be myself, I can be goofy, you know, and um be comfortable. So I have uh the last um few of my shoes have been with him.

Rich 1:00:26

Who uh is there anyone you'd recommend besides because I know he's fantastic, but if somebody was looking.

Mindy 1:00:31

Yeah, um, I've also shot with uh Mustington. Um he's kind of like he's uh actually a retired uh or no, he's not retired. He still works. He's a police officer or a detective. And I'm I'm probably saying this wrong, and he's probably like, Did you even listen to me? Anyways, I feel like he is in like that field somewhere. I want to say, yeah, maybe undercover or something. Anyways, so he takes photos um just for fun, like it's a hobby of his. So I've shot with him a f quite a few times, and I also enjoy him. I feel like he has a really artistic eye as well and unique way of shooting. Um so I I yeah, I would recommend him. He's uh he's fun to shoot with. I also shot with Arsenic and I like his photo shoots. I like doing stuff with him. He's more uh kind of like doing your workout like fitness, that sort of kind of like photo shoot. And I enjoy doing that with him as well. So I would still say those are like my top three.

Rich 1:01:36

And for for people who are listening, we we keep saying Brian, but you wouldn't nobody would know who that was. So that's like West Studio. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh fun fact, I actually had a uh my own photo shoot booked with Brian, and I I ended up having to cancel because uh some some bad things were happening around where I was. Oh no, so I never got a chance, but I had I was really looking forward to it.

Mindy 1:01:58

Yeah, yeah, he shoots uh like uh a lot actually. He does a lot of variety of shooting. Um yeah, he's good at what he does.

Rich 1:02:07

Yeah, what he posts is mostly women, but he occasionally I've seen him post men.

Mindy 1:02:12

Yeah, yeah.

Rich 1:02:13

Um oh, which brings us full circles. So he had to take that picture down, uh, and so did you, and I it's been fine for me.

Mindy 1:02:21

Um yeah, the drawing's fine. I have the drawing up still on my page.

Rich 1:02:25

You're that drawing just I mean, I don't I don't have a huge following here. My Instagram is actually still up on my other screen here, but it's got more engagement by about a factor of five than anything else I've ever posted.

Mindy 1:02:40

Oh wow.

Rich 1:02:41

Yeah, and I mean obviously that's it's coming from you because it's a collab, so it's on your page as well. Right. Um but people really seem to like it. Um the the story, the funny story about it is I'm also in a Facebook group where one can post drawings, and every time I post a drawing like this one or a few others, it goes into purgatory. Like it it it just doesn't go. Posts are supposed to get approved by admin, right? The admin don't even see it. And um so I've yeah, I've determined that the algorithm has decided that it's nudity.

Mindy 1:03:17

Probably, yeah.

Rich 1:03:18

So as an experiment, um, on yours actually, let's see if I can get my finger in the right place again. Okay. So for those of you who can't see, I apologize, but those of you who are watching, I used my phone to draw a black line down the curve of uh your bum and then and then around there, just a black line. That's all I did. That got through. That was your problem. Yeah. So it was like it was like I created the tiniest little string bikini bottom.

Mindy 1:03:48

Okay.

Rich 1:03:49

And uh and that got through. And I'm wondering it doesn't matter, but I'm just wondering if if you took that picture that uh that that you got shadow banned for and modified it just a little bit. Right. If if the algorithm would suddenly forgive you, because I don't I don't think there's a human who's looking at it.

Mindy 1:04:09

It's just yeah, it's interesting because I actually posted a photo, it was for my 50th birthday, one of uh Brian had shot, and I'm wearing um like a ball gown. And um, and it's like a side profile, so I have like my kind of like my one, like you see, legs, that's pretty much it. And then it's like my dress, and and it's got like a long train and it got shadow banned.

Rich 1:04:34

Really?

Mindy 1:04:35

Mm-hmm. I had to take it down too.

Rich 1:04:38

It's so frustrating.

Mindy 1:04:39

Yeah, I I'll send you the photo and I'll show you. Yeah, it's like it's so bizarre because I was like, I don't, I'm wearing fully wearing a dress.

Rich 1:04:49

Yeah, that doesn't make any sense at all. And then as you said earlier, the things that you'll see on Instagram that are like, mm-hmm, it's it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous the things that I'll see in my feed. And not that I care, but it's ridiculous when when you when somebody will say to me, Oh yeah, but I had to take this one down. Really? This one.

Mindy 1:05:14

And then you'll see girls like they'll have like um like maybe like a see-through top, like you can see right through. Yeah, and their photos are up all the time.

Rich 1:05:24

Yeah, it it's it's um if it it's frustrating. It's frustrating if if you care about in any way your social media presence, maybe you make a living from it, maybe maybe you know you you get exposure that you need from it. Um and then you're fighting this invisible.

Mindy 1:05:40

Yeah, for me it doesn't matter. Like I just uh fine, I delete it, but I'm just like it's just weird. I thought, really, that one? I have other ones that are on there that I would think that they would want to, like that it should maybe be, but yeah.

Rich 1:05:53

Yeah, no. Well, um, I really appreciate you taking the time. It's it's really fascinating. To listen to people who have reached this level of fitness, and it can be perceived, especially if your social media really focuses on that, it can be perceived as very one-dimensional. Like, oh, all she is is this fitness competitor with this, you know, who's who's showing off her body? Not true. I mean, there's always this, like, this completely three-dimensional person with all kinds of things going on in their lives, and still getting it done, still being able to manage that.

Mindy 1:06:32

Right.

Rich 1:06:32

It's a huge inspiration.

Mindy 1:06:34

Thank you.

Rich 1:06:35

Um, is there anything you'd like to say to anybody who's listening or anything we haven't talked about?

Mindy 1:06:42

Not that I can think of. I just think that if you, you know, for a lot of people, um, you don't have to go to the gym and go full force, you know, as long as you can get there, you know, a couple of days a week just to move your body, um, you know, to stay healthy, to, you know, you're when you get older, you want to be able to still be able to move, right? So just even if you can get out a couple of days a week and you don't have to spend an hour there, you know. I think that's a lot of times people think that they have to go like 110, um, or they're not successful, you know. You don't like as long as you can get there, and if it's just walking on the treadmill, you know what I mean, for 20 minutes, it's something. Um, I think it's important that we all have physical activity in our lives and it and it and especially for when we're aging, it's important for us to be able to move.

Rich 1:07:42

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I hope people, I hope people watch this, listen to this, see what you're managing, see, you know, you're almost 50. Um, you know, it's it's not like you could you could say, oh, well, she's young. We're still young, but like, you know, yeah. It's not 20s. Exactly. Um and and getting it. So yeah, I really, really appreciate that.

Mindy 1:08:08

Although I will say I feel like I'm um feel better at 50 than I probably did in my 20s.

Rich 1:08:14

Like I why is that?

Mindy 1:08:16

I just I'm I have so much more energy. I and it's uh it's true what they say, the more energy you like essentially put out, the more you get back in, right? Right. Um, yeah. So I just feel um since I've changed, I guess, like my lifestyles, so to speak, like I just feel healthier.

Rich 1:08:39

Yeah. Yeah, that well that and that that's also an important message as well. Like, if somebody's thinking, oh I'm too old, it's I'm I'm not gonna get my youth back. You're you're you're saying, oh, I didn't I didn't get my youth back. I'm better. Better, yeah.

Mindy 1:08:53

And I feel I look better. Yeah, fantastic.

Rich 1:08:58

Okay, well, thanks. It's it's really been great chatting with you. Um I'm gonna stop the recording, but just stick around for a second. Um and uh yeah. Bye everyone. See you.