Broads: The Bold & Badass Fitness Podcast for Women

If you grew up in the Pinterest and early Facebook era, you probably learned early that summer meant one thing: getting your body ready for it. It all starts with restrictive diets in April, punishing workouts, and a whole lot of self-criticism in front of the mirror. 

Most millennial women never questioned it. It was just the 'norm' or what we thought we should look like.

The pressure to shrink, tone, and transform your body in 30 days for a vacation or a swimsuit is not a health goal but a trap that keeps you on a yearly hamster wheel. One that is costing you your hormones, your relationship with food, and your long-term progress every single time you fall into it.

In this episode, I am breaking down why the summer body mentality keeps you stuck in a loop, what it is actually doing to your body biologically, and what to do instead if you want results that last longer than August.

What's Discussed:


(0:00) Why the bikini body cycle keeps repeating itself


(1:04) Tara's personal history with chasing a summer look


(3:17) What the bikini body mentality actually is and what it costs you


(6:28) The hormone disruption nobody talks about: cortisol, leptin, and the binge-restrict cycle


(8:09) The question to ask yourself before starting any summer challenge


(9:53) Why real results take real time and what slow progress actually looks like


(11:48) Three non-negotiables you can anchor into year round


(14:37) What people think they need to do to lose weight fast and why it backfires


(18:05) What actually works: strength, protein, sleep, and stress management


(20:07) The abs myth: why crunches are not giving you what you think


(24:10) Your body does not have a seasonal deadline

Find out more from Broads:

Website: broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

BroadsCOACH: Head to broads.app/broadscoach and apply for BroadsCOACH.

Check More Resources:

Nutrition Webinar: Check out the plate method at broads.app/nutritionwebinar

Macronutrient Guide: Want a simple place to start fuelling for the body you're building? Grab Broad’s FREE Macronutrient Guide: The Balanced Plate Blueprint at broads.app/macronutrient-guide.

Gym Starter Guide: Ready to stop waiting for "someday"? Download the free guide at broads.app/gym-starter-guide 

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

TikTok: @taralaferrara

The identity shift that comes with motherhood is one of the least talked about transitions a woman will ever go through. Research shows it rivals puberty and menopause in the scale of psychological and neurological change it triggers in a woman's brain and body.

For high-achieving women, that shift hits differently. The woman who built her entire sense of self around drive, accomplishment, and control suddenly finds none of that prepares her for the part where she has to let that version of herself go.

Jenna Kennedy is an entrepreneur, podcaster, and mom of two who got pregnant twice unexpectedly and had to find her way through the identity loss, the invisible grief, and the slow surrender that nobody warned her was coming.

If you have ever felt like motherhood asked you to give up the most hard-won version of yourself, this conversation will make you feel a lot less alone in it.

What's Discussed:


(1:33) The bounce back myth and what we are actually bouncing from


(3:41) When motherhood arrives before you agreed to it


(6:10) The grief nobody gives you permission to feel


(8:27) What your most important role actually is right now


(9:45) The identity death and rebirth of becoming a mom


(21:15) Why anxiety is a signal not a problem to fix


(32:20) How high achievers confuse accomplishment with happiness


(41:10) What surrender actually looks like for a woman who always had a plan


(48:15) The small habits that build genuine happiness over time

Thank you to our sponsors!

IM8: Use my code TARA at checkout to save 10% on your first order at im8health.com/

Find more from Broads:

Website: https://www.broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

Youtube: @TaraLaferrara

Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from Jenna Kennedy:

Instagram: @itsjennakennedy      

Tiktok: @itsjennakennedy

Podcast: Hope You’re Wellhttps://www.instagram.com/itsjennakennedy

A 2025 study out of McMaster University found that your body builds muscle the same whether you're in your follicular phase or your luteal phase. Your muscles, it turns out, do not care what your cycle tracker says.

So why are so many women losing their consistency, skipping workouts, and rebuilding their entire program every week around an app? Because cycle syncing culture sold us a system that sounds scientific but is actually costing us our progress.

In this week's episode, I'm breaking down what's really happening across your cycle, why the cycle syncing approach is creating more anxiety than results, and how to make smart adjustments to your training and nutrition without overhauling a thing.

What's Discussed:


(0:35) What this episode is and what it is not


(2:29) The four phases of your cycle and why certain weeks feel the way they do


(4:05) Your power window: the phase most women hit their strongest sessions


(4:30) What is actually happening in the luteal phase (and why it is not weakness)


(5:19) The problem with cycle syncing culture and who it actually serves


(6:22) What the research really says about performance across cycle phases


(8:46) The smart adjustment framework: when to lean in, when to dial back


(10:34) Why high-intensity cardio in late luteal is usually not worth it


(11:19) How to fuel across your cycle without tracking every macro


(13:03) The simplest way to track your cycle (no app required)


(15:02) Why consistency will always beat perfect phase alignment


(16:05) Your challenge for the week

Find out more from Broads:

Website: www.broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

BroadsCOACH: Head to www.broads.app/broadscoach and apply for BroadsCOACH.

Check out previous podcast about listening to your body: 

Episode 108: Dr. Alyssa Olenick: The Real Truth About Hybrid Training

Resources Mentioned:

Nutrition Webinar: Check out the plate method at www.broads.app/nutritionwebinar

Macronutrient Guide: Want a simple place to start fuelling for the body you're building?

Grab Broad’s FREE Macronutrient Guide: The Balanced Plate Blueprint at www.broads.app/macronutrient-guide.

Gym Starter Guide: Ready to stop waiting for "someday"? Download the free guide at www.broads.app/gym-starter-guide 

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: www.taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

TikTok: @taralaferrara

Your body will literally overeat to hunt for protein it is not getting. It is called the protein leverage hypothesis, and it means your hunger is not a willpower problem. It is a signal that something is missing.

So no, you are not broken. You are not lazy. Your body is doing exactly what it is designed to do when it is not getting what it needs. And nobody has been louder about that than JJ Virgin.

JJ Virgin is a four-time New York Times bestselling author and nutrition expert who has spent over 40 years helping women stop measuring success by the wrong metric. In this episode, JJ breaks down why most women are under-fuelling the one macronutrient their body cannot go a single day without, what that is quietly doing to their muscle, their metabolism, and their results, and what to do about it starting with your next meal.

If you have had that quiet feeling that something is off with how you are eating, this episode is going to tell you exactly what it is. Let's dive into it.

What's Discussed:


(2:59) The non-negotiable JJ refuses to sacrifice no matter where she is in the world.


(5:21) The most overrated nutrition advice women are still following.


(6:22) When the protein trend went too far and created a junk food aisle.


(9:36) What chronic under-eating of protein is actually doing to your body.


(12:08) The biological reason you keep overeating and it is not discipline.


(13:16) The simplest food audit that changes everything in two weeks.


(14:45) The meal where most women are falling short and it is not dinner.


(16:30) How one breakfast sets your hormones up to fail for the rest of the day.


(18:26) Why JJ calls plant-based diets what she calls them.


(20:31) Where supplements actually fit and the four most women are missing.


(22:44) Why creatine belongs on your supplement list and it is not just for the gym.


(23:04) The creatine myth that 81% of women experienced firsthand.


(25:00) Why the common math on creatine dosing does not make sense.


(31:08) How to structure nutrition around your training without overthinking it.


(33:03) The first thing JJ looks at when body composition is not changing.


(34:20) The real reason most women are not building muscle and it is not protein.


(35:29) Why she stopped saying go heavy and what she says instead.


(41:06) The scale has done more damage to women than any diet ever has.


(42:28) The two things you must have before you ever touch a calorie deficit.


(42:47) What toned actually means and why you cannot stretch your muscles longer.


(43:37) 40 years and she has never seen a woman get big from lifting.


(45:23) The identity shift that separates women who maintain results from women who restart.


(56:33) What JJ would tell every woman between 35 and 50 right now.

Check out Broads FREE nutrition resources:


Macronutrient Guide: https://www.broads.app/macronutrient-guide 


Nutrition Webinar: https://www.broads.app/nutritionwebinar 

Find more from Broads:

Website: https://www.broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Head to www.broads.app/broadscoach and apply for BroadsCOACH.

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:Website: http://taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from JJ Virgin:

Website: https://jjvirgin.com/

Facebook: JJ Virgin

Instagram: @jj.virgin      

YouTube: @jjvirginvideos

Tiktok: @reignitewellness

Pinterest: @jjvirgin

X: @jjvirgin

Got Questions: delphi.ai/jj-virgin

Podcast: https://jjvirgin.com/main-podcasts/ 

Speaking Engagements: https://jjvirgin.com/media-speaking-new/ 

JJ Virgin Programs: 

The 90-Day Metabolism Makeover: https://discover.jjvirgin.com/metabolism-makeover-int-1

Okay, real question: how do you want to feel at 70? Not look but feel. Because the second you start training through that lens, everything about fitness shifts, and suddenly the goal isn't a smaller body anymore. It's a body that actually works.

Here's the thing nobody in the fitness industry wants to say out loud: you were sold the wrong goal. For years! And if you've been working your ass off and still feel like nothing is landing, it's not because your body stopped responding. It's because you were handed a game that was never built to serve the woman you're becoming.

In this week podcast episode, I will talk to the 70-year old in you and share what longevity training actually means (and no, it's not cold plunges at 5am), why strength is hands-down your best insurance policy, and the non-negotiables if you want to still be strong, capable, and independent decades from now. This is your permission slip to change the goal.

What's Discussed:


(2:34) The question nobody in fitness is asking, and why it changes everything.


(3:43) Why women are tired, and the shift that's already happening today.


(5:40) The real number one predictor of quality of life as you age. 


(6:20) What longevity training actually means and what’s not.


(8:36) Why women get nearly three times the cardiovascular benefit from strength training than men do.


(10:37) The silent thing happening to your bones after 30 that nobody warned you about.


(12:15) Walking: the most underrated longevity tool, and why you're probably skipping it.


(14:54) Why under-fuelling is quietly working against the women training the hardest.


(17:21) The recovery signals you should never push through.


(18:58) The one question to sit with this week that changes everything.

Broads Giveaway: To celebrate hitting 1 million listens we are giving away two free Broads Club memberships. Head to the pinned post on @broads.podcast and @broads.app on Instagram, make sure you’re following both accounts and tag three friends in the comments with the episode you think they need to hear first.

Find out more from Broads:

Website: www.broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

BroadsCOACH: Head to www.broads.app/broadscoach and apply for BroadsCOACH.

Resources Mentioned:

Macronutrient Guide: Want a simple place to start fuelling for the body you're building? Grab Broad’s FREE Macronutrient Guide: The Balanced Plate Blueprint at https://www.broads.app/macronutrient-guide.

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: www.taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

Tiktok: @taralaferrara