Hi friends,
I KNOW you’ve all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for the conclusion of the flower girl dress saga.
Well… it all worked out.
Adina looked absolutely flower-girl perfect in the dress we found. And I knew it was the winner the moment she put it on and started twirling in front of every mirror she passed. You know the kind of twirl — the full “does this spin properly?” quality check.
It was better than she imagined.
And yes… it had tulle.
Which she had previously sworn she would never wear.
Action shot of the spinning dress!
Goes to show that sometimes we become very convinced we need one specific thing — when in reality something a little outside our comfort zone might end up being even better than we imagined.
Like “twirling in every mirror you walk past” better.
After a month of traveling, we made it back to Barbados this week and have started settling back into our normal rhythm: work, homeschool, beach, and gym.
Today was my first day back at the gym.
And my body felt completely different.
It didn’t help that we focused on lower body — which, if left to my own devices, I would absolutely avoid. I will happily do upper body forever. This is exactly why, as a coach, I have hired my own coach.
Otherwise I would slowly turn myself into a disproportionately built gorilla on toothpick legs.
So we jumped back into exercises I’ve done before.
(Begrudgingly. It was drop-set day.)
At one point my trainer told me she was going to record my complaining and broadcast it on Instagram for the world to see if I said “I can’t” one more time.
You guys… I am a HORRIBLE client.
Truly.
And by the end of the session my legs were legitimately quivering. I was standing there and they were just… shaking.
Same workout I've done before.
Very different response from my body than I’ve ever had before.
And that’s the beauty — and sometimes the challenge — of living in a body that is always changing.
We adapt to a certain version of ourselves. A certain level of comfort. A certain expectation of how things “should” feel.
And then something shifts.
Our energy changes. Our recovery changes. Our strength feels different.
And suddenly the same plan doesn’t produce the same result.
We can respond by pushing harder, getting frustrated, or assuming we’re doing something wrong.
Or we can recognize that sometimes the body simply needs a different approach.
If this sounds like you...
“I’m still working out… but my body just isn’t responding the way it used to.”
More effort.
More discipline.
Less return.
If you’ve been working out consistently but your body feels like it’s stopped responding, you’re not imagining it.
During perimenopause and menopause, hormonal shifts directly impact muscle mass, recovery, metabolism, and energy. The problem isn’t your discipline. It’s that the training model that worked in your 30s often doesn’t match what your body needs now.
On Monday, March 23, I’m teaching a live workshop:
“Why Your Body Isn’t Responding to Workouts Anymore — And the Strength Model That Fixes It.”
Inside, I’ll break down:
• What’s actually happening hormonally
• Why common workouts start falling flat
• The strength-focused framework that helps women rebuild muscle, support energy, and see progress again
If your workouts feel like they’ve stalled, this is the missing piece.
You can register HERE
And if you’re wondering whether I complained through my entire workout today…
Yes.
Yes I did.
Have a great week friends!
Coach Joanie
I didn't do any twirling but I took lots of mirror selfies. The wedding venue, built in 1915, was full of amazing mirrors!
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