Hi, friends. Welcome to the Life With Loverly podcast. I’m Brittany, a wife, mom, and lifestyle entrepreneur here to help you discover your best daily style and encourage you to try new things when getting dressed each day. I took a tiny following on social media and turned it into a community of over one million amazing women, and I am so glad you’re here. I’ll be sharing my heart with you beyond the 15 seconds on Instagram, so we’ll be diving into things like personal growth, friendships, motherhood, marriage, and of course, the business of blogging. Really, this space is here to serve as your go-to resource to building a life you adore while sprinkling some kindness to others along the way. Grab an iced coffee and let’s do life together. I’m Brittany, and this is the Life With Loverly Podcast. Hi, friends. Welcome back to today’s episode of the Life With Loverly Podcast. Today, I’m joined by Caroline Ward, former UGA gymnast, mom of three, and founder of a faith-based fitness studio, TransFit. That’s about so much more than workouts. In this episode, we’re talking about listening to God’s voice in unexpected moments, navigating the beautiful balance of motherhood and entrepreneurship, and how movement can be a form of worship. And of course, I’m asking her about her top fitness tips for women, including getting started with weightlifting and running, plush nutrition tips that are simple and sustainable. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to follow your calling, even when it doesn’t make sense, this conversation will speak straight to your heart. Here’s my conversation with Caroline Ward. I have a very special guest in the studio with me. I love having an in-person interview. Caroline Ward is here. How are you, Caroline?

I’m so good. I’m so grateful to be here. It’s just an honor to be here and in person. I know. It’s just that much sweeter.

It’s so true. I honestly love any amount of time that I get to spend with you, so I’m very excited for this next hour or so. Let’s get into a little bit of your background, and our listeners heard a little bit about who you are, but I’m excited to do a deep dive and talk about your past and who you were and who you are now. Okay, so you were a gymnast at Georgia.

Yes.

That’s amazing. Tell us about that chapter of life.

Well, I kind of need to backtrack just a little bit because a lot of people don’t know. They think I’ve been in Athens forever, but I grew up in Louisiana. So landing a full scholarship to UGA was just a total blessing and a surprise. I think I always assumed I would go to LSU, be a tiger or Bama. But I had an aunt that lived in Athens, and my mom actually grew up in commerce. And so some Georgia roots. And when I really was getting into gymnastics, they said, “What about coming to UGA Gym Dawg Camp?” And I was like, “Well, that sounds fun.” And then I just totally fell in love with Athens and the coaches and all the gym dawgs, and that was then my lifelong dream.

Totally.

So I couldn’t just imagine that Athens would be home. It’s just a gift and a blessing that it is. But looking back though on those growing up years, gymnastics was so good for me. I mean, it taught me self-discipline. I feel like the time management skills I have now, body awareness, and just so many things gymnastics can be good for. Learning at a young age, even I tell so many young moms, even if you take your child out is such a great learning experience because you learn how to work hard. So it was great. I loved being here at UGA. And then we did win two national championships when I was here.

Very sweet.

It was sweet. 1998 and 1999, which feels like an eternity ago, but it was incredible. But even more than that, I learned about teamwork. And Suzanne Jacklin was my coach back in the day, and she would always make us start our practices with the acronym of team. Togetherness, enthusiasm, attitude, and mental toughness. It’s ingrained in my brain and it will be forever. And it was just a total gift. And really, I feel like that’s where my love encouraging women really started. My senior year, I thought it was going to be the best season of my life. I was in the best shape ever. And I was tumbling in practice and broke my ankle. And I was devastated, heartbroken. I was like, “Oh, this is the worst thing ever.” But Suzanne said, “Caroline, we need all different types of players on this team. It’s called a team for a reason. And everyone can’t be the first one on the lineup on the floor every season.” And so I think it was that time where I really learned to step up and encourage women, and I became really good at high fives. And that kind of just really fueled my love, I feel like, for women and fitness and just encouraging women.

Well, and that’s so nice that you had her as a coach giving you that encouragement and guiding you because you very easily could have gone like, “This is the worst,” to not have somebody be like, “Hey, you can still be part of this team. You are still needed here.” So I feel like that could have totally changed your trajectory. Okay. I know after college, your path wasn’t super clear. What led you to go into accounting?

Well, I think so many women and young college girls or college students period struggle with, well, what am I meant to do in my life? I mean, I changed my major eight times.

Wow.

I passed out. I thought I was going to go in as medical and nursing, and then I passed out at the freshman physical. So I was like, okay, switch gears there. But I was searching for stability and just a clear path. So I really was listening to my dad and he was like, “Caroline, accountants will always have jobs.” Which he was right. So I went into accounting. I can’t say that I loved it, but I do love an Excel spreadsheet. And still to this time, I love to cross-referencing. I make a lot of my workouts on Excel, so that’s fun. But I did get my CPA and I worked in Atlanta for some time. But honestly, it felt like a lot of my gymnastics days, and this is kind of a current theme back from high school at gymnastics when I was always striving, people pleasing, and trying to check boxes that really weren’t my own boxes. I was good at it, but it didn’t feed my soul. But I just kept doing it because I thought, “Well, that’s what everyone says I should do, so I’ll just listen to what everyone else says.”

Yeah. Well, and I feel like we can kind of get lost in that a lot of times in a lot of different areas of life. It’s like, well, the people pleasing. I mean, that’s one of my. Something I’m not proud of. And I feel like I’m constantly telling people I’m a recovering people pleaser. Still a people pleaser.

Yes.

But I was also thinking, as you were saying, just I feel like college sports and being a gymnast and a college athlete, that is your life for so long, even leading up to getting your scholarship. And then that’s so much of what you know and graduation comes and it’s like, well, hold on. Where’s all this sports-related thing that I’m not doing anymore? And I feel like there could be a kind of feeling of being lost, not knowing what to do with all your spare time. I can imagine.

I mean, I talk with a lot of college athletes post-college that have struggled with that. And looking back just like you, I do feel like people pleasing has been a theme throughout my life, whether it was a gymnast, a student, or even a young professional in the world. But chasing approval, trying to make other people happy, it was exhausting. It is exhausting. And it took hitting some really low points, which I did hit post children and wrestling with God and lots of counseling. I always want to just encourage people with counseling to realize that I’m not made for anyone else’s approval, but God’s alone.

Right. It’s so true. And I feel like you’re somebody who’s so confident in that message that it’s encouraging to other women who are like, okay, yeah, but I know that. But is that really the truth? But truly believing that is so important and can really kind of set you free.

It really does. I mean, I have to tell myself daily, God’s plan for you, not designed for anyone else. Stay in your lane. This is what you were designed to do, and this message can go wherever, to whoever, and no one else has this exact message or calling that you do.

It’s so true.

And each and every one of us have that.

Yeah, that’s beautiful. Okay. So tell me about meeting your husband and starting your family.

I love to get to tell this story. So meeting my husband, Kelly, it was such a gift. So he is seven years older than I am. We were set up the night I came home from nationals my senior year. We instantly clicked and we were engaged six months later.

Oh my gosh.

So it’s like when you know you know.

Yeah.

That’s when you know. Okay. We’ve been married for almost 25 years.

Oh my gosh.

So he’s someone who loves athletics too, but in a different way. And we deeply connected over sports, athletics, and just shared values. But he’s my complete opposite, which has been good, but also has brought us to counseling for things like that. But he totally balances out my energetic always-on-the-go personality because he’s calm, patient, and very thoughtful. And honestly, he’s the one that ignited my passion for Jesus. And we were baptized together soon after we got married. So that was exciting. And just since then, it’s kind of just been more and more. So starting our family though was just a blessing beyond words. So I was working in accounting once we got married. I worked in Atlanta for some time. And then once we started having children, it was always like I thought my desire was to stay at home and be a stay-at-home mom. It’s kind of what I thought my dream was. However, I did have a miscarriage after my second son before having Lila, who I consider my miracle baby. So being pregnant with her was really then when my faith was kind of taken to the next level. She had some really problematic things throughout our entire pregnancy. And that was really the first time where I could say I was on my knees praying for God to give me a healthy baby. I think we can take that for granted so many times. And again, I think it’s the seasons that really stretch us that really sanctify us. And I’ve just seen that. And even thinking through a few of these questions, it’s kind of this recurring theme in my life. It’s like, okay God, you’re really bringing me through some hard things to really strengthen my faith, which has been sweet. And he doesn’t ever say it’s going to be easy. So having three children in just a short amount of time, because I had three under the age of four, brought me a ton of joy, but also really challenged me. And I had postpartum depression.

Yeah. What was that experience like? Just being a new mom, trying to figure it out. Were you working then? Being the owner of a company, sometimes I think back, and we have some girls in our office who are moms, and we have some who are recently married and will probably be moms hopefully one day. And I always kind of think of just how will I be able to support them if they are in a season of just they go through postpartum depression or they just need more time at home? I just feel like future Brittany is always like, “What is that going to look like?”

Well, it’s so good to just even think through that because it happens to more women than we think. And at the time, since Kelly was older, we had children a little bit earlier than a lot of my friends. So I was kind of the first one to have children. And I didn’t know why I was feeling this way. I mean, this was 17 years ago. Depression really wasn’t talked about. Anxiety wasn’t a word back then. And so I was like, why am I feeling like I can’t get out of bed? Why am I feeling like I have two bricks on my shoulders? This isn’t me. After my gymnastics days, I will say though, I did stop exercising as much as I was and just being mindful with my nutrition because I was totally switched gears. I was in the accounting world and then it was like, oh, it was all about babies. Everything was babies. So I think a lot of new moms, I just poured myself into being a mom, which is fine, but just not to lose yourself along the way, which is what happened to me where I was totally lost, disconnected, didn’t want to spend time with my friends or even my young kids at that time. So finally, after struggles, I went to the doctor and he first suggested, he said, “I first need you to get outside and walk.” He said, “Whether you feel like it or not, this is your prescription. Exercise is your medicine.” And I was like –

What agift that you went to a doctor that said that. I feel like that is not a common –

That was a really long time ago too. I mean, I will say it’s 17 years ago. But at that time I was like, “Ugh, I don’t even want to get out of bed. I can’t.” So it was such a struggle just to put one foot in front of the other. Then I had one baby strapped here, I had two in a double stroller, and I was just plodding along and really just wrestling with God at that time. My faith was newer at that time. And so just like, “God, why would you do this to me? I thought this was my dream to be a stay-at-home mom, and I don’t understand what’s happening.” But the daily walks, I really do feel like opened my mind. It was where I could be alone with God in stillness, enjoy nature, and not have to listen to screaming children. They were in the stroller.

They were stuck in your spot.

I was like, “I’m sorry, y’all cannot get out. Here’s a snack. We’re walking.”

It’s kind of a gift though. A stroller walk with young kids is honestly more for the mom than anything. It definitely is.

It definitely is. But I think it was during that time, I don’t think I know that God really spoke real gently to me. And he just said, “You’ve got to find and do what you love to do. Stop trying to do what the world’s telling you to do and step into what I’ve called you to do.” And so that did take months of thinking and praying through journaling. I did a lot of journaling. What am I good at? What lights me up inside? And then also, what do people thank me for? Moving into that respect. And then just slowly, my husband did, he was like, “What? You think you want to be a personal trainer? Like you’re an accountant.This is night and day different.” But him and friends really supported me along the journey, which you need your support system and you need somebody to believe in you.

Totally.

And just help you take the next right step.

Right. So then after, once you got to that deciding point where you’re like, okay, I want to step into personal training, what was your next steps? Did you go back to school? How did you do this with littles at home?

Yeah. Well, the decision definitely wasn’t overnight. And I think a lot of people look at any entrepreneur position or a job where things are flourishing. It was a lot of little baby steps that led to, okay, this is actually what it is. True. And it was a process of just over and over again asking, what does this look like? But I will say, honestly, I remember after I trained my very first client, I came up, because this was in my basement, I’ll tell you about that too. But I said, “This is what I’m meant to do. I’m alive. I was made to do this.” Talk about exercise and nutrition and fitness and really just felt alive inside. And I can say too, every single day I come home and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this is my job. This is amazing. I get to encourage women, speak life over them. Hopefully I’m going to help them be in the best hour of their day.” And so that was the birth of where TransFit started. And like you said, asked earlier, it was a leap of faith. And going back to school was difficult and it wasn’t easy. And I will say too, it didn’t happen all at once. I got my personal training certification and then another year later I got my nutrition certification and then I was like, “Oh, I love running.” And so I would get my running certification and then I got injured. It was another hard season. And I was like, “Well, I think I need to learn how to do yoga.” So I got my yoga certification. And so I mean, this has been a process of 15 years. But I do feel like learners are the best leaders. And whenever I find myself getting bored in my job, I was like, “Okay, I think I need to learn something. How can I challenge myself?”

Totally.

And that’s the kind of people I want to hire too. People that are always wanting to learn more, wanting to be proactive. So anyway, it definitely wasn’t an overnight process. And as I had said, it started in my basement.

Yeah. So what was that like? Who was your first client?

Okay. So my first client was a dear friend, and I told her, I was like, “Hey, I’ve just got my certification. Can I train you for free? And then if you tell people, if you see results, just tell people.”That was her payment. That was the old form of marketing before Instagram.

Yes, I remember.

Yes. It was like word of mouth was everything.

Totally.

And with word of mouth, I mean, it just grew and grew and grew. And then within about five years, we moved into our first location. And that was just a huge answer to prayer. And God just showing this is not just a side hustle. This is an actual business. This is your calling, and this can be a ministry to women. And so when I was able to move it into its own location, then I was able to hire more staff, get more full-time help. And then also that’s when we started our Bible studies and were able to invite all the women from the community just to come in, even if you didn’t work out with us or not. But it was just a way to just love women well.

Yeah. So when you were doing this out of your basement, would people just show up and park on your street and you’d do a class in your basement?

So it started a little bit like that, but of course your friends start seeing what you’re doing. And I mean, I had changed because after college, I stopped exercising. I wasn’t eating well. I, again, went through that depressive episode. And then in about a year, I had got my certification. I had gotten healthy and very fit again. And so my friends were like, “What are you doing?”

Can we come over?

Yeah, exactly. And I was like, “I’d love that. I need some female companionship anyway.” And so it started small and then text. I mean, that was back when I’d be like, “Hey, I have two workouts. The kids are in preschool, and I’ve got a workout at 8:30, and then they’re napping at three.” And I said, “I can have six ladies first come first serve.”

Lovely.

And they would write checks or cash. There’s no Venmo back then. And then within about five years, I was like, whoa. I have full-time help helping me at home with the kids and things like that. And then I had to have a scheduling system.

Totally. It’s crazy just how almost overnight it can just be like, okay, we have a location and that means we need all these other things that go along with that. And it feels so formal and like, yay, this is so exciting. Where was the first location?

The first location was underneath the pine in Five Points. It’s like a little hidden location underneath. And I love that location. I did love it. It served us so well. It had great parking. It was real intimate. And at that time, that’s really what we wanted. I mean, we wanted just to be able to love women well, for women to be seen and known and to be able to come as they are. TransFit stands for transformational fitness, and it is just for women. And we want women to feel seen when they come in. You can wear sweatpants or a sports bra. We don’t care. We just want you to come as you are and let that be the best, maybe the hardest hour of your day. But at the end, always the best.

Totally. I love that. Okay, so you end every workout with a devotional.

Yes.

Why was that important for you to include?

This is so important to me because working out isn’t just about the physical. And I learned this firsthand because I experienced it. Walking and praying really is what transformed me and changed my life. And we work so hard in our workout sessions, but also I know how hard women are working in day-to-day life, whether you’re a working mom or a stay-at-home mom or a homeschool mom or just a college student. And we have women that are 13 all the way to 90 and just know how hard life is. I feel like the most important thing we need before stepping into the rest of our day is to renew our minds on truth. And ending with a devotion or even just a short prayer, it’s like offering back to God what he’s blessed us with. Our bodies, our health, and the strength he just gave us. So it transforms the workout from just exercise into an act of worship and then gratitude. And that can totally change your day. Then I always say that hopefully that day just changed your week, then your month. And then like me, you’re 15 years in and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I’m still doing this and I’m almost 50.” So it’s exciting.

Yeah. I think too, it also draws people back in. Like you said, you hope that they change their day and then their week and their month. But imagine if that’s happening with consistency. What if you’re doing that two times a week and then that’s changing your outlook for the other things you’re doing in other days or take, I don’t know, it’s just such a great example for women to be able to use this tactic in everything that they’re doing, not just their workouts.

Exactly. And I say this every single day, consistency is our superpower as women. It’s not about the one exercise that’s going to totally lift your butt. It’s the day in, the day out of the squats of showing up when you don’t feel like it, trusting in the process, not in your feelings.

Yeah, that’s beautiful. Okay, let’s get into some tips. I know our gals listening are excited to hear some tips from you. What are three nutrition tips that every woman should know?

Awesome. I definitely would say one, prioritize protein at every meal. And I do feel like for women, this is a big mindset shift. I feel like men have always been carnivores. I mean, that’s totally what men do. They eat meat. However, women were like, “Oh, I’ll have a few bites of bread and take a walk.” And that’s my workout and my nutrition for the day. But we know this now with research and science that especially after 30 lean muscle mass decreases, we need protein to help build our metabolism back up, to support lean muscle mass and to protect our bones. So definitely 20 to 30 grams of protein with every single meal. And I think the biggest tip I can help women with and that I’ve seen it transform many women’s lives is that they’re maybe not breakfast eaters. And they’d make even just a small shift to have some things a Greek yogurt or a hard boiled egg or a protein drink or what I love calling a proffee, which is a protein coffee.

Okay.

And you just put your protein powder and your coffee and you out.

Yeah. And that’s perfect.

And sometimes that’s all you can get, but that’s better than nothing. So I think that’s so important. So number one, definitely protein. Two, I’d say we’ve got to keep our blood sugar balanced by having healthy carbs and healthy fats. Carbs are not the enemy.

Totally.

I hear this, “Can I eat a banana today? Please eat a banana today. But I’d love for you to have it maybe with some almonds or some peanut butter or attach it with a piece of cheese.” Always clothe your carbs with protein, I think is key. And then healthy fats. We need that for our brain, for our hormones. It’s so important. So I just feel like those are really, really important to do. And then the third one would be we’ve got to support our gut-brain connection, especially for women. And I mean, I’ve got three teenagers, so that’s really important for me. And I feel like for all moms to know, we’ve got to be supporting our children with this. And really making sure our kids, ourselves, we are the biggest mentors and what we’re doing is what our kids probably will eventually do. And so if they see us eating an apple, which has got great fiber in it, or raspberries, which is the highest fiber fruit, then hopefully one day they’ll eat it. Now I will say having young teenagers and it being really hard on that nutrition front for a long time, but now just seeing me as trying to be consistent with, “Hey, this is what we eat when we get home from school. This is what we have for dinner. We’re going to eat protein. We’re going to eat vegetables. We can have a treat. It’s not like no treats are allowed. It’s just being mindful with that.” And they gave me pushback for a while.

Of course.

But now coming back, especially having two in college, they are like, “Mom, thank you for cooking healthy meals for us. Thank you for teaching us how to eat.”

Totally.

And so that is a blessing. And I’m always like, “Can you say that one more time?”

I didn’t really hear that.

But also along with that, supporting our gut health, we need key nutrients like vitamin D, magnesium, those really great nutrients, which will help feed us as women. And we are not small men. We need different things than men. We need to be doing different exercises than men. Just a really big proponent of we’re totally different and made different by God. So we’ve got to be doing some different things. And nutrition being key.

Yeah. No, I think that’s great.

I’m going to give one quick plug for water too.

I was wondering if that was going to be one of your two.

I was like, three. I really wanted four.

Yes. Okay, we’ll give you a four.

Give me a four. I need the four because water’s over there. And I know that everyone is so important. I’ve had two clients just recently dehydrated, passed out because they were traveling. And we know we don’t drink as much when we’re traveling, and then we don’t realize it, and we have headaches, bad digestive issues. A lot of that is dehydration. And so I always like to play the water game with myself, and I try to get my clients to learn this too. It’s like, okay, before breakfast, try to finish one water bottle. Before lunch, try to finish another one. And then with dinner, before dinner, try to finish your other one. So giving you that, okay, this is a little goal before you eat.

Yes.

Try to start with water. And with all my nutrition clients, I always say, start your day with eight ounces of lemon water.

Okay. What about electrolytes or salt? How often do you add that to water? Because I feel like I love putting a relight in my water and we’ll just do that throughout the day because it tastes better. I’m much more likely to drink more water.

Totally agree. I’m a huge fan of electrolytes, especially in the summer. I mean, we are going outside and just sweating. And if you’re exercising at all, you’re sweating, you’ve got to replenish that. Totally. And electrolytes are not just sodium. They’re potassium and magnesium, which our body needs all of these things. So I always think I’m going to drink one water bottle first. My treat is my electrolyte water.

Yeah. It does feel like that. It does.

It does. I’m like, “I cannot wait.” And then I’m like, “Can I have one more?” I try to stick with only one unless I’m marathon training, doing a lot of running or just outdoor exercise, playing with the kids or pickleball. But I do think, I mean, I suggest minimum of a hundred ounces a day, upwards of 120.

Man, I really need to. I’m like, how does my 40 ounce Owala sound if I just drink one of those? That is so terrible, but –

You can now play the water game.

I know. I’m going to have to hold myself accountable. I love sparkling water, but I feel like it doesn’t count.

It does count. I just would say, and I get this question a lot. Does this count? Yes, it counts, but you don’t want to have all of your water from sparkling water. It can lead to bloating.

Yeah, that makes sense.

So one to two sparkling water today.

I feel like that’s my treat. I’m like, ooh, an afternoon sparkling water is like my –

I love to put it in a wine glass.

Yeah!

Like a little –

And a little garnishment too.

I’m like, okay, cheers.

Yeah, exactly. I’m like-

I’ve made it till 4:00 PM. Praise God.

So true. Okay. So I know weightlifting can be intimidating. What is your advice for women who are wanting to start weightlifting?

Well, the reason I started TransFit was because I didn’t feel that women knew how to do weightlifting properly. We can cardio it up. We walk with our friends all the time. Most of the time I know even back when I was in college, I’d get on that elliptical and be brushing it on the elliptical or the bike or the spin class. But for our bodies to really be transformed and for our bones to be strong, for our joints to be healthy, and it’s something about weight training that just gives you confidence and resilience for every part of life. Just a few little starter tips for women that are looking to start weight training. So definitely start light, lean into learning form. We have to have the solid foundation. Consistency over intensity. Just show up, show up. Regular sessions. I would suggest two to three times a week would be a really great consistent start. So your body adapts slowly, but it does change. Listen to your body. I think that’s really, really important. If you feel pain, you need to stop. But if it’s hard, you want the last two to three reps to be hard. That means the muscle is changing. So that’s really what you want. And you got to celebrate the progress, not about being perfect. I think that’s a hard thing for us. I’m too a recovering perfectionist and people please. And celebrating small wins such as like, okay, I’ve made it to the parking lot today. I’m just going to walk in and then I’ll get through the workout no matter what it looks like. You’ll always feel better. I always say, Hey, give me just 10 minutes. I promise after the first 10 minutes, you’ll feel better.

Totally. Oh man, it’s so true.

The first 10 minutes of anything are hard. And then when we invite God into our fitness journey, just all the things. When we ask for strength, he says, ask and you’ll receive, ask for perseverance. And again, thank him. I mean, there’s nothing sweeter than stretching after a workout and being like, thank you, God. I mean, if that’s just the basic that you can say, give it back to him because without our health, what would we have?

Yeah. And it’s just an opportunity to talk with him. You know, and I think like everybody should be looking for more opportunities throughout the day just to have those little conversations and what better way to do it when you’re giving him praise for giving you the strength to complete that workout. And then that leads to, well, thank you for letting me get here safely.

Exactly.

And thank you for letting the next everything that then happens after that.

Exactly.

Okay. A little fashion question.

Yes.

What are your go-to favorite workout outfits that make you feel amazing?

Wow, I love that question. I love workout clothes, so this is really, really hard. I was like, oh, it’s a tough one. And as my husband’s like, what is that that just arrived again? It’s workout outfit. And I’m always like, “Which pair of black pants do you wear today?” And he’s like, “The same ones you wore yesterday.” I’m like, “Well, these are different. They have a stripe.” So anyway, I do love this brand called Crazy Yoga, and it’s basically like an align feel, similar to Lululemon, just a great price point. And you can get it from Crazy Yoga, but you can also get it from Amazon and it comes in two days. And so that’s fabulous. So nice. But I do love the aligned feel in a top or leggings or the aligned skirt for the summer too. And I’m a huge fan of when I’m personally training, when I’m working out myself, I love workout gloves. And I brought you guys some in your little goody basket. Just something about putting on your gloves just is like, I’m ready.

I agree.

I’m ready to lift.

I wear gloves to train. I love it. And I had my car in the shop for six weeks and my gloves were in the glove box.

Yeah.

And so I was training during that time without my gloves. And I kept being like, I need to just go to the dealership to just get my gloves out of the glove box. I was missing. It felt like part of my workout was not, or part of just what I needed to work out. So I’ve got my gloves back and I’m like, okay, I feel like I can go harder.

Exactly. Exactly.

Okay. So we just talked about some workout outfits, but what are five fitness products that you cannot live without right now?

Number one, a good quality water bottle.

Okay. What’s your favorite brand?

For sure. I mean, I do love a Stanley. I love a Lululemon water bottle too for different reasons. The Stanley fits in my cup holder. I do feel like I’m lifting weights with the Stanley. It’s pretty heavy, which I’m not complaining about. The Lululemon water bottle’s a little bit smaller. It has a screw on top. So depending on what I’m doing and where I’m going, I’ll switch those out. So good quality water bottle, definitely A1A, the first thing I would get. Hoka tennis shoes.

Yeah, you have your hokas on now.

Oh, yes. You never know when you might need to go out on a brain, just run or walk even for 10 minutes. So true. All different colors. And my husband says it’s my smurf outfit. So I had to wear different color shoes. I do have some blue hokas and I was like, I’m not going to be full smurf today.

My kids would love that about you.

So definitely a good pair of tennis shoes. And I just think that’s essential to anyone that’s wanting to start running, that’s the first thing you’ve got to look at. And I would definitely suggest going to the running shoe store, get them to do the foot analysis for you, because it’s just really, really important that you have the right shoe for your foot. Yeah, absolutely. Everybody’s feet are very different. I definitely say resistance bands, and those are the small circular bands because you can travel with them. I know you’re especially traveling a lot. I travel a lot, so I pop these in my car and my bag and they’re small. They don’t take up room, but you can get a great resistance workout around the ankles, around your wrist, doing some different types of pushups. So I just feel like, and they’re fun.

Yeah.

And so resistance bands would be just another just small, easy portable thing that you could bring. At Lululemon, we just got these travel yoga mats.

Okay.

I put one in your goodie bag too.

Oh, man I am like-

So I love this because it fits in my suitcase and my husband doesn’t complain about carrying my yoga mat with me everywhere we go. And it folds up and then it folds out the yoga mat. And I just feel like once you define your space, if you’re traveling, you can get a great hotel room workout in 10 to 15 minutes. But if you don’t have your defined space, probably not going to happen. So I love to just lay that out, 10 minutes of yoga or just some pushups, some body weight squats if we’re traveling and like, okay, it might not have been the exact workout that I would’ve done back home. However, something is better than nothing. And I’m staying consistent with some type of body weight, exercise, yoga. And again, for me, it’s more about the mental than it is the physical, the everyday movement of this isn’t I have to work out. It’s an I get to work out? And it’s just an offering of, thank you God for this body. I cannot wait to stretch or to do some pushups or some squats, things like that. And then my last thing, I didn’t bring this, but you guys might have one, is the weighted vest.

Okay. Tell us your favorite weighted vest because I was actually also talking with my trainer about this this morning, because I feel like that’s another thing that’s all the rave right now.

It is. And I mean, I’ve had this weighted vest for probably two years now, and I love it. What I really love about it is that I can put it on while I’m cooking dinner or I don’t have the time for an actual workout that day because maybe I’ve been working everyone else out. However, I’m changing sheets and I’m sweating because I’ve got my weighted vest on or I’m cooking dinner. My husband came in, I’ll never forget this months ago, and I’m stirring the pot. I had some weights on the ground and my weighted vestel. He’s like, “Is this the new modern housewife?” Yes, it is. Actually, you got to get it in when you can fit it in. So it’s like, hey, five minutes here, 10 minutes there, wearing the weighted vest while I’m vacuuming. That’s really helpful, but it’s so good for your bone density. Really, research shows that just even 10 minutes of walking can help strengthens your spine, your core, your quads, your ankles. The weighted vest is just amazing. Plus what I’ve noticed is I wear my heart rate monitor. I burn about 10 extra calories every minute with the weighted vest.

Wow.

So it just elevates your heart rate.

Totally.

And they say the best thing to do would be to get a weighted vest that’s 10% of your body weight. Because the first weighted vest I got was 30 pounds. And I was like, “This is so painful.” And it was like I was in the military walking down the street. And then I was like, “This cannot be right.” And so I did some more research on it years ago and I was like, “Okay, 10 pounds is perfect.” Somewhere between that 10 and 15 pound range for it’s not too much at first. It should feel like at first when you put it on, it feels like, oh, okay, I need to pull my shoulders back. I need to sit up a little taller, which is what you want. And the first 10 minutes you’re walking, you’re like, okay, this isn’t too bad. After about 10 or 15 minutes, you’re feeling it. All of a sudden you start sweating and you realize it is a great additional workout. So I mean, I have one in my car, I want it transfit. I can just throw that thing on, get in a 10-minute walk, and it’s –

Okay, this is giving me –

Yes.

I need to know where, can you get on Amazon? Is that any –

I love my Amazon weighted vest.

Okay. Might need you to send me that thing.

Mine’s pink. Love it.

Of course. Of course.

Makes me feel good when you put on pink weighted vest. Plus your neighbors are like, “Oh, that’s cute.” So I love it. 10 pounds and it’s a great added workout.

So I’ve heard that you should, when you first start with it, start, you got to work your way up to its full weight.

Well, I don’t think so. What I suggest with my clients, because the one that I have purchased, you can’t take in and out the weights. They’re just there. So I always say, “Hey, start with 15 minutes and then take it off and finish your walk.”

Okay.

And then do that for a week.

Work it.

Work the time up to your 50 minutes or whatnot. And then of course, start with it in your house for the first weeks. Just see, does it bother my back? If it does, maybe you need to get the five-pound weightedvest. And that’s okay too. You’re still adding weight, which weight-bearing exercises are so good for our bone density. Totally. We have a strict just bone strength class at TransFit for women over 50, but really any woman can come, but it’s specifically targeted to strengthen bones where a lot of them are wearing the weighted vest in class, but we’re doing a lot of stomping and these weight-bearing exercises to rebuild bone.

Yeah. No, that’s great. Okay. Adding that to my Amazon cart.

Weighted vest check.

Yes. I mean, I’ve been hearing so much and seeing people making reels that are like, “I’m in perimenopause, but I’m getting out in my weighted vest and here’s how I’m combating it,” or whatever. I’m like, “Okay, this is a thing.”

It is. It is. And a walk with a friend, it transforms that into even more of a higher cardio but lower impact workout, which I think most women, I mean, I’m a big runner, but I’m also a big walker. And I really know that there’s a place for women to do zone two walking, which that zone two is your heart rate. And I feel like putting on the weighted vest, that transforms my walk from a zone one like, oh, this is a great walk. I’m pumping, I’m talking, we’re hanging out, but I can put the vest on and immediately heart rate goes up a little bit higher into more of that zone two, which is the fat burning zone, which is what we want to get into.

Yeah. And especially if you’re getting there and then you’re there for 10 minutes every day. Again, that consistency, you’re going to just probably see your body transform, which is great.

You do. The weight training, I mean, I feel like an ideal exercise program for a woman would be to do strength training maybe Monday, Wednesday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And then maybe you’re doing that zone two cardio walking on alternate days, Tuesday, Thursday. Maybe you’re adding in a few HIIT intervals, whether that’s in your strength workout or at the end of your walk. I would love to take the vest off and do a few sprints just so that you are working to increase your VO2 max so that you’re trying to push that sprint interval training. And then I am a huge fan of stretching and yoga, trying to get that in at least one day a week.

Love that. That’s a great starting point for those of y’all who are listening that are like, okay, what’s a good formula to start with?

Yes, exactly. I think that’s great.

Okay. What’s one thing that you would say to a mom who feels like she wants to start something, but she isn’t sure she can do both as an entrepreneur and run her household and be a mom?

I love this question. And I’m sure you might hear or get this question a lot because I do often. I always would love to say, don’t let the fear of imbalance stop you from stepping out in faith because there’s not going to be the perfect time.

No.

You don’t have to figure it out perfectly. Start small like I did in my basement with Lala running in and out, all the kids coming in and out doing all the things. But really when you follow your passion and your gifts, you create space for your family and your business to flourish.

Totally.

Both of them. And like I said, I just vividly remember Lila when she was little in my basement studio gym, and she even still does this now, where she would come in, she’d make obstacle courses. And I’d be like, “Oh, well, she’s just over there.” My clients loved it. And she could see mom was working hard, doing what she loved, encouraging women. And that was a gift. And then now to be able to see them, my mom, Caitlin, be able to come and work out at TransFit together, that’s the biggest blessing I could ever have, that they’re all there together. And it’s like, my dream has come true.

Right. Well, and fear could have gotten in the way of all of that.

Yes, totally.

I mean, I think you have to bet on yourself too. And the Lord has put this desire for whoever this person might be who’s wanting to start something, not sure if they can do it. There is a reason you’re feeling like you want to do something. So it’s kind of like you really need to lean into that. What are you wanting me to do with this feeling, Lord? There has to be some kind of deep just time spent asking that question and figuring out where are you going to go from there? And then so many times, I mean, he just leads you and opens doors you don’t even know are going to open.

That’s right. And it’s not done perfectly. And I can honestly say that through the hardest parts of COVID, navigating, trying to keep TransFit open during COVID when every gym was shut down, he really equipped me. And with the just encouragement of our clients and my staff just continuing to encourage us and telling why they love TransFit.

Right.

That gave me the push to want to keep going and keep doing it. So you need these people in your life that are going to be there and encourage you and tell you, “Hey, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Hey, this is going to look different. You might have to pivot, and that’s okay.” Because I can look back over the past 15 years and say, “Wow, that was a really hard season. But you know God, you were there through it. I couldn’t see you. I didn’t feel like you were there, but you were. And wow, this is what you’ve created. This is beautiful. This is immeasurably more than I could have ever even asked for.”

Yeah, that’s such great advice. Okay. So we’re going to do a little wrap up and we’re going to do some rapid fire and encouragement questions.

Awesome.

Okay. What is your current coffee order?

Okay, so I love this high protein matcha.

Oh.

Cold foam.

Okay. Do you make it at home?

Well, I do now. Okay. Because I have realized I love the one at home better than I do at the coffee shop. And so I’ve been like, okay, here’s how you make it at the coffee shop.

Right. You’re like, let me tell you, can I just come back there?

Yeah, totally. So three ingredients. Vanilla protein powder, half of the teaspoon of matcha. This is where people go wrong. They put too much matcha and it’s bitter.

Okay.

You don’t need a lot of matcha. It’s very potent.

Okay.

And then a cup of almond milk. And you throw it in the blender or your magic bullet and you pour it over ice.

Yum.

It is so good.

And you’re getting your protein.

You’re getting your protein.

You’re getting some little energy caffeine there.

You’re getting caffeine and matcha has amazing antioxidants in it. So it’s so good for you.

Okay. I need to maybe make this my afternoon.

It’s my three or four o’clock pick-me-up. It used to be my iced coffee. In the wintertime, I would sometimes do green tea. And now I crave this and I’ve been making it and my girls now are drinking it. They had friends over at the pool. They’re like, “Will you make us the…” I mean, it’s hard to say. High protein matcha cold foam, but I’m so grateful. I’m like, “Ask me again. Sure. I’d love to. So that’s my favorite right now. I love Matcha.

What is your favorite worship song right now?

I love the song by Maverick City Music: He’s in the room. It just sets the tone. I try to put it on in the morning. I’m a big, big, big fan of morning routine.

Yeah.

And so start the day with worship music. I also do this app called the Pause App.

Okay.

I listen to it while I’m putting on my makeup, but it’s like worship music, the pause app. All right, start the day.

Yeah. And I feel like once you get in a rhythm of doing that, I listen to a devotional podcast while I’m doing my makeup. And on the days that something has happened or I’m not able to do that, I’m like, man, throughout the day, I’m like, “I really missed hearing what the devotion was today.”

Okay. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Early bird.

Yeah, me too. I need to sleep. I was telling somebody this morning, I was like, “I have to sleep, but I’ll have for you to get up early and get going.” It’s so funny, my mom was always an early riser too. And so I feel like I just saw that from her growing up. And I’m like, “That’s just who I want to be too.”

Well, and don’t you feel like too, with young kids, that I just remember once they woke up-

Oh, you’re going.

The day is done and anything for yourself, probably not going to happen. So that’s when I started this 5:30 AM workout class, which right now is one of our busiest times because it’s the one time where your child isn’t sick or they’re not calling you to pick you up from school or to bring you something that they forgot or work isn’t getting in the way. And so that early morning time for so many women, now it’s so hard to get up and to roll out. But again, just like with how you start your morning with what are you listening to? What are you starting your day with? Totally sets the tone, then it becomes a habit, and then you miss it. And you’re like, oh gosh. I mean, we call it the 5:30 AM club because we’re like, “This is a special club that you’re in when you come here.”

I know. Several of my friends go to your 5:30 and they’re like, this is the time. It’s like the cool club.” Okay. What is one word that describes your current season?

Intentional. Definitely.

I love that. That was my word of the year last year. And then when we got to this year thinking of a new word, I was like, “I’m just rolling it over because I love the word intention.” And just if you set up every day with that in mind, it can just be so beautiful.

And it’s a practice. It’s not something that we just like, oh, you don’t roll into intentionality. It takes work. I mean, the night before I’m time-blocking the next day. That’s just so helpful. But it makes me realize God wouldn’t give me more than I can handle. There’s enough hours in the day. I just have to be intentional with my time.

Yeah, so true. Okay. This question I ask everybody at the end of my podcasts, and it is, what is the most meaningful act of kindness that somebody has extended to you that has had a lasting impact on your life?

I love this question. And it really, really made me think hard about just the past 25 years of my life and what’s really left a lasting impact on me and what do I want to leave? How could I do this with people? So when I was a young mom of my three little ones under the age of four, I was overwhelmed and exhausted. This was part of the time when I was going through that really hard depressive episode and isolated as a lot of young moms do. In the middle of that season, a sweet woman from church, and I was new to church. I mean, I was just a new recent believer. She extended just a simple and powerful invitation to me. She asked me to join her for a women’s small group. And I was hesitant at first. I had never been in a small group.I’m not really familiar with the Bible. I mean, this is really new to me. And she called it squash. And I get there and she’s like, “This is the name of this group.” And it was about eight young moms all in my same season. And she didn’t want us to forget the name ever, which I haven’t, and I won’t. Every week though, she fed us, she welcomed us into her home, and she led us through really heartfelt conversations, deep conversations. And then she also taught us the Bible. And sometimes we’d do a craft just to get our mind off of the different things, but mostly we were just seeing her and she just loved us well in that hard season. And we could ask her questions. And I look back and I think that group was a lifeline for me along with those walks and just having her and then other young moms to lean on, ask real questions. Why am I feeling this way? What’s happening? So it was beautiful and hard, but it was a sacred time that I looked forward to. And at the end of it, so we met for a year, and at the end she said, “At some point, the only thing I ask of you is that you pass this on.” She said, “Start your own group.” And so that act of kindness didn’t just impact me. It created this ripple effect. And it was a legacy of love and faith and discipleship and something I want to carry on with me to this day. And I really made it a personal mission to pass it down like she asked.

That’s so beautiful. Wow. And how cool is that, that’s going to be something you always think about? And probably that group of women that you’re just connected to in a way when you’re going through something hard and then that connection happens. It’s just so special and sweet.

Well, and I’m so glad you asked that because for the past many years I’ve led college women at my house one night a week. And sometimes you feel down or you feel ill-equipped. I’m not equipped to do this.

Yeah.

What do I know compared to all these? And when you asked this question, I was like, “Nope, this is what I was meant to do. It doesn’t have to be done perfectly. The dishes can be in the sink. The kids can be all over the dog running crazy. They just want a place to be seen, known, loved, and heard.

Yeah.

And I hope I can continue to do that.

Yeah, that’s amazing. Well, this has been an episode full of so much wisdom and knowledge, and I know our listeners are going to absolutely love this. I hope this is an episode that you guys replay because I think there’s so many tidbits that can just be so helpful through many different seasons and something that people can come back to. So thank you so much for sharing your heart and just so much with us in this episode. Caroline, tell our listeners where they can find you on Instagram and where they can find TransFit.

Caroline Harris Ward on Instagram and then @TransFitAthens on Instagram and then our website, transfitathens.com. And we just launched this year our very own app, and it’s a free app, TransFit App. I worked all last year to design it with an app company because I wanted women to be able to take our workouts devotions and just this transformational fitness wherever they are and to be able to have this all over the world. That’s interesting. And so it’s free to download for now. And you can go on. On the sidebar, there’s exercises. Again, there’s devotions, there’s workouts. Wow. Nutrition, recipes, lots and lots of things. It links directly to our podcast and Instagram. And so TransFit, you can just look it up on the App Store.

Okay, that’s amazing. We will leave a link for that in the show notes. And also we’ll leave a link for your podcast because there is a TransFit podcast, which is amazing. And you’ve interviewed some lovely people in the past that have just. There’s a whole other, if you’ve enjoyed this, go listen to other things that Caroline has talked about. So we’ll link that for you guys to listen as well. But thank you just again so much for being here today.

Thanks for having me. I loved it. Now it’s time to go work out.

I know, right? All right, friends, until next time. Hi, friend. If you’re loving the show, will you go find that follow button on your podcast app? This will ensure that you won’t miss a single episode. I love having you in this community. Until next time. This season of Life with Loverly is produced by Elizabeth Evans Media Productions.