Ep. 9 - Cherry’s Story: A Journey to Wellness and Strength

00:08 - Melissa (Host)

Welcome to THIS IS MY STORY, where everyday women share their stories of struggles and setbacks that have shaped their lives. I'm your host, Melissa Teutsch. In today's episode, I talked with Cherry Hudnall, a nutrition coach and fitness trainer. After years of dealing with her own dysfunctional relationship with food and exercise and being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, she knew that in order for her life to look different, she was going to have to be willing to do something she had never done before. With God's help, she started chasing after the strongest version of herself, and her passion now is helping others do the same through her program Chasing Strong. 

00:44

This episode is an inspiring call to embrace strength over size, resilience over restriction. Our guest is on a mission to guide others towards freedom from diets, empowerment after setbacks and the decision to never surrender no matter the challenges. Join us for an authentic conversation about the power of patience, consistency and the unwavering belief that it's never too late to start chasing strong. Before we jump into today's episode, don't forget to follow us on our social media and subscribe to us wherever you listen to your podcast. You can find all our social media links, as well as more information about us at ThisIsMyStoryPodcast.com. 

01:28 - Cherry (Guest)

My name is Cherry and this is my story. 

01:32 - Melissa (Host)

You know I was looking over what you had sent to me, what you'd written about. You know your early experiences and thought processes with health and wellness and you know when we met we were early 20s, early mid 20s. I don't know exactly where you were in that process, but it's crazy to me because I looked at you as somebody to try to be like like. I know I constantly would come to you and be like. You know, how do you do this? How do you find the motivation for this? How do you? Because you know you were always seem to be eating healthy and working out and had what I perceived as a great body and a great mindset about it. So maybe that wasn't the case. Obviously there was definitely some internal struggles going on there. But before we get into that adulthood, can you take me back to high school, to your early experiences with health and wellness and what was your motivation as a high school girl? 

02:31 - Cherry (Guest)

Yes, so my interest in health and wellness definitely started like way back in junior high and high school, but it was for all the wrong reasons and you know I'm 43 now, so I'll just put that out there. So that was a long time ago, junior high and high school. It started ways back and so I had this goal that I wanted to create like a smaller version of myself. So even when you met me during that time, like you know, I was into health and wellness, but my motivation was really off really, and that was kind of the same as when I was in junior high and high school as well. I would compare myself to my friends and in my mind they were all smaller than me and I'm not a small girl anyway, I'm 5'10", you know like I'm not small by any means, but I just always wanted to be basically skinnier. And so I became really obsessed with the scale and I felt like it had to say a certain number, and if it said a certain number, then that would kind of like make me happier, I would feel better about myself, maybe be more popular, and so what I started doing at such a young age really I felt like what most of us think is that if I want the scale to go down, then there's two things that I have to do. So how I carried out those two things throughout the years always kind of looked different. Like how I carried them out was a little different, but it was essentially the same two things, which was eat less food and exercise more. And so I constantly was just in that battle of always trying to do less food, more exercise to get the scale where I wanted it to be, and unfortunately I never was satisfied. I just always thought I needed to be better and I could never get the scale. I was never happy with what the scale said and the scale really dictated whether or not I was going to have a good day or a bad day. And that really lasted up until that was still going on when you and I met because, Josh, my husband, we got married young, so we were married when we were 20. 

04:39

And about a year into our marriage I was like really miserable with myself. I was tired of this dysfunctional relationship that I had with food and exercise, but I didn't really know how to fix it because you know, a lot of people just didn't talk about these kind of things. All I ever knew was that I kind of felt like everyone was always going on diets and we were supposed to exercise a lot. I thought the things that I was doing was what I was supposed to be doing, but in addition to that, I was miserable and I started praying about it to God because I thought you know, lord, I don't want my whole life to be like this. Like I'm always restricting my calories Every Monday, I'm starting over, I feel guilty every time I eat food, and then I feel like I have to spend endless amounts of time doing cardio, basically, and nothing's really changing. I'm not happy. 

05:37

I feel like what needs to change, and so the Lord really started working on my heart during that time so probably around the time that we did know each other is when I did start working on some of those things, and some of the stuff was that I finally had to let go of the scale and stop obsessing over that. And something that the Lord really impressed on my heart was you know, what I had to learn was that. You know I felt like he was saying to me was that you know your value, what you're worth, what you have to offer, has nothing to do with that number that's on the scale. And so that was a really big moment for me and I was like, okay, like I'm going to have to consciously choose to not let that rule my life because it was so insignificant, but yet I was treating it as very significant. 

06:26

Like everybody cared, this was the most important thing when it wasn't, and then also food had become the enemy as well. So I had, you know everything. Every time I ate I would feel guilty, all the time, you know. And so finally, I kind of had to just wipe that slate clean and I just decided I thought you know what? If God created it, I'm going to eat it and I'm not going to feel guilty about it. 

06:51

You know, because we have all these food rules. 

06:53

I had lots of food rules and what was good and what was bad, and I finally decided to let that go. And so that was kind of the start of me really the Lord working on my heart and really trying to heal all this dysfunction that I have lived in for so many years. But then that's kind of when the second part of my story kind of began, because my husband and I Josh, we had twin boys. When I was in the hospital with them is when I got an infection and got really sick and then I was later diagnosed with a autoimmune disorder. So I don't know if you want to talk about that now, but that is kind of you know kind of how like I had had this dysfunctional relationship with food all this time and then I thought I was doing better and then it was kind of like bam, like this other big thing happened in my life which kind of caused me to kind of come crippling down again. So where I thought I was getting stronger, it kind of exposed a lot of weaknesses of mine. 

07:47 - Melissa (Host)

So there was what about four or five years there that you felt like you had gotten kind of changed your mindset a little before you had the boys. 

07:55 - Cherry (Guest)

Yes, yes, and I felt better. So I thought, okay, like I'm on the path to like really, you know, changing this mindset and doing better. And then when I got sick, that's kind of like when, like I really realized that I had still a lot more to work on, because this period of my life this was almost like a 10 year period then was when it became really the darkest days for me. It's hard to talk about two sometimes, just because I think about how sad I was during that time. This is when I really let fear kind of rule my life, and when you let fear make every decision for you, it's a really miserable place to be in, because I became scared to do almost anything, because I never knew how my body was going to react. I didn't know, like I thought I could eat anything and then I could end up in the doctor's office again and that always scared me. So then food all of a sudden becomes the enemy again, because I don't know what I can have and what I can't, not knowing how my body is going to react, basically. And so I just started like I treated my body like it was so fragile. It was almost like I was walking on eggshells in my own body, you know, like one wrong decision at any moment and I'm going to end up back in the doctor's office. And I didn't like that because I got tired of being at doctor's offices, I got tired of, you know, waiting by the phone for the doctor to call, and then also I just became I just started really isolating myself as well, because I don't know anyone that has a chronic illness. It becomes very difficult to explain it to other people when other people have, if they have not experienced it in themselves, and if they cannot see it, then they have a really hard time understanding it as well. And so that was really difficult to me, and so you know. 

09:49

So I had this autoimmune disorder is what I was diagnosed with and it was just a really long path to figure out, like, first off, just what was wrong with me and then, once we started figuring it out, what I was going to do to actually get better. And so it was Some trying times, and not just for me to always feel for people who do have chronic illnesses, because it's not just hard on the person too, but also on the family as well, because it's hard for them to understand sometimes, kind of you know, like what you're going through. And so I had got Really in this dark spot because I just didn't know what to do to get better. And so, since fear was really the driving force in my life, I became really weak, not just physically but also mentally as well, and I just I didn't know what to do to pull myself out of it. And so what ended up happening was this was eight years went by and then our surprise edition came into our family. 

10:50

I got pregnant, and that was a surprise. And so then, a year later, when I had him oh, and you know what I need to back up a second before I talk about when I had my youngest child, because what's interesting is when I was actually so sick and I couldn't eat very much food, I'd actually lost a lot of weight and For the first time in my life, the scale finally said what I'd always wanted it to say, and I was miserable. And so that was kind of like a big Aha moment for me, because I thought, wait, I thought this number was kind of like the answer To all my problems. And here I finally weigh this amount and I'm not happy, and so that was kind of like a big moment for me just to even realize that. 

11:34 - Melissa (Host)

And so then, you say it's hard to. It's hard to really tell people exactly what's going on when it's a illness they can't see. So can you try to explain what was happening? Like, what were the like? It sounds like you didn't actually. You obviously didn't know. It was a lot of immune disease right off the bat. So what was happening? And then what was? Was it only certain types of foods that were causing problems? Once you identified that it was autoimmune? So can you just walk me through that? 

12:04 - Cherry (Guest)

Yeah, it was so in the beginning my symptoms I would break out in halves from like head to toe like really bad, where it was hard to control them. So I would have to go to the doctor, usually to get shots, and they could never explain why. It was just really weird, so like I would eat things that I had always eaten before. But then I would break out and they said, well, I guess you're allergic. And that's kind of all they would tell me at the beginning and I was like, well, I've never been allergic to it before. It was really weird. And then another symptom that I had was really bad acid brief love. That as a symptom. When you tell people that a lot of the times they're like, okay, well, I have acid brief love, but it really be, you know. And so later in life, when I found a good doctor later, he actually did a test on me to find out how much acid was in my suffocates and of all the people he's dealt with, he said mine was the worst you'd ever seen and it was really bad. And so and he was like that's bad. I said I know that's why I'm here, so because it's really terrible. 

13:06

And I had a lot of GI issues as well, and so it's like my body, it just it's almost like the way I described it for years. It was almost like the light switch went out. It was like I was fine one minute, I had a very healthy pregnancy, and then all of a sudden it's like the light switch went out. My auto, my immune system was like I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Basically, it didn't know what to do, so it was like it was confused, and so it's hard to explain those kind of things to people, because, you know, even my husband, josh, he would say it sometimes because you know, if someone has like a broken leg or something, you could see it right. 

13:38

But the things I had going on was more internal, and so it's hard for people to be like, oh, how bad could it really be, you know. 

13:46

And so I just I got really tired of Going to different doctors, sitting on that people who deal with chronic illnesses, and when you have to sit by phone all day waiting on a doctor to call you back, like it gets old really quickly, and you get tired of not feeling good either and it's like you just want to feel better. And so you know people, everyone was super sweet to me, so like I can't blame it on anyone, but I just isolated myself really because I was just so frustrated with the situation in general Because I just I did not like what I was having to deal with and I got tired of having to explain it, you know, all the time to people because I almost it's like they wanted it an answer for why. And I was like, well, I wanted cancer for a while, but I don't have one, you know, and I, and that point in time I didn't know what to do about it either. 

14:36 - Melissa (Host)

So how long did it take before you got a diagnosis? 

14:39 - Cherry (Guest)

about five years so it's a five-year going to, yes, of a bunch of doctors, I mean, all over the place, and it got very frustrating because a lot of them didn't know what to do, so they would just try to kind of throw medicine at me, basically just hoping that that would fix it. You know, I'm not against medicine by any means, I'm very thankful for medicine, but it was just not what I needed, you know. So it took you five years before I found a doctor who we really started kind of trying to get to the root Calls of it all. That was a good day. I was like it was one of the first days where I thought like okay, I think we're, we're gonna make progress here, like there's hope, there's hope. 

15:18 - Melissa (Host)

Did you get everything straightened out before you had rex, or were you still trying to like work through your health problems? 

15:25 - Cherry (Guest)

I was so much better, you know, so much better by the time I was got pregnant with him but not, Like, not my old self by any means, though it was not a hundred percent, obviously, you know. But you know I was better. But I had learned a lot of tools too, and that was what really helped me the most. The doctor like taught me so many things, because with the autoimmune disorder it is chronic but it's not. I guess in the beginning I was hoping that I would kind of always go back to the person that I always was, and then I kind of learned that that Really wasn't what was probably gonna happen. Like you know, I have the tools now that I can kind of, when I do have an episode or something happens or a flare up, I kind of know what to do now and I don't have to be so like afraid, like kind of like walking on eggshells, you know. But nowadays I'm like remarkably better, and I think a lot of that has to do with what I do today too is working on mindset too and just not letting fear, you know, rule my life. 

16:19

I was a lot better by that time I got pregnant with Rex. But once I got pregnant with him and then, of course, I gained weight Because I had lost a lot of weight. But then I mean, obviously I was pregnant, so I gained weight and so after I had him, I needed to lose some weight at that point, and that's when, you know, I was still miserable. Like I remember talking to Josh and being like what am I gonna do? Like I'm just, I'm so tired of this food. Exercise my weight, like why does my whole life seem to be revolved around this in a very negative way? You know, I'm like there's got to be more to life than this, you know. So that was kind of where I was at once I had Rex. 

17:03 - Melissa (Host)

You said you allowed fear and self pity to take over, like how did you change your mindset? How did you break free of those feelings? 

17:10 - Cherry (Guest)

That's a good question. So that's kind of what happened next was. It's kind of funny. Josh loves this story because it's one story where he Ended up being right and I was wrong. 

17:19 - Melissa (Host)

He's the hero of the story. 

17:21 - Cherry (Guest)

He was the hero of the story, exactly and so he said you know, I'm just like you know. In my mind, exercise up until that point had always been like endless amounts of cardio. That's what I felt, like you know I had to do to lose the leg and I vividly remember following you to spin class for a while. 

17:41

Like all the things. And Josh told me. He said you know, I think you might need to try lifting weights, and I said that is ridiculous. I said that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I am not going to lift weights, I already know what I need to do, I just need to do it. And so he didn't pressure me or anything, but he just said all right, and so we would kind of go on. Well, nothing changed for me, my situation stayed the same, so my mindset stayed the same. I didn't take any action to change anything, and so I would. Still was having this pity party for myself and I would bring it up to Josh every now and then and he would say well, I mean, you could try lifting weights, like. 

18:21

I said because he was lifting weights. And so finally I was like you know what? I'm tired of him saying that, and so I'll try it his way, so that I can show him that it doesn't work, and then we'll figure out what I really need to do. So I told him, I said OK, you know what, I will go with you to lift weights, but I just want you to know that I'm not going to like it. And he was like OK, great, I'm glad you're coming. And so I went, and that day it was the scariest day. I don't even remember what I did when I went that time, but I just remember it being like the hardest thing I felt like I'd ever done in my life. 

19:01

And it's just crossfit or just lifting weights? It was crossfit, yeah, it was crossfit, and I was which seems scary by itself. Exactly. 

19:10

Seems scary by itself. It was, and I was embarrassed too. Nobody made me feel embarrassed, but I was embarrassed in my own mind because I just thought I was like wow, I did not realize that I had let myself go as much as I had and I had become so weak-minded and fragile that my body was also weak and fragile and I hated that I had let myself get into that spot. But that day when I left as hard as it was and as embarrassing as it was I think a lot of people especially I see a lot of people in today's world when things get hard, we stop. We're like, oh, this is too hard, I can't do this, I need to do something else. But something in my mind that day, I was like I have to go back. I was like I'm going to have to go back and it was almost like a dread too. I was like I'm going to have to go back Because I just felt like I didn't want to. It was terrifying, but I was going to have to do it again and I felt like that's what the Lord wanted me to do. So this is when the Lord really used weightlifting to start really pulling me out of this self-pity, this pit that I had been in for so long and a mental shift started happening for me, and so one thing that I told myself was I was like, ok, I don't like where I'm at right now, but the only way to get to where I want to be is I have to start with where I'm at right now and I just have to consistently keep showing up. And if I do that, eventually I was positive that something would change, like I had bought into it enough to where I was, like I'm going to be committed to the process. I don't really know what the outcome's going to be, but I believe that if I do this for long enough and I just keep showing up and putting in the work, even on the days that I don't see change happening, because there's lots of days like that where you put in a lot of work and you're like, was that even worth it? Like did anything even happen? But I just believe that things were happening, even if I couldn't see it. 

21:23

I didn't get good for a long time, in fact. I mean I still have so many things to work on, like I wouldn't even say good, but I'm like improvements were so small and a lot of the times with clients that I work with. Now, they want to do good things for a couple weeks and really change their life, and I'm like I need you to have the perspective of months and years. And that's where I had to change my mindset. I was like I'm just going to keep showing up, and after months and even years of working with the Lord, I felt like what he was trying to tell me all along, because I was doing things that I never thought possible for myself, and I felt like he was telling me he was saying, Cherry, you are stronger and capable. I created you stronger and capable to do more than what you have been given yourself credit for for so many years, and I need you to see that. And he used weightlifting to really help me to start seeing that I was capable for more. 

22:28

And so that is when my perspective and my mindset started switching from. I was like I have to stop chasing after the smallest version of myself and I've got to start chasing after the strongest version of myself. And that is ultimately what I'm doing today and then what I'm helping other people do too, and what my program that I do now with the name has come from and all I went through all those years. Obviously that's just a very short kind of like Cliff Nets version. It's hard as it was. I'm thankful for it because God's been able to turn it into something good and then, ultimately, like it, shaped the person who I am now. And the best part is just learning more of who God is Like, what he is capable of doing in your life. If you allow him to work in those areas that are really dark in your own life and hurtful, and then you allow him to come in and reshape those, it's a very freeing feeling. So that is when my mindset really started to shift there. 

23:36 - Melissa (Host)

Do you still have any restrictions on your diet from your autoimmune disease Like did that? Did any of those changes help? I know that it can't be cured, but did it help with the? 

23:49 - Cherry (Guest)

symptoms. So much I am still careful with what I eat. My diet, compared to some peoples, probably does look different, but I am careful. But I always tell people I'm like if you knew me back years ago when I was really sick. Compared to what I eat now, it's like night and day. So really, my diet is so much more of a variety now than what it used to be and so, yes, I am still careful, but it is not like it used to be. 

24:20 - Melissa (Host)

So how many calories a day do you eat? Or do you even track? 

24:22 - Cherry (Guest)

it so much more than I used to. Well, macro tracking is a tool that I do work with a lot of my clients. I really don't believe it's something that people should have to do long term if they don't want to, but I really like to help teach people that, just so that they can relearn how much food they actually need. Because most of the time we're all just guessing and we're like, well, I don't really know what I need to feel my best, and so I try to help teach people that. To take the guesswork out, I'm like let's actually see on paper and then you apply it to your life, how much you actually need, and so then you can start seeing it on your plate like what it should actually look like. And then, once you learn that skill, then you can start practicing intuitive eating. 

25:06

And so I actually wish I would have tracked macros when I was younger. It wouldn't have been healthy if I would have done it back then, but I would have been interested to know how much I was not eating compared to what I do now. I do know that I remember in high school I put myself on a diet one time where I was only allowed 15 fat grams a day and that is scary, Like that is unhealthy and terrible. When I think about it now I'm like I cannot even believe I do that. And now I eat close to 80 to 100 fat grams a day and my body composition now is better than it was in high school and there back then I was trying to limit my fat grams, so that's not the problem. Obviously I try to teach people that. So nowadays I eat well over 2,000 calories a day. 

25:56 - Melissa (Host)

How often do you work out now? Because I know when I first met you it was at least an hour of cardio. I believe you were doing a day. Oh yeah, it's not more Probably every day too. Like I never thought I could do this. 

26:10 - Cherry (Guest)

And if someone came up in life and I felt like that was going to interfere with my exercise, like that was going to be a problem, I could not exercise and so, but nowadays it's completely different. I love exercising, not out of obligation, you know, because it's because I love it, it's for the opportunity, in order to get stronger, and I love to try to go to I love lifting weights at least three days a week. Usually, four is usually what I try to do, but there's a lot of balance there. So, like, sometimes life happens right and I might cannot get in three days, I might can only do two, and I'm okay with that. 

26:51

So something that I work with people on a lot was something that I had to work on myself with for a long time was letting go of the all or nothing mentality. So, like so many times, I'll speak for myself. So I always felt like if I couldn't do everything, but I'm not going to do anything because the middle of the road is nothing in my opinion. You know, I felt like it didn't do anything, and so actually what I encourage people to do is I'm like there are going to be times in your life when you can do more, and then there's going to be times in your life when you have to do less. But doing less of something is always better than doing nothing at all, and those small somethings that you continue to try to do, even when your life is really busy, they actually add up over time and really have a really positive benefit on your health, and a lot of people have a hard time wrapping their mind around that. 

27:43

I know I did for a long time, but now I'm a firm believer in it and so, yes, I do have like goals each week of what I want to do, but I try to remain flexible and realize, like I mean, I have a job, I have children, I'm a wife, like things are going to happen, and throw my plan. 

28:00

You know where it's I have to completely change it and be flexible and it's it feels good to be okay with that and be like you know what, if I have to exercise a little less this week, or if my diet is a not exactly how I think it should be this week, it's okay. It's not going to change my health and just turn everything for the worst when things don't go according to plan for a day or even a week. You know it's more about what you do consistently long term, and so that's what I try to teach people. It's like it's all about consistency and I, you know, really trying to help people find something that they enjoy doing as well. And so, because I always tell people, I'm like, if I try to tell you to do something that you hate, how long are you going to stick with it? Not very long, and I said the key to your health and feeling good about something is finding something that you enjoy doing, that you can consistently do long term, and what that looks like for each person is completely different. 

28:58 - Melissa (Host)

I know that I hate cardio and so if you're like all you need to do is lift weights, I would be like easy sold, that's not a problem. But I've also read a lot of stuff about women needing having different exercise needs than men paramedic puzzle needing having different. You know which is the age range where we? Are those early 40s having different exercise needs. So what can you say about that? 

29:25 - Cherry (Guest)

So, yes, I definitely agree with that. You know, when it comes to paramedic pause and menopause, we do have to be more intentional with our habits when it comes to our health, and there's things that we need to do, and you know a lot of women during this time. We really dread this time and it doesn't have to be that way. You know, like you can really thrive during this season of life. But there are things that we need to do. We need to take action and because if you just sit back and do nothing and hope for the best, it's probably not going to work in your favor. That rarely ever does. So there's things that we need to do. The first one's pretty obvious, because we've talked about this a lot already. So lifting weights, of course, is super important. 

30:10

As we get older, we do start to lose muscle and you don't want to lose muscle and there's lots of reasons why you want to keep your muscle, but one of the reasons is like your skeletal muscle is kind of like your insurance policy, so that you can keep your independence as you get older, and I don't know what person doesn't want that. 

30:32

I mean, we all want to be able to take care of ourselves. As we get older, we want to be able to do the things that we want to do, and we want to feel good while we're doing it, and so resistance training will help to preserve that muscle mass and that skeletal muscle, and so if you don't use it, you'll lose it, and so weight training becomes very valuable, and to me it's kind of like a non-negotiable during this part of our life. And then some other things that we need to be focusing on. We need to be focusing on stress management. We need to focus on making sure that we're getting good sleep. We also need to make sure that we are staying hydrated and drinking plenty of water, and I'll just go and say this here too, because a lot of women, when I first start working with them and you know everyone's different in how much water they need to drink. 

31:22

But usually they're always like I cannot drink that much water. 

31:26

I do not like water and I'm like well, have you ever thought about flavoring it? And they're like oh well, I didn't know that counted and it counts. So it most definitely counts. So I flavor my water. It makes it taste so much better. 

31:40

So if you have to flavor your water to make sure that you're drinking enough and staying hydrated, do it, and so definitely that's one of the things that we need to be paying attention to. You know, just a basic number that can kind of help people get started. I think like the minimum that people should start with is half your body weight, so that's usually what I suggest. So let's say, though, that you're only drinking 20 ounces a day, then I wouldn't expect you to, just tomorrow, drink half your body weight, or you know whatever that is. So if someone's not drinking very much, I have them gradually increase over time, because that makes it more doable, right? So that's kind of the best way to look at that. In addition to staying hydrated, you want to make sure that you're moving enough, and one of the best ways to do that is by walking, and walking actually helps to reduce stress, and when you reduce stress, guess what? You start sleeping better. So you can kind of see how all these habits are kind of intertwined. They all are interconnected, they all kind of play off of each other. 

32:46

The other foundational piece that I really wanted to talk about this is a pretty big one, and it's nutrition, obviously. And there's a couple things here that I feel like women, our age, like we really kind of miss the marks. I want to make sure that I touch on these. So number one is protein making sure that you're getting plenty of protein. So all the macronutrients are important. You need carbohydrates, you need fats and you need protein. You don't need to miss any of the macros. But the reason why I talk about protein so much is because carbs and fat most people don't have to think about those. They're very easy to get in the diet. Protein seems to be the one that is more difficult, and so we have to be more intentional about that one, and it's important because protein, as well as resistance training, help to preserve that skeletal muscle that we are trying to keep as we get older. So definitely make sure you're eating enough protein. 

33:47

Second is this is one of the biggest things that I think for women really miss the mark in our age bracket is that we're like chronic dieters and so we spend most of our life on a diet and so, and then we take small breaks. I mean, I used to live my whole life doing this, so I totally understand. But what they'll do is like, if it's a holiday or a special occasion and they're like, oh, I'm take a little break, but on Monday I'm going to start back on my diet. And your metabolism and your hormones do not like that. And so you know I can't tell you how many women, when they turn 40, they get frustrated and they say you know, I turn 40, my metabolism slowed down, I can't lose weight like I used to. It's so frustrating. And then I usually have to kind of come in and deliver the hard truth. 

34:36

I guess, and I'll say well, your metabolism probably has slowed down, may have slowed down a little bit, but more than likely it doesn't have much to do with your age and it probably has more to do with that. You've been dieting for way too long. So what we need to do is to get you out of this diet phase and we need to get you into a maintenance phase. And so maintenance is learning, and this is where you should be spending the majority of your life as in a maintenance phase, and so maintenance is learning how to give your body what it needs every day in order to do all the things that it needs to do, and you feel great, and so your metabolism and your hormones. 

35:20

They love them, and this is something that I need to point this out as well, because we had talked earlier about. You were asking me you know how much food I eat and stuff. So how much I eat and what my body needs is going to be different than how much you eat and what your body needs, and so each person has to realize that they are unique. So it's important that you find out for you what works best for you, what your body needs and what you enjoy doing, and so when we pay attention to these habits, these foundational pieces, when we're in perimenopause and menopause, it doesn't have to be so scary, and we can actually we really can thrive during this time. I really believe that. 

36:07 - Melissa (Host)

So how long should we be walking? Should we be doing steps, like you know, so many steps a day? 

36:12 - Cherry (Guest)

Or should we be doing so? 

36:13 - Melissa (Host)

many miles. 

36:15 - Cherry (Guest)

Well, and so I usually get people to track steps, just because that's the easiest thing, you know. So if you have something like a Fitbit or a Garmin or something like that or Apple Watch and track your steps, usually 8,000 is like sufficient. But if you're consistently doing 4,000 a day, then I never tell someone to be like, okay, let's start by doing 8,000. I would say, let's start, let's try to do 5,000 a day, and then we just gradually go up, you know, and so usually the number is like 8,000 to 10,000. But you know, I try to tell people too, there's nothing magical in the steps. It's not just like, oh, if I do 10,000, like everything is going to be, you know, go my way. It just is a good way to be able to gauge, like, if you're moving up every day, because some people that I've worked with didn't really like walking and I said, well, you can ride a bike or you can row, they like to row. And they said, well, you know, it's not picking up my steps, so I don't know how much I'm moving. So I would just say, like, well, it's not about steps, so like, for every 10 minutes that you're moving, like, count that as 1,000 steps, basically you know. So it's really just a good indicator just to get people to start moving every day, because that's something that I preach about too. 

37:28

It's like if you're working out, if you go to the gym for one hour a day and you're working really hard and then the rest of the day you're being sedentary, then you're kind of missing the point, because really the whole point is to stay moving. You know working out is really important, but throughout the rest of the day we shouldn't just be sitting. You know we need to move, even if you you know you don't have to get all those steps in one time. I'm like go outside and walk for five minutes, like that's awesome If you have to do it in five minute inquiry, or if you have 10 minutes, go outside and walk After I eat dinner. A lot of the times I love to go outside and just walk for 10 minutes and it makes me feel so much better Like I love it. I just encourage people that you know it doesn't matter how small it is, it can really have a huge impact on your health. 

38:17 - Melissa (Host)

So what advice would you give to those who are in the mindset that high school cherry was in, or even young adult cherry Like. What advice would you give them if they've? You know they're really. They're hyper focused on the number, on the scale. They're super restrictive with their diet. They're you know they're jumping from diet to diet, you know, every week, or every month. What advice would you give them? 

38:46 - Cherry (Guest)

So I actually spoke to a junior high class not too long ago. We were speaking about some of these things and I thought if I could go back, if someone would have told me some of the things that I know now, would have been so grateful. And so back at that age, one of the things that I told them is that I wanted them to know is that it's really important to know that their value and their worth has nothing to do with the number that's on the scale, and so that's extremely important to realize. And because a lot of the times we feel like that whatever is staring back at us when we're looking at that scale, that it's almost a reflection of who we are, and that could not be further from the truth. And then also I was talking to them about the importance of some of the things that they can do now. That would really actually put people like me out of business. I told them. I said really. 

39:39

I do two things these days. This is what I do is I help people learn how much they need to eat and how important it is, like the food that they're eating. And then I help people learn how to lift weights. And so for them I said at such a young age, like you guys already need to be learning like how to lift weights, like you know, hopefully they're teaching that you know in part of the curriculum at your school, and so it's really important to start lifting weights now. 

40:04

And then, as you get older and life gets really busy, like when you go to college, don't stop. When you become a mom and life gets really busy, or if you, you know, are really busy in your career like don't stop, like keep lifting weight. It's extremely important and I was not taught that back then. I wish I was. If I knew like the importance of doing that resistance type training could have on my body, it really would have, you know, made such a huge difference. And then also for young kids, because anyone under the age of 21,. I don't recommend for them to count macros because I think that's just a little bit too tedious and I don't want them to be hyper focused, like almost numbers, and so for them, as parents, I feel like it's all about teaching them how to build a balanced plate, and so, literally looking at your plate like if you look at your plate and it's all bread, then you're missing all the other favorites. 

41:06

And so unfortunately, you know like we all love. I said you can have bread, it's fine, but make sure there's like some vegetables, there's some protein on there, like make sure it's colorful. So, just trying to build a healthy, balanced plate and your meals not consist of, like, only candy, you know things like that. And so that's really I said, if you I was speaking to girls back then I said if you girls would start thinking about those type of things now, just building a healthy, balanced plate, then you'll learn the skills that you need to work. When you're my age, you won't be having to try to undo a lot of the things that I had done, that I had learned all this dysfunctional type of thinking that I have learned back then, and I'm having to like build a better way, and so I really hope that the next generation is going to know more and a better way than what a lot of us did, so that they don't have to struggle like we have with our way. 

42:01

And learning like what is healthy and that's really what I'm in the business of doing now is like I want to help take away, like I want people to see that it doesn't have to be complicated, like you can be healthy, I think a lot of people want to be healthy, they want to change their health, they want their life to look different, but it's overwhelming to them and they don't even know what to do to get there. Like, what's the first step? What do I need to do? Because if you read on social media, watch television or ask your best friend or whatever, everyone has a different answer. They're like will you take this or don't take this, or you got to do this diet, and it doesn't have to be complicated. And so I'm really working with people to help them like build the foundation, like those foundational pieces of health and wellness, nutrition, your fitness, so that when you start implementing these daily habits and you do them consistently, long term and you enjoy doing them. That is the path to get you to feeling your best. 

43:12 - Melissa (Host)

I know you named your business Chasing Strong, and I love the little analogy you said about I can't remember exactly, I didn't write it down, but you know, not chasing being skinnier, but chasing being stronger now, and so I love that name. 

43:27 - Cherry (Guest)

Stop chasing the smallest version of myself and started chasing after the strongest version. 

43:32 - Melissa (Host)

Yeah, I love that. Thank you. If someone wants to work with you, can you only take clients in person? If you only take clients from Louisiana I know you're in Louisiana. That's the process, look like. 

43:46 - Cherry (Guest)

Well, actually I work with everyone remotely, so it's all done online, and so I have one-on-one clients, and you can look on Instagram or Facebook. It's under my name, Cherry Hudnall, and it shows you how to sign up, but one-to-one, and everything's customized, because there's no cookie cutter program. We're all individuals, we're all unique, so what works for you will not work for the next person, and so I really help each person figure out what's going to work for them so that they can get closer to the goals that they have set for themselves. I'm also if someone is not interested in nutrition and they're just interested in the weightlifting part of it, I am certified in programming as well, and I'm a personal trainer too, and so I can write weightlifting programs for people as well. So I love doing that too. 

44:35

And then also something that's coming in the future that I'm about to have my first one and then I'll open up more later is some group coaching. So I love group and individual for different reasons. But one fun thing about group is I can coach more people at one time and you get to do it with your friends, so it's kind of fun to have that extra encouragement and accountability, and I feel like that way, maybe I could help more people at once too, because I really want to be able to make a bigger impact and be able to help more people, because I just know for so long I was just stuck in this old mindset and it felt so hopeless, and I feel like a lot of people still have that same mindset when it comes to their health, and I want people to understand that it doesn't have to be that way, If somebody was going to work with you. 

45:24 - Melissa (Host)

is there like a set time period, like so many months that you suggest, or that's like a minimum? 

45:30 - Cherry (Guest)

Well, I usually say that it's a three month minimum, and when I work with people, so even if we only work together for three months, you know, anytime someone starts a program especially if it's like nutrition or fitness in their mind they have like there's a beginning and there's an end, right? 

45:49

Well, usually when the end comes, people just go back to the beginning, they go back to what they were doing, and so my hope is I encourage them. 

45:57

I said I really, even if we only end up working together for three months, I hope you think of this as just the beginning of the rest of your life, because that's really what this is. I'm hoping that I'm able to share with you, like these daily habits that we can get you to start incorporating in your life, that you can carry on throughout the rest of your life. And so when you're trying to change your health, it will actually more than likely take way longer than three months. It's going to take months and months, and so I'll work with anyone as long as they want me to. I love it and to me, the longer you can be coached and have that encouragement and the accountability, the better. But even just three months can make such a huge difference as well. So but I do always require a three month commitment just because it takes that long to kind of get in the groove, so to speak. 

46:52 - Melissa (Host)

Well, this is awesome and it's so. You know, I would have said from like day one, when I met you, I would have been like, of course, cherry would be a nutrition coach and fitness trainer, like that makes complete sense. So to the fact that it was 20 years later or so before that actually happened, but I know it was a journey for you that needed to happen so that you could be the best at what you do, and it sounds like you've made a lot of progress with that. Hopefully, some people are inspired by this. I know I am Like. 

47:25

Now I'm like I need to go lift some weights. 

47:27 - Cherry (Guest)

Well, I love it. I'm so glad that you want to lift weights you know, of course, that I love that and I'm so glad that you found today helpful. Today was really a huge blessing for me as well, so I really appreciate you asking me to be here, and I hope other people will find this helpful. And I guess you know, if someone just takes away one thing from today, I really hope that you know it's this like. Don't let what you think you know keep you from being open to the possibility that there may be another way, a better way, and be willing to get a little uncomfortable. You know, allow God to come into your life and really work on those areas and show you that you are more than capable. I truly believe that, that you are more than capable. So thanks for having me here today. It's been awesome. 

48:14 - Melissa (Host)

Well, thank you so much for doing this. Thanks for joining us today on THIS IS MY STORY. To work with Cherry or to follow her for more insights on fitness and nutrition. You can find her on Instagram under the handle Cherry Hudnell. You can also find her links in today's show notes. If you enjoyed today's episode and want to hear more inspiring stories, make sure to hit the subscribe button, and don't forget to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. This has been Cherry's Story. What’s yours?