When you think of bodybuilding, you might picture Arnold Schwarzenegger or other iconic male figures. But what if we told you the most successful bodybuilder of all time is a woman? Iris Kyle has won 9 consecutive Miss Olympia titles and 10 overall wins— making her the greatest of all time in the sport. That says everything about how we've been conditioned to see strength, muscle, and athletic excellence, especially on a woman's body.

In this episode, we sit down with Jerisa Upton, an Olympian and bodybuilding coach, who gets real about the raw truth of what it takes to be a competitive athlete. The stage-lean physiques you see under competition lighting? They're achieved through extreme caloric restriction, grueling training regimens, and a mental toll that doesn't make it into the highlight reel. Looking "perfect" on stage and being healthy are not the same thing, and conflating the two has done serious damage to how women relate to their bodies, food, and fitness.

Jerisa breaks down why so many women end up chasing aesthetics at the expense of their health, how diet culture and social media have weaponized fitness against us, and what it actually looks like to train from a place of self-love rather than self-punishment. We talk body dysmorphia, finding your why, ditching the extremes (and Orange Theory), and building a sustainable relationship with movement and nutrition that serves your life.

If you've ever looked in the mirror and felt like your body was a problem to solve, this episode is your permission slip to think differently.

Find Jerisa on IG!

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