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

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

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

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

What's Discussed:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Check out Broads FREE nutrition resources:

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

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

Find more from Broads:

Website: https://www.broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

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

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

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from JJ Virgin:

Website: https://jjvirgin.com/

Facebook: JJ Virgin

Instagram: @jj.virgin      

YouTube: @jjvirginvideos

Tiktok: @reignitewellness

Pinterest: @jjvirgin

X: @jjvirgin

Got Questions: delphi.ai/jj-virgin

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

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

JJ Virgin Programs: 

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

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

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

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

What's Discussed:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Find out more from Broads:

Website: www.broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

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

Resources Mentioned:

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

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: www.taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Did you know that emotional eating is one of the hardest types of addiction that’s difficult to overcome? Many women are unaware that they’re an emotional eater because we simply call it cravings or food noise when in reality, we are using food to numb the things out.  

If food became a central part of your life to make you feel better but it is also starting to affect your health, derails your fitness goals, and makes you further beat yourself for “not getting it right”, the problem might be not your willpower but the structure around it. 

We go deeper into this in the latest episode of Broads about emotional eating. We also discuss when to know if you are an emotional eater, why you tend to crave food and eat more at night, and why willpower, meal plans and another diet style is not the solution for an emotional problem.

Tricia Nelson is an Emotional Eating Expert and founder of Heal Your Hunger programs designed for people who want to break free from the food that was once a source of their comfort but took over their lives. 

After decades of battling her own emotional eating, binge eating shame, and deep isolation, Tricia has turned her healing journey into a roadmap for women who are ready to stop fighting food and start understanding it.

What's Discussed:

• (5:06) The biggest misconception about emotional eating.
• (6:16) The #1 mistake women make when trying to stop binge eating.
• (8:31) True or false: If you just eat clean, emotional eating goes away.
• (9:29) The wellness trend that's actually a trap for emotional eaters.
• (11:03) How to slowly break free from scale dependency.
• (14:30) How to know if you're an emotional eater.
• (18:15) Why 75% of emotional eaters lose control at night.
• (22:24) The PEP Test: food as a Painkiller, Escape, and Punishment.
• (26:55) Three Meal Magic: The structure that helps you tell hunger from emotion.
• (32:20) Food noise: The three root causes driving the compulsion to eat.
• (35:11) The anatomy of the emotional eater and why people pleasing is the #1 trait.
• (40:30) The four things you actually need to heal from emotional eating.
• (49:37) What real healing from emotional eating looks like on the other side.

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

Thank you to our sponsors!

Im8: Use my code TARA at checkout to save 10% on your first order at https://im8health.com/
 

Find more from Broads:

Website: https://www.broads.app
Instagram: @broads.podcast   @broads.app

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

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: http://taralaferrara.com
Instagram: @taralaferrara
Youtube: @TaraLaferrara
Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from Tricia Nelson:
Website: https://healyourhunger.com/
Facebook: Heal Your Hunger

Instagram: @tricianelson_       

TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVSe2vaxXXM

Book: Heal Your Hunger: 7 Simple Steps to End Emotional Eating Now

Confessions of a Binge Eater Podcast:  Spotify / Apple

Heal your Hunger Quiz: https://healyourhunger.com/heal-your-hunger-quiz/

Your brain has two completely separate systems for knowing what to do and actually doing it, and no amount of motivation bridges that gap. The women who stay consistent aren't more disciplined than you. They just stopped relying on motivation and started building structure.

If you've ever crushed it at work, managed a full household, and still couldn't figure out why your fitness keeps falling apart, it's not a YOU problem. It's a system problem. And that's exactly what this episode is about.

Tune into this week's solo episode of Broads where we answer the real questions around consistency: the ones nobody has actually answered for you yet.

What's Discussed:

• (3:52) Why knowing what to do and still not doing it is not a character flaw.
• (6:26) The Monday reset isn't a fresh start — it's the problem.
• (8:50) Why motivation was never supposed to be the engine.
• (11:07) What to do when life gets busy and your plan falls apart.
• (15:10) The difference between trying more programs and getting real support.
• (17:55) The neuroscience behind why you keep breaking promises to yourself.
• (20:52) How to know if you're actually ready for a coach.

Find more from Broads:

Website: https://www.broads.app
Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

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

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: http://taralaferrara.com
Instagram: @taralaferrara
Youtube: @TaraLaferrara
Tiktok: @taralaferrara

The average woman in the United States attempts to lose weight at least five times per year. Most of those attempts follow the same pattern: cut calories as low as possible, add as much exercise as possible, push until burnout, and start over.

The pattern does not fail because of a lack of willpower. It fails because the strategy itself is not designed to build women to success.

We go deeper into this in the latest episode of Broads. We also discuss what the 80/20 rule of nutrition versus exercise actually means in practice, how the lifestyle gap affects fat storage more than most women account for, and why the first three months of a real fat loss journey often look like nothing is happening.

Gen Coco is a Certified Nutrition Coach and founder of Gen's Gym. After a decade of cycling through every quick fix in the diet industry, she lost 50 pounds through walking and nutrition alone, no gym, no intense cardio, no restriction. 

Her framework is built around what is actually sustainable, not what looks most impressive on a program. What she learned applies well beyond fat loss. It is a way of thinking about effort, consistency, and what it actually takes to change something by loving yourself more.

What's Discussed:

• (01:17) Why keto, cheat meals, and extreme restriction fail most women
• (02:29) The all-or-nothing mindset and why high-achieving women are most vulnerable to it
• (08:57) Minimum baseline standards: how to set a floor instead of an impossible ceiling
• (09:03) The lifestyle gap: sleep, stress, and emotional health as fat loss variables
• (11:26) What learning to cook from scratch changed about her relationship with food
• (17:07) Meal prep, food tracking, and why portion education matters more than calorie restriction
• (20:28) How to navigate social eating, alcohol, and going out without derailing progress
• (30:38) The GLP-1 conversation: when peptides are appropriate
• (31:42) The difference between weight loss and fat loss
• (41:48) Why weight loss is a side effect of self-love, not the other way around
• (44:29) How to rebuild self-trust after years of broken promises to yourself

Find more from Broads:

Website: https://www.broads.app
Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

BroadsCOACH: Head to broads.com/join and apply for BroadsCOACH.
 

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:
Website: http://taralaferrara.com
Instagram: @taralaferrara
Youtube: @TaraLaferrara
Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from Gen Coco:
Instagram: @gensgym
Facebook: Gen’s Gym

Tiktok: @gensgym

Website: https://www.gensgym.com/

Business Instagram: @happybodsquad

Struggling with motivation, confused about how much cardio you need, or wondering if lifting weights will make you bulky? A lot of women are told the answer is more cardio, stricter dieting, and more discipline, but those are often the exact things keeping them stuck.

In this Broads episode, we talk about why motivation isn’t the thing that keeps you consistent, why protein is the nutrient most women are missing in their diet, and how much cardio you really need when it comes to building strength and improving body composition. 

If you’re training hard but still feel unsure what actually works or worried you’re doing the wrong things in the gym, tune in.

What's Discussed:

• (03:33) What to do when you get injured and how to keep training instead of quitting
• (08:35) How much cardio women actually need
• (09:26) Daily walking as one of the most underrated tools for fat loss and stress
• (11:30) Why low protein leads to cravings, fatigue, and muscle loss
• (15:06) Motivation vs self trust and what actually keeps you consistent
• (21:17) Why belly fat shows up in your 40s and the hormone shifts behind it
• (24:32) The truth about “toning” and why women don’t accidentally get bulky

BroadsCOACH: Head to broads.com/join and apply for BroadsCOACH.

Check out more from Broads:
Website: https://www.broads.app
Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:
Website: http://taralaferrara.com
Instagram: @taralaferrara
Youtube: @TaraLaferrara
Tiktok: @taralaferrara

According to Journal of Clinical Medicine, roughly 62.3% of women report experiencing pain around the back or neck and limb areas. 

Most of us have accepted the pain as a normal part of life that just happens in our thirties, what comes with having kids and part of aging.

Broads coaches have observed that that happens when women have been conditioned to stay small, move less, and treat their bodies as something to shrink rather than something to build.

The women who start strength training do not just get stronger. They get their energy back, their pain starts to ease, and have more confidence to move their bodies.  The goal is no longer to tone the muscles but to chase how to finally feel good with their bodies.

We dive deeper into this in the latest episode of Broads with Taylor McGee and T-Ferg, two coaches in the Broads Coach Program who have spent years helping women unlearn the myths of the fitness industry and build something real instead.

We also discuss why imperfect action breeds motivation and what actually gets women to show up consistently, why the perfect time to start does not exist and why messy is better than waiting.

Taylor McGee is a Philadelphia-based certified coach with seven years in the fitness industry. T-Ferg is a Denver-based coach with over ten years in and around movement and strength. Together they bring a clear-eyed, no-nonsense perspective on what women actually need, not just in the gym, but in how they show up for themselves and for their clients every single day.

What's Discussed:

(03:20) Why pull-ups are one of the most powerful things a woman can build
(08:45) How celebrating your wins without a "but" changes everything
(12:10) Why confidence and ego are not the same thing & how women were conditioned to confuse them
(18:30) The toning myth: why the word was designed to keep women small 
(24:15) Why motivation is a myth and what actually gets you to show up consistently
(31:40) How to start so small that showing up becomes inevitable
(38:20) Why the perfect time to start is always right now especially when life is messy
(44:10) What a coach actually does for you that a workout app never can
(51:25) Why real results take five years and why that should excite you, not scare you
(57:30) What taking up space actually means in the gym and in your life

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

BroadsCOACH: Head to broads.com/join and apply for BroadsCOACH.

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

Find more from Broads:

Website: https://www.broads.app
Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:
Website: http://taralaferrara.com
Instagram: @taralaferrara
Youtube: @TaraLaferrara
Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from Taylor McGee:
Instagram: @taylormcgeefit
Facebook: Taylor McGee Fitness

Website: https://taylormcgeefit.com/online-coaching

Broads app link: https://www.broads.app/coachtaylormcgee

Check out more from Taylor Ferguson:
Instagram: @your.wellness.barbie

Tiktok: @taylor_melissa_
Broads app link: https://www.broads.app/coachtaylorferguson

You’re stuck at the same weight on your squat or bench, so you assume the answer is more reps, more volume, more grind. But piling on more work without fixing the weak link is exactly how you stay stuck.

In the latest episode of Broads, I break down why your core’s job isn’t crunches, why knees cave in your squat, and how Bulgarian split squats force your glutes to finally do their job.

And when your hips shoot up in your deadlift, I unpack what that says about your hamstrings and how to fix it so your strength actually shows up at lockout. Fix the weak link, and the lift follows.

What's Discussed:

• (03:22) Why doing more squats won’t fix a squat plateau
• (05:03) Bulgarian split squats fix knee cave and glute weakness
• (08:27) Paused bench press builds strength at your sticking point
• (11:52) RDLs fix weak deadlift lockout and hip hinge issues
• (12:26) Why squatting your deadlift limits hamstring strength
• (15:33) Press more than you pull and your shoulders pay
• (18:40) Your core’s job is resisting movement, not crunching
• (22:56) Accessory work fixes weak links and prevents injuries

Check out more from Broads:
Website: https://www.broads.app
Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

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

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:
Website: http://taralaferrara.com
Instagram: @taralaferrara
Youtube: @TaraLaferrara
Tiktok: @taralaferrara

You’ve been told perfect form prevents injury and rounding your back will ruin your spine. But what if the real problem isn’t the movement? What if it’s fear, outdated advice, and expecting your body to heal like it’s Amazon Prime two-day shipping? 

We dive deeper into this in the latest episode of the Broads Podcast with strength coach Dr. Susie Spirlock. 

We also chat about why “perfect form” doesn’t exist, how to return to lifting after injury or chronic conditions like POTS and hypermobility, and why strength training is non-negotiable for women heading into perimenopause and beyond. 

Dr. Susie Spirlock is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and strength coach with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science. She is Barbell Rehab Method certified, Precision Nutrition Level 1 certified, and a Pain Free Performance Specialist. She provides online rehab and fitness coaching and serves as an instructor for the Barbell Rehab Method.

What's Discussed:

• (08:44) Why “perfect form” doesn’t exist and how anatomy shapes technique
• (10:15) Gradual exposure to load and why rounding your back isn’t automatically bad
• (12:08) Fear of lifting heavy and how graded exposure reduces injury anxiety
• (14:00) Why fear predicts pain more than tissue damage after injury
• (18:25) Junk volume, overprogramming, and how smarter structure drives results
• (25:03) Why lifting advice from doctors lags 10-15 years behind research
• (32:26) Strength training, menopause, and what happens to bone density if you don’t lift
• (48:43) Clickbait rehab content and how to spot black-and-white misinformation

Check out more from Broads:
Website: https://www.broads.app
Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

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

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:
Website: http://taralaferrara.com
Instagram: @taralaferrara
Youtube: @TaraLaferrara
Tiktok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from Dr. Susie Spirlock:
Instagram: @dr.susie.squats

Tiktok: @dr.susie.squats

Youtube: @dr.susie.squats

Facebook: @dr.susie.squats

Rest periods are one of the most ignored parts of training, and they’re often the reason you’re exhausted but not actually getting stronger.

This episode of Broads is about removing the guesswork. We break down what rest periods do, why more sweat doesn’t equal better results, and how mismatching your rest to your goal can stall progress without you realizing it.

If your lifts feel inconsistent, your workouts feel randomly hard or way too easy, or you’re spending forever in the gym without seeing results, your rest between sets might be the missing piece. That’s what this episode is all about.

What's Discussed:

• (00:48) Why rest periods are an overlooked driver of strength and muscle gains
• (03:25) ATP, creatine phosphate, and what actually recovers between sets
• (05:03) How rest determines strength, hypertrophy, or endurance outcomes
• (06:51) Why heavy lifts require three to five minutes of rest
• (07:46) Using shorter rest to create metabolic stress for muscle growth
• (09:13) How short rest trains fatigue tolerance and muscular endurance
• (10:52) What breaks when rest is too short or too long
• (15:41) Why timing rest separates training from random workouts

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

Check out more from Broads:
Website: https://www.broads.app

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

Instagram: @taralaferrara 

@broads.podcast

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@TaraLaferrara

A lot of women are stuck in a cycle of eating less, pushing harder, and starting over every Monday, only to feel more frustrated each time. The surprising part is that this isn’t a lack of discipline, but a predictable outcome of years of under-eating and following advice that was never built for women’s physiology.

We dive deeper into this in the Broads podcast with Finley. We talk about why intermittent fasting often backfires for women, how sugar cravings are usually a fueling issue, what chronic under-eating does to your metabolism, and what sustainable nutrition actually looks like without diet culture noise.

Finley Amato Funsten is a nutrition and strength coach, the founder of Unfuck Your Diet, and the owner of MADabolic Charlotte. Her work focuses on evidence-based nutrition, behavior change, and sustainable training practices.

What's Discussed:

• (05:53) Diet Coke, aspartame safety, and why fear-based nutrition science still sticks
• (07:12) Why intermittent fasting often backfires for active women hormonally
• (09:04) How hunger hormones adapt when breakfast is skipped for years
• (11:04) Why named diets fail women by ignoring physiology and skill building
• (14:32) Skinny culture’s return and how wellness marketing keeps women shrinking
• (19:20) Sugar cravings explained through protein and fiber deficiencies
• (24:39) Why detoxes and cleanses don’t work the way people think
• (32:03) Chronic under eating signs including low energy, poor recovery, and cycle disruption

Check out more from Broads:
Website: www.broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

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

Instagram: @taralaferrara

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@TaraLaferrara

Check out more from Finley Amato Funsten:

Website: https://unfuckyourdiet.co

Instagram: @unfuckyourdiet

Check out some of Finley’s favorite accounts for nutrition, fitness, and real talk:

Tara LaFerrara: https://instagram.com/taralaferrara

Sheridan Skye, MSc: http://instagram.com/sheridanskyefit

Beth Wilkas Feraco: http://instagram.com/bethferacofitness

Amanda Howell, MPH: http://instagram.com/amandahowellhealth

Jessica Knurick, PhD: http://instagram.com/drjessicaknurick

Dr. Stacy T. Sims: http://instagram.com/drstacysims

Kate Lyman, MPH: http://instagram.com/klnutrition

Jordan Syatt: http://instagram.com/syattfitness

Layne Norton, PhD: https://www.instagram.com/biolayne