Midlife women were taught how to diet, not how to fuel themselves, and many are waking up to the cost. Chronic pain, fear around food, shrinking confidence, and bodies that feel fragile instead of capable are not personal failures, they are the result of decades of conditioning to be smaller.

In this episode, Kristin Collins sits down with SJ Yeung, known as Jeannie, a 52-year-old strength athlete, artist, and midlife woman who chose to stop shrinking and start building a body that feels powerful, capable, and resilient.

SJ shares her journey through diet culture, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, perimenopause, and fear-based nutrition messaging, and how strength training and eating enough changed not just her body, but her confidence, independence, and future. This conversation goes beyond workouts and macros and gets to the heart of what so many women are craving in midlife, energy, autonomy, joy, and the right to take up space.

This episode is for women who are tired of being told to eat less, move smaller, and stay quiet, and are ready to build strength in their bodies and their lives.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why midlife women are choosing strength over shrinking
2. How diet culture and fear-based nutrition messaging lead to chronic underfueling
3. The connection between eating enough, muscle, confidence, and independence
4. Why getting stronger changes how you move through the world, not just the gym
5. How fear of “getting bigger” keeps women stuck in weaker bodies
6. What it means to eat with joy instead of judgment
7. Why strength training supports longevity, bone health, and future independence
8. How reframing body size can unlock confidence and self-trust
9. Why food freedom in midlife is about capability, not control
10. The mindset shift from surviving to thriving

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Meet SJ and why this conversation matters
2. 02:00 Growing up in diet culture and the pressure to be smaller
3. 04:30 Chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and the search for healing
4. 07:30 Fear-based nutrition messaging and unintended underfueling
5. 10:30 Why eating less felt “healthy” but wasn’t sustainable
6. 13:00 Discovering strength training and choosing muscle over shrinking
7. 16:30 Confidence, independence, and feeling capable again
8. 19:30 The mental challenge of getting stronger in a culture that rewards small
9. 22:30 Longevity, bone health, and future-proofing your body