Broads: The Bold & Badass Fitness Podcast for Women

Rest is not something you earn. It is something your body needs the same way it needs water. And a lot of women are running on empty and calling it discipline.

The problem is not that women are lazy about sleep. It is the opposite. Women who train the hardest, who push through the most, who never stop going are often the ones lying awake at midnight completely wired wondering why their body will not shut off. Because pushing through all day does something to your nervous system that a few hours in bed cannot undo on its own. And nobody is talking about that part. But we will, in this episode where we get into why your brain will not quit at night, why you cannot catch up on sleep the way you think you can, and what closing a stress cycle actually means for women who never fully switch off.

This week I am sitting down with Kathryn Nicolai, the creator of Nothing Much Happens, the biggest sleep podcast in the world with over 200 million downloads. Kathryn spent 20 years as a yoga and meditation teacher working with real women through real seasons of life before she built an entire science-backed practice around rest, nervous system regulation, and why the way you move through your days is either quietly supporting your sleep or quietly wrecking it.

If you train hard and still lie awake staring at the ceiling, this one is for you.

What's Discussed:

(11:53) Why women who push through everything are often the ones whose nervous systems take the biggest hit at night 

(14:49) What a stress cycle actually is, why most women have too many open tabs running, and what actually closes them 

(19:38) What most people get completely wrong about why they cannot sleep 

(25:54) What storytelling does to the brain that meditation and white noise cannot 

(32:37) What brain training actually means for sleep and what happens the longer you stay consistent (47:56) What to do when nothing is working 

(53:31) Kathryn's personal 3am secret she barely ever shares

Join us live on Monday, June 15 at 5pm CST and you'll get a special discount on BroadsCOACH BUILD if you sign up for the Summer Cohort on the call. Save your spot now at: broads.app/body-recomp-webinar

Find out more from Broads:

Website: broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Check More Resources:

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 broads.app/macronutrient-guide.

Gym Starter Guide: Ready to stop waiting for "someday"? Download the free guide at broads.app/gym-starter-guide 

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

TikTok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from Kathryn Nicolai:

Website: nothingmuchhappens.com 

Instagram:@kathryn_nicolai 

YouTube: youtube.com/c/NothingMuchHappens 

Podcast Nothing Much Happens on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com 

Podcast Nothing Much Happens on Spotify: open.spotify.com 

New Book On the Street Where You Live: nothingmuchhappens.com/thebook

This is my birthday month. It is also the one year anniversary of my mom's death. And I have a lot to say.

This past year has been the most significant year of my entire life. The highest highs and the lowest lows all stacked on top of each other, sometimes in the same week, sometimes in the same day. Grief that got heavier the further away I got from it. Guilt I carried like a jacket I could not take off. A complicated relationship I had to learn how to grieve twice. And wins I almost felt too guilty to celebrate out loud.

But something shifted. A sunset walk. A moment. And everything started to make sense in a way it had not for a whole year.

This episode is personal. It is raw. It is not scripted. It is me at 37 sharing what 36 beat into me and what I am carrying forward. And if you have ever been in the messy middle of something really hard while also trying to keep showing up, this one is for you.

What's Discussed:

(1:41) Why grief gets heavier the further away you get from it and not lighter like everyone says it will

(5:03) The guilt, the shame, and what it felt like to carry a complicated love for a whole year

(7:35) Why forgiving herself was so much harder than forgiving her mom and what finally got her there

(10:00) The sunset walk that changed everything and the moment she finally understood why she does what she does

(17:58) Why she refuses to dim her shine even when life is also really hard and why you should not either

(19:03) The wins from the last year she is celebrating out loud because her mom would have wanted her to

(25:26) Five lessons from 36 going into 37 that she had to learn the hard way

(31:34) What she is leaving behind at 37 and what she is finally ready to bring in

If you are going through a loss, a complicated relationship, a heavy season, or you just need someone to remind you that you are allowed to feel it all and still keep going, this one is for you. 

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

Nutrition is where a lot of women quietly lose their damn minds.

You’re working out. You’re trying to be consistent. You care about your health. But then life gets busy, your meals get random, cravings hit, the weekend shows up, someone brings food to a party, and suddenly you’re back in that same loop of “I’ll restart Monday.”

Gurl, that is exhausting.

In this episode, I’m answering your nutrition questions without the boring “eat cleaner and try harder” speech. We’re talking about macro tracking, body composition, restriction, busy weeks, workout fuel, weekends, social situations, cravings, and why getting support might be the move if you’re tired of fighting the same food battle every week.

If you’re tired of starting over every Monday or battling cravings like they’re a character flaw, this conversation is your reminder that nutrition does not have to be perfect to work. It needs to stop making you miserable long enough for you to actually stick with it.

What’s Discussed:

03:00 Do you actually need to track macros to see results?

18:55 What matters more for body composition: workouts or nutrition?

24:17 Why cutting everything out keeps backfiring

27:55 How to eat better when life gets busy and meals start getting random

32:35 What to eat around workouts so you stop training on fumes

38:03 Why weekends keep turning into a free-for-all

42:17 How to handle social situations without making your plate a whole thing

47:06 Why getting support is not the same as failing

Join us live on Monday, June 15 at 5pm CST and you'll get a special discount on BroadsCOACH BUILD if you sign up for the Summer Cohort on the call. Save your spot now at: broads.app/body-recomp-webinar

Find out more from Broads:

Website: broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Check More Resources:

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 broads.app/macronutrient-guide.

Gym Starter Guide: Ready to stop waiting for "someday"? Download the free guide at broads.app/gym-starter-guide 

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

TikTok: @taralaferrara

You already know what to do. You know you should lift, you know you should walk, you know protein matters. The information was never the problem. So why do you keep falling off the second life gets busy, and why does it feel like the only thing standing between you and consistency is more discipline you cannot seem to build?

Here is the truth most women never hear: it was never just about discipline. I sat down with Jordan Syatt, strength and nutrition coach to Gary Vaynerchuk and a five time world record powerlifter, to talk about the real reason women cannot stay consistent, and it comes down to a "perfectionism" trap that quietly gives you permission to quit every time you fall short.

We also get into why walking is one of the most underrated things you can do for your body, the blood markers that tell you more about your health than the scale ever will, and his honest take on motivation, GLP-1s, and what it actually takes to stop starting over.If you’re tired of starting over and finally want to build a sustainable road to fitness that’ll snowball to consistency and habits, this episode is for you. 

What's Discussed:

(01:06) Why a short calorie tracking window can change how you eat.

(07:29) Why walking is the most underrated thing you can do for your long term health.

(13:05) Why your blood work tells you more about your health than the scale.

(17:25) The DEXA scan problem and why body fat numbers do more harm than good.

(23:51) Renaming "maintenance" to "momentum" and why holding your results is its own skill.

(29:13) The "perfectionism" trap and why it is the real reason you cannot stay consistent.

(32:24) Motivation versus discipline and why you actually need both. 

(40:07) The truth about GLP-1s beyond weight loss.

Join us live on Monday, June 15 at 5pm CST and you'll get a special discount on BroadsCOACH BUILD if you sign up for the Summer Cohort on the call. Save your spot now at: broads.app/body-recomp-webinar

Find out more from Broads:

Website: broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Check More Resources:

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 broads.app/macronutrient-guide.

Gym Starter Guide: Ready to stop waiting for "someday"? Download the free guide at broads.app/gym-starter-guide 

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

TikTok: @taralaferrara

Check out more from Jordan Syatt:

Website: syattfitness.com 

YouTube: @jordansyatt 

Instagram: @syattfitness

Facebook: Jordan Syatt

TikTok: @syattfitness 

Podcast: The Jordan Syatt Podcast

Somewhere in your mid-30s, training can quietly stop feeling like something you choose and start feeling like something you owe. The workouts are still happening, the effort is still there, but the spark that used to make movement feel exciting has gone missing, and most women have no idea how to get it back.

I dive deeper into this in this week's episode of Broads, where I take you behind the scenes of my journey in competing at APEX for the second time and what choosing a real performance goal did to my relationship with training. I also talked about what getting 4th place twice taught me more than a podium finish would have, the difference between training to control your body and training to trust it, and why pursuing strength in your late 30s is one of the most genuinely rebellious things you can do.

What's Discussed:

02:07) The 150 meters from the finish line: what competing at APEX actually feels like.

(05:54) Why my relationship with athletics got complicated and how APEX feels different.

(08:14) The biggest thing missing for women in fitness right now.

(09:31) Why pursuing strength in your late 30s is genuinely rebellious.

(25:13) What getting 4th place twice actually taught me about progress.

Find out more from Broads:

Website: broads.app

Instagram: @broads.podcast @broads.app

Check More Resources:

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 broads.app/macronutrient-guide.

Check out more from Tara LaFerrara:

Website: taralaferrara.com

Instagram: @taralaferrara

YouTube: @TaraLaferrara

TikTok: @taralaferrara