Can You Really Transform Your Body at 50?!
Annie Murray 0:00
Everything has changed before, my immune system was really low. In particular, I used to have bouts of shingles every year, constant cold sores, constant colds, you know, flu I'd get everything that was going basically. But since building muscle, I cannot believe the change in my immunity. It's just incredible.
Sarah Milken 0:26
Hey peeps, welcome to the flexible, neurotic podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Sarah Milken, Yeah, you heard that right. I'm a real PhD Doctor Long, long ago, like last fucking year, I was sitting in the midlife bunk, wondering, was this it for me? That day, I realized I needed to get off my ass and start my midlife remix. I dusted off my PhD, wiped the menopause sweat off my forehead, grabbed my golden shit shovel and started digging deep to all my midlife bitches. It's not just luck, coffee and hormones that get you through your midlife. Remix, it's action steps. Let's do this.
Sarah Milken 1:09
Welcome back to the flexible neurotic Podcast. I'm Dr Sarah Milken, the flexible neurotic we're going to get pumped today. You know, I call lifting weights lifting the dumb and necessary weights. I'm honest, lifting weights is hard for me, but I do it because it's good for my midlife self. My guest today is a 54 year old fitness trainer in the UK who only started her personal weightlifting journey within the last few years and turned it into a huge Instagram platform and trains private clients, and has an app. This midlifer has taken the midlife pivot to new heights while she says she is chasing strong, not skinny from the UK at 6pm her time. Annie Murray, hi, thank you. Hello. I'm so happy you're here. We just discussed how it's sunny in LA and it's freezing in London. Yes, yeah, we're due to get snow this week. So yeah, excited about that. You're here. You are. You're in your turtleneck. I'm in a tank top because I'm profusely sweating. And we're like, living completely different temperature lives here.
Sarah Milken 2:23
Oh my gosh. Okay, so I want to get into it with you, because, as you know, lifting weights and midlife women, it's such a hot topic right now. And everybody's talking about how for longevity, your brain, your body, all the things, lifting weights is so crucial, and so many of us find it so hard we have, like, mental blocks around it. We don't want to get bulky. It's too complicated. How many sets do you do? How do you not get injured? So today, I kind of want to talk to you about where you started, how you started, and to kind of like, take us through what you teach to other midlife women about your journey and also the part of your building your business, because obviously this was a big midlife pivot for you. You have kids. How old are your kids? My
Annie Murray 3:14
kids are older. So I've got my eldest is 22 my youngest is 18, and he's also a personal
Sarah Milken 3:22
trainer. Oh my gosh. I have 20 and 18, so I totally get
Annie Murray 3:27
it, yes.
Sarah Milken 3:28
Oh my god. I have one who's in his second year of college, and I have another one who's applying to college right now, my daughter, so I'm kind of in that same kind of half empty nest. Do you guys use that
Annie Murray 3:42
term? Yeah, we do over here. Yeah, we do. That's right. So yeah, my my eldest, is at university here, so he's in Manchester, and we're going to see him this weekend, actually, and at home. So yeah, he might go to Manchester actually, next year. So yes, so then I'll have none at home.
Sarah Milken 4:01
I know, crazy. Okay, so let's talk about it. So you were, I'm not sure were you a stay at home mom? Like, what were you doing before you were any fitness queen.
Annie Murray 4:15
So my background is computing. So many years ago, I got a degree in computing. And then I was a software engineer working for software houses. And then I met my husband, we had children, and then I sort of had a break from work and did voluntary stuff. And then I went back and did a bit of PA work, so secretarial work. And then I did, I started to build websites, so I started to learn WordPress, and then I built websites, and then I set up a little company called Amazon site design, actually. So that was the first little company that I developed, and I developed websites for people. So I worked from home, which was great, because it was flexible. I could manage the kids. At the same time. So yeah, so then I did that for a number of years, and then I decided to have a complete changing career and become a fitness instructor. So I was going from a sedentary job to
Sarah Milken 5:14
very active and amazing.
Annie Murray 5:18
I've all been really passionate about exercise. I've loved it all through my life. I've sort of done something, you know, I did a lot of cardio before, so a lot of running when I first had, when I when I had my second son, I just started running. I did a lot of running. So yes, I was into that. And then body weight exercises as well, but nothing really weight bearing, like, you know, picking up dumbbells and stuff. So that came later. So yes, I became a personal trainer then and fitness coach. And I started doing circuit training classes, then locally, just in village hall and things like that. And I remember my first class I had, I literally had one person sewed over the moon with this dear person. She was so delightful. She I mean, it was just great. I loved it, and that was the start. I love that
Sarah Milken 6:08
story because it just shows you that everything starts small, because a lot of us want to start something, and it feels embarrassing and it feels scary. What if no one comes? What if one person comes, and you just told us that you had one person come, and now you have, like, hundreds of 1000s of Instagram followers. So you have to start somewhere.
Annie Murray 6:28
Oh, my goodness, everyone has a day one and yes, and do you know what I've learned so much from that journey? And you know one thing is, just don't give up. Never give up, and you'll have knock backs, you know, I could have classes, you know, I mean, the word got around, and suddenly I went from one person to like, 20 within a matter of weeks. So you just, you just have to persevere. You really do, and never give up. And you know, you'll have setbacks, but just ride through them. And everything is a learning curve. Everything you learn from whether it's good or bad, you know, and it's you just learn. And, yeah, that's what I would learn. Really
Sarah Milken 7:10
tell us where you started, like, when I read about you, you were 50, ish, you started having panic attacks. You're like, what's this anxiety about what's going on here. Uh, wait, is this menopause? And then it kind of sent you on this new journey and trajectory. Tell us about that. Yeah.
Annie Murray 7:28
So that was a that's a kind of different sideline part of it. So when I entered menopause, perimenopause, I didn't even know I was going through that stage in my life at the time, because I'd never heard of that. It wasn't really broadcast much
Sarah Milken 7:43
back in how old? How old were you? I was probably about
Annie Murray 7:47
42 I can so I was about 42 and I started, my body started changing. So as a my estrogen was dropping. And one particular symptom I was I was getting was that if I was going out for a few drinks socially with some friends, you know, the next day, I would have these anxiety you know, I'd wake up with anxiety and huge feelings of like feeling ashamed and guilty and worried, just concerned about if I'd said anything wrong or upset someone. I mean, it was just ridiculous. I think it was just these thoughts manifesting, going round and round in my head and getting over exaggerated and but it was not, you know, I phoned my friend and say, Oh, God, was I, you know, what did I say? You were fine, you know, nothing. Nothing was wrong. What's wrong, you know? So it was weird. It was just wasn't very nice. And I started getting these kind of episodes of after nights to drinking, and also heart palpitations as well. And I look back at it, and I think, gosh, yeah, it was, I think was all linked to perimenopause, to be honest, and but I, I'm very one of these people who, if there's a problem, I like to sort it out, and I like to, you know, sort it out and find ways of helping myself do that. So, you know, one of the ways I believed that would really help because, you know, it was clear it was linked to drinking. So I thought, right, I tried to cut down, and, you know, would start quite easily, but then I'd always go back to it. And I just reached that point, and it kind of coincided at the same time as me wanting to train as a trainer, a personal trainer and a coach. And I just thought, you know what, I'm going to really go for this. I really want to be a good trainer. I want to be a good role model. Everything you know this, I'm going to put all my effort into this. This is my dream. This is what I want to do. So I just thought, I'm just going to stop. And I didn't put a kind of like date on it. I didn't think, yeah, I'm going to stop for a month. And I stopped for too much. I just thought, just going to stop and let's see how it goes. So I chose the worst time of year, because I'm a strong believer in that, if you do something in the hardest times, I think you know, you and you and you get through it. I think that's, it's a, you know, it's. Proof of real strength. So I did so I did it at Christmas time. Ah, nearly seven years of seven years ago, I know. So I had all these events lined up, and I thought, oh, craggy, yeah, I'm just going to do it now. So it was the 10th of December and 2017 and I thought, right, okay, here we go. So, yeah, I did have some help. I well, I stopped for two weeks, and then I, my friend, was doing RTT therapy at the time. What's that? It's called rapid transformation therapy, and it basically, kind of is a way of rewiring your brain and thought process. So I had a session with her. It was, like, it was an hour, and it was very empowering, and it kind of took you back right back to, like, weigh that when you're young. And with me, it was about feelings of self worth and, you know, not feeling worthy, and things like that. So, yeah, anyway, I did this session, and I came out, I thought, yeah, that was really powerful. And then I went away and I had a tape to listen to for 21 days. And that's where this habit forming comes in. So a habit can be formed in 21 days, apparently. Or you can change a habit. So I listened to this tape for 21 days, and and then that was that. And it was like a condensed version of the session, 20 minutes long. So, yeah, so that was the start of it. And I, yeah, I gave up drink. So at that point,
Sarah Milken 11:22
was your husband doing this as well? Was he like, what is Annie doing here? Like, what was his sort of role in all this? No,
Annie Murray 11:31
I've never put pressure on him to give up. It's a very personal journey for me. And you know, I you have to do what works for you, don't you, and I'm not one for making people feel guilty or putting them under pressure and saying, No, you have to do this. You know, I'm I'm just, I'm going along my journey, and this is my journey, and no one else is really and I did it for me. So, yeah, he too. It's fine
Sarah Milken 11:56
when your estrogen started to drop and you started to notice all these changes, was your body? I mean, you said that you worked out a lot running. Was your body changing too, and not kind of showing you the same results that it used to be showing you, like, what was going on with your body and your fitness at the time,
Annie Murray 12:13
my fitness, I mean, the biggest symptoms for me in perimenopause were really low moods. I just would wake up and I'd have had this huge black cloud over me. It was just horrendous. And I just didn't know what was going on. I was thought I was going mad, and that's why I really lent on exercise to kind of really help me, you know, in a natural way, to get those endorphins kind of churning it out and just, you know, making me feel better mentally. So that really helped sleep as well. Was hard, yeah, did
Sarah Milken 12:45
you start HRT estrogen?
Annie Murray 12:47
Well, do you know what I I didn't, because I didn't know I was in perimenopause. I I didn't even think about menopause or whatever. So I didn't go to the doctor or anything. I was just kind of trying to get through it myself. And then one day, probably three years later when I stopped drinking, and actually I was in menopause, I'd actually stopped ovulating. Then that's when my I had a conversation with my friend, and she said, Oh yeah, you should go to the doctor, because that sounds like you need some HRT. Craggy, okay, so off I went. She said, Yes, yes, you need to make this stuff. So I went on to HRT then, but I'd gone through any menopause, really, wow, dating, and then I went on to HRT. But so I was trying very hard to deal with the symptoms myself, and trying to find ways of making myself feel better and solutions for the symptoms without using HRT, actually. But then I went on it eventually. And, yes, yeah, and
Sarah Milken 13:47
how did the HRT? How did the HRT help you from where you were to where you are right now, I
Annie Murray 13:53
think the HRT really helped with the sleep. So it helped with the sleep and also the low moods. They did. It did really, really help with that. I wasn't really one for suffering really bad night sweats and stuff. They were very, very mild. So I was lucky. I think my symptoms were quite mild, really, compared to some ladies. I mean, there's so many symptoms.
Sarah Milken 14:14
I know it's like never it's never ending. Now with your fitness routine, obviously, health and fitness for for everyone, changes over time. And when I read about you, you said that you used to do a lot of running and cardio. How is your fitness journey today versus the way it used to be?
Annie Murray 14:35
So I used to do lots of running, lots of cardio, and my belief was that I had to do all this cardio to be healthy, you know, you had to be kind of like, I don't know, I'm just, I used to kind of use it as punishment, really, you know, I'd have a bad weekend of eating. I thought, right, we've got to run, run, run. So over the years, and start when I started being a fitness trainer, and I now realize. That actually it was the wrong way to think about it. And now I kind of, I wasn't even lifting weights back then, so it was a lot of cardio and body weight. And then when I started lifting weights, when I reached 50, I realized that it's, it's so much more important to be strong, to be strong in midlife, rather than doing those and loads of cardio. What you want to focus on is building that, building that muscle. Because muscle is a protective layer around your body. And I look at it, there's that it's like a body shield, really, that helps you process glucose and everything it's it's so incredible muscle. And I've learned this really, from the age of 50, when I started strength training. So, you know, by doing loads of cardio before, I was trying to, you know, I was practically, yeah, keeping my weight down, and I had really low muscle mass. But now, since reaching 50 and starting to do strength training, I've realized the benefits of having muscle, you know, it's just incredible. Everything has changed. Before my immune system was really low. In particular, I used to have bouts of shingles every year, constant cold sores, constant colds, you know, flu I'd get everything that was going basically. But since building muscle, I cannot believe the change in my immunity. It's just incredible. You know, it's, I don't get shingles. Only got touch wood here, but I know you know, because you can't jinx it. So, yeah, it's just changed my health, not only my body on the outside, you know, my body composition, but it's also changed my whole health in on the inside as well. It's just made me so much more healthier having more muscle mass. So I've gone from like being about seven and a half stone, having really low muscle mass doing endless cardio, you know, running, running, running, to then having muscle mass through strength training, building my muscles gradually over time with progressive overload and and my body composition is completely changed. I've put on probably about six or seven pounds, but I look more toned because, well, muscle weighs it's it's more dense than fat. So if you look at a pound of fat, compare it to a pound of muscle, you know the muscle is going to be much, much smaller, much, much leaner. So it's more dense. So you know, even though you might weigh the same, you know, the same weight, you will be leaner, and you'll look more toned with that muscle tone. So, yeah, so I've learned a lot from strength of training in the last four years. I started when I was 50.
Sarah Milken 17:41
That's amazing. And I love that part of your story, because there's so many of us who think it's too late. I didn't start in my 20s and 30s, even 40s. I'm 50, I'm 55 I'm 60. It's too late, and you're here saying, like, look, I didn't start till I was 50, and now I'm a fitness trainer. And if you look at your Instagram. I mean, you are very, very muscular in tone, and that takes a lot of work, and you can't just, it doesn't just come out of thin air. But you started at 50, and look what you've done, yeah,
Annie Murray 18:13
yeah, and yes. I started with really low weights. I started with lifting four kilogram dumbbells. I mean, you know, so it's, you know, it's all possible, and you shouldn't think that you can't do it because you're in your 50s and, oh, my God, you know it's too late, or your 60s, or your 70s. I've got one client, Andy, He's amazing. He's, he started training at 69 with me, you know. And he's building muscle. He's, he's just incredible. You know, his metabolic age has come down. He's now 70 last year, no, this year, he had a metabolic age of 62 and the doctor said to him, he said, What, what are you doing? You're, you're, you're the age of your body's getting younger, so you're reversing your age. He said, What are you doing? He said, Oh, it's, you know, it's all Annie,
Sarah Milken 19:03
but that, but that's what happened to you. You were 52 when you were clocking in at 36 Chrono for your biological night. Wait, your chronological age was 52 and your biological was 36
Annie Murray 19:18
yeah, I've only just started measuring that this year, because they got one of these machines in my gym that I go to. So they got this lovely metabolic machine. And I thought, Oh, I'm gonna go on that. So you jump on with no socks on, and you grab these handles, and it does the complete scan. And yes, it might. It measures in depth, your muscle mass, your you know, your body composition, skeletal mass, all of that, your weight, your water, you know, everything is fantastic, and then at the end, it gives you this metabolic age. And I thought, Oh, I'm just going to check that out. And so that was earlier on this year, and I had, yeah, so I was 53 earlier on this year. It. I was 54 in June, so at that point I had a metabolic age of 36 Ah. I looked at it, and I thought, my God, what the hell's that? And I thought, Well, that's
Sarah Milken 20:11
good. Wow, I'd be too scared to get on it. I'm like, What if he tells me something I just don't need to know. I'm like, first, I'm gonna work out like Annie, and then I'll test myself. But I'm not sure I want to do that right now. But did you learn how to do this, the progressive over first? I want you to define the progressive overload and then tell us, like, did you learn this because you were training to be a fitness instructor? Did you find an app? Did you just start lifting weights? Like, how did you just start?
Annie Murray 20:42
Well, as a trainer, I am a trainer, so I'm, you know, a qualified personal trainer, so I was teaching clients progressive overload anyway, so, you know, I know the technique. I know how to do it, so you progress with the weight, gently and gradually over time. And that's how you build muscle, putting pressure on the muscles to make microscopic tears, and then they grow back stronger. So progressive overload. It. You can do it in different ways. You can add more sets, add more reps, increase the weight, you know, introduce doc, drop sets and slow down the tempo, have less rest time between sets. There's lots of different ways to do it, so, but I just started on my own journey. So I knew what to do, and I knew that I was to, you know, progress with the load, and that's the way to build muscle. So, yeah, I started doing that with myself so and I really only do three sets, and I work out three times a week. So with strength training, yeah, I've always done that right from the beginning, so three times a week, and I gradually increased the weight over time. So started off really low. And then, for an example, you know, after four weeks. So I like to use 810, 12 rep range, so, you know. So I start off on eight, on a weight, and then I go to 10 reps, and then I go to 12. Then, if it feels, you know, if it feels easy, those last two reps, you know, of the 810, 12, then you you go up to for eight reps, you go to 10 reps, and then those two feel easy, the last two, then you go up to 12. If those two feel easy, the last two, and the 12 reps, then you could go up a weight. Yeah, but you have to do it really gradually, because you don't want to injure yourself. So do it really gradually. You know, I've, I've gone up to now, you can see the weight that I lift on my it's crazy. It's taken four years to get to there. You know, people are like, Oh, my God, what the hell are you lifting? Yeah, I think, well, I didn't start off on that. So, you know, and the most important thing in all of this is, is form. When I say form, it's technique, and you must never, ever progress with the load, unless you've got good form, and you can keep that form, keep the technique. Okay? So you know when you lose that technique, that's when injuries happen. So you must make sure that you only move up a weight if you can do, if you can keep the technique. So yeah, otherwise, you'll, you know, you can have injury.
Sarah Milken 23:23
Now, if you're doing weights three times a week, I know there's, like, different philosophies. Like, some people are like, Oh, I do upper body on this day and lower body on that day. What's your philosophy on that? Do you do whole body three times? Like, how does that work? I think
Annie Murray 23:38
I've almost done three days full body. So I target all the muscle groups really in those three sessions. So I purely started three days because it was just timing for me. I didn't really have time to do four days where I'd do two upper body and two lower I just really didn't have time. I just thought, I'm just going to get in there three days, I can manage that. And I just thought, right? I'm just going to target all the muscle groups. But I don't do endless exercises on one muscle group. I really only do one well, apart from legs. I do probably three exercises in the legs in those sessions. So yeah, so I target all muscle groups in the three sessions, but there's so many different ways you can do it. You know, do
Sarah Milken 24:24
you typically do the same workout each time? Or you have different variations of the workouts? Because I think what gets hard for the average person, if you don't have a trainer, is it's so much easier to walk on a treadmill or go on a walk outside, because you don't have to think about it with the weight training. If you don't have a proper person or somebody helping you, you're like, Where do I even start? Where do I go? Yeah.
Annie Murray 24:50
Well, that it, yeah, it's essential to have a good program. You can't just go into the gym and think, right, I'm just gonna lift that because you you just, you do need. To know what you're doing. So that's where a program is essential, really.
Sarah Milken 25:04
And tell us about your app. This is your place to plug. Tell us,
Annie Murray 25:09
yeah, well, I wanted to develop something that I could just reach more people with because obviously I'm doing face to face training here, my lovely clients, still, and local classes, but it's very localized. So I was trying to think away of reaching more people, because I when I did this Instagram thing, I started to get lots of inquiries from people. So do you do workouts online, you know? So I thought, okay, let's do it. So I thought, right, let's do an app. And the app, I love it. It's been a real journey for me doing this app, it's been very exciting and hard at times, hard work. But yeah, so in the app, you as soon as you go on the app, you're asked several questions, and two questions are, do you want to build muscle or do you want to lose fat? What if you want to do both? Well, you kind of, you know it. You will lose fat anyway when you build muscle, because you suddenly turn into this fat burning machine with muscle anyway. So, right? So it kind of like goes hand in hand, but yes, so you're asked several questions, and then you go on a journey. Basically, it's a workout journey. And you could stay for one month, two months, three months, you can stay for 12 months. You know, there's a workout journey, and each month you're you've got a workout to do, and it will track, you know, you go on, we'll give you the exercises. I'm there demonstrating all the exercises, and then you can track your weight as well. So you can input that, and it will take you through a proper program, a workout that you can do in the gym. If you haven't got access to a gym, you can do it at home with dumbbells. So, yeah, it's a workout journey, basically.
Sarah Milken 26:52
So do you show both versions? Like, one if you're in a gym, and there's an Olympic bar, I think you call it, and then there's another version, where you show videos with dumbbells, like, how do you or do you just pick one? Like, does your video just show one or the other?
Annie Murray 27:07
Yeah, so my workouts, which you probably noticed on Instagram, I don't use any machines. I've never used any machine is purely because I haven't got any in my gym. So I've only ever used dumbbells and I've used a barbell, I've got an Olympic bar, and I've got a pulley. I've got a pulley that I've attached to the ceiling, okay, and that was 50 pounds, so we bought that and had my builders put that into the ceiling. So those are the three kind of things that I use, and then the three things I use in my workouts, so I don't use any machines. No, that's so there's nothing like that in there. So that's why it's quite adaptable for people who either can do that at home. So if people haven't got access to a pulley or an Olympic bar, that's fine. They can use a barbell if they want to, if they've got access to a smaller one, you know, but if they haven't got access to either of those, you know, then I can give them alternative exercises using dumbbells. So if I've only got dumbbells, then I can give them alternative exercises to the exercises that use a pulley and a barbell, if they haven't got that piece of Right,
Sarah Milken 28:19
yeah, because I it's funny, because I see, I have a trainer, but I see people in the gym who are on their phones, and they're obviously following something, so they're probably following a type of app like yours, where it's saying, Do this, do this, do this,
Annie Murray 28:34
yeah, yeah, right, yeah. It's good to have a program to follow, you know, because then you're, you're being guided by a proper trainer, you know, on how many reps you should be doing, how many sets, you know, and it's, it's a really good thing to do, otherwise, you're going to a gym, and you think, Mikey, I don't know where to start here. You know, it can be very kind of, I don't know, overwhelming program.
Sarah Milken 29:02
Now, big, a big part of your Instagram, and what you talk about is food. You basically say, you know, you can work out all day long and sideways, but if you're not getting the food part right, it's, I'm not going to say a waste of time, but kind of a waste of time, and the most maximum kind of out the results you get is when you change the food that you're putting into the engine. So I would love for you to talk about how you I know you call it unprocessing Your Diet, which is so hard to do, because I'm actually in the process of doing it right now. I'm like, on week seven, I think I don't know when this will air, but I'm like, Oh my God. Like really trying not to eat out of a package, not trying to eat processed food. So tell us kind of what your food philosophy is, and how you count it. Do it? Make it work?
Annie Murray 29:53
Well, going back to the point where I gave up sugar and processed food. Food. I'll go back to the beginning. Shall I? So, when I gave up alcohol, I found myself sort of binging a bit on kind of sugary stuff, you know, because I think there's sugar and alcohol and then that kind of needs replacing. And kind of like, yeah, I was finding myself eating quite a lot of processed food and sugar, so, and I used to think, crikey, I'd wake up, you know, and feel really rotten. I'll think, what the hell's going on? You know, how many months drink, and this isn't fair. So I thought, You know what? And it was in lockdown, and I had my little group of fitness clients, and I said to everyone, how about if we give up sugar for a month? Let's see how we feel. Oh, my God, I like doing all these challenges. And they were, everyone said, yes. So, so anyway, I set up this group, and it was called Sweet FA, and it was just brilliant. So every day, I started doing research. Okay, so along the along the journey, I started researching about sugar, and then processed food and all of these things. And I started posting within that group lots of different information. So I was learning all the time, and that was the starting point. And I got to the end of the month and I said, Wow. I mean, it's a no brainer for me. I'm just going to carry on. So yeah, so I carried on, and I haven't touched um sugar since. So yeah, that was in 2021 February, wow. So, yeah, so I ditched the sugar. I mean, for me, it was the missing piece of the jigsaw. It really was. So I, I do think that taking that out and taking the processed food element out all the nasties, like the food colorings, the additives, the preservatives, all those kind of sweeteners, you know, artificial things. I just think that's what's really helped escalate my progress in the gym. I do believe that because, you know, I just look at my body composition and how quickly I've achieved what I've achieved in just, you know, four years. Really, I do believe that fueling your body right plays a massive part in your health and your progress on your your fitness journey. It really is essential. So, yeah, so how do I look at my diet for me, when I started strength training, I also, so I gave up the sugar, the processed food, but I also started eating more protein. So because, again, Protein is essential for muscle building. So then I started learning a lot about protein as well. So then I started having, probably about, yeah, 100 grams. I try and hit 100 grams of protein a day. Sometimes it's over, yeah, so, but I get it from, I get it from real food. So, and you don't do protein shakes, no, but I don't do anything like that. I don't do protein bars or protein shakes. So I went on a journey, then of looking at protein, and then, you know what the best protein sources? And then I started learning about types of protein, and that's really interesting as well. And so and learning about amino acids are the nine amino acids that you you having lots of food, so they're complete proteins, proteins with the nine amino acids in which your body can't produce. So you have to get those from food. So I Yeah, so I kind of my diet is very rich with these complete, complete proteins. So for example, for breakfast, I normally have 250 grams of yogurt, but it's Greek yogurt. It is real Greek yogurt, does it? And it doesn't have sugar, it hasn't No, well, it's Greek yogurt, so it's high protein,
Sarah Milken 33:51
well. And here we have Greek yogurt that's full of vanilla and strawberry. Like, yeah, we have a lot of that here. Yeah,
Annie Murray 33:59
I can imagine. No, none of that. It's natural, natural Greek yogurt. It's my favorite. So I had about, I have about 250 grams of that. The fat free version actually is, has got higher protein. So 250 grams gives me 225 grams of protein. And then I love nuts. Good fats, healthy fats, are so important. They're so important. So I have normally about 30 grams of mixed like walnuts, almonds. I love them.
Sarah Milken 34:32
So you put those
Annie Murray 34:34
on the yogurt. Yeah, I put them in my yogurt, and then I have a big palm full of berries. Berries. I love. So raspberries are so high in fiber. Blackberries, you know, blueberries, I laugh, so I chuck those on as well, and that that's 30 grams of protein. Boom, in your first meal that's given you probiotics. It's given you fiber, it's given you healthy fats. It's just, it's just amazing. I love that. That sets you up for the day. You know, 30 grams of protein
Sarah Milken 35:06
straight away. Do you have coffee? Do you drink coffee?
Annie Murray 35:09
Oh yeah, I have coffee. Yeah. I do like coffee. Absolutely.
Sarah Milken 35:14
Coffee with no sweetener. Oh no, I don't have sweeteners. No, no, but so you don't even do like stevia or monk fruit or anything like that.
Annie Murray 35:28
No, I don't. I don't do anything. I don't do, I don't do honey. I don't do maple syrup, egg off syrup. I don't do any sort of sweetness, like severe and stuff. No, I just don't I guess it's so interesting, because when you take those things out of your diarrhea, you know, the sugar and all of that, your palate changes. It really does. And to have something sweet, so every now and then I have a date.
Sarah Milken 35:56
Wow, you really gone crazy. Annie, crazy.
Annie Murray 36:03
I really push the boat out here and haven't. So that just sounds so boring, so, but that is so sweet. It just tastes so sweet. I mean, it's lovely, but, gosh, it's sweet. Your palate changes, and it's just you don't, you don't. She wants it. You don't want this kind of sweetness, really. And, you know, I love the sweetness in fruit. I eat fruit. I love,
Sarah Milken 36:30
yeah, it's interesting, because some people like carnivore diet. People, they're like, some people are just not even eating certain fruits. And it's like they're eating meat, meat, meat, meat, cheese, eggs, you know, all this stuff. And I'm like, Oh, my God, I don't think I could totally give up fruit too. No, I
Annie Murray 36:49
don't think I could do that, to be honest. I mean, I like fiber in it. I think the fiber is really important, you know. So they come with, you know, antioxidants and everything. Fruit is quite important, I think, as part of balanced diet.
Sarah Milken 37:04
So, yeah, so macros like, do you count what you're eating in a day? You have this much fat. I mean, I know you count the
Annie Murray 37:12
protein. I don't know. I I haven't got time to do that. I The only thing I do. I keep it all really simple. So when you eat processed, nutritious food, you just don't need to do that. I don't think so. The one thing that I focus on is protein. I just make sure that I get my 100 grams of protein, and that's it really and it really simplifies everything. Because if you're eating whole, nutritious, nutrient, rich foods. You don't overeat. You just don't, because you you're not hungry, you're not hungry, you know, you're not picking and looking for snacks. You're just, you know, you have a, I have a substantial breakfast, a good lunch and a good dinner, high protein, you know? And I'm, I'm satisfied with that, and my weight doesn't go up and down. It stays the same. I'm not craving things. My blood sugar's stable. Do you
Sarah Milken 38:07
eat sweet potatoes, anything starchy quinoa, like anything brown rice? Or is it literally just kind of vegetables and protein?
Annie Murray 38:18
I do eat quinoa. I like quinoa, so I have that sometimes at lunchtime. Yeah, on my salad, lentils I like as well. So sweet potato is my favorite go to carbohydrate. I'll be
Sarah Milken 38:33
honest, I love, I mean me too. I could eat nine, but I don't, yeah, nine. I'm just saying like to me in this state where I'm trying to eat less sugar and less packaged foods, a sweet potato is like a fucking donut. You know what? I mean, you're like, Oh, my God, this is so good. And then you put the grass fed butter on it, and it's like, wow,
Annie Murray 38:57
oh, it's my favorite. I mean, I love sweet potato. Yeah, I do, but I eat them in moderation, so I am careful. So another thing I focus on is portioning my plate. So if I'm to have carbs with my meal, something like sweet potato, I make sure that my so if you look at your plate and it's like a clock, so quarter of it would be the protein, quarter of it would be like the sweet potato, the carbohydrate, and then half of it would be like non starchy veg. So you can have as much as that. You know, cucumbers, tomatoes, leafy greens, courgettes, broccoli, asparagus, anything. Just fill your face with that stuff, so and it's all full of fiber, if it keeps you full and also healthy
Sarah Milken 39:46
fat, you need that in, yeah. How do you manage the protein thing? Like organic grass fed finish beef, of, I don't know, no antibiotic, hormone. Free, free range chicken, you know, like, how do you make do you make sure that every single piece of protein is like, this perfectly sourced piece of meat?
Annie Murray 40:13
I know I don't, because I think it's impossible, or I think you can, you know, get really transfixed on all of that. I mean, it would be amazing if I could, you know, have grass, bread, beef all day long, but it's getting hold of it. And it's, it's very hard to get hold of. I get my meat from a butchers. So I guess, you know, it's free range, it's local it's a local butcher. So it's local produce, it's local farms. I like shopping locally because I like to support local shops. So I get my meat from a lovely garden center here in the UK. So they've got a lovely butchers in there. So I get my meat from there. But, you know, I guess some of it is free range. Yes, I hope
Sarah Milken 41:00
so. I know me too, it's just you can't be perfect all the time, and I know you can't. It gets hard, and then you start getting all stuck in that. And this isn't free range and this and that, but you could become a crazy person.
Annie Murray 41:14
Yeah, I think you can drive yourself mad with all of that. So I think if you can try and be good majority of their time, and that's great, but try not to think of that too much so. But yeah, it's
Sarah Milken 41:25
good coffee range. And what about the going out to meals? Do you find that going out for meals is kind of not as fun anymore? I mean, obviously you're not drinking, you're not eating sugar, and then you're like, Wait, is this chicken cooked in what kind of seed, you know, oil and all of that kind of stuff. So how do you, how do you manage all of that? Oh, it's quite
Annie Murray 41:46
Yeah, I guess. I mean, I love going out to eat, I do. And I just pick things that, basically I know that is, is right, you know? So I normally have steak. I love steak. So steak and vegetables, like some broccoli, carrots, you know, stuff like that. Yesterday I went for a really nice roast dinner. So, you know, I had pork, which was lovely, carrots, greens, you know, had asparagus in there. And as well, it was lovely. I had some roast potatoes. They were lovely.
Sarah Milken 42:18
So, oh, you know, ate a potato,
Annie Murray 42:21
kind of potato? Wow, potatoes, right?
Sarah Milken 42:28
That's very edgy of you.
Annie Murray 42:32
Take them, yes, potatoes. And really white potatoes. They're very good for you. You know, high in vitamin C, they'll
Sarah Milken 42:39
continue. I think what you're saying is you're kind of, I mean, you obviously your diet is extreme in certain ways, but you have moderation in other ways. You also work out so much your body needs something to run on too.
Annie Murray 42:55
Yeah, definitely, yeah. The thing is, when you when you have high muscle mass, I'll weigh about 50 kilograms, and my muscle mass is just over 40 kilograms, so I've got, what is that in
Sarah Milken 43:08
pounds? Is that like 100 pounds? I know, I don't know,
Annie Murray 43:13
right, double, isn't it? Yeah, something like that. Yes. Okay, so I've got a really high percentage of muscle mass. So it means that I burn calories quite quickly, because muscle is metabolically more metabolically active than fat, so I burn through calories quite quickly. So I do eat absolutely loads. People can't believe what I eat. Very small, only five foot three,
Sarah Milken 43:42
foot two. I'm five. People see me in person. They're like, You look so much taller on on Instagram. I'm like, I'm a really small person.
Annie Murray 43:53
It's great. Instagram people think I'm really tall, but yeah,
Sarah Milken 43:57
no, there's nothing off me.
Annie Murray 44:00
To be honest, everyone's really so much more taller than me. Everyone I know. The only one that isn't is the dog. Now, yeah, exactly, exactly, but yeah. So going out for dinner, I'm just mindful what I choose, you know. And I always say, Look, can you give me the sauce on the side, you know? So I don't want anything plaster below the sauce all over it. I always ask it on side. I don't really be too awkward. And then, you know, I just have loads of veg and a nice piece of chicken or whatever, and steak. But obviously I don't have the pudding I like chickens and bis Well, I don't have the biscuits I like. So instead of having, you know, a sweet course, I asked for the cheese. But instead of having the biscuits, the crackers, because they've normally got sweeteners and whatever, and I have, like, fruit or, you know, chopped up carrots or cucumber stuff like that, an apple that would be quite nice with cheese.
Sarah Milken 44:57
So would you say? Would you say you're gluten free?
Annie Murray 45:00
I don't tend to eat white floured goods, so I avoid things like bread and things like crackers and stuff like that. So I do avoid them, yeah, I do. I wouldn't say I'm gluten intolerant. I just choose to kind of avoid them, really,
Sarah Milken 45:17
yeah, because there's gluten in all sorts of sauces and stuff. Yeah,
Annie Murray 45:22
yeah, it's added into a lot. So yeah, I just choose not to have it. But I'm not, I wouldn't send gluten intolerance.
Sarah Milken 45:29
So now for the women who are like, Oh, my God, I've been trying to do the weights, and I'm not seeing results. Like, I know you talk in your Instagram a lot about how it's consistency, like, how long it's like, we are all so used to like instant gratification right now, but I feel like with weightlifting, it takes a minute to see results. How do you sort of keep women motivated and kind of keeping their head in the game? Is it like an accountability thing having a partner, like, what is it? Because it's so hard.
Annie Murray 46:05
Yeah, it is hard. I think it's about, it's about building healthy habits, isn't it? And I think, you know the way I do it now. I just do it automatically. I think, well, I I've got to do my my three days of strength. So that's it. I plan it and I book it in. Every week is different, because all my week is is all kind of mixed up. At the moment, there's meetings all over the place, so I just think, right, what am I doing this week? Okay, right? I'm I'm slotting it in there, and if it means I have to get home at five and and go and do it at six, then I do so. But I schedule it into my week, and I think I schedule it and think about my workouts as meetings, their business meetings with my health. So it's not, you know, I look at it as a necessity. It's not really. It's, you know, it's a no brainer. I've got to do it. It's non negotiable. So I scheduled you those in and I think over time, you just, you know, motivation gets you started, I think, but discipline, it's, it's about discipline that keeps you going, really, and I think the only way is consistently doing something. So it becomes a habit, and then it becomes ingrained in you, and it becomes part of you. And actually, you know you you do it, and then you start, you do start enjoying the process. When you start seeing results and building muscle takes time, like you said, it does take time, and it's not instant, okay, so, but without you knowing it is, it's compounded over time. So every workout you view, every workout you got to view it as one step closer, okay? And you'll just get to, like, suddenly, like, four to six months, and then suddenly you'll wake up one day, and you'll be in the gym, lifted away, and suddenly you notice a muscle, and you think, My God, where's that come from? And, you know, and then you think, wow, okay, I've seen some progress here. So, and then that just, I don't know, it gives you gratification, doesn't it? And, and then you just, you just carry on. I think you know you have to fall in love with it, you but over time, if you do something consistently, you do fall in love with it. Yeah, you do. And just think about every workout is compounded over time, and then suddenly you start to see results. So you really do but you have to be patient and just be disciplined and put the effort in. And it's all about consistent, consistently doing something, you know, and that's when you see the magic happen.
Sarah Milken 48:41
Don't give up. Now. Do you work out when you go on vacation? Of course you do.
Annie Murray 48:50
Okay. Oh, my goodness, I'd go mad if I didn't. Yeah, yeah, I need to. So every vacation I have, I'm always making sure that either there is a gym there or there's a gym close by, and I go join it, so I join it for the duration of the holiday. So, yeah, I can't miss a workout because it's so ingrained in me that it's
Sarah Milken 49:19
part of me. Now, you know, does your husband, does your husband do all this? Oh my goodness,
Annie Murray 49:25
yeah. Finally, he's on board. But he used to do loads of cardio, right? So, and then he started getting into it, yes. And now I do his programs for him, and he's actually really enjoying the process. And he's in the gym now, yeah, so we, we did it together. So, yeah, this is like
Sarah Milken 49:45
your little half empty nester project together, the longevity, the lot, the couple's longevity, mood.
Annie Murray 49:54
I mean, he's, he's older than me. He's 58 so, you know, I mean, poor. I. You feel sorry for him, because, you know, living with me must be a nightmare, possibly push too much onto him. But no, I mean he, he's feeling the benefits. Not only he's feeling great, you know, he's he's looking amazing. You know, his muscle mass has increased. You know he's he's looking in great shape. Yeah, I'm very proud of him. Actually, he's doing
Sarah Milken 50:28
now, do you take, do you take testosterone? No, I don't take on, okay? And in terms of, like, supplements, creatine, like, what are your daily supplements? Um, I don't take any, oh my gosh, wow. Mrs. Healthy doesn't take any supplements.
Annie Murray 50:49
No, I don't I. The only supplement that I take is HRT. So my estrogen gel that I rub on my arms each morning, and then I take my progesterone tablet, one tablet at night, and I don't take any other multivitamin, no supplements, nothing.
Sarah Milken 51:10
And do you have all of your vitamin levels tested and you're knowing that you're just getting it all from all the healthy foods you're eating?
Annie Murray 51:17
Yeah, I don't really feel I need to go and get tested. I mean, I just, I feel very well, yeah. I mean, I I've got loads of energy my, you know, I just feel, how do you get
Sarah Milken 51:30
vitamin D in London when it's so dark?
Annie Murray 51:35
I think I could do some of that actually, something that I might actually look into because, yeah, I haven't started looking into that, but I do know that there's lots of health benefits with that. So yeah, for sure, I might start looking at that, particularly in this country, because we I
Sarah Milken 51:52
know. I mean, it's so sunny here, but my son goes to school in Philadelphia, and I'm like, Dude, you got to take the vitamin D. I am sending it to you. How hard could it be? I'm like, you're going to be in darkness for the next four months, and you're not accustomed to that. Like, that's a really big shift for an LA kid to suddenly go to a place where it's dark a lot. Yeah,
Annie Murray 52:15
I don't like the darkness, I'll be honest. So I think that's one thing I I'm, you know, I've built this house that I'm in at the moment. So that was a big project. And one thing that I was really, you know, that I really said I wanted in the house was loads of light, loads of Windows, get get all the light in, so knock all the walls down, exactly, loads of light. I love light and being in the dark, that's why, yeah, the dark evenings here are kind of right, yeah, it's tough in the
Sarah Milken 52:42
winter. I know we have daylight savings here now, and it's dark at like five o'clock, and I'm like, oh, when is it going to be springtime? It's tough, isn't it? Yeah, when my husband and I graduated from college, we lived in London for a year, and we were working in London, and it was so dark for me as an LA person, and for him, he he wasn't as bothered by it, but I got one of those lights that you kind of look into every day, because I was like, my body just needs some of that light.
Annie Murray 53:13
Yeah, yeah. No, that sounds good, actually, yeah.
Sarah Milken 53:17
Better than a, better than a tanning salon right now in terms of your business. I mean, obviously a lot of midlife women, including myself, I started this podcast, have either passions or projects or businesses that they want to start, but it feels really scary. And I know we touched on this at the beginning, but you're kind of like, four years in now, similar to me, how did you, I don't know, how did you have the courage to just say, one day, okay, I'm gonna start I'm gonna start it small. Here I go. And you're doing it in a very public way on Instagram, as am I, and it's not the easiest thing in the world.
Annie Murray 54:01
No, I mean, well, I was a fitness trainer before the Instagram thing. So, you know, I started locally. So I started doing classes locally, and and then it, it kind of grew from there. And then the Instagram kind of thing came in, really, last year. I was posting on Instagram before, but I was posting, you know, just snippets of reels from my classes and just saying, Oh, great boxer size class or whatever, before. But then last year, 2023 I thought, You know what, I'm going to start posting about my journey on Instagram. I thought, see, see if that gets any interest. So, yeah, so I started doing that because I, you know, there's lots of things that have happened, that I've done, that I've changed, and people are kind of quite interested in that. So, you know, becoming a fitness trainer, giving up alcohol, giving up sugar, strength training, menopause. So I started just talking about things like that. And yeah, that got a lot of interest. And that's what's grown my account so much, because people are fascinated. I think, with my journey and, you know, and I love sharing what's worked for me, because I just think, gosh, if it's worked for me, it might work for someone else. You know, not saying that everyone should be doing what I'm doing, but you know, they can take what they want from my story, and then maybe it might help some people. But
Sarah Milken 55:18
are people asking you, like, Annie, how do I give up sugar? Because it's one thing to say I want to give up sugar, and it's another thing to actually do it. Like, are they asking you for specific tips on, like, how did you get through that first month sitting at home during covid and not eating a bite of sugar?
Annie Murray 55:35
Yeah, it's hard. I do regular posts on how I what helped me. You know, I did a post the other day on how I gave up sugar. So things that helped me give up sugar as well. Yes, I do questions all the time about things like that.
Sarah Milken 55:52
What helped you give up sugar? Since it's such a big thing for for us, especially me, because I'm in it right now,
Annie Murray 56:00
glishy, I had to really educate myself about sugar. So, you know, before I gave up sugar, I thought, well, I thought, I'm just going to give up all sweet things. Yes, I'm going to give up sugar. I'm going to give up chocolate, sweets, cakes, donuts, you know, things that are sweet. But then over the course of that month, you know, when I, when I gave it up with my group, I started researching about all the other different types of sugar, all the different names that sugar has. So, oh my gosh, there's loads in them. There's, well, when I last looked, there were probably over 60 names, you know, so much, so much out there. And then they add all this sugar into processed food, so to enhance the flavor, you know, extend the shelf life of products and stuff like that. So, so then I Yeah, so then I educated. One thing I did was educate myself with the different names of sugar. So, and the biggest thing to avoid sugar was me reading food labels. I started to learn to read food labels. So I would look at something in a shop, look at the front, and it might say, healthy, but then you turn it around and you look at the ingredient list, and automatically I'd say, right, yeah. No good. No good. I'm not having that, because I would recognize, you know, the different flavorings, the additives, the preservatives, the different sugars in there. So, yeah, learn to read food labels and become aware of the different types of names of sugars, like corn syrup and all you know, there's loads, you know, Google it, how many different names are there for sugar? So it'll give you a massive list. So start to learn to recognize the different names, and start to learn to read ingredient lists.
Sarah Milken 57:41
Were there specific things or tricks that you did? Like, some people are, like, when you want that sugar at 730 at night, drink a cup of tea? Like, were there actual things that you did to, like, get through the trenches of it, because it is hard. Like, you have withdrawal, you have headaches. Like, sugar is a drug,
Annie Murray 58:01
yeah, yeah. So the first two weeks when I gave up, I just went cold turkey completely. So the first couple of days, yeah, I had a banging headache for about two weeks. But interestingly enough, I go, like, after a couple of days, my craving stopped it. I think people are really fearful of it. I think, oh, my god, how am I going to do it, yeah, but actually, when you give up, when you when your blood sugar stabilizes, you don't have those cravings. So yeah, that was quite quick that happened. But yeah, the headaches went on for about two weeks, so they were quite uncomfortable. But yeah, so what else? Yeah, reading food labels. I mean, if I fancied like because a lot of people get into the habit of having something sweet after their dinner, don't they in the evening. So, you know, I bring back the natural yogurt, the Greek yogurt, again, that's, that's a fabulous thing. So, you know, you could make a pudding up with that. Have some more Greek yogurt. Put some berries. Use fruit as a sweetener, yeah, so if you really want that sweet fix, use fruit. I mean watermelon. I mean, God, that's so sweet. It's so delicious. It's got so many good nutrients in it. And it's rehydrated. It's hydrated. It's fantastic. Chop up some watermelon. Have a few slices of that, you know?
Sarah Milken 59:23
Yeah, I think people are some, yeah, sometimes scared of fruit because they're like, it's so much sugar, but it's better sugar. It's a different kind of sugar.
Annie Murray 59:32
Yeah, the whole foods. So in the afternoon, you know, if you think the thing is, is to fill yourself up with nutritious, whole food, and then you your blood sugar is stable and you won't get the cravings. So, but if you do find yourself, you know, hungry mid afternoon, then have a high protein snack, yeah. So have some hummus, some carrot sticks, some cucumber sticks. You know, you've got loads of fiber going on in that. You know, you've got some protein. Tea with the with the hummus, you know. Or you can have some chopped up boiled eggs, you know. So, yeah, doesn't it? But, yeah,
Sarah Milken 1:00:11
do you use, like, almond butter, things like that?
Annie Murray 1:00:15
Yeah? I mean, I'm not against it. You just got to be careful of that. If you're, if you're trying to be watching calories and stuff, yeah. So just be careful. Just make sure that you don't go in there with a big, huge spoon and start, you know, eating the whole jar. So just be mindful of how much you
Sarah Milken 1:00:34
have exactly, exactly. Oh, my God. Everything moderation, right? So before we wrap up, before, like, when you like going back to the original one of the original questions, like, if women are wanting to start something and it feels like, oh my god, that feels too hard. How do I put myself on social media? Like, do you have any advice for women who are just feeling kind of stuck and not knowing what to do next with regards to, like, starting a business. No, starting business, yeah, starting a business in midlife, like you did.
Annie Murray 1:01:10
Oh, that's a good question. I think you know, I just chose a profession, a profession that I was very, very passionate about. And I think you know, if you have a passion like I did, I think you know and you want to start a business, I think you've just got to go for it, because your passion for what you do and what you love will come through. It will come through on that journey. And you will, you will excel. I do believe that. But you've got to be really passionate about what you do, what you sell. You've got to believe in in your product. You know, of such, if you want to set up the business, you've really, really got to believe in it. And I think that's the key with me in my experience. You know, I couldn't do all this unless I was passionate about what I do. I'm so passionate about it. I live and breathe it every day. You know, I lie in bed and I'm thinking, oh, what can I do? What can I do? You know, on Instagram, I've got so much information going on here. You know, I just want to post every day about stuff that's worked for me. I think that it it becomes easier if you're passionate about something and you believe in it. And for me, I believe in the strength training, and I believe in the good nutrition, because I've used myself as a guinea pig, really, over the last four years, because I wanted to see if it worked, you know, with my own experiences, and I know it works. So yeah, if you've got a passion and you really believe in something, go for it, okay, and you just have to, and I think you will succeed. So, yeah, you'll have setbacks, but just keep going. Keep going with it. That's,
Sarah Milken 1:02:54
believe me, that's how I feel. Like, some days I wake up and I'm like, I love my podcast, and this is amazing, and I could never live without it. And other days I'm like, Oh my God, I want to burn this to the ground. Oh my god, I'm too tired. Oh my god. It's too many things, because also doing things, like as a solopreneur, whatever you want to call it, sometimes it's like you feel like it's all on you. You know, it's like you're the person who's putting up the Instagram. You're the person who's, you know, creating the business. You're the person who's doing the fitness thing, you know. So it's a lot on you all all the time. And, yeah, I understand sometimes why people have partners, because it is a lot.
Annie Murray 1:03:40
Yeah, it's a lot. And I think, Gosh, what I've learned over the last few years is incredible, really, and it's such invaluable experience. It's amazing. And I think it's just so nourishing and incredible. And I actually love it. And I've just enjoying the process. Yeah, it's really been tough at times. And when I was building my app in particular, you know, I got to a point and I said, I can't do this. I actually can't do this. I had such bad self doubt. I thought, What on earth people are, why people aren't interested in an app from me? What on earth, you know, what am I thinking? What am I doing? I honestly, one weekend, it was awful. I was in my pajamas all weekend. It was just horrendous. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. I just had huge self doubt. It was awful. So, but I got, I just left it. I thought, right, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna get dressed, I'm gonna get washed, I'm gonna go out. And I gave myself 24 hours, and then the next day I came back to it, and the guy I was working with the developers of the app, they said, Just do it. You'll be fine. Lot of people have this self doubt, but it's okay. You're gonna be great, you know? And just had a word with me. It was brilliant. And I just thought, yeah, do you know what? Let's get over this. I'm gonna do it. I am gonna do it. At it. So, you know, I have, I have huge obstacles, you know, I've had them on my journey. So I just, I just think that's normal. Self doubt is normal, you know, I think I compare it to being an artist. I mean, I just thought, Gosh, how can an artist ever finish a painting? I just think that it's incredible that they actually sit back and say, right, I'm finished now, because when I was doing my app, I kept tweaking things all the time, thinking, Oh, my God, I need to tweak
Sarah Milken 1:05:26
that. It's like writing a book and you edit for forever.
Annie Murray 1:05:30
How do you ever finish writing a book? How do you ever finish, you know, painting a picture? You know, the Yeah, people do. And I had that about my app. I kept tweaking things at the tweet, and the developer said, just stop everything. Is great. You don't need to do any more. And I'm like, Okay, right? Yeah, I need to step back and think, yes, okay, so it is okay, but that's something
Sarah Milken 1:05:54
I've learned. So how do you market the app through your Instagram? So yeah, the
Annie Murray 1:05:59
only channel that I use is Instagram. So I, yes, I post about my app on Instagram quite regularly. So you can go, you can access my app through my bio on my Instagram. So, but yes, it's there. It's live, and I will be developing, well, we're developing it now, at the moment, putting the infrastructure in to do one to one online coaching. So I'm quite excited about that. So that's going to be announced soon.
Sarah Milken 1:06:30
Yeah. Now, is that coaching like, Hey, Annie, I want you to do a workout zoom with me, or is it just coaching like, we're going to talk about food and talk about workouts in my workout like, or is it training? It's
Annie Murray 1:06:46
training so, and it's going to be done through the app. So it's going to be called VIP coaching. So it will be me training someone, one to one, so I will develop workouts, particularly for them, for their requirements. So, and they will be closely monitored, so they will be able to access me all the time, so in a chat room, you know, nutrition and everything. It's, it's a one to one VIP personal service. So yes, I'll be, I'll be launching that and keeping a closer eye, you know, on their progress, so, and making sure that you know everything's done properly we reach their goals. So it's a very individual, personalized service. So,
Sarah Milken 1:07:34
and how many women will you be able to take or men in in that? Yeah,
Annie Murray 1:07:40
so I'm gonna start off quite low, because obviously I'm,
Sarah Milken 1:07:43
I know it sounds a lot of time too. Yeah, I just
Annie Murray 1:07:47
think I want to, because with all of these things, I like to put in 100% effort, and I want to, I don't want to spread myself too thinly. I want to make sure that I focus on a real core number, and I want them to succeed, you know. So I can't do that with loads and loads of people, because I don't know. I haven't done this before online. I've done face to face training, you know, and but I haven't done online one to one training before, so it's very new to me, and I want to start small, so I don't know. I'll probably take on. I'm not sure yet what number, it will be very low, but then I'll see how that goes. And if it, if it's, you know, successful, and I feel that I can take on a few more, then I'll add to that number. So and then, yeah, and we'll just see how that that grows.
Sarah Milken 1:08:40
So I love that you're taking a chance on yourself, and you're constantly kind of reiterating and experimenting and trying something new, even though it feels kind of weird and scary. It's hard, it's hard to do.
Annie Murray 1:08:53
Yeah, it's hard. It is scary. And the one thing I worry about is my time. You know, yeah, how much time am I going to be using here? Because for me, it's all about balance, and I need to keep that that balance, otherwise I get too overloaded and I get to run down. So yeah, but you know, I wanted to have a balance of online and face. I've got my wonderful clients, but I won't be taking on any more personal training clients anymore, so, and I do my little classes for my groups here, because I love my clients here, so I need to keep them happy. But I also want to do online because, you know, it, I want to conserve some of my energy for my own personal, you know, well being as well. So going online will help me do that. And, yeah, help me. Help me do that.
Sarah Milken 1:09:46
So tell listeners where we can find you. So
Annie Murray 1:09:50
I'm on Instagram, and my handle on Instagram is Annie's fitness stennin. So. Yeah, you're
Sarah Milken 1:10:00
gonna have to spell that, yeah, explain the standing and spell it, please.
Annie Murray 1:10:05
So I set up this Instagram handle, you know, a few years ago. And Stenning is the town where I live. So in the UK, it's a little village, actually. So that is is spelled, S, T, E, y, N, I, N, G, so it's Annie's a n, n, I, E, S, Annie's fitness Stelling. So, yeah, so it's, it's a big, long kind of handle, really, once
Sarah Milken 1:10:35
you find it, you find it, and you're there, and you're good, oh my god. Well, I want to thank you so much for being here. I love watching you on Instagram. I love talking today, today, hearing about your journey, and I know that women listening will be inspired to maybe work out a little bit more in the gym, maybe start their business or their passion hobby that might feel a little bit daunting and scary. I'm so happy that you have given me your time, and everyone has gotten a chance to get to know you. Thank you for being a guest on the flexible, neurotic podcast. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much. Chat to you. Thank you. And I hope you get some sun in London.
Annie Murray 1:11:20
Oh gosh, I don't think so. The snow's on its way. So, yeah, and you can't even ski there.
Sarah Milken 1:11:27
Sorry, I said you can't even ski
Annie Murray 1:11:31
not here, really, no, absolutely, not in the South Downs. No. I you.
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