Latest / The Unsexy Businessmen / Mrs. Idaho's Secret: Why Being Strong Beats Being Skinny with Melissa Rhodehouse
Transcript
- Aaron: Welcome to another episode of the Unsexy Podcast where we talk about everything that is unsexy in life. ironically, we're talking to someone who's not unsexy. we are talking to Melissa, and Melissa has a Lot of accolades. first of all, she is a certified personal trainer, a certified nutritionist. And we're also talking to royalty. She was 2020 Idaho Miss Mrs. Idaho 2020. She beat COVID, people. She beat COVID Alex: We did it. We did it, everybody. We did it. Aaron: and she she overcame and still became the greatest woman in Idaho, officially. that's what that means, right? All right, so melissa rhodehouse: Usually. We'll go with that. Alex: Ha ha ha ha Aaron: So what we want to get into, Melissa, is first of all, thank you so much for being on. And then what got you into just like fitness or health or whatever it is? Like where where is the beginning of that? melissa rhodehouse: I don't know there really is like some spectacular beginning. I did my very first bodybuilding competition in 2016 and I loved it. and then after that I kind of went into the pageant world into the Mrs. Idaho stuff. And then after that, it's like I just didn't have with COVID and everything the drive to do a whole lot of anything just went down. And I got into doing some yoga and different things like that and I went out on a hike with a bunch of girls and we got in our swimming suits and people took pictures and everything and I saw the pictures. And so for me it was just seeing this person that I didn't recognize. and really just thinking how uncomfortable I felt in my own skin, but even more so like looking at it. It just I don't know, it just was it was a kind of a weird place for me and I don't I've always been into fitness and so seeing something like that was really hard. and so I hired a coach and I mean i I've been with Lloyd since two thousand and sixteen. You guys will talk to him later, obviously, but Alex: Shout out Lloyd. melissa rhodehouse: I just called him and I said, I gotta do this again. Aaron: Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: And so we just started all over. You have to start from square one. So Alex: What's what was the timeline of that? just to like so is that two thousand sixteen or like you started yeah, sorry, I don't I was a little melissa rhodehouse: That well, I started with Lloyd in two thousand and sixteen and we did a couple shows and then I didn't do anything after that. I hired him again to help me with the Mrs. Idaho stuff when I went to Mrs. America for nationals. but that's a different look, right? Like it's a very different physique that they're looking for. and then covet hit and all the stuff and my body, I probably I mean to some people it's not gonna seem like a lot, but one in two thousand and sixteen I was a hundred and nine pounds and then after Mrs. Idaho and when I saw those pictures I was like one fifty five. So that's Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: a big difference for me. I'm only five four. Aaron: Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: So Aaron: Did you tell your friend to immediately delete those pictures? Were they on Instagram? Okay. melissa rhodehouse: We never posted those pictures. She just sent them Alex: Ha ha ha. melissa rhodehouse: to us and I was like, my gosh. So yeah, it was a little disconcerting. Aaron: I just Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: But I I think it's only been two years. So maybe the latter end of 2024. I started up with Lloyd. Aaron: Okay, okay. And so you got up to one hundred fifty five, if you don't mind, what are you where are you at now? melissa rhodehouse: So for a show, I don't know, I could be anywhere from, you know, 117 to 125 for an actual show. but after like this last year, like in the off season, see this is where it's very different. In the off season, I'm probably around one forty, one forty-five. But I look very Aaron: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: different than I did when I wasn't doing anything. Aaron: Yes, yes. Yeah. Alex: That's a huge that's the caveat. That's the huge melissa rhodehouse: So it it it it Alex: caveat. melissa rhodehouse: was ra it's wrapping that brain around like chasing strong, not just skinny and what the scale says. Aaron: Yeah, exactly. I think a lot of people really put a lot of credence into what the the scale says. I'm right now try I I'm bulking and so it's terrifying because I so I used to weigh almost 280 pounds and then I dropped down to 200 and then just through happenstance I happen to get hooked up with Lloyd and so I'm working with Lloyd on on doing like a a clean bulk. but my point being is like even even now Just because of like I was so afraid of the scale number. Even to this day, when I weigh myself in and I see that weight going up, I'm just like, I don't want to be fat again. melissa rhodehouse: I know. Aaron: but it's crazy, right? Like it's it's it is it is insane. But you you can't just focus so much on what your weight is because you're especially I mean, we're gonna get into your training, but like you're building muscle. You have probably way more muscle at 140 than you did at 155. And so that muscle weighs more than fat. Most people know that. And so you can't just look at that scale and be like, well, I'm 145, so I'm fat. Or for I'm like, I woke up, I was I was two fifteen. I'm like, I'm two fifteen, I'm getting fat. I just have to be like, all right, no, I'm doing the right stuff and whatever. So that's probably a good transition of I actually am kind of curious. So you were at one fifty-five. Wha how long did it take you to get back down to where you were I never want to say like completely satisfied, but like you were comfortable again. With your pictures. Alex: Physique. melissa rhodehouse: Well, okay, so there people need to understand that when you're doing a show prep, right, it's pretty intense. So the timeline is very different than for someone who's in like a lifestyle weight loss. But I was familiar with the territory, I was familiar with like the work that it takes and the amount of effort that it takes and the dedication to tracking every meal and tracking your foods and what goes in and all of it. So there you have to be very clear on like what it's gonna be taking. But it probably took me when I was about one twenty five, from one fifty five to one twenty five, that's where I was like, this feels better. This feels better to me. Aaron: Sure. Gotcha. It melissa rhodehouse: yeah. Aaron: And so I guess like what did you start doing? I mean, you kind of already had the background, so you knew what you needed to do, but for people who don't know what they need to do, what did you start doing that that began that change? You kinda went over it a little bit. melissa rhodehouse: The the habits, every every daily little habit. tracking my food. I have a huge sweet tooth. I'm t it's the worst. So Aaron: Yeah. Yeah, me too. melissa rhodehouse: I'm like it's so bad. So not eating the things that I would just want to eat out of pure enjoyment. So really tracking my food. And then just showing up, like showing up for myself at the gym, even when I'm tired, even when I feel like I'm busy, I just go. Get the workout in, you know, and some days it might not have been a hundred and ten percent. But it was eighty and I still went. Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Alex: When you're getting back into like the food swing of things, how like what are the parameters that you set up to make that easier? And I asked that because that transition's really hard for me. When I go from like eating three to four thousand calories a day to what I should be eating, probably closer to like 2300, it's a struggle. Like, did you did you find like what are your secrets to get back on the straight and narrow? melissa rhodehouse: get really good at being creative with your food. Alex: Yeah. Aaron: Yes. Yes. melissa rhodehouse: There's no secret. You have to be able to talk to yourself and say like, am I hungry or am I bored? You know, do I really have a Aaron: Yes. melissa rhodehouse: sweet tooth or am I just wanting to sit here and eat because I'm like watching a movie or I'm being sedentary for a moment? Like what what is that for you? And every person is different. You know, so for me it was a lot of the sweet tooth. I like to have dessert, I don't know, after a meal. And so now I cook my food, I eat my food and I figure out a way to like you know, you can make rice taste sweet if you don't wanna just eat chicken and rice. Like I make it into more of a dessert. Alex: okay. Aaron: Give us some of your your little we like to call them snack hacks that are like healthy. Like what are some of your snack hacks? melissa rhodehouse: snack packs. So I I don't know, like I love rice pudding. And so I you Aaron: Yes, me too. melissa rhodehouse: know, so I take my rice and one of those nurry drinks, like a protein drink. And the vanilla one. Aaron: Yep. The vanilla the vanilla one, yeah. I drank one this morning. Alex: The vanilla ones? melissa rhodehouse: Yep. I put half of that in like a hundred grams of rice, half of the nurry drink, and then just a little bit of that sugar free vanilla pudding mix. You warm it up and it thickens it up, put a bunch of cinnamon on there and it's like that's my treat. Aaron: Delicious. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's and it's funny though. It's so funny. You you you try to explain that to someone who loves I mean, I'm a giant sweet tooth person as well. I love desserts. and you try to explain that how delicious that tastes after eating melissa rhodehouse: Yeah. Aaron: chicken and rice for whatever amount of time, and then you eat that, like this is like the best thing. It's almost like reprogramming your brain into like enjoying things because what you just described is something that has great macros. But still tastes really good. and so that's what we call them the snack hacks because there's just so many things like it. Like I love like non-fat Greek yogurt, and there's a bajillion things you can do with it. And so that's my thing, as I just I just mix those those pudding packets with non-fat Greek yogurt, throw in some berries, and for me that's like at this point it's just I look forward to that just as much as like a cheesecake or whatever. I'm just like, this is gonna be so good. but it it takes time, right? Like if I would have given my if so a year ago, if I would have given myself that same snack hack, I'd be like, yeah, this is okay, this is whatever. But now it's like, my god, this is the best Alex: Delicious. Aaron: thing I've had today, and I look forward to eating it. So it's it's melissa rhodehouse: So we're yeah. Yeah. Aaron: just kind of gotta reprogram, reprogram your brain into doing that. Alex: And the pudding one's fascinating too, because I think this is like the fourth person that has brought that one up and that's still like a miss on my part. So it must be really, really good if that many people are doing it. So I will return and report, go get some some pudding this week and put it into something, because I haven't done that melissa rhodehouse: Well me. Alex: yet. It sounds everyone sounds like they're loving it. Missing out over here. Aaron: Well, I have a buddy and he hates Greek yogurt. And I was like, dude, just throw some stuff in there and it makes it and then he started mixing in those pudding packets and now he that's his thing. Like he loves yeah, he likes it now. So Alex: Eats it all the time. Well, cause I imagine Greek yogurt with the pudding pack it probably tastes very similar to cheesecake. Aaron: If you do the cheesecake one, yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah it's it's Alex: Flavor? okay. Okay. Okay, I just there's like a little weird flavor to 'cause just so you know, Melissa, I don't like Greek yogurt. I'm not the friend he was referencing, but I don't like Greek yogurt. and it's it's it feels like it has a little sourness to it. That might be yeah. That might be anyways, I gotta try this stuff out because I'm Aaron: Tangy. There's a tangy to it. Yeah. Sure. Sure. Just try it out. melissa rhodehouse: But that's what that's where that ninja creamy machine comes in. I do a lot of that Alex: Dude, that too. melissa rhodehouse: too, you know? And you don't have to use Greek yogurt in it. Aaron: Dude, that is like straight real ice cream to me. Like, that's so it's so good. Could they make it quieter? Hey, Ninja, if you're listening, can we like put a silencer on that thing somehow? It's the loudest machine on the planet Earth. It sounds like I'm doing like machine work inside my kitchen every time I turn it on, Alex: Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: Four minutes. Aaron: but it is awesome. I you're right. That that thing is awesome. I love that thing. but melissa rhodehouse: Yeah. Aaron: if you're listening, Ninja, let's let's do some sort of silencer on. Alex: They do it so people ask questions like, What is that thing? It's the ninja. It's the ninja. You should go buy one. The neighbors will hear it. Aaron: Yeah Yeah, the neighbors. Cause the neighbors can hear it because it's so effing loud. melissa rhodehouse: Yeah. Aaron: okay, so your nutrition, we got that locked in. You did talk about working out. How often are you working out? Like during I mean, during this process of of getting back into where you want to be. melissa rhodehouse: Do something every day. Sundays Sundays is a rest day for me, but Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: it's still getting in like at least 10,000 steps a day. So there's still movement. It's not just a hangout, lay on the couch kind of a day. But I show up every day. Aaron: How are you making sure you get in those ten thousand steps? Cause I know a lot of people, especially people that have like Alex: Can Yeah. That's hard for me. Aaron: sedentary jobs, like how are you making sure you get that in? melissa rhodehouse: So I'm a tattoo artist and I do eyelashes and things like that and so I Aaron: Okay. Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: do a lot of sitting. So I get up at first thing in the morning and it's you know, getting on like the treadmill or the bike or we have a little walking pad, you know, and that works really well as too. but it's just doing it, you know, forty five minutes to get like some good movement in. even just thirty minutes some days. And then I mean really I mean I Laundry and dishes Aaron: Yeah, moving around, yeah. melissa rhodehouse: and all the all the things on top of that. So, you know, even just coming up and down the stairs to like move clothing and, you know, shuffle things around and cleaning the kitchen, there's still that's still movement, you know. And then Aaron: Absolutely. Absolutely. melissa rhodehouse: at the end of the day, like if I ha if I need to go for a walk, I'll go for a walk. Aaron: Perfect. Perfect. So you're inten essentially you're intentional about it. Like it's something that's that melissa rhodehouse: Very Aaron: you know you have to do. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Alex: Well and what's crazy about it too is like it's probably like just your natural movement plus maybe forty five minutes, right? Like you of of like focused walking. melissa rhodehouse: Focus walking, yeah. I mean forty five Aaron: Yeah. Interesting. melissa rhodehouse: minutes, you know, that you can get some pretty good steps in on that. Like I have short legs, like it doesn't really happen super fast. Alex: Yeah. What what melissa rhodehouse: I still end up having to go out, you know, in the evening or getting if it's cold, like we'll just get on the walking pad and like w watch a movie or something as a family, but I'm walking. Aaron: Do you wanna know it helps a ton? Knowing that I have to tell Lloyd if I walk 10,000 steps or not. That ever dude, like I'll I'll be at the end of the day and melissa rhodehouse: We're checking in. Aaron: I'll have like 7,500. And I'm like, my God, I don't want I don't want to disappoint Lloyd. My point is like being held accountable by somebody makes a giant difference. It's super easy for me to be like, 7500, that's pretty close to 10,000, whatever. But I'm not gonna lie to Lloyd. So I'm like, ugh. And so that like even last night, I like, I gotta go. I gotta go for a walk. And so I just went on my treadmill, watched the show while I walked for now, it's like twenty minutes or whatever it is. But I think being held accountable makes makes a huge difference when you know you don't wanna disappoint somebody. melissa rhodehouse: Yeah, or yourself, really, you know. Aaron: Sure. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: Yeah, but yes, I mean even the coach needs a coach. Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: You know, like having that person to hold you accountable and like check in and make sure you're on track or how you're feeling, like your mental state of things. Like are you doing it 'cause you want to or 'cause you don't want to or like where you at? You know, it's it's a big deal. Aaron: Yes, yes. What have you found? So you are a personal trainer, probably dealt with a lot of people. What are like the most common excuses that you hear about why people either can't stick to a diet or the the the plan that you've set up for Like workout plan. melissa rhodehouse: It is the same excuses that anybody can have. The Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: always the most common is like I just got busy at work. My kids needed me. Like you Aaron: Yeah. Time. melissa rhodehouse: know, like I just had so much stuff. There's never like specific example, but it's I just always have so much stuff. Like life is stressful, like you know, I'm going through a breakup or I mean you hear all. But what are we Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. What's your what's your advice that you give melissa rhodehouse: Well, it's kind of the same thing as if you're tired, Alex: Shut up. melissa rhodehouse: you know, like you show up anyway. You're not showing up for all the things, you're just showing up for yourself. I mean the thing I tell people is that the best thing they can do for them, their mental health, even when they don't want to and life is busy and things are hard, is to show up. The gym is a great place for like mental outlet. Like just let it all go. Be there for yourself, Aaron: Yes. melissa rhodehouse: even if it's only thirty minutes. Aaron: Yeah. Yep. melissa rhodehouse: Because life is busy, we're always tired. It never changes. It's always the same. Aaron: Right. It's the cheapest it's the cheapest therapy. That's what I tell myself. The cheapest melissa rhodehouse: It is. Aaron: therapy. Yeah. It really is. Alex: Well what I also find that it helps me sleep too. So like if they're super tired I they they're gonna start falling asleep real quick if they start working out. Like and like finding the time. Not to be toot my own horn 'cause it actually low key kinda sucks. But like waking up at four forty five every day to get to the gym by five so that I can wake up, get back before my kids are awake, isn't like the most convenient thing. But guess what? Now I'm on their sleep schedule, falling asleep at seven thirty or eight. And then I wake and then it's actually not as bad as it sucked at the start, but like you just get used to it. So back to your habit building. Suggestion that you had earlier where it's just like, all right, cool. Yes, it was hard at the start, but like it gets easier as it becomes more habitual. melissa rhodehouse: It's like making your bed. Right? You get up, you get out of it, you make your bed, the room feels clean, you know, like Aaron: Yep, yep. Yeah, exactly. It Alex: I gotta start doing that. That's a good reminder melissa rhodehouse: Like what? Alex: to make my bed. Aaron: My wife does that. the okay, so I kind of want to pivot a little bit into you just got back from a national competition, which you placed very well at like like extremely well. let like for we do have lots of we do have several listeners and people that follow us that are are kind of are in the kind of like competition. realm or whatever, what and me personally, like I'm gonna do it my first show, like it's like next June is when I'm I'm planning on doing it. Like what what advice do you have for people that want to get into competitions, kind of what it takes, the sacrifices you make, like I guess just general advice that you wish you wish you could give yourself when you first started getting into competitions. melissa rhodehouse: That's a good one because there's so many things. Aaron: Sure, yeah. melissa rhodehouse: I think first and foremost that anybody doing a competition doesn't matter what kind it is, if you're on stage, you're signing up to have yourself, your physique subjected to someone else's opinion of you at that given day, given time. It doesn't matter, like you bring your best self. But it's going to depend on who the judges are, what they're looking for, and who else shows up to the competition at that given time. You know, and so you really have to take you have to be ready for that. And you need to enjoy the process of the entire journey. Because the stage is just a snippet of all of the work that you've done the entire course of your prep. And so you have to love the entire journey, not just the end result, or you'll be disappointed. Aaron: Right. Right. Yeah, that's that's really good. What part do you hate the most of prep? I won't tell Lloyd. melissa rhodehouse: so bad I actually I f I there's different people but I really thrive in the prep process. I I really do. I Aaron: really? melissa rhodehouse: I yes I love it. I love the exactness of it, the discipline, the structure, the checking in, like the being held accountable, the push and the drive because I like seeing my better self show up. And I like seeing how far I can push it because it really at the end you're not in a competition with anybody else. Like the first one that you do might feel like that, but everyone after that, it's a competition you versus you. You know, you're working on that physique Aaron: Sure. Yeah. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: consistently. Aaron: Mm-hmm. Are are are you finding it hard? They'll I was talking to Dan. we had him on a few weeks ago. I see him at the gym all the time. And so during his prep, he just look he even told me, like, I just have zero energy, like at the at the gym. Like I because you know, you're cutting back on your carbs, you're cutting back on your calories, you're cutting back on essentially everything. How how did you maintain Motivation and and Dan was awesome. He was still there all the time pushing it. how do you maintain that energy level when you Alex: Intensity? Yeah. Aaron: literally don't have the same amount of energy because you're not eating? melissa rhodehouse: Yeah, so some days you don't, some days you are tired and again you just kinda show up. But in all reality, like leg days with Lloyd, the group of women that come to that leg day, every Friday I show up. I drive an hour to Pocatello just to do it, and those women are my motivators. They are they are whispering in my ear every set, every rep. You've got this, you're gonna get it's that pro card, keep going, keep pushing, you know, and then same with friends like Lloyd and Dan. Always checking in. Where are you at? You know, we're doing good. So it's the team. It's the camaraderie, the team, and and we've built a team that's really feels like a family and it makes a big Aaron: Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: difference. Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. That's it. I I totally agree. It's it's so good to have people that you can lean on that are especially going through the same experience that you're going through, to just to lift you up. Yeah, that's I think that that's gotta be that's gotta be huge. do you wanna talk about your the show that you did? This was is it last week? Two weeks ago? Two weeks ago. melissa rhodehouse: It was two weeks ago. Aaron: Two weeks ago. How do you want to talk about that experience at all or melissa rhodehouse: Yeah, I mean it was great. I don't know if I it was in Pittsburgh. Yeah. Yeah. And Aaron: Yeah. It was in Pittsburgh. Yeah. How many how many girls were in the or sorry, women? How many women were in that that competition? Like that you were competing against? melissa rhodehouse: So in my height class there was seventeen. And that is Aaron: wow. melissa rhodehouse: considered Alex: So lot. melissa rhodehouse: massive. Yeah, it Aaron: Yeah, that's that is huge. Yeah. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: was but the majority of the height classes had seventeen to twenty women in all of It was it was it was probably the biggest Aaron: A huge show. melissa rhodehouse: show I've ever been to. Alex: What what what was this? Was this like nationals? I I ha I have zero context on shows. melissa rhodehouse: Yes, yes, yes. It was the Teen Collegiate Nationals in Pittsburgh. and it was a phenomenal show. you know, Aaron: Yeah. Good. melissa rhodehouse: so but I just I've never competed with a group of women in classes that large. Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: And and you're talking like this is a master's show. So I mean, I'm forty seven years old. you know, there's not l any twenty year olds running Aaron: Really? melissa rhodehouse: around. And so and so, to see women They're even older than myself coming in with incredible physiques that have just you know, worked their little fannies off and it was amazing to see that many women that are all, you know, over the age of thirty, all the Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: way up I don't remember how old the oldest one was, but there was sixty plus, you know, year olds on stage and they were incredible. Aaron: Yeah. The interesting thing too when I was talking to Dan and Lloyd about this is like you are competing against these people, but because you know like the the battle that you've gone through, each one of you, to get there, there's like this is like mutual respect Alex: Respect. Aaron: for everybody that's there. Alex: Wait, so how does it Aaron: So I think that's great. Alex: how do is is it does it di vary by competition? So you had people from age thirty to let's just say sixty, but it was your group's just based on height? I always thought it was like age group and like weight for some reason. Okay. melissa rhodehouse: It is. So for the men, the men get weighed, but the women they go off of they go off of age and height. So they'll have like thirty five Alex: Okay. melissa rhodehouse: and thirty five and older and then they'll have heights A, B, C, D and E or whatever height classes, you know, four four foot to four five or you know, so they're all heighted out. And so I was in the forty five plus group. Alex: Okay. melissa rhodehouse: And then I was in class D, which was I'm only five four and three quarters. So it was like five four to five five or something like that. So Alex: So just an inch. Wow. It's very segmented. Aaron: So then what is your what is your what's your goal? Like you you did National's, you placed well, like is your goal to get like your your pro card? Is that like the the next step or did you get your pro card? I don't know, maybe you did. melissa rhodehouse: No, I did not get it this time. I placed fifth, which you know, I I feel like I did well. Aaron: It's awesome. melissa rhodehouse: I'm actually going back to nationals in September to compete again. Aaron: Mm-hmm. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: and Lloyd and I are working on bringing in, you know, an even better package, better physique. we know where we need to work. but yes, I want the pro card. Last year Lloyd brought me on as a coach for our team, and so I want to be able to you know, have that for our team, for myself, to be able to coach and help other people and then you know, and with the pro card, it's kind of a funny thing, but you start all over again, like you're starting from the ground up at the pro status and so I wanna see where that can go. Aaron: Yeah, yeah. Is this something like we know Dan, Dan's 60. Is this something melissa rhodehouse: Yes. Aaron: you're like, I want to be doing this into my sixties? Like this is yeah, awesome. That's so great. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. melissa rhodehouse: Absolutely. Yeah, I love it. My family thinks something is wrong with me, but I still like Aaron: I'll tell you what, I'll tell you when your family doesn't see there's I'm not speaking just about you. In general, when people are in these comments, your family doesn't think there's anything wrong with you when you go to the beach or the pool. I'll tell you that much. that's like my wife thinks I'm crazy because I love going to the gym all the time, but has no problem when I get to go to Arizona or go to the beach somewhere and get to take my shirt off. Then she loves the fact that I go to the beach all the time or I go to the gym all the time. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: She's like 40 year old. Aaron: My cute little boy. yeah, no, I I agree. It we're getting there, Alex. We're getting there. But it is, it is interesting. Like, you just have that that confidence just goes goes way up. And that's something I didn't have for you know 20 something years. so yeah, the the goal is just to keep keep getting better, getting better. And I'm sure there's people, I mean, obviously in the thumbnail, we're gonna have like a picture of you from your competition. There's people that are gonna look at that and be like, what the hell is she talking about? Like, what is she improving? Like is it like this is where body dysmorphia really comes into play. And also also, like coach not coaching, but the the judges kind of give you feedback as well of what you need to improve. But like the normal person looking at a picture, you is gonna think you're absolutely insane that you have to fix any part of of your physique. What I and again, you don't have to tell me. Is there like what specific thing are you or is there a specific area like I need to grow my shoulders more or like my calves more or whatever it is? melissa rhodehouse: Yeah, so I know most people don't understand when you start picking it apart, they don't understand. They're like, You have a problem. You know. But yeah, Aaron: Yeah. Yeah we do. melissa rhodehouse: it it is a problem, but it but it's not for like going to the beach like like great, like I I could rock swimsuit all day long and feel great about it. But when Aaron: Sure. Yep. Yep. melissa rhodehouse: you get up on that stage, for me, like I my shoulders are there. So I tend to lean out as a female I tend to lean out from the top down. So my face Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: goes all everything goes and then on the glute aspect for me it's that lower tie in where the hips come in and it just needs to be leaner, tighter you need to be able to see that definition between the glute and the hamstring a little bit more. So Aaron: And for you, this is this is just for the audience, just so no one thinks we're all crazy. This is literally like the this is for so you're you're tr you're doing this not because you have body dysmorphia, you're doing this because you know that's what the judges are gonna be looking at, correct? Okay. melissa rhodehouse: Yes, you're yes, you're you're doing it so that this is this is not for me to be like, ooh, I need to be leaner. Absolutely not. You know. This is this Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: is this is where the sport of it comes in and you're really honing things in on what the judges are looking for. And that's where a coach needs a coach. That's where the coach comes in because you're really fine-tuning and nitpicking at things that somebody normally Aaron: Yes. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: wouldn't look at. Aaron: Which is wild. Like and there's like layers deep. So I have a coach, Lloyd. Lloyd has a coach, Eric. Eric has a coach. It's just like melissa rhodehouse: Absolutely. Aaron: you always need a coach. Like just to be able to to kinda tell you what ya what you need to do and can be very honest with you. Alex: Yeah, 'cause it's a competition. Like I think anyone who's listening to this who's competed in anything, whether that be a sport, a spelling bee, like whatever like it doesn't have to be physical physically related, like it You have to improve on things. Like if your jump shot is bad in basketball because your elbow's out a little bit, you have to bring it in. So I hearing you describe like the glute thing to somebody who's unfamiliar with this world, it's gonna be like, Well, what the hell are you talking about? But wouldn't would you talk about it in other terms that they understand? They're just like, okay, yeah, it's just it's like tucking in the elbow. Okay, I gotcha. Yeah. Aaron: Right. Yeah. Yep. Just little tweaks that you have to make. melissa rhodehouse: Judges are looking at hundreds of women or in men all day long, right? They're the whole the entire day they're judging and picking apart physiques. But you've got a lineup of 17 women and you're trying to figure out what's winning here. It's hard. It's hard, you know? Aaron: Yeah, yeah, yes. melissa rhodehouse: And so you you're really just trying to hone in on those little details that's gonna make you stand out from somewhere else. Aaron: Sure. Have you had to deal with any injury, like any setbacks like that? melissa rhodehouse: my gosh, yes. last but Aaron: Do tell. melissa rhodehouse: it's the craziest injury. So last year I was doing hit workouts, you know, like I would be on the incline treadmill and I was walking and then I would sprint for thirty seconds at a time and then walk Aaron: Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: and sprint. And I got home one night and I don't know I really don't know what I did 'cause the doctors couldn't even tell me what I did, but my ankles like the b the back of my Achilles And the sides Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: of my ankles, both of them had swelled up and they just they just hurt like I couldn't even like use my feet. And yeah, that was super it was just such an odd injury, but we ended up falling out of the I don't I don't even know. It it was I don't think I should Aaron: What did you do? Alex: What was it? What happened? Like they d like it wasn't like melissa rhodehouse: have been I think my shoes were bad. Like you know how shoes just they get so much wear and tear you know, I I needed new shoes with actual cushion, Aaron: Yep. Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: better support. But there was no explanation. Alex: It wasn't like a sprain that you like didn't realize had happened or a break, it just swelled. melissa rhodehouse: No. Just swelled up and so they think that I they think I kind of tore some of the ligaments around my Achilles and around my ankle. it it just was just like a fluke injury, but I ended up competing even with the injury. I just had to take it easy. But walking in heels and all of the things, I mean it it I just gritted my teeth and went through it, you know, it was fine, but I don't ever want to do it again. I don't run on an inkling anymore. Let's just Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: Yeah. Aaron: So I mean, was that close to when the competition was gonna happen? That injury? melissa rhodehouse: Yes. Yeah. Aaron: Gotcha. So did you just just like I I I'm just more curious from the like the injury and recovery standpoint. Did you just like all right, I'm not I'm not walking on this, but I'm still gonna be, you know, doing free weights and machine work. Did you still get it to the gym? melissa rhodehouse: did to the gym, what I did was I switched to the elliptical machine. It just has less wear and tear. And the Aaron: gotcha. Sure. melissa rhodehouse: way that my feet were stable on the machine I was able to still go through the motions, get in the steps, do the cardio. I just didn't I didn't I don't think I did the treadmill for a good six months. Aaron: Gotcha. Okay. Okay. Are you back on using the treadmill? melissa rhodehouse: Yes. Aaron: Just not incline? melissa rhodehouse: Just well I'll walk on an incline. I don't Alex: Not those shoes. melissa rhodehouse: run on one. Aaron: Yeah. Smart. melissa rhodehouse: And I have new shoes. Aaron: all right. Did you have any other I mean Melissa, I we could literally do this for the next three hours, maybe eight, but you are a busy woman. and yeah I got you gotta prepare for Friday leg day tomorrow. do you have any other questions specific, Alex, that you wanted to ask before? So we like Alex: No. It's like it's like similar to like everyone we've had on Aaron. We're just like I'd love to I'd love to have you again, Melissa, like to explore like other things like in detail specifically. Cause I feel like we could like Aaron just said, we could just go into like the competition circuit and I just have a hundred questions on that 'cause it's I'm something I'm so unfamiliar with. But as far as this one, I think I'm good. Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. But we have one more question we like to ask every every person that comes on. just just a piece of advice you could give to anyone listening who either not only wants to get into competition, but just wants to get healthier. What is the and I know this could again, this could be a a two hour response, but keep it within 45 minutes. like what what advice would you give to that person? who is just like, I need to like my we we st we I hate s we in our last podcast we talked about this. We don't I I don't like the word health journey or the term health journey. It just seems overused. So we talk about the rebuild, your your body rebuild, what would you tell somebody that wants to go through start their body rebuild? melissa rhodehouse: that's a that's so good. Aaron: Thanks. melissa rhodehouse: I think really just like make your bed every day. Make your bed, like start your habits. It sound I mean it sounds so weird, but make your bed, right? Go have Aaron: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: your coffee and then like put in the work. Aaron: Mm-hmm. melissa rhodehouse: it's not hard, it's just showing up. It's just doing the work even when you don't want to. and then chasing like being strong versus being skinny. Because when you're doing Aaron: Yes. melissa rhodehouse: that, like you're gonna lean out, you're gonna be s you're gonna be thinner, you know what I mean? You might weigh more, but you're gonna look dang good. Aaron: Yes. I do have one I do actually have one more. I just wanna so there's this giant almost stigma with women going to the gym. that like I actually have heard this from my wife. it's like I don't want to go to the gym and you've probably definitely heard this. I don't wanna go to the gym like as a woman because I don't want to get bulky. could you address that? melissa rhodehouse: It's hilarious. Because I have Aaron: I know. It is. melissa rhodehouse: someone I have had someone say, Well, I want you to train me, but I don't want to get bulky like you. And I'm like Yeah, I'm like, really? Aaron: they said you're bulky? What? Alex: Like, okay. Aaron: You mean Jack? melissa rhodehouse: they're like I want to I wanna get toned but I don't want to be bulky you know and Aaron: Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: so there's no such thing there's there's no such thing I would Alex: have to get the bus. melissa rhodehouse: have to eat massive amounts of food to get and run some serious something to to actually get bulky Aaron: Gear, yes. All the gear. melissa rhodehouse: you know like and so I I don't it it's just laughable like I don't even I don't even know how to answer it because I'm like Aaron: Yeah. It is funny because I was like, like, if this wasn't it, like I wish this was true because I would love to just all I had to do was go to the gym and all of a sudden I just get super jacked and that was it. Like there's so much more that goes into it than just melissa rhodehouse: Yeah. Aaron: going to the gym and like lift. There's just there's just a weird thing. I hear I've heard it so many for forever that if a woman goes to the gym, she's gonna look like Arnold Schwarzenegger within three months. Like, I wish, I wish that's how it worked. It doesn't, it doesn't work that way. Yeah. Alex: Ha ha ha. melissa rhodehouse: It doesn't. But I think you see that I think you see some of the there's women out there that are very, very into a bodybuilding competitive sport on a very different level. Do you know what I mean? And so Aaron: Yeah, sure. Yes. yes. Alex: Yes. melissa rhodehouse: but they you have to eat so much food in order to have that work to your advantage. and the lifestyle would be very different than just someone going to the gym in the morning, lifting some heavy weights, like really trying to get strong and lean and you know, watching the food that they're eating and making better healthy choices. It just isn't gonna Aaron: Right, right. melissa rhodehouse: happen. Aaron: Yes, yes, I know. You heard it here, you heard it here, folks. Go to the gym. You're not gonna turn it on a search dagger. Alex: Un this this might be a this might be a hot take. Aaron, Melissa, you guys can be the the judges on what I'm about to say. Do and and you're a and you're a trainer, so you you deal with this more often. Do you think most people actually wanna be skinny fat? Like that's the physique that they want is skinny fat. So, like, what I mean by that is like they wanna be skinny, melissa rhodehouse: I think that's the physique that we Alex: but they still wanna eat ice cream every single day. melissa rhodehouse: Yes. Yeah. Aaron: yeah. Yeah. Alex: So like the inside's not looking great, but but like Aaron: Yes. Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: Yeah. I only ate the ice cream today, so I you know, I only weigh a hundred and two pounds, but like Alex: 'Cause I think that's what people mean by the bulky, like not wanting to be bulky. I don't know. Aaron: like I I see it as like they don't wanna look like China from melissa rhodehouse: Like me. Aaron: from world from from the from WWE. That's what I think when they like they're gonna all Alex: From the WWE. Aaron: of a sudden it'll look like this super jack chick. it's like, yeah, that's the that's not gonna happen. again, melissa rhodehouse: But Aaron: I wish it was that easy. melissa rhodehouse: but also too, let's like social media and pictures, they're very deceptive. I mean I can take a picture in the mirror at the gym and Alex: Yeah. melissa rhodehouse: I look freaking jacked. But in real life Aaron: Yes, melissa rhodehouse: I'm like five four and I'm like only this big. You know what I mean? Like people don't Aaron: Yeah, yes. melissa rhodehouse: understand that what you're seeing doesn't really translate to real life. Aaron: Exactly. Yes. Yes. Alex: Yeah. Yeah. Aaron: no, a hundred percent. One hundred percent. Alex: When I look down I don't see a six pack, but I can make one in the mirror at the gym. Aaron: Yeah, exactly. The right lighting, man. The right lighting. melissa rhodehouse: No, woo. Yeah. Alex: Yeah. Aaron: well, thank you. All right. We we like to explain this just kind of towards the end, even though probably people have ex heard this many times. we get questions of what unsexy, why we call ourselves unsexy. And it really has to do with just like unsexy is doing all the unsexy things in order to get like healthy or not even like with we started this off as more of a business thing, like business building podcast. But it's just doing the like tracking your food, going to the gym, getting your 10,000 steps and all the unsexy things that you have to do in order to get to where you want to be. That's all it that's all it really is. so yeah, in case you're wondering, like unsexy. Like, what is the unsexy Alex: Gotta do unsexy to be unsexy. You can't Aaron: bean? Yeah, you gotta yeah, you gotta do the unsexy stuff. You wanna be sexy. And I know. I'm just joking. but melissa rhodehouse: Yeah. Alex: Mm. Aaron: no. Thank you, Melissa, so much for being on. melissa rhodehouse: Thank you. Aaron: Again, we could talk to you forever. I might see you tomorrow after you guys you'll probably be all be all you'll be walking weird 'cause I've done melissa rhodehouse: You should come join us one of these days just to try it out. Aaron: my kid. It says ladies' leg day. I'd get I'd get canceled for just walking in there. melissa rhodehouse: No, you and Dan should both show up. Alex: It's Idaho. Aaron: yeah. melissa rhodehouse: Ha ha ha Aaron: We're gonna get Dan would destroy me. Get just destroyed by Dan at during leg day. I did, I did Lloyd's leg day, and I couldn't walk for like four days after. yeah, that's great. I I loved it actually. It was it was really good. Yeah, that'd be cool to go to go do that. but yeah, thank you so much again, Melissa, and thanks for everyone listening. And how do we end this? I don't know. Go up there and be Alex: Go be unsexy. Aaron: unsexy. There we go. Yeah. So yeah. melissa rhodehouse: The unsexy part of this. Thank you. See you guys. Alex: Mm-hmm.