[TRANSCRIPT]
0:00:00 - (Jodi Dolo): About seven years ago, I started feeling heart palpitations. I was over 230 pounds and I was only 35 at the time. I made an appointment to go see my doctor and found out I had high blood pressure. They connected me to an EKG machine to see if I did any damage to my heart. Fortunately, I didn't, but I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and I left that appointment in tears. I think it was my wake up call because we all had the tendency of saying, someday I'll get to a working out, someday I'll lose weight, and someday just came and hit me in the face.
0:00:38 - (Jodi Dolo): I decided to put the fear of I used to be scared to go into a gym because I was obese. I was scared of what people would think. Fortunately, this scare for my health was more heavy than the fear of what people may think. My health scare wound up being the biggest blessing I could imagine. My name's Jodi Dolo and I am undone.
0:01:16 - (Toby Brooks): Hey friend, I'm glad you're here. Welcome to another episode of Becoming Undone. Welcome the podcast for those who dare bravely, risk mightily and grow relentlessly. I'm Toby Brooks speaker, an author and a professor. I've spent much of the last two decades working as an athletic trainer and a strength coach in the professional, collegiate, and high school sports settings, and over the years, I've grown more and more fascinated with what sets high achievers apart and how failures that can hurt in the moment can end up being exactly the push we needed to propel us along our paths to success.
0:01:48 - (Toby Brooks): Each week on becoming undone, I invite new guests to examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place. Id like to emphasize that this show is entirely separate from my role as a professor, but its my attempt to apply what ive learned and what im learning, and to share with others about the mindsets of high achievers. If this is your first episode, I sincerely hope that you love it.
0:02:08 - (Toby Brooks): Closing in now on a year and a half of podcasting and its been a wonderful journey filled with tons of lessons. I've had the pleasure of interviewing some incredible guests, so be sure to scroll back through and pick out some previous episodes of high achievers who didn't let failure or setback stand in the way of their eventual victories. For fitness influencer Jody Dolo, it wasn't easy to find herself alone and in tears in her car seven years ago, after a difficult conversation with her doctor had hammered home a reality that her health habits had led her to a place of hypertension, heart palpitations and obesity.
0:02:46 - (Toby Brooks): But after battling her own weight for years, watching her father do the same before his untimely passing. This time, though, was different. She was shaken, but now empowered to make meaningful and lasting changes. Hear her story of transformation, of finding her strength, and how that time of uncertainty paved the way for a newfound passion and a new purpose in episode 80, Princess of Power. This week, super excited to bring a virtual friend.
0:03:15 - (Toby Brooks): We've both been using the same fitness app for several years, and around it came this Facebook community that was just unlike any other. So Jodi Dolo joining us. She is a fitness influencer and previous life as a graphic designer. We'll get into that later. But Jody, welcome to the show.
0:03:33 - (Jodi Dolo): Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
0:03:35 - (Toby Brooks): So I've read and I've also listened to some podcasts where you were interviewed. And I know your story, and I'm looking forward to digging in. You had some health issues that led to big changes in your life. But before that, I always start at the beginning. What did you want to be growing up and why.
0:03:54 - (Jodi Dolo): She Ra? Do you remember she Ra, the cartoon character? That's what I wanted to be growing up. I wanted to be strong and a hero, but eventually I wanted to. Yeah, I think that's it. That's all I can remember.
0:04:09 - (Toby Brooks): That's a little bit of your Gen X showing. You're probably right on the cusp. You're like an elder millennial or a really young Gen Xer, but your Gen X is showing when you mentioned she Ra, for sure. Interesting that the journey has gone as it's gone, because little did you know, maybe five or even ten years ago, that strength would be a critical piece of your day to day and what you aspire to be. Talk us through the beginning of your journey, wherever you would say that started.
0:04:37 - (Jodi Dolo): Sure. Growing up, my father had a lot of health issues. He had a heart issue. He was at amputee. He had diabetes. He had two different kinds of cancer. So I grew up with watching him going in and out of the hospital a lot. And in 2005, he did pass away. He had brain cancer, and he had a blood clot in his lung that they couldn't do anything for. So I lost him when I was 23 years old. So about seven years ago, I started feeling heart palpitations. I was over 230 pounds, and I was only 35 at the time.
0:05:18 - (Jodi Dolo): I made an appointment to go see my doctor and found out I had high blood pressure. They connected me to an EKG machine to see if I did any damage to my heart. Fortunately, I didn't. But I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and I left that appointment in tears. And I thought about what I experienced growing up. And I have two boys, and I didn't want them having that lifestyle, and I didn't want them repeating my mistakes.
0:05:47 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, I think definitely we are products of our environment. And it seems to me like a lot of folks take their experience and we go one of two ways, and both of them tend to be extreme. We either mindlessly mimic the behavior that we've seen growing up without really thinking about it, without you eat what you were fed and you do what your parents oftentimes did. And then in other instances, we see that error and we swing maybe to an opposite end of that, and we tell ourselves that we're not going to let that be us. So early in your journey, it sounds like default. Jody was probably not super active. Talk me through what your typical exercise or fitness might have looked like for you and what your diet consisted of.
0:06:32 - (Jodi Dolo): I would go in waves as one of those repeat dieters. Like, I would try the extremes. I would restrict what I ate and try to exercise a lot. And the minute the scale didn't do what I thought it should do, at that moment, I'd give up, or the over restriction would lead me to give up, because you can only do that for so long before it's unsustainable.
0:06:59 - (Toby Brooks): I teach a nutrition class for our masters of athletic training students, and it's something that's really been transformative for me, is I don't talk about exercise and diet anymore, because exercise, to me is punitive. I remember being a basketball player, and if we acted up in practice, we had to run. Exercise was punishment for acting up. And a diet, like you said, it's this short term deal. You're going to drop ten pounds and you're going to use this plan to do it, and then never really think beyond that. So for me, I guess the vernacular is not diet and exercise, but it's training and fueling.
0:07:33 - (Toby Brooks): And so those are both reward things. And I can't say that I've got it all figured out by any stretch, but it sounds like today you've approached this with a much more long term outcome. So going from that medical consultation where you left in tears, what switch flipped? How was that moment different than 100 others that had happened before?
0:08:00 - (Jodi Dolo): I think it was my wake up call, because we all have the tendency of saying, someday I'll get to a working out, someday I'll lose weight, and someday just came and hit me in the face. I could have accepted being on medication for the rest of my life. There was no guarantee that me exercising and losing weight would lead me to get off medication.
0:08:26 - (Toby Brooks): Jody recognized that her father's health wasn't good even as a child, and eventually his battles would take him too soon. Going on and living life troubled, even burdened, by the knowledge that she, too, was not healthy, had proven hard. But Jody hadn't yet found the knowledge of exactly what to do or what would prove to be the life altering impetus to find out. All that changed when she consulted a doctor about her heart palpitations and the eventual diagnosis of high blood pressure.
0:08:54 - (Toby Brooks): Faced with the prospect of meds for the rest of her life and a condition that was still likely to get worse, she found the motivation, the determination, and the strength she'd been looking for all those years to make some dramatic changes. This time, it wasn't about short term results. It was about long term behaviors.
0:09:15 - (Jodi Dolo): But I had the tr. Not trying wasn't good enough. Not trying wasn't going to lead to a good role model for my children. I decided to put the fear of, I used to be scared to go into a gym because I was obese. I was scared of what people would think. Fortunately, this scare for my health was more heavy than the fear of what people may think when I walk in the gym.
0:09:46 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, made the biggest fear win, I guess. So. I think for a lot of people, that's a huge hang up is okay. It's one thing to have that gnawing, nagging feeling that I should be treating my body differently. It certainly has been for me, like proper fueling. That is a lingering concern that I have. But for a lot of people, making that switch from short term, try, try, give up. Try, try, give up. Try, try, give up to long term, slow, steady improvement.
0:10:22 - (Toby Brooks): It's daunting to face down the fact that this is the new me, this is how I'm going to live for the rest of my life. Were there any strategies or tips or tricks that you learned or embraced along the way that made this time stick, that maybe it didn't the time before? Other than just that fear?
0:10:40 - (Jodi Dolo): I think for me, having a strong why was monumental before it was I wanted to look better. Maybe people will like me better if I lost weight, which that's a terrible mindset to have. But when it became about my health, it doesn't matter if the scale goes away. I don't want it to go. I had to keep going. My health scare wound up being the biggest blessing I could imagine.
0:11:11 - (Toby Brooks): Wow, that's powerful. And that's what this show is all about. Because frequently things that we wouldn't have chosen can suck in the moment, but their rocket fuel to propel us in a new direction. So you find yourself on this new path, you've got a why, and that why is external as well. And I think that's helpful, too. Doing it for the sake of your kids is different than the vanity of I just want to look better.
0:11:40 - (Toby Brooks): That was six, seven years ago. And that's one thing to believe in this idea, but you've got to figure out a way to make this part of your day to day. So what were your fueling hacks or your fitness? I hate the word hack. But what were the strategies you took in order to make this change stick?
0:12:00 - (Jodi Dolo): I had a lot of resistance to any sort of nutrition tracking or following a diet growing up. My mom was actually a Weight watchers leader in the nineties, and I did not want to do anything remotely like that. But I would go to the gym, go on a cardio equipment, not knowing what I was doing, and just make what I thought were healthier choices. And the most I lost was five pounds. When you're 230 some pounds, four weeks, five pounds, that's not a lot at all.
0:12:34 - (Jodi Dolo): So I decided to hit pause on the exercise and focus on nutrition. And I started with Weight watchers only because I had a couple friends at the time who were doing it. So at least I had that accountability that I could lean on. And I think that's part of people's problem. They try to change every single aspect of their life right away, and you have to relearn new habits and to change all of them like that, it's not going to happen. So for me, it was focusing on nutrition first, because you can't out train a bad diet.
0:13:11 - (Jodi Dolo): And maybe about a year later, I decided to start looking into fitness, start trying to build that into my routine. And that's actually when I found Fitbod, the app that you and I both use, right?
0:13:25 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah. And I think for me it's just the simplicity. It takes the thought out of the process, and I gather we're probably in the same boat. I still track my workouts with Fitbod, but it's not like I don't have the capacity to build the workouts myself. I just frankly don't have the energy. I don't want to devote the mental bandwidth to scripting everything. I think you're an avid crossfitter these days. Your workouts on a dry erase board?
0:13:51 - (Toby Brooks): Many instances. So what has that technology meant for you? Or what do you think it's allowed you to do that your previous methods fell short of?
0:14:03 - (Jodi Dolo): I was. I still am shy, but I was extremely shy and uncomfortable to take up space that I didn't want to hire a trainer. All the trainers at my gym look like they did not want to be there. So I'm like, that's, I don't need that energy. So I liked Fitbod would show me what to do. And if I couldn't use a piece of equipment because somebody was using it or I couldn't figure out how to use it, I could easily switch to something else.
0:14:34 - (Toby Brooks): You mentioned it that almost need for immediate results. And seeing the effects of these changes is a critical piece for a lot of people, and it's a huge demotivator. And I think what we oftentimes fail to recognize is my current state is the result of 15, 2025 years of poor decisions. And to expect those to just magically reverse because I spent a good week eating right and training right is fallacy.
0:15:05 - (Toby Brooks): So as you started to make these better choices and whether it was fueling or fitness or whatever, you started settling into this new lifestyle. How long before you and those around you started to notice this new Jody?
0:15:22 - (Jodi Dolo): Let's say within a year. Because even in photos, there's barely any photos of me before without me holding one of my kids, because I would always have to hide behind somebody, and all of a sudden, I'm in pictures by myself. Even three months into focusing on nutrition, like, I'm already a little bit more comfortable in my own skin.
0:15:47 - (Toby Brooks): For me, probably the best part of this whole journey has been how fitness has helped me, and I view it as a regulatory thing. Therapy for me is in my space. And whether it's running or lifting or whatever, I know that if I don't train, my mental health suffers. And so what would you say have been some of the biggest changes that have occurred within you that are not physical as a result of this journey?
0:16:17 - (Jodi Dolo): A year before the pandemic, I went skydiving. And because it was like losing weight, it was one of those things I kept saying, one day I'll do this. And no, I did it.
0:16:32 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah. Awesome.
0:16:33 - (Jodi Dolo): And same year, I had an opportunity to meet a celebrity from one of my favorite movies in the whole world, Kingsman. I decided on a whim to fly across the country to go meet them, because I'm like, why not? Instead of me saying, someday I'm like, no, I can do things that I really want to do. I just have to put the work into it.
0:17:00 - (Toby Brooks): I can do things that I really want to do. In a sentence, Jody sums up what her journey has taught her and while it started as a physical one aimed at improving her health in order to better serve the friends and family in her life, what its become is a transformation of empowerment and ability. Shes realized that becoming the person shed always hoped to be inside and out was a task she had control over.
0:17:26 - (Toby Brooks): She was no longer a passive recipient of the hand life had dealt her. Shes become instead an active participant whose purpose has started within but steadily spun outward into a life of service and support of others on their own journeys.
0:17:41 - (Jodi Dolo): That's what I've learned from this journey, that if you really want to do something, even if it's hard, we are more capable than we give ourselves credit.
0:17:51 - (Toby Brooks): That's so powerful. That belief that is fostered just from seeing the change within yourself is really motivating. So as I was prepping for our conversation, I noticed that you were a graphic designer from 2007 to February 2010 and now list yourself as a fitness influencer. That's a huge step. So talk me through that process of pivoting in this new direction and what's on the horizon for you in this new space.
0:18:24 - (Jodi Dolo): Over the summer, I attended a fitness retreat. It was more like a meetup through the Fitbit community, and unexpectedly, during one of the talks we were having a talk about nutrition. I was put on the spot to talk about nutrition without knowing ahead of time this was going to happen with me being so shy, but I was fine. I felt so comfortable. And one of my friends that were present said like I had helped his relationship with food. He used to say things like cheat meals and cheat days. I'm anti cheat meals, cheat days.
0:19:00 - (Jodi Dolo): And it just felt like a good fit that maybe a couple weeks after I returned from that trip, I decided to sign up to start working on my personal training certification. A nutritionist. Instead of saying someday, I decided I had to do something. I didn't dislike my graphic design job, but it didn't give me fulfillment like nutrition and fitness. I've also been blessed and have had a couple people let me know. Hey, because of you, I'm working out.
0:19:37 - (Jodi Dolo): I've lost weight. I love having muscles. My health is looking so much better and that's a gift. I want to help other people. I'm not sure exactly what that looks like yet, but I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that I can help people.
0:19:53 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, I have no doubt you are. As I said, that Facebook community is. It's vibrant, but there are some ogs, and you're definitely among that group of original folks. Whether it's your cool gym t shirts, which are on point at all times, or your patented Jody flex picks, I think there's no question that you continue to inspire people. If you today could sit down in the passenger seat of you the day you had that conversation with the physician and impart some wisdom to her as she's in tears, crushed, faced with health challenges, what would you say to her?
0:20:35 - (Jodi Dolo): I would reassure her that she has everything it takes to get it done. But more importantly, I would thank her, because I don't view myself as the same person mentally that I was back then. But that version of me decided we were worth fighting for. And I will always be grateful for that.
0:21:00 - (Toby Brooks): I have good, strong Jody. That's powerful. That is so powerful. I think it's so often it's far too superficial for people to talk about fitness as an aesthetic, as especially the Crossfit community gets unfairly treated sometimes as injuries. Be darned, we're going to do these wads until we die. But there's so much more to it than just an aesthetic or even, I think what CrossFit does better than most is the community.
0:21:32 - (Toby Brooks): And you've had that both in a virtual space and in an actual space. So talk to me about the community you have locally and your gym fam there and what that's meant for your journey.
0:21:47 - (Jodi Dolo): I am an oddball. I belong to a bodybuilding gym, and most bodybuilders dislike Crossfitters. So I hear guff about that, and then I hear guff at Crossfit. Like, Jodie's gonna go to a bodybuilding gym. I'm like, I can't win, but I have an amazing community at both. It's funny that I used to fear walking in the gym because I was afraid what people would think. But real gym culture, they're accepting wherever you are in your fitness journey. Like a good friend of mine, Carrie, he saw me new at the gym, and he went out of his way to make sure I felt welcome. And he's like that with everybody. That's true gym culture. And if I would have known that's what it was really like, I probably would have been in the gym sooner. But same with Crossfit especially.
0:22:41 - (Jodi Dolo): It doesn't matter if you're traveling and you drop into a box, they're welcoming, and it doesn't matter where you fall. In the wad. Like, we're cheering loudest for the person finishing last.
0:22:55 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah.
0:22:56 - (Jodi Dolo): And that's the. It reminds me of the fitbuy community. But, like, in person.
0:23:01 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, full admission. Like, I'm a loner. I am also a pragmatist. I hate the idea of coming home and then getting gear and driving to the gym. So I created my own space, if for no other reason than it was faster, more efficient. But if I'm really honest, I'm a chicken. And the way you talk about it, the bravest person in the gym is the one that's there for the first time. It's not the person pushing the most weight or putting up the biggest numbers.
0:23:28 - (Toby Brooks): It's that person that realized they need to make a change, and they faced all those fears and all those oftentimes faulty assumptions and found a way to walk through the door.
0:23:40 - (Jodi Dolo): Yeah, walking in the door is the hardest part. It really is. Because change is uncomfortable. Change can be excruciating. But at least for me, the most monumental, amazing changes in my life started out as uncomfortable change.
0:24:00 - (Toby Brooks): And I think what I'm discovering is, if I'm afraid of it and everything within me says, run for your life, you need to face it square on and run as hard as you can right at it. And that is, it's called a fight or flight, but we tend to default to the flight. We don't think I'm going to knuckle up and give it my best swing. And I think that's something else that fitness has taught me, is that reps to failure is still a victory.
0:24:28 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, technically I failed, but I got stronger today, and my capacity as, as an organism just increased. And that's an exciting thing.
0:24:38 - (Jodi Dolo): Yeah.
0:24:39 - (Toby Brooks): So what advice would you give a child who's in pursuit of what you're chasing down today? Maybe a little bit different question than older Jody, whether that was you as a child or someone else.
0:24:54 - (Jodi Dolo): Dream big, but you have to be ready, put in the work. It boils down to discipline. I know that's like a big question that we hear in the community is like, how do you stay motivated? My health and goals, my dreams, they don't care if I'm motivated or not, and neither does time. It's my health, it's my life, it's my goals. And my family deserves a healthy role model. And what message would that send to everybody if I didn't feel like showing up for myself?
0:25:32 - (Jodi Dolo): Real self love, real self care, is doing what's better for you in the long run, even if you have the case of the don't want us that don't want to do that today. And you got to let kids know that you can have a dream, but every step of the way isn't going to be a blast. Yeah, it doesn't mean it won't lead to monumental stuff. Keep dreaming. Keep reaching. But any bump in the road doesn't mean you can't get there.
0:26:04 - (Toby Brooks): As you're talking, I'm reminded of that mindset. Short term easy equals long term hard. Short term hard equals long term easy. And the decisions that I make today, they're either feeding me toward that better version of myself or they're a step in the wrong direction. So you've got this big change. It sounds like some exciting new things on the horizon. What do your days look like today?
0:26:31 - (Jodi Dolo): I've only been out of the graphic design role. It'll be two weeks tomorrow, and I find that I need structure. I because I'm not going to work every day. I block off time to focus on family stuff, and I have block off time for enrichment, for studying, for updating my resume, looking for jobs, working with Gio, with our upcoming podcast starting next week called Mindful Muscle. So I feel like I'm the busiest unemployed person.
0:27:08 - (Jodi Dolo): I'm more busy than I was when I was working.
0:27:11 - (Toby Brooks): Right? That's exciting. So Giomarine is one of our previous guests. I'll have to double check. I don't remember what number off the top of my head.
0:27:18 - (Jodi Dolo): 57.
0:27:20 - (Toby Brooks): Look at you. You knew by all work I did.
0:27:22 - (Jodi Dolo): My work you did.
0:27:24 - (Toby Brooks): Gio is really an inspiring dude all in and of himself. So the thought of you two teaming up on a themed podcast is exciting. So I'll be sure to drop the link in the description for those. By the time this airs, you'll actually be live. So hopefully we can send some folks your direction. Getting close here. I love music and the emotions that it can frequently convey in a way that words can't. If we were to play a montage of your life, what music would you pick in the background and why?
0:27:56 - (Jodi Dolo): Hmm. I love the song. I'm sure you know it disarm by smashing pumpkins, but there's a cover version that's more energetic that I love, so I feel like the original version's kind of emotional, but with the COVID it's got like, the energy, like, it feels reviving. I think that's what I would pick for that reason. Like, it may be old, it might have been from a past life, but it's reborn in a way.
0:28:31 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah. I think that's. That is poetically fitting for your journey, if you really think about it. What happened to you was a rebirth and the new you birth isn't an easy thing. Your mom that physically, emotionally, everything about it is tough, but it's transformative and you come out the other side a different human being. And I think it's clear that you are a person with a purpose that didn't have that prior to your health care.
0:28:59 - (Jodi Dolo): Yep.
0:29:00 - (Toby Brooks): What for Jodi dolo remains undone.
0:29:03 - (Jodi Dolo): I'm not 100% sure what the future's gonna look like with me not currently working and not having something yet. But I'm normally. I suffer with anxiety, I normally panic, but for whatever reason, I'm not panicking in this situation. I feel confident that this is like my health scare going to be the best decision and I'm gonna wind up doing what I was meant to do, helping people.
0:29:33 - (Toby Brooks): That's awesome. You're not intimidated by that fear. It's pulling you toward that bigger purpose. That's it. How can listeners connect with you and follow your work? Give me some websites and URL's that I can share.
0:29:46 - (Jodi Dolo): Sure. I post a lot on Instagram. Liviakaos l I v I a k a o s. I post a lot about my transformation. I post a lot of quotes and my workout stuff, so.
0:30:03 - (Toby Brooks): Okay, cool. And when that new podcast drops, we'll be sure to add that as well. Jody, I certainly appreciate your time. It's been great. You are an inspiration to many, myself included, and I'm thankful for our paths having crossed and I know that you've got plenty left to do, so I'll be excited to watch your journey unfold.
0:30:24 - (Jodi Dolo): Thank you. My name's Jodi Dolo and I am undone.
0:30:31 - (Toby Brooks): I'm thankful to Jody for dropping by, and I hope you found the same encouragement and inspiration from our conversations as I did. For more info on today's episode, be sure to check it out on the web. Simply go to undonepodcast.com ep 80 to see the notes, links and images related to today's guest, Jodie Dolores. I know there are great stories out there to be told and I'm always on the lookout. So if you or someone you know has a story that we can all be inspired by, tell me about it.
0:30:58 - (Toby Brooks): Surf on over to undonepodcast.com, click that contact tab in the top menu and drop me a note. Coming up, I've got some incredible new guests, including author Patrick Holcomb, who embarked on the global seven seven challenge after that, I've got an inspiring glimpse into the life and work of entrepreneur Jeff Horn in my first ever in person interview for the show, my conversation with former Texas tech University chancellor Kent Hance.
0:31:23 - (Toby Brooks): So stay tuned. This and more coming up on becoming undone. Becoming Undone is a nitro hype creative production written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a store of resilience and victory to share for becoming undone, contact me@undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn at becomingundonepod. And follow me obijbrooks on x Instagram and TikTok.
0:31:59 - (Toby Brooks): Check out my link tree at Linktr? Ee. Tobyjbrooks listen. Subscribe Please leave me a review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. Till next time, everybody. Keep getting better.