Strong Like a Mother

What happens to your body after spending 10 months training for an ultra marathon?

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany takes a look at her current body composition after completing her ultra marathon and breaks down how she got here. From months of endurance training and fueling for performance to the physical demands of training as a busy mom of seven, she shares what changed in her body along the way—and what she learned from the experience.

Now that the race is behind her, Tiffany’s goals are shifting. Instead of c...

What happens when the numbers meant to help you understand your body start to define how you feel about it?

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany shares why she decided to ditch her fitness wearables and step away from constantly tracking her health and fitness data. For years, metrics like recovery scores, sleep data, calories burned, heart rate, and daily activity offered insight into how she was doing—but she began to realize she was giving those numbers more authority than her own body.

Tiffany talks about what it looked like to ta...

What does it take to train for and complete an ultramarathon? It took 10 months of training, plenty of patience, a whole lot of mental toughness—and the determination to keep going even when a calf injury threatened to derail Tiffany's plans.

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany takes you behind the scenes of her journey to the ultramarathon starting line and ultimately across the finish line. She shares what it was like to train for months while managing an injury, how she worked with Coach Ben from Adventure Your Potential, and the strategies they us...

Tiffany is preparing for a race this weekend so were resharing this episode about road marathons!

Road marathons create lean, wiry bodies. Mountain ultras? Think sturdy, muscular, and resilient. In this episode, I unpack why trail and mountain ultra runners often carry more muscle than road marathoners—and how you can use those principles (variety, load, time under tension) to build a stronger, more capable body. 

I’m also sharing the first look at my own plan to train for a 50-mile mountain ultra, including how strength blocks, recovery, and fueling shift across the season.

...

The Boring Truth About Getting Healthy: 5 Things That Actually Work

Getting healthy doesn't have to mean following the latest diet, trying a new workout every week, or completely overhauling your life. In fact, some of the things that make the biggest difference are surprisingly simple—and honestly, a little boring.

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany shares five simple habits that can help you build a healthier, stronger life. From eating the same nutritious meals and tracking your food to working out even when motivation is low, these are the ev...

Stress isn't just something you feel—it can have a significant impact on your energy, metabolism, muscle growth, and overall health. That's why understanding the connection between cortisol and strength training is so important, especially for busy moms.

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany breaks down the FASTer Way Cortisol & Strength program and explains how a balanced approach to fitness can help women build lean muscle, improve recovery, and support healthy hormone function. You'll learn why more exercise isn't always the answer, how chronic stress can affect your results, and what it looks like to...

In this personal episode, Tiffany shares a memorable parenting experience that reminded her just how important it is to care for both her physical and spiritual health. As she reflects on the situation, she explains how her faith in God and the strength she had built through years of prioritizing fitness helped her respond with confidence and resilience.

Tiffany talks about how staying healthy isn't just about reaching fitness goals—it's about being physically capable when your family needs you most. She also shares how her faith provided peace, perspective, and the reassurance she needed throughout the ex...

Vaginal estrogen is one of the safest, most effective, and most underutilized treatments for the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, we explore why declining estrogen affects not only vaginal tissues but also the urinary tract and the vaginal microbiome. You'll learn how low-dose vaginal estrogen helps restore healthy Lactobacillus bacteria, maintain an optimal vaginal pH, and strengthen the tissues that support vaginal and bladder health.

We also discuss who can benefit from vaginal estrogen, including women experiencing vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, recurrent urinary tract infections, urinary urgency or frequency...

We have an exciting update to share with our amazing community. Moving forward, Tiffany will be bringing live health coaching directly to the podcast, giving listeners the opportunity to call in and ask their questions in real time. Whether you're looking for guidance on nutrition, dieting, strength training, building sustainable healthy habits, navigating healthy relationships, or tackling other wellness challenges, Tiffany will offer practical advice, encouragement, and expert insights to help you move forward with confidence. This new interactive format is all about connecting with you and providing personalized support to help you become stronger—physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

In today's episode, we're tackling one of the biggest questions women ask when they're trying to lose body fat: Is running actually bad for weight loss?

You've probably heard conflicting advice. Some people swear by running to burn calories, while others claim it spikes cortisol, causes muscle loss, and makes fat loss harder—especially for women. So what's the truth?

In this episode, we're cutting through the noise. The reality is that running isn't inherently good or bad for fat loss. What matters is how you use it. An effective running pr...

Life is never going to slow down. There will always be stressful seasons—moving, motherhood, demanding jobs, family responsibilities, vacations, illnesses, and unexpected challenges. In this episode, I talk about one of the biggest patterns I see with my coaching clients: treating life's chaos as a reason to abandon their health goals.

The truth is, stressful seasons are when your healthy habits matter the most. Nutrition, movement, strength training, sleep, and recovery aren't things you should put on pause until life feels easier—they're the very tools that help you navigate difficult seasons with more energy, resilience, and...

If you've ever felt frustrated because you're working hard but not seeing the results you want, this episode is for you. Today, I'm breaking down the difference between weight loss, fat loss, and body composition—and why understanding that difference can completely change how you approach your nutrition and training.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is choosing workouts that don't align with their actual goals. If your goal is to build muscle and improve body composition, endless cardio isn't the most effective strategy. On the other hand, if you're training for a marathon, mo...

A week and a half after completing my first mountain marathon, I received a surprising comment on social media asking if I was pregnant. While the question made me laugh, it opened the door to an important conversation about recovery, body image, and what actually happens to the body after a major endurance event.

In this episode, I break down the physiology behind post-race weight fluctuations, water retention, inflammation, glycogen restoration, and why many women mistakenly assume they've "ruined their progress" after a race, intense training cycle, or other major physical challenge. The reality is that a...

In this episode, I'm sharing my personal experience with several popular peptides, including PT-141, BPC-157, TB-500, MOTS-c, and CJC-1295/Ipamorelin. I'll walk you through why I decided to try them, what results I noticed, and where I believe they may have supported my recovery, training, and overall health.

This isn't a conversation about finding a shortcut or chasing the latest health trend. As a nurse, health coach, endurance athlete, and mom of seven, I firmly believe that nutrition, strength training, sleep, recovery, and stress management are still the foundation of long-term health. Peptides may have a place...

In this episode, Tiffany dives into one of the most talked-about — and emotionally charged — topics in the health and wellness space right now: food noise. Is it a real physiological experience? Is it just rebranded cravings? And where do GLP-1 medications actually fit into the conversation?

Tiffany unpacks the cultural shift that has caused many women to fear hunger, appetite, and cravings altogether, while also acknowledging that for some people, constant thoughts about food can feel genuinely overwhelming. She explores the difference between normal human appetite and the patterns that can develop from chronic dieting, blood sugar inst...

In this episode, Tiffany recaps her experience running her very first mountain marathon — a brutal but rewarding 26.7-mile race with nearly 6,000 feet of elevation gain around Mount Timpanogos in Utah. She shares what the training process actually looked like, how different mountain running is from road racing, and the physical and mental challenges that came with preparing for an endurance event of this size.

Tiffany also opens up about the setbacks she faced along the way, including tearing a calf muscle early in training and discovering the issue was actually connected to tight hamstrings and mobility restrictions hi...

In this episode, Tiffany talks about something she gets asked about often as a woman training outdoors: how to stay aware and safe while running alone. Whether you’re a beginner walker, training for long-distance races, or simply trying to get outside more consistently, this conversation is about balancing freedom, confidence, and wisdom — without spiraling into fear.

Tiffany shares practical safety habits she personally uses while running solo, including situational awareness, route choices, body language, timing, technology, and trusting your intuition. She also discusses the importance of staying mentally present instead of completely checked out with music, podc...

In this episode, Tiffany tackles a hard but empowering truth: most chronic health conditions don’t appear out of nowhere. While genetics and unavoidable circumstances absolutely play a role, many of the symptoms women are struggling with today are also the accumulated result of repeated daily habits — how we eat, how little we move, how chronically stressed and overstimulated we’ve become, how poorly we sleep, and how often convenience wins over long-term health.

This conversation is not about blame or shame. Tiffany makes it clear that modern life is demanding, motherhood is exhausting, and many women are si...

In this episode, Tiffany shifts the conversation from macros and workouts to something just as important — your relationship. Specifically, how the way you take care of yourself directly impacts the connection, energy, and intimacy you bring into your marriage.

Because let’s be honest… when you’re exhausted, overstimulated, undernourished, and running on empty, your relationship is usually the first place it shows up. Not because you don’t care, but because there’s simply nothing left to give. Tiffany unpacks why “keeping the spark alive” isn’t about doing more for your partner — it’s about building a life that a...

While some people may think we are crazy to take 7 kids from Utah to New Zealand, this was a bucket list trip for us that we have been saving for for a long timem and guess what?! We had a great time! 

Listen to hear my travel hacks, the activities and excursions we did in New Zealand, and how we stayed on track from a health perspective. We got a ton of hiking and other forms of exercise in, so you know that wasn't a problem for us!

Thank you for supporting my small business. H...

In this episode, we are revisiting an old favorite: a Harvard-backed breakdown of 15 “micro habits” that quietly sabotage your health without you even realizing it. These aren’t big, dramatic mistakes. They’re the tiny patterns that seem harmless in the moment, but stack up over time — and can impact your stress levels, hormones, digestion, energy, sleep, mood, and even weight loss.

If you’ve been saying things like “I’m tired all the time,” “my brain feels foggy,” “I’m doing the right things but still not getting results,” or “I just want to feel better in the new year,” this episode...

In this myth-busting episode, Tiffany Wickes tackles one of the most misunderstood foods in the fitness world: beans. While diet culture has long labeled legumes as “too high in carbs,” Tiffany breaks down the science-backed truth about why beans may actually be one of the most powerful tools for fat loss, hormone balance, and long-term health—especially for women in midlife.

Drawing on research from longevity hotspots like the Blue Zones, she explains how high-fiber diets rich in legumes support better blood sugar control, improved insulin sensitivity, and reduced cravings. You’ll learn how fiber acts as a metabo...

In this deeply personal and data-driven episode, Tiffany pulls back the curtain on her latest blood work results after months of navigating insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction. From experimenting with keto to transitioning into a low-fat, plant-based approach inspired by Mastering Diabetes, Tiffany shares exactly what’s changed—and what hasn’t.

She breaks down key markers like A1C, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin in a way that actually makes sense, revealing why some “improvements” can be misleading if you’re not looking at the full picture. More importantly, she highlights a major win: improved insulin sensitivity...

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany speaks directly to the woman who feels like she’s doing everything “right”—eating clean, working out consistently, and still not seeing her body change. Instead of blaming age, hormones, or metabolism, she unpacks the real reason so many women feel stuck: they’ve been following advice that sounds right… but isn’t actually effective.

Tiffany breaks down the four hidden fat loss blockers that could be holding you back, including under-fueling, lack of progressive overload, chronic stress (from both life and workouts), and inconsistent habits that undo progress over...

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany breaks down one of the most overlooked—but essential—pieces of an effective fitness routine: periodization. While it might sound like something reserved for athletes, Tiffany explains how this simple concept of strategically cycling your workouts is often the missing link for women who feel stuck, inflamed, exhausted, or frustrated by a lack of progress.

She unpacks why doing the same workouts on repeat—or constantly pushing your body without a plan—can actually stall results, elevate stress, and lead to burnout. From chronic cardio and random training to the “...

In today’s episode, Tiffany shares a real-time life update from behind the scenes of Strong Like a Mother — including a rough health day that happened to line up with bloodwork and a vitamin infusion she’s hoping will help her bounce back. She also explains why her recent deload week in training left her feeling unexpectedly more tired and achy, and what she learned about the “parasympathetic rebound effect” (aka when your body finally has space to catch up).

She gives listeners a quick update on her coaching structure (and why she’s returning to a 6-week format...

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany breaks down energy (nutrient) partitioning — the idea that getting “leaner” isn’t only about eating fewer calories, it’s also about where your calories go once they’re in your body. Instead of obsessing over restriction, she frames the goal as creating a body environment where calories are more likely to support muscle, performance, and recovery, and less likely to be stored as body fat.

She explains the basic “destinations” food can take in the body and why training (especially strength training) changes the game by improving insulin sensitivity in m...

In this episode, we are revisiting an old favorite, a sit-down with Deena Thompson, Certified Nutrition Specialist, to discuss her health journey and how she became interested in nutrition. 

Tiffany and Deena discuss how Deena's autoimmune disorder led her down a path of root cause medicine and how that changed her approach to health and wellness. Additionally, they discuss healthy and sustainable weight loss through Ozempic, the importance of maintaining muscle mass as we age, and how she approaches counseling her clients on nutrition to help them reach their health goals. 

Deena's Instagram can be fo...

This episode was originally recorded for Emily Galus’ podcast, Mama Uprooted — and we’re resharing it here because the conversation hits on something so many moms are quietly carrying: the pressure to “bounce back” after babies, and the confusion that comes when the old “eat less, move more” advice stops working.

Emily and Tiffany talk honestly about what’s really going on in a mom’s body after pregnancy and through different seasons of motherhood — from metabolism shifts and stress load to the exhausting cycle of starting over every Monday. Tiffany shares her perspective as a nur...

Can a vegan, phytoestrogen-rich diet actually help with perimenopause symptoms… or is it just another wellness trend making the rounds?

In this episode, Tiffany breaks down what phytoestrogens really are (and what they’re not), what the science actually supports, and why some women feel dramatically better when they go plant-forward — while others feel no difference at all. She also shares her personal experience shifting to a highly plant-based, lower-fat approach (not extreme veganism) and what she’s seeing in her own energy, training, blood sugar, and body composition.

This conversation isn’t about “soy fixes everyt...

In this episode, Tiffany shares what she learned at a recent conference — and gives you a real, nuanced take on GLP-1s (and similar weight loss medications), discipline, and what actually matters for long-term results.

Tiffany’s message is simple: these medications can be a tool, but they’re not the foundation. The foundation is still nutrition, movement, recovery, and building the "discipline muscle" in everyday life. She also gets into why “eat less, move more” is an oversimplified approach that ignores metabolic adaptation, modern sedentary lifestyles, and the reality that many of us aren’t moving nearly as mu...

On today’s episode, Tiffany Wickes—fitness coach and busy mom of seven—shares a brief insight into how she plans to coach clients who are using GLP-1 medications. Drawing on her background as a nurse and certified fitness and nutrition coach, Tiffany offers a unique perspective on helping clients return to their healthiest selves.

She also discusses how the lack of education surrounding GLP-1s prompted her to dive deeper into the research, exploring how proper fitness and nutrition protocols can better support clients throughout their weight-loss journey.

Thank you for suppor...

In this episode of Strong Like a Mother, Tiffany shares a Harvard-backed breakdown of 15 “micro habits” that quietly sabotage your health without you even realizing it. These aren’t big, dramatic mistakes. They’re the tiny patterns that seem harmless in the moment, but stack up over time — and can impact your stress levels, hormones, digestion, energy, sleep, mood, and even weight loss.

If you’ve been saying things like “I’m tired all the time,” “my brain feels foggy,” “I’m doing the right things but still not getting results,” or “I just want to feel better in the new year,” this...

In this inspiring crossover conversation, Dr. Amber Curtis—the brain behind More Time for Mom and founder of Solutions for Simplicity —joins Tiffany to unpack powerful insights for moms who want to thrive, not just survive. 

Dr. Amber brings her signature blend of behavioral science, practical wisdom, and relatable mom experience to a discussion that resonates far beyond fitness alone. Together, she and Tiffany explore what it takes to build sustainable wellness, tackle the hidden sources of overwhelm, and create rhythms that support real transformation in health, stress regulation, and daily life. 

This episode is packed...