Kevin:  [00:00:00] What is beauty? Or more specifically. Who is beautiful. What criteria do we use to define beauty? You may have heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And certainly that seems to be true. Many times when we consider beauty, we think of physical characteristics. But I'm sure you've had the experience of meeting someone who glowed with that inner beauty.

But where does this inner beauty come from? What makes us glow with inner beauty? What makes us truly shine?

Hello and welcome to the over 50 health and wellness show. I'm your host, Kevin English. I'm a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. And my mission is to help you get into the best shape of [00:01:00] your life. No matter your age. We have a great show for you today. Former miss USA. Gretchen Jensen is here with us to share her amazing story and her thoughts on aging well.

But before we get to that, I want to let you know that today's show is brought to you by the silver edge. The silver edge is my online personal training and nutrition coaching business. Where I help you get off the exercise and diet hamster wheel and start making permanent healthy lifestyle changes so that you can enjoy the second half of your life with strength and confidence.

And show up as the healthiest, strongest, most vital version of yourself. No matter your age. If you're interested in learning more, send me an email  at [email protected]. And we'll start a conversation. My promise to you is no hard sales pitch. No annoying incessant follow-up emails, just an introductory conversation about your personal fitness goals. [00:02:00] Okay, enough of that let's get on with today's show.

My guest today is Gretchen Jensen. Gretchen is a model speaker endorser television host on ESPN Fox and ABC. And was miss Texas, miss USA, and second runner up at miss universe in 1989. Today, Gretchen uses her miss USA title as a platform to spread the message of the importance of self-love and healthy aging. Gretchen has been active her entire life. Starting from when she was a child.

Gretchen: I'm sure you all remember as a kid, you just open up the door and go outside   the world was your playground really.

And especially in the summer you came in when, when it got dark.    So yeah, I was really active. I mean, I, played softball now. I say that loosely Kevin, [00:03:00] I was in the outfield at third grade.  But did that, I did figure skating for awhile.  You know, in Texas  football is a huge sport.

Let's just be honest. It's the second religion here in Texas.  So I was a cheerleader for years, fourth grade, all the way up  to my senior in high school. And even though now, you know, now cheer is, it's a full on sport. They do a whole lot more than they than we did back then. But I did in that, in between seasons of cheer, I did track, I loved all the field events.

I did. Many of those did the hurdles 220 440  couple of relays. So I really liked that a lot, but then I always skied in the winter, as far as like going to the gym, growing up. No, didn't do that. My dad did  my brother played football and so he was always doing that, but there really wasn't a dedicated, you know, now, now there's, there's yoga, there's Zoomba and there's all that kind of stuff.

There wasn't a whole lot of that [00:04:00] back then. So gym life didn't take off for me until  I was well, pretty much it's consistency, pretty much what in my marriage, marriage  even training for miss Texas and miss USA and stuff like that, it was kind of me doing it in my living room with just, jugs of water.

That was my resistance for dumbbells or pushups. Sit-ups lunges, you know, stuff like that. But I will say, being true to for so many years already had a lot of muscle mass. So it wasn't a matter of, I need to build stuff it was more, I need to kind of shrink and kind of reform things. So now  I've been divorced a number of years, but that was really my, that was my therapy gym life became  my gym life as far as meeting people and stuff like that.

But I do know that,  the only thing I did for myself, when I was getting separated divorce was to buy a gym membership. I never had one. And  I would find myself, I didn't know how to use [00:05:00] any machines. I didn't know how to do anything. And I found myself in the corner still doing push-ups and sit-ups and you know, I'm thinking I'm paying a gym membership. I don't know how to use this stuff. So I would just really watch people and I would just watch and it'd be like, okay, I think I can do that. So I've never had a training.

And I've never had anything formal like that. That's why I'm kind of, you know, I'm the big proponent for people that just get started. You don't have to have this huge background or knowledge or, pay exuberance amounts of money to have somebody help you on your fitness journey. Just get started, do something.

Kevin: Yeah. That's great advice. And I think that's something that a lot of, especially older people can relate to is walking into that gym for the first time. I've had that same experience. First time I walked into a gym, I had no idea what I was doing. I felt very self-conscious and weak, and there's all these big strong muscly guys and girls and   it was intimidating, frankly.

And I just, I did what you did. I'd watched the machines first. I'd watch how they use them. Then I'd get on there and I'd find a weight that I could do.

Gretchen: And I don't [00:06:00] know why Kevin, but even today I'm like, if I'm not really sure how to use something. I kind of like, I'm a little self-conscious I don't want to go cause I'm really big on form.

I'm really picky on, on form. I don't want to just do something, just do it. If it's not going to benefit me, then I'm going to hang it up and do something else.  And you know, I think there's something to learn. You learn people from people correctly or incorrectly.

I like my routines. I like, I like what I do. I'm not after, you know, I totally respect people that compete. That's just not what I'm doing. So I don't need a whole lot of bells and whistles.  But you know, I know you want to get into this a little bit later, but I just want to make sure the key to my fitness success is really mentally being there before I ever step into the gym.

And what I mean by that is I think that there's a lot of time. we look in the mirror and we say, oh, I hate this about myself, or, oh my gosh, I'll be so happy when this changes or  I can't believe this is the state I'm [00:07:00] in. You know what I'm saying? It's just a flood of negativity that honestly, by the time you get to the gym, you know, your mental capacity at that time is you're already shooting yourself in the foot.

You hadn't even started doing anything yet. So one thing that really kind of helps me is I talked to each muscle group and that, you know, I get in there. Okay, okay, we're going to do shoulders children's I need you to do what, you know, how to do injury or not. I need you to do what you know, how to do, and just kinda get into that focus of each group and not focus on, I've got to do this because my butt is sagging or, you know, whatever it is, it just kind of, it's made a huge difference in the results.

You know, you see people in the gym, Kevin, all the time that they. They're killing it. They're just doing great things or  you know, they're there all the time, but maybe they're not seeing the results they want. And I'm the first to say, look, everybody's body is different diets work different on some people, water works different with some people, protein works.

[00:08:00] I mean, there's all kinds of things that I don't, I'm certainly not that the God of exercising, this is the  one size fits all thing.  But I've just been doing this long enough that I know, I know what works and I know how to maintain, and if I can help somebody, you know, even if they're starting out or maybe they've plateaued and they're like, I don't know what else to do.

I love when, when other people get together and start talking and sharing ideas. Everybody's body reacts differently.

Kevin: Yeah, absolutely. And I love how you put that,  mindset at the foundation of fitness. And I, think that's an important piece. And I, I do want to come back to that, but let's back up in your story here a little bit, because we skipped over a whole bunch.

So you want to talk about third grade softball. Okay. Well, third grade soft ball in the outfield there but so it sounds like you had a very active childhood, right? You were playing the softball and you were skiing. You were skating and cheer.  You did some track events, so very well-rounded.

But when did you first get into [00:09:00] pageants?

Gretchen: I actually did a pageant on a dare.   at the time Texas kind of is always been a really big pageant state.

But from my knowledge, all I knew about was the miss America system, which is there's two systems. There's miss USA, miss America, miss America performs the talent and miss USA goes onto miss universe.  We like to say that we have hidden talents, but anyway  I was dating this guy and he said these words, and these are never guys, if you're listening, this is just not good words to share with any female.

We need to talk. It's just not a good thing. Basically.  He broke up with me and then I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so devastated. I'm so hurt. What should I do? And a dear friend of my mom's that had been a dance teacher of mine for years said, why don't you do a pageant? I thought, oh my gosh, I don't know how to wear blue eyeshadow and create a helmet hairdo.

And I wa I don't know anything about this. So  I kinda did it as a [00:10:00] challenge because I never even watched one. I didn't really know much about it. So I went and I, I had a whole list. I mean, in Texas, you can actually make a living training people on pageants, believe it or not. So I went to everybody on the list and you know, every one of them told me, if you do this, then you'll win.

And if you say this and you win, if you walk this way or you dress this way, or you do your makeup this way, then you're going to win. So I kind of just became this Gretchen robot wasn't me at all, you know? And so I thought, okay, I am more prepared than ever. And I, yeah, I'm going to win this thing. And I went in and  finished out second runner up and I was devastated.

Because I'm a competitor and you know that I didn't, I didn't do all this to finish out in second place. And, and yet people were like, oh my gosh, your first pageant, that's awesome. You know, come back another 12 years and you may win this thing. And I was like, I know. So for the long time I was mad at myself.

I just felt like, why didn't I win? And you just kind of go [00:11:00] through that whole thing. I was only 21 at the time.  And then I started thinking, wait a second. You know, I don't want to live my life no offense to guys, but this is the terminology that people use, but kind of the, the high school football player that never got over losing the state game.

And so I, you know, I just thought, you know, I'm going to go back and I'm going to, I'm not going to go to all these quote experts who are great in their field, but I need to be myself. And if I don't, if I don't even make time. 80. Cause there was a hundred something girls in it that year that's okay. I'm just going to be myself.

And, and then I can, I can move on with life and be like, okay, I do this on a fair square shot for me. Well  at the time Texas had won four years in a row, miss USA. So there was a whole lot of pressure on who would the next miss Texas be. And, and it was televised worldwide and it was, it was kind of this big darn deal, you know?

And so I just thought, no, I'm just still gonna be me. I don't need to try to find the right answer or look the right way. And so anyway, I ended up [00:12:00] winning  and then now fifth, miss Texas made history that won miss USA.

Kevin: Okay. So Gretchen gets her heartbroken and then almost on a lark decides to enter the miss Texas beauty pageant. When I asked her about this experience, I honestly expected her to tell me a story similar to the TV show, toddlers and tiaras,

which to be honest is pretty much the extent of my experience with beauty pageants. But that wasn't Gretchen's path at all. She entered a major pageant at age 21 took second place. And her competitive nature kicked in and she decided that she wanted to take another swing at miss Texas. This time doing it her way.

And she won. I wanted to know what it was like to be crowned miss usa

Gretchen: You know, going into it, I was really determined and focused on not so much the winning, because, you know, [00:13:00] in all essence that takes care of itself.

If you do your best, it's really out of your hands. I mean, a judges panel of anything, it's just an opinion by people. So a different night, a different winner would have won. It's just the, that happened to be the opinion of the people that when the night I was there, but I was really more concerned that I wanted to make sure that coming in from Texas, you know, that the press wants to know what does the new miss Texas look like?

And, and  can she win again? And that makes all the other contestants from different states kind of feel like, Hey, what about me? Hey, you know, I, I'm having the same shot at this as she is. And ironically, my, my tude state director said, Gretchen, we, we have a philosophy that we're going to try out on you.

I thought, oh, We want you to really just be really low key. Don't wear makeup. Don't do your hair. I want you to wear these real basic type clothes. Now keep in mind when you're there and we're there for a month.  [00:14:00]It's a lot of press. It's a lot of events it's, it's a lot of rehearsal, but it's a whole lot of publicity in the city and everybody wants to know what is the new miss Texas look like?

Will she continue this streak? Well, now they have shown up and, and pregnancy looking dresses and the paper quoted the next day, you know, miss Texas, a dog, no way will she. And this went on for a whole month. The wall street journal quoted a million to one odds that Texas will win this again.

So the philosophy was, let's just, put you on the down low until the last week of competition, when it really matters. And then you can plug in curling iron and put some heels on all that kind of stuff. And you, you know, then you're supposed to psych your competition out. Well, at that time I was making friends with everybody.

I was trying to psych anybody else.  So I really was, I really ha I wanted to go in there and have a really good time. Of course I wanted to win for many reasons, but I really wanted to not be that. Cause [00:15:00] again, I hadn't been in pageants. I didn't know much about them I didn't want to be that competitor that is cutting dresses and sabotaging other contestants.

You know, I just, I wanted to make some good friends and, you know, thank goodness now for social media, I am still in contact with many, many, many of these cute gals that were we're all in that same class that year. But. You know, they call your name out for top 10. It goes really fast. It really goes fast.

It's live TV, and it goes really fast. Call your name out for top 10 and you know, that's like your first wipe, the brow. Ooh. Okay. Made it this far.  Then you start in your competition mode. You're not necessarily thinking like I hope Ms. So-and-so is okay. Cause she didn't make top 10 you're you're focused.

And so interview came up, Dick Clark was our MC and I just remember I was so, so much taller than him and I was actually, most of the girls were  I remember thinking like, oh, I hope he's okay. Like I'm really a lot taller than him.  But did the interview and that was [00:16:00] fine. And then, you know, it's a you're backstage and you're getting changed for the next part of the competition, which is swimsuit.

And I'm thinking, wow, the part's over. Like, I, I can't change my body right now. It is what it is, you know? And so  and I felt really good. I felt really good about my body, you know, as you, I get the philosophy of those that compete as you build muscle, and then you lean out everything just sculpts right into place.

And I wasn't building muscle, but I had all those years of cheer muscle on me. And then to really lean out  one of the things that I did, I'm not kidding yet. I wouldn't suggest this to anybody. And this is definitely before they weighed luggage. I had cans of tuna and asparagus and that's all I ate. We would go to fancy events and I'd pull out in my bag and ask the waiter to go open these in the kitchen.

And he's like, do you want me to prepare these on my, Nope, I'll see right out of the can.  That is what I ate was, you know, and I not a soda drinker or any of that kind of stuff. So my diet was all about protein.  Just protein, [00:17:00] protein, protein. And  so I was comfortable going into swim. The only problem is, is that, by the time they got to the teas of Texas, most of the swimwear had been taken by all the other states.

So the size didn't really fit me.  But you get what you got kind of a thing. And then evening gown. Interesting story on the evening gown. My two directors had this big party in El Paso, Texas before  miss California, who was their other girl before we left for miss USA. And at this party, lots and lots and lots of people, hundreds of people were there and they made two of everything.

They made two evening gowns. They made two interview dresses, and I don't know what else, but anyway, we walked out in front of this big crowd and they were the deciding factor on should she where this, or should she wear that? So the deciding factor was great. You're going to compete in the purple gown okay, great.

Night before my director shows up and he goes, I had this dream, you got [00:18:00] to wear the white dress. Well, the white dress wasn't even finished. So I'm like, okay. So backstage was the first time I had that dress on and not sure how it was going to fit, but you know, my mind was so focused on I'm prepared. I know what I'm going to do.

I'm not going to worry about this dress for crying out loud. You're not, you're not technically supposed to be judged on the dress. You're supposed to be judged on your presentation of the dress, but let's be honest. We all do.  You know, then it comes time for the announced top five. Now it's getting serious because I knew my competition.

Miss Oklahoma was studying to be a, an attorney for the hearing impaired. She was beautiful. She was intelligent, you know, and I'm like, I'm from Texas and I sell cows real estate. I can't compete with somebody that's an attorney for the hearing impaired. But again, I just kind of reverted back to wait a second.

This is me, I can't change my story now. I can't change me. I'm a big proponent that you, you can't, you can't make up something and fool, people just doesn't work that way. [00:19:00] So actually it came down to she and I worked standing there together before they announced the winner. And I thought she'll be an awesome miss USA.

But if by chance I win, I want to use this title, the rest of my life to help people. And so   when they announced my name, I remember thinking like, oh, I'm so relieved that the people at Texas are not gonna be mad at me cause they kind of take that serious, you know? And so who, okay, got that over with.

And, and then I could see my whole family, I guess they had the worst seats. They were way in the back and I could see all of them and see how excited they were. And you know, it didn't really Kevin set in right away that I just won miss USA from the biggest state. Most historic running record. And I now am part of that history.

It took a while for me to get  and even to this day, I just I'm so proud of, of what that all meant and what I was able to do that year, what my whole career, from the [00:20:00] time I was 22 years old till now has all been about my endorsements of being miss USA. It's been a wonderful platform for me to not only be able to work for sponsors and companies, but to be involved in communities and charities.

You know, and it's not just little girls, it's a, it's a message of be comfortable with who you are and be who you are and be yourself and, and get to know who, who you are. And, you know, that has served me well in my life. It served me well as a mother and teaching my kids. And as far as bringing that all back to fitness, You gotta be okay with where you are right now.

There's always a goal. You know, when you hit a gym or wherever you are working out, you're going to go for a runway. There's always an end goal, but you've got to be okay with the here and now, if you're hating on yourself for the, where you are for here, now, it will slow your results down guarantee. It will.

[00:21:00] Kevin: Gretchen became a part of Texas history by being crowned the fifth consecutive, miss USA. And apparently Texas does in fact take their pageant seriously. The miss USA has been held annually since 1952. And Texas has the most miss USA title holders of any state winning for a total of nine times.

Gretchen mentioned briefly that she was in shape from all her years of cheerleading. And i asked her if she did any special exercise or diet preparation for her pageants

Gretchen: it was interesting because speaking of fitness that was before there were gyms and hotels.

And so we're at miss USA for a month, for four or five weeks. And a lot of girls get prepared to go to miss USA. Their bodies look great. Their wardrobe is fitting just right. But then they get there and they put all this weight on because there's, I mean, it's a snack haven at rehearsals and [00:22:00] Frito lay was a sponsor.

So there's food everywhere and myself and one other girl  staying in the hotel, we had to ask special permission. Can we walk the stairs from the lobby to the mezzanine? Can we walk the halls? Can we, you know, and this was, the security was really tight. And so she said, if I sit out there, then yes, you can.

Well then before it ended almost all 51 states were running the lobby stairs. And it was a huge media fast because they were like, all the miss USA candidates are actually working out. We only did that because we had nothing with nothing else to do. We're doing lunges down the hallway.  So winning miss USA was  it was interesting because I thought, you know, are they going to give it to me?

Or keep it from me because I'm from Texas.  Am I going to be avid really fair chance of winning this thing? And then I just thought, why am I worried about it? It's out of my hands. I don't care. I have no control over it.  So then won that and then went to miss universe  [00:23:00] which was in Cancun.

And again, no gyms, there's no time for you to do that kind of stuff. So it's like, get down on the floor, started doing some pushups, you know, start, I wouldn't be referred back to my dance of, of  you know, leg lifts and plays and just anything that keeps the body, fortunately that age you don't lose muscle memory overnight.

So it was okay. But  I had a wonderful year  traveling as miss USA. Again, no gyms in the hotel. So I, if I stayed on the 27th floor, I was running the stairs  in between.  My appearances and interviews. Of course, I always had to have security with me. So I'm like, I know that you don't want to run these stairs with me.

Do you want to meet me in the middle or how you want to do this?  But you know, you think you can find, and that was the biggest thing I learned is you can find ways to move your body. You don't have to have a gym membership. You don't have to make that commitment.  I don't know that I can do this every day.

I don't know that if I'm spending [00:24:00] 27 bucks a month at Boston gym, this is going to matter. Is it going to work? You can always do something. You can find something to do.

Kevin: Yeah. A hundred percent. love that. But what an incredible story to go from your first pageant to going all the way through and being the, miss USA going on, you went on that same year, right. To miss universe and were runner up there, right?

Gretchen: Yeah. That was  that was so much fun. You talk about a field trip. You talk about an international field trip when you were with  I can't remember. There was probably 80, maybe 80 countries there that you.  Just, it just was so fun to be around different cultures. My roommate was from Thailand. She did speaking.

It was, I had to speak Thai.  There really wasn't a whole lot of time that we were in the room together, but we always turned on cartoons. You know, we're like laughter as a universal. Yeah. So we had cartoons on  I remember I got in trouble one time, miss Nigeria.  We were getting off the bus [00:25:00] and we decided we were going to switch banners. So I had on miss Nigeria and she had on miss USA. There had not been a black Miss USA at that point. I crowned one the next year,  so we got off the bus and the press went crazy and  and then we had a big sit-down. Yeah, you can't do that. You can't do that. But  but I though gal that one was from Holland and she and I, we talk every week.

You know, the whole, the whole pageant thing is a really, and it doesn't mean just the winners. It means anybody that's involved in that, whether you're a local or state  within the USA or the university system, it's a big sisterhood. And  we converse many times, through social media, supporting each other happy birthdays.

You know, if people are launching new ideas or products, we're the first to really be uh, it's just been like a ginormous sorority worldwide.  And you, you celebrate their successes and you celebrate their babies. [00:26:00]  Marriages and all that kind of stuff. It's just been really a good experience going back.

They had the 50th anniversary. I don't know how many years ago that was. And you know, that's kind of a check on your body as, because here's the deal pageant fans, they will rate you based on what you look like when you won. Okay. Well, that's not fair a, but it is what it is, you know? And so  to have, I don't remember how many of us, I call us formers has-beens whatever, in a, in a, in a funny way.

But  we were all standing, you know, we do all these pictures and stuff together, and I looked at some of these ladies that, you know, were from the fifties and the sixties, and there's just so classic and yes, their body changes, but the, beauty formed into something completely different.  And you know, the thing about winning a pageant or, or anything like that, you get a year, you get a year to have an awesome experience and, [00:27:00] and then whatever you do afterwards, whether it's in your career or politics or whatever you want to do with that title. Okay. But still you only have that year.

So it was a real wonderful thing to just be around so many intelligent, classy. It's just a great experience.

Kevin: Yeah. For those of us from the outside, looking in, I love that you describe it as a sisterhood and a sorority,  cause you can imagine that being maybe not that right.

Maybe that you had mentioned cutting dresses or something evil like that.  Or sabotaging people or looking at your opponents as opponents or as competitors, but instead they're your sister's there and you're all enjoying this  very unique experience together. So thanks for giving us a glimpse of that.

Gretchen: You know, I'll just, I wanted to share one thing. So for any of your listeners that watch a pageant, you know, and you see at the end when all the girls kind of swarm around the winner and they're all congratulate, that's legit. That is very sincere. Yeah. It really is. Just matter of fact, you know, there's marks on the stage where [00:28:00] you go to this camera and you're going to wave, and then you go to center stage, you're going to wait and blah, blah, blah.

Well, by the time I got to the last market that I've got to turn around now and I've got to face all the girls are standing on the stage and I really don't. I really hope that they're okay with this, you know, Texas winning. It was talking about a flood of love and really that whole auditorium, everybody there is rooting for somebody.

Usually the it's made up a more family than fans, but everybody there is routing for somebody. And it was kind of interesting as some girls  you know, were eliminated and others progress and you would see a shift in the energy of now who's, yelling for Louisiana, who's yelling for Oklahoma or whatever.

It was just a huge building filled with excitement and love. It was the most wonderful, awesome experience. If you ever   have a child or a friend, somebody you're close to that's competing in something like that, pay attention to those feelings. Cause it's, it's really, really special.

Kevin: I love that. [00:29:00] So I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the aesthetics of  and I'm not sure it's the same in modeling as it is and say these pageants, but certainly you can think like in the eighties there was this, the female aesthetic for modeling was this very thin, almost emaciated kind of figure.

And when you look at models and today that's a, it's a much more of a toned or muscular look,  is that same sort of thing happening in pageants?  Would the miss USA of today, would she be that more muscular toned look or was that, did they look for different things over time? How has that evolved?

Gretchen: I love that you're asking me this simply because  my daughter, my oldest daughter was miss Utah in 2017. She made history by being the only daughter of a former miss USA to compete for the same title. She's been a dancer, her whole life, very muscular, not bulky, but very, very muscular, very sculpted and very [00:30:00] healthy looking.

Well, the press didn't like her body. They went on to say, she's too big. She's, you know, whatever they wanted to say. And as the mom, I was like, oh, hell no, y'all are going to talking about my child like that.  But interesting enough, two years later, a D one athlete in track and field one, miss USA who is extremely sculpted and muscular.

And I love the fact that Bailey opened the door for that type of body to be able to compete and be okay. Because like you were saying for years, there's a stereotype, there was a stereotype you had to be tall. Well, that's not fair. You can't help that. Right.  Yeah. I will say definitely things have changed in the modeling world.

Things had to change. Things had to choose healthy look, right? It was not only that, but companies, people were pulling away from buying things just based on the way, you know, Victoria's secret used to have their  prime time fashion show. [00:31:00] And they only had one look of a body and they got a lot of heat because other companies were adapting to this newer, healthier, realistic body of women that  Victoria secret at the time, they were just like, that's not our brand.

Well then P the sales went down and people were like, well, we don't want to do this. Well, they eventually were kicked off the air, you know, at the thing about women that I love now. And even you'll see  sports illustrated, not necessarily the, magazine itself that comes out, but they're on their online step.

They're focusing and really celebrating all kinds of body types and ages. Which to me, I think I, I look forward to the day. Many more contestants at miss USA or miss universe, or even state pageants can be all kinds of body types. Because really, if we're going to talk about loving, accepting yourself, why does it have to be a certain physique?

There are simply, and women y'all understand this. There's just simply, genetics involved that maybe you just can't [00:32:00] get that look that so-and-so won and had it the year before your hips are this way or your thighs are this way or, you know, whatever that might be.   even in fitness modeling, there's still a wide variety of body types.

That's wonderful. It's wonderful. Well, one of the things I never enjoyed over the years of modeling has don't tell me someone's a fitness model, just because they're thin, that does not mean you're fit, you know?  Just because you're skinny doesn't mean you qualify to be fit. So I love, I really love that.

There's there's. You know, I, I know women that are, they would kick my butt in a Zumba or, any kind of an aerobic class. They have bodies may not look like it, but they've definitely got the cardio down, you know, and I think they're fit in a different way. Why can't we all be okay with that?

What happens, Kevin in real reality is it's marketing, you know, whatever showing advertisement is, what [00:33:00] people tend to think that's acceptable. So finally we're at a state where a lot of times, and it's swinging more and more, whether it's advertising with no makeup or, being okay with wearing a bikini when traditionally it's been like, no, no, that's only safe for a certain body type.

Now I think women especially are being a little more easier on themselves. This is, yeah, I can, I can feel good about me and let's focus on the other things that are good about me and not just freaking what dress size I am.

Kevin: Yeah, 100%. And I see that all around and, I see it as kind of a cultural phenomenon where we're accepting more of these body types in this aesthetic of what healthy is and what healthy isn't,

there's a lot of things going in there. And I was just curious if that was something that was in the the pageant scene or not obviously in the bodybuilding, you can see, they have these very specific  groups, right? You have your bikini and your physique and your bodybuilding and things in between.

So they make room for a lot of different looks and aesthetics, so, [00:34:00] okay. Let's, let's move along a little bit and let's come up to, current days here you are spectacularly fit. So you've obviously you've had this very fit youth you've  took great care of yourself. You had five kids and here you are. Let's talk about how you stay in shape.

We already talked about your mindset and how you approach these things and maybe start with nutrition. What, what does nutrition look like for you these days?

Gretchen: Thank you for all the niceness that you just said, you know, years and years ago.  I don't know, close to 15 years ago, maybe even longer that let's say 20.

I was really starting to pay it too. I'm like my kids have always been very active in school. So three, I have three boys and two girls, three boys, all playing super league baseball at the same time. That's like 20 games a week, you know, then two girls in dance and one in soccer. Anyway, I was really, I started to think, what am I feeding my kids?

Like their little bodies are our little machines. What am I feeding them? Because what's [00:35:00] primarily sold for kid food is not what the heck is it? Right. Chicken nuggets. What is, what, what is that? What part is that? Even animal? I don't know.  So I kinda started thinking, wait a second. what about me going through a divorce?

I thought the biggest thing I need to give my kids right now as a healthy me. And I can't be sick because I can't take care of them.  so I cut out soda years and years and years ago  I stopped drinking juice.

I really started paying attention to what's artificial and what's not. Not that I'm a fanatic, but to me, I'm just like, you know, at some point that's going to catch up to me whether it's in my organs or the way that my body looks, if I'm feeding myself with way too much sugar or way too much sodium, just for the taste of it.

I got to find it in some other ways.  I've always been a water drinker I just don't drink anything but water. So I think, you know, as you age, particularly with your skin, that's really, really important. Do I drink a special water? Nope. Just right out [00:36:00] of the tap. I just drink water. Yep.  I enjoy, I enjoy fresh food. I really do. I, I always have been that way. Not that, let me just clarify. I'd still love my barbecue and I still have my TexMex and there's still many things that are just comfort foods that it probably S They're just good.

They just taste good. They're probably not great for you, but you know, I don't, I'm not, down on myself. I I've learned to, if you eat something in your vocabulary says, oh, this is going to go to my butt or this is going to go right to my waist well, guess what it is, but food is not the enemy. Food

can't be the enemy food is there to, source energy in life for your body. So if you're taking in food and you're telling yourself how awful this is, oh, it tastes so good. But gosh, it's so bad for me or, oh, I feel so guilty. That's dumb. Why not enjoy it? Why not take a bite of something or have a meal of something you really enjoy.

But you know, on the, on the most part  try out new ways of cooking. [00:37:00] I have a daughter that's vegan and that's been interesting to have to. And adapt and find ways, you know, Pinterest is a wonderful source for any meals. I mean, anything you want, obviously, but let's talk about food. It's a wonderful source for that.

I've never been a real dessert person. It's just, I didn't grow up that way. My mom used to make slice and bake cookies and she would burn them just enough that you had to think, do I really want to eat this or not? So I kind of grew up like, yeah, kind of I'll pass on that.  I'm not a fanatic about there's too many carbs in this or that kind of stuff.

Kind of do you know, you got to listen to your body. What is your body telling you? What do you need to eat? If you need carbs, you need to eat them.  As I age, I realize I need to increase my protein. I've seen muscle memory atrophy at times  in places that I wasn't prepared for it too. And you know, you can't.

You can't go to the gym [00:38:00] and build and not feed it as well. You actually need to feed it more than go to the gym. So  you know, and I, and I don't take, I, I'm just not, I'm not on any medication. I'm not hating on that. That when you have to, I'm just saying for me, like for instance, estrogen and stuff like that, it was, it was making me a mess.

So I was like, I'm pretty sure people in Jesus' age, didn't have estrogen pills to take, I'm going to try this out without it, you know?  So I, I, I'm not on anything. I do love  I've got a protein mix that I make every day and I'm never tired of it. I don't know why, but it's just, it tastes super good to me.

I grow  I've got a garden in the back and kale is in almost everything that I'm going to blend up and  bananas. It's just  all natural. So it's plant base and then I use the PB powder, some 2% milk ice banana and the kale.

And I tell you what, if you put an avocado in there becomes like the most amazing [00:39:00] creamy thing on the planet. You need a spoon to eat that.  But I look forward to that every day. I don't know why I'm not, I'm not telling I've been doing that for years. I'm not tired of it.  You know, and as far as like going out to restaurants and things like that, do I love a good steak?

Absolutely. But I don't eat it going into going, oh my gosh, this is red meat. So bad for me. I just don't think that way. I will say genetics have a lot to do with our body types, but work with it, you know, work with it. Don't work against it. don't look at a family genetic line and be like, well, you know, Obesity in my family.

Therefore, I'm going to be that way. Just don't look at it that way. I really think, you know, with everything in life, whether it's being physical, definitely mental, spiritual, it all has to do with, how do you feel about who you are? And if you don't have a real healthy out, look on who you are, it affects everything.

It affects the way you look at it affects how your body moves. It affects your organs. It affects if you're [00:40:00] ill or not. So, meditation and taking time to really appreciate you and your body. I wake up in the morning, Kevin, before I ever get out of bed. And I'm like, I, I just was breathing all night by myself.

I'm so happy that I there's plenty of air for me. There's my lungs by Oregon's everything does what it's supposed to do. I release that resistance that  it's going to do its job. I don't have to get in there and try to figure out how does my heart got a pump? It's going to do it all on its own. I just did this interview  on ABC this week.

And we were talking about  a state of healthy thinking and the gal that was interviewing me, she goes, you know, you just, you look so much better prettier now because I see a peace about you. And I thought, you know, the most beautiful people that I've been around, I don't really, I couldn't tell you what they look like, but I'm just telling you how there aura is, and that is that self peace

and I [00:41:00] think, you know, more than a body shape or a dress size, that should be the number one goal of your day. Not 10 years down the road, not a five-year plan, but today. And if that means that you, you write down 10 things that you're appreciative of and that you really enjoy  and, and you step outside and you take breaths of air, that's natural, and you notice your surroundings and, you take that time to get out of.

Norm of stress that we, you know, I've got to do this and I've got to do this, or what about this deadline? And you just be in that moment, it's the best age you can have that I know that I know.  And, and generally you will find yourself in a much happier place, not only with others, but more importantly about yourself.

Kevin: Yeah. 100% with all of that, you had referenced self-care earlier, you talked about self peace and gratitude and all of that being the real source of beauty. Right?  I think you're right. I [00:42:00] think that there are certain people that glow with beauty that has nothing to do with the physical attributes, but more to the things you're referencing, it's the way they're present and showing up.

And  purpose is kind of shining through so to speak.  Thank you for sharing that. So on the nutrition front, it sounds like you don't have any dogma and you're not following a specific diet. You're just eating sensibly. It sounds like a lot of whole foods and not processed foods, which for anybody listening that you can't go wrong with that as a starting place for healthy eating, let's switch our focus for a minute and talk about exercise.

So what are you doing to move your body these days?

Gretchen: First of all, I'm not a fan of cardio, I believe in the results of it, but I don't like it. So you won't find me out running around.  And I admire people that do, I run to the store and everyone to my mailbox and whatever, but I don't, I don't run.

So cardio is not, not huge on my list. And again, that references back to the, the cute women that are in these awesome [00:43:00] classes. I'm like, oh, you guys got, you kicked my ass on this. Good for you. I don't have that.  I love, I mean, one of the biggest things that I do, and I would say this men and women, and I always try to tell my kids this stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch, keep those muscles long

you know, as we age and things compact and things, atrophy if those muscles, aren't long, you've got a ball that's going to shrivel and go away. You want to keep them long, long, long. So I really, really do some serious stretching every day.  It helps out with your bones. It helps out with your spine. I mean, there's just so many benefits to that.

When I was not able to go to a gym and was just kind of working out at my own house before my divorce  I had an exercise ball and I would do crunches and I would start off by, I'll do all these crunches for this, during this TV commercial.

And then I will do for two and then it built up to a 30 minute TV show, and then it just got to the point I [00:44:00] was doing. I don't even, I don't count. I don't know. But now at the gym, you know, after I stretch, then I go do, and that's kind of my semi cardio, cause I hate car home.  But I will do probably 30 minutes of crunches.

And there's all kinds of machines that you can do different ones on, and I just do it to songs and then I'll stop in between  maybe after three songs and I've got a 25, 25 pound plate and then a 10 pound plate and I'll do arm raises or I'll do over the head extensions.  And then I'll go back and do, I mean poor anybody that wants to use that machine.

I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm going to be on in a minute.  And then, you know, I,  I like free weights a lot and I I don't crazy do, you know, different things.  The universal machines and the lats and pull downs, and I kind of adapt, you know, how can I use this resistance with upper body?

And  I liked doing that.  You know, I think for my age, for my body, the biggest  [00:45:00]I don't want to use the word challenge, but let's be honest.  It's the sagging butt you know, you just, things go away and you don't like, I don't want you to go away, come on, come on back. So I always, every day I do some sort of legs, some sort of butt always abs.

And I mean, I kind of do everything, but I don't do the same thing. I will give myself probably an hour and a half at the gym total.

Kevin: And how many days a week is that?

Gretchen: Depends. I mean, it just kind of depends on my kid's schedule. I've been traveling a lot lately, so that depends too in the winter. I like to be there

around five. Not that I'm keeping score, but I just like, I like how I feel. I look forward to it and you know, I'm going to say women, I don't know about guys, cause I'm not a guy, but go out and get yourself something to wear that you feel good about. I think a lot of gym motivation has to do with, do you like your outfit

you're in? You know what I'm saying?  Because I see people and I think you look like you just throw on [00:46:00] yard clothes and if that's good for you, that's good for you. But if you need a little extra umph and a boost, you don't have to spend a lot of money, but just go, go get a new sports bra or go get, you know, go get some leggings that you feel good about.

Just, just something it's, it's no different. Gym life is no different than going on a date and dressing up for, a nice restaurant or something. And in my opinion, feeling good is feeling good. I don't care how you want to label it.  I do like to go, I know this is crazy. I call it happy hour. I like to go at that time because I like the energy of people.

A lot of people there, working on themselves. I'm not one of these that likes to be the only one in the gym. they inspire me motivation. The word motivate comes from a place of resistance. So I don't like that particular terminology, but I do like to be inspired by seeing people, all shapes, all ages, young kids, older kids.

I don't care what you're doing. I have zero judgment on, on any of that, but I just, I love the buzz of a [00:47:00] busy day. And then if they're on my machine, then I'm like get off.

Kevin: No, there was something infectious about  being in a community, right. Of people that are all working hard for this common goal, right.

For this fitness, for this health for improving themselves. And I I'm with you on that a hundred percent. So what advice would you give for, let's just say a woman who's in her mid fifties, listening to this and is just starting her fitness journey. What sort of general life advice would you have for her?

Gretchen: You know, I, I love that. I get asked that a lot.  A lot of women and let's be honest, men and women. There's, there's several that maybe have not done anything physical since they were in their twenties. Yeah. And what I say right off the bat, you got to let that. Like stop thinking about that. You are where you are right now.

And right now the fact that you want to do something, your body's craving it. Good pay attention to that. Stop comparing before pregnancy body, after pregnancy, by just don't do it. It just doesn't, you [00:48:00] know, we, we all sag. We all have long boobs after a while. I mean, there's just stuff that happens.  But let's, let's just focus on the now, if that means that, you join a tennis club with a bunch of girls.

Great.  If that means you get your neighbor and y'all go for a walk around the block, just movement, just movement. I'm a little more hardcore than that. I will actually, before I have a really big shoot coming up or something, I'll take a, you know, I'll, I'll take a picture from Pinterest and I'll put it on my fridge or put it on my mirror so that I'm inspired that that's what I want to look like, that I want to be in that ballpark, whatever that.

So I, visuals are real important to me.  You know, as, as people, especially if they're starting off on a fitness journey, it's kinda, it's kinda  what works and what works better. So, you know, one diet may be a great idea for some, and it may not work for others. One  form of cardio, maybe. Awesome. And maybe your body can't do that.

That's okay. [00:49:00] Find what gives you a good feeling and what you're starting to see results and be realistic. You're not going to see those results overnight. It starving. Isn't going to do it either. It's just not going to do it. So, you know, kind of, kind of set up a little, where do I want to be? Where do I want to be in a week?

How do I want to feel in a week? You know? And there's an adrenaline that happens when you go to the gym consistently. You don't want to miss, so stay with it. it's like your mind goes, ah, I will, I'll change my schedule around so I can get there. Let that be your inspiration. You want to get there.

And if you find somebody that you love to work out with, great. I never work out with anybody. I've always worked out solo and that's okay too.  If you find people that you're working out with, but you find that you're talking more than you're actually doing anything, step back, change it up.

You know, it's all about you. The gym is really about you. It's not about the social. It's not about finding a date. It's all about you. You're there for you and your body. And I would say [00:50:00] again, what's to circle right back to the mental before you ever stepped foot in that gym, talk to yourself, I'm here to be healthier.

I'm here because I want to feel better. I'm here because I want this certain look and it's okay. I'm not taking away from anybody else to want that idea. my family is not starving cause I'm at the gym, let it go, you know, let it go. And, and I love, I really, really love the gym I'm at now has all these windows that you can see people doing classes and so forth.

And there are women of all ages and there is even some, some dudes in there too. And I'm like, you may not have all the rhythm. You may not have the quote choreography done of whatever this class is, but you're there and you're moving and you're breathing. Give yourself some credit, you know, give yourself some credit and don't be afraid to, you know, watch people that if you, if you like how their body looks or you feel an inspirator, watch them study what they're doing study, you know, what does this do or even go up and I couldn't do this, but even go up and ask and say, can you teach [00:51:00] me how to, I don't know what this is.

Can you show me how to do this?  And I think the last thing to do is give yourself and others compliments I love this Kevin, to be honest, you do an exercise in the next day. You feel it. I love that feeling. I love sort of being sore. Cause it's like, wait a second.

Something was working, something was moving, something was working  being the first to compliment yourself, you know, leave that gym sweaty or not sweating and be like, Hey, good, good on you for being here. Good. I can't wait for tomorrow. This is going to be great. You see somebody there that looks great.

Go tell him, Hey, you're doing a fabulous job. You look amazing. I tell women that all the time, because I think, I don't know how about guys, but it's kind of a disease that women have. We compare ourselves to everybody else. I don't, I don't have thighs as pretty as her and my shoulders don't look as good as her.

And we do. Could you just go down everything on the body and you know, just one little compliment, maybe all that person needs to be like, yeah. Okay. They're seeing it. Maybe this, maybe I should stick with this, you know, just be [00:52:00] realistic about what's your vision of what you want. If you're trying to, you know, be those sports illustrated model overnight, aren't we all, but that's not going to happen.

That's just not going to happen and just be okay with it. And if you have a spouse or a significant other loves you just the way you are be great with that, but it's all about you. It's not about them. How do you feel about you? How do you want to feel? How do you want to see yourself? How do you want your clothes to be?

It's all about you. It's not about somebody justifying whatever. Maybe you maybe you're like, oh, I don't really want to goto the gym, honey, you look just fine. No, it's all about you.

Kevin: Yeah. And I think that's an important message to a lot of people is I think maybe females, mostly when they think of self care, a lot of times they're they're caregivers and they're hesitant to take the time to show themselves this self-love, that you're talking about to do these things for themselves.

And I, when I hear that attitude, my response is now, hold on, who shows up as [00:53:00] a better you, a healthy fit taking care of you or somebody who is just constantly running after other people's needs, wants wishes, et cetera. You are much more likely to show up as your true, authentic self, if you're practicing that self-care, that self-love and taking that time for yourself, which is exactly what you just, I think finished with on that thought there.

So yeah, I love that 100%. Well, Gretchen you you've obviously accomplished a lot. You've you've had a very unique life. What's next for you? What's on the horizon.

Gretchen: I'm right now, I'm working with a  a couple of developers. We're developing a skincare line that   for years being in the modeling industry, I get how business works there.

But as a woman my age, I don't want to see advertisements particularly about skincare that's showing me a 20 year old. My skin ain't going to look like that anymore. So  I wanted to create something that women, with maturing skin  can [00:54:00] look for a way and for products that actually go, okay, I can believe this.

I don't need to have a filtered picture and I don't need to have a 20 year old advertising Botox that doesn't need it. So  we're creating the skincare line that has a  philanthropic part of it too, that we're giving back to a community. I'm on a group in a group of islands  between New Zealand and Australia.

So I'm really passionate about not only taking care of your body, but taking care of your skin. I think aging, you know, aging, isn't about injecting your skin with a bunch of stuff, aging isn't about every kind of surgery you can do to lift things that have gravity has taken a hold of. Right?  Let's be, let's be really healthy in our thoughts about accepting and, working with science.

You know, we're not defining anything. That's a joke. That's not going to happen. It's not going to happen, but where are you along the journey of it? Are [00:55:00] you loving yourself? Can you love your skin? can you love your body while, you know, while you're at a different phase, it's a different phase of life.

That's fun.  I'm working on some fitness things. I mean, honestly, I. We've got a listener out there. I would love to be, on that sports illustrated scene simply because there are plenty of women, plenty of women that I see at the gym, they're not in their twenties. They had a damn good body.

They have a great image and they have a great, you know, I would love to be like, look, let me just be that voice for all those chicks out there that are really, really, they're the epitome of health. Why? Because they've lived enough life, they've experienced happiness. they have wisdom.  They are in perfect contentment with their bodies, you know, at whatever stage that is.

So I'm just kinda taking it. I still do TV.  I still do that kind of stuff. I endorse a lot of companies over in the Asian market [00:56:00] for they, they love everything that's Western and I'm like, do y'all know that I was Miss USA in 1801. Hello. They don't care.  So I'm just kind of, I'm opening things up.

I've got some really good business partners that I'm creating some really good products that are good for the body. Good for the body. I think when you're good in your soul, then your body benefits. When your body benefits, then you're good in your soul. It's all kind of one big circle.

Kevin: Yeah. 100%. That's a very holistic view of health and wellness. And I would give that a ringing endorsement. Absolutely. Well, Gretchen, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show and share your amazing story with us. You are truly a champion of healthy aging, and I absolutely wish you all the best in all your future endeavors.

Gretchen: Thank you. And thank you to all your listeners.

 

[00:57:00]Kevin: Okay folks, that's our show for this week. All of the links to the resources we discussed in this episode and more can be [email protected] slash episode 66. You can also continue the conversation over there and I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback. But before you go, I do have two favors to ask. Would you please give this show a five star review on whatever platform you're listening on.

And two, would you please consider sharing this episode with anyone who you think might be interested? It could be a family member, a friend, or a coworker. The easiest way to do this is just send them a link to this episode. And again, that's silver edge fitness.com/episode 66. Thanks again for spending your time with me today. And until next time stay strong. [00:58:00]