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In this episode of Life Intended, host Kelly Berry sits down with Debi Borger, founder of DB Wellbeing and creator of the E3 Method, for a raw and powerful conversation about holistic wellness, burnout recovery, midlife health, and what it really takes to rise from a "lifequake."
Debi brings the real talk - no fluff, no gimmicks - just grounded, actionable strategies that combine mindset, movement, and nutrition. Whether you're in the thick of perimenopause, rebuilding after trauma, or just plain exhausted and asking, “What now?”, this episode is packed with insights to help you reclaim your energy, strength, and purpose.
If you’ve ever felt like your body is betraying you in midlife - or like your mindset just can’t keep up with your goals - this one’s for you. Debi breaks down complex wellness strategies into digestible, doable shifts that meet you where you are.
Here’s what you can expect to learn:
Debi shares her personal experience navigating multiple traumas - from toxic relationships to burnout - and how her nervous system finally said enough. That rock bottom moment became the catalyst for developing the E3 Method: Elevate your mind, elevate your body, elevate your world.
She explains that real resilience comes from aligning mindset, movement, and nutrition - treating the body as a whole, not in pieces. It's not about avoiding hard things. It's about building the tools to weather them better.
Let’s get clear: you don’t need to look like your 25-year-old self. You need strength, energy, and stamina to keep showing up for the life you love.
Debi emphasizes strength training for women in midlife - not for vanity, but for bone density, longevity, and quality of life. She dives into why lifting weights (even just 2-3 days a week) can make a massive difference, especially for women entering perimenopause or menopause. And yes, walking in a weighted vest counts.
Ever start a new routine… and fall off two weeks later?
According to Debi, that’s not a discipline problem - it’s a mindset problem. She shares why mindset coaching is the key to building consistency, overcoming resistance, and avoiding the all-or-nothing trap.
From her own experience with anxiety and recovery, she highlights tools like morning routines, motivational triggers, and rest as non-negotiables, not nice-to-haves.
Want more energy? It starts with your plate.
Debi breaks down the basics of nutrition coaching without overwhelming you. She explains why frequent small meals, prioritizing protein, and balanced macros are essential to avoid blood sugar crashes and energy slumps. Her advice? Ditch the fad diets. Fuel your body like it deserves to be trusted.
With so much noise around supplements, Debi keeps it simple.
She shares her go-to essentials: creatine (yes, even for brain health), collagen with all nine essential amino acids, and omega-3s. But she’s clear that supplements shouldn’t replace a solid foundation - they should enhance it.
Her approach? Evaluate your current habits first. Then supplement intentionally.
“If you're always waiting until you get to the other side of something, you'll be waiting forever.” — Debi Borger
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“Your body needs to trust you. Feed it regularly and it will let go of the fat it's been clinging to for survival.” — Debi Borger
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“Movement is medicine. And it’s not just for you—it’s for the people you love who want you to stick around.” — Debi Borger
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“You don’t have to overhaul your life. Start with a morning walk. Then build from there.” — Debi Borger
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“Don’t let your weekend become your weak end. One cheat meal won’t ruin your progress, but three days of chaos might.” — Debi Borger
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Chapters
00:00 Welcome to Life Intended + Intro to Holistic Wellness with Debi Borger
04:33 What is a Lifequake? How to Build Resilience Through Mindset
10:06 Women's Nutrition Coaching Tips: Fueling Energy and Metabolism
20:44 Midlife Movement: Strength Training for Women and Longevity
26:41 Weighted Vests for Bone Density, Posture & Fatigue Management
30:43 Why Rest Days Matter: Recovery as Part of Holistic Wellness
35:29 Mindset Coaching for Motivation and Long-Term Habit Change
40:11 Essential Supplements for Women: Creatine, Collagen, Omega-3
44:59 Personalized Health Coaching: DB Wellbeing and The E3 Method
48:46 Final Reflections: Living with Intention & Prioritizing Self-Care
Kelly Berry (01:06)
Today I have Debi Borger. She is the founder of DB Wellbeing and creator of the E3 Method, a no BS holistic coaching approach for anyone going through a what now chapter in life. From young adults finding their footing to 80 year olds reinventing themselves. Debi helps people move through burnout, divorce, menopause, career shakeups, and all the messy middle moments.
with strength and confidence. And while she holds several degrees and certification, she's lived it all herself. So what she teaches isn't just theory, it is real life. Her method blends mindset, movement, and nutrition to help you stop spiraling and start rising. Think of her as your wellness GPS. Hey, Debi, that all sounds really great. We talk a lot about the messy middle here, so can't wait to have that conversation with you today. How are you?
Debi Borger (02:03)
Good, how are you?
Kelly Berry (02:05)
Good, good, welcome. I would like, I know I introduced you, but I would like for you to take just a minute and tell everybody a little bit more about you, who you are, how you got to where you are, and everything in between.
Debi Borger (02:19)
All right, sounds good. Well, I am originally from outside Philadelphia where I graduated from Temple University with two degrees in elementary education and early childhood education. And gradually over time morphed into a phys ed teacher, an aquatics director, and then a personal trainer upon moving down to Florida and...
I'd say that I'm still teaching, just not in the four walls of the classroom, because that's, am, even if it's in the gym or online, but it's sharing and teaching people how to take better care of themselves. I live in Juno Beach, Florida now. And like I said, I started as a personal trainer, then brought on lots of certifications in nutrition, yoga, golf, fitness, youth exercise, as we all have to keep continuing our education.
And I had a really good upbringing and, but, I shouldn't say and, but throughout my adulthood from college on, I've found myself or been victim to a lot of trauma and unfortunate situations, whether it be toxic relationships, tragic loss, narcissistic abuse, things like that. And through all of that,
Eventually after my, called them life quakes after my most recent life quake, my nervous system finally called it quits and was just like, this is the last thing we can handle right now. And we're shutting down. And through that process of starting over again and rebuilding and rebranding, I began to kind of document.
and look at my healing steps and what made it so different for me every time I got knocked down to get back up again. And so that's how the E3 method, elevate your mind, elevate your body and elevate your world came into being. And then I began to coach other people in that strength and resilience and mindset coaching space to better help them to get through all of those life's messy moments, as we said, the messy middle.
And it started for me, like I said, when I was young in college. So, you people always say, well, you you help women, do you help men? I help everybody because it starts sometimes when you're that young and going forward. So at any time of life, it's not just the middle part.
Kelly Berry (04:33)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that term lifequake. I actually was having a conversation this morning about kind of that same concept, I guess you'll say, because, well, for a couple of reasons. One, I was talking about like a recent lifequake, I guess you'll say, that I had, but also the fact that we all have lifequakes. And then I think that this thought that
you know, like when I get through this, things will be better or when I get to the other side of this. But the reality is, is that there's always something. And if you're always waiting until you get on the other side of this, like when, and I think we can all relate to this on big scales and small scales. Like when I lose this weight, I'll do this. When I, you know, get the courage, I'll quit my job. When I, you know,
get enough money, I'll be able to XYZ, but there's always something. And it's like, if you're not always trying to build your resilience or build these skills, it's always gonna feel like you're just getting knocked down over and over and over again. And the conversation that I was having this morning was just talking about like the recent life plate that I had. I think a lot of my audience knows I just lost my brother-in-law and it was a month ago today.
And it's been really hard. And I've been able to handle it really well because of the work that I have done in my life, in my personal life, through therapy, through all of the things that Sadie and I work on in Life Intended. You know, I am prepared for things like this. So it doesn't make them less hard, but it makes me more resilient and more capable of
you know, rolling with the emotions and the ebb and flow and the, you know, when we got on today, I'm like, you know, I'm really tired, you know, all of the things that are thrown at you when you're going through something like this. So I can really appreciate, like what you were talking about with your journey and the reflection that you took and kind of figured out like how have I been able to pick myself up? And what does that look like? And how can I help other people do that? So have a lot of
respect for being able to like get through some of the things that you have, be where you are and be so passionate about helping other people walk through them, you know, maybe without having to have so many bumps and bruises along the way, you know.
Debi Borger (07:10)
Thank you.
Yes, yes. And there's a couple of things that come to mind when you say that it's first, we always give the if this then that. If this happens, then I'll do this. When that happens, then I'll do that. Right? But tomorrow is in promise to any of us and new things are always coming along. So when I get through this trauma, then I'll do that. But then there's going to be something else that's going to happen.
Kelly Berry (07:35)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (07:52)
In my life, there's never been. It's like, as soon as I feel like I've come to the other side, something else drops. Something else just, it's another loss, it's another sickness, it's another something, but that's life, right? So we have to start now. And when my body went through what I went through, it was cumulative.
Kelly Berry (08:01)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (08:21)
Because even though I had therapy and I had all this stuff, I didn't have good therapists. I didn't have good therapists. And so when all of this was happening, things weren't healing, things weren't getting better. And then finally the last straw, when everything that I had worked so hard for and all that I had was taken away from me, I found myself in just the worst.
Kelly Berry (08:26)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (08:48)
state that I could be in and because of the work we do, we are able to recognize the signs and the symptoms. I knew what my anxiety attacks in the middle of the night were about and I knew why my body was doing it. I knew why I was losing weight, body fat so quickly and I knew that even though I looked like I was in the best shape of my life, I was the most unhealthiest I had ever been. I knew that because of the work that we do.
Kelly Berry (09:11)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (09:15)
So I was able to say, okay, every night I go to sleep, I need to put on my headphones and fall asleep to music with this kind of beat for the parasympathetic nervous system to calm me down before we know the tools and the tricks and the things that we have in our toolkit. And when I came back, I kept saying, I don't wanna be a personal trainer. I don't wanna just be a personal trainer anymore. wanna, there's more, I'm meant to do more. And I knew I had that calling and I just couldn't figure out what it was.
And then I realized this is what it is. It's to help other people get through and to teach them to get through all of the things that I've been through or more different or anything, any kind of trauma, any kind of life's messy moments, things like that. And to teach them and be for them the person I needed most during my time and teach them everything that worked for me along the way.
Kelly Berry (09:46)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah. So I think that's a good segue into kind of what I want to talk to you about and get you to tell us all about is, know, Sadie and I, one of our our missions and goals as like bringing life intended to life is to help people see that it's a holistic approach. And there are certain parts of this holistic approach that Sadie and I can address, but there's a lot more that we can't.
And a lot of that is your physical well-being. Even though we do talk about some somatic things and how to connect our body with our cerebral, our thoughts and everything like that. I know that even what you were talking about with the headphones and the music and regulating your nervous system, there's so much more. that especially us as women, we need a lot of support if we're in perimenopause or menopause.
I would love for you to share like what do you see that women like kind of in our stage of life or that have been through things like we have, what do we need? What are some steps to start introducing those things into our lives? we, know, not so that we can like have maybe some of the goals that we used to when we were younger, like how can I lose a lot of weight and how can I, you know, look like a supermodel? Now it's like, I just wanna like.
get a good night's sleep, I wanna feel good during the day, I don't wanna be tired all the time. Like what do we need to be doing to support ourselves from like a mind, body, exercise, nutrition type of approach.
Debi Borger (11:42)
Yes. The first thing is stop comparing because every journey is individual and my journey is not your journey. Your journey is not my journey. My body is not your body and your body is not my body. So that in itself stopped comparing ourselves to everybody else because we don't know what they're eating, what they're doing, what their body can do, can't do, you know, allergy, things, everything, right? So that's the number one thing.
Obviously, social media makes that very hard for everybody today. But first, guess, starting out with nutrition. I tell all my clients that I like to compare our bodies to a car. So a car needs fuel to go and our body needs energy to go. Obviously for the car, gasoline is our fuel.
Kelly Berry (12:14)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (12:38)
And for our body, food is our fuel. And then I say, well, let's just visualize here for a second when our car is putting down the road and we run out of gas. And then those cartoons from back in the day are like, the wheel falls off. There's smoke coming out, know, what's it called? Yosemite Sam's on the side of the road throwing a temper tantrum, right? Well, the same thing happens with our body. And when we don't fuel our body.
Kelly Berry (12:54)
Thank
Debi Borger (13:04)
enough and the right way when we don't fuel properly, our body breaks down. It's going to start to use muscle for energy. It's not going to operate right. The wheels are going to fall off. Our moods are going to swing and we're going to start being Yosemite Sam with the, don't know why I don't feel good. I don't know why I'm gaining weight. I don't know why I'm tired all the time. Right? Well, it's all starts with the proper nutrition. So the second thing that I tell people is
Kelly Berry (13:28)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (13:34)
I know we hear it all the time, but you have to understand the reasoning behind it and then it will make sense about eating several small meals, two to three hours, two and a half to three hours apart throughout the day. And I know, I know, I had to eat several small meals throughout the day, but I can't tell you how many times, even last night at the event that I was partaking, while I eat.
breakfast like 11 or that's my lunch and I'm fasting and then I'm the body needs the fuel to keep going. Okay. So the small meals throughout the day keep our metabolism level like this instead of going up and down like this with the big spikes of the insulin and sugar and all of that. So when we constantly give our car fuel, I'm not saying eat all day long.
Kelly Berry (14:18)
Mm-hmm.
you
Debi Borger (14:29)
When we're
giving our body fuel at the proper times and the proper nutrition, it will work better and it will trust us. We want our body to trust us so we can trust our body and it will say, okay, she's feeding us on a regular basis and we don't have to hold on to fat and we don't have to burn muscle in order to have energy to get through our workouts or get through our day. So now we can start to let go of some of that fat that we hold on for survival because
fat keeps us warm and we need fat for survival, but it will start to let go of that because it's now trusting you, right? And then I say, well, also then look at your plate. And first of all, it's proper portion size. Second of all, it's prioritizing protein. And third, it's making sure that you have everything on your plate and the best that you can, meaning,
Kelly Berry (15:05)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (15:24)
a protein, carb, and a healthy fat and making sure that whatever you're putting in your mouth is actually contributing to your health and well-being the best that it can, meaning nutrient-dense foods, complex carbs. I had someone say something to me yesterday about, I eat a salad, and I said, okay, so we're eating air.
Not that our salad doesn't have anything good, but what are we putting on that salad then? And then when they list all the ingredients, I say, are you hungry about an hour later? I say, where's the protein? Where's the carb? know, if it's sprinkle some black beans on it or put on some chickpeas or some quinoa, but there has to be something that's going to actually give your body the fuel and the nutrients that it needs to keep going instead of just.
Kelly Berry (16:07)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (16:20)
getting it through the process of digestion, even though nothing is coming from what we're giving it, right? That makes sense. prioritizing protein is important because it keeps us satiated. And people tell me I'm always hungry and, well, are you getting enough protein? It can be something as simple as protein in water or protein in almond milk or regular milk.
Kelly Berry (16:24)
Mm-hmm, right. Yes. Yes.
Debi Borger (16:47)
in your shaker bottle, but we need to supplement and make sure we're getting enough protein. Otherwise, again, you know, our body isn't gonna operate right, our digestion isn't gonna be right, our bowel movements aren't gonna be right and regular, our sleep isn't gonna be regular. So all of it goes hand in hand and it's not that complicated when you sit down with a coach or practitioner or nutritionist to actually
Kelly Berry (17:05)
Yeah, so.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (17:16)
have it explained to you and the reason why.
Kelly Berry (17:18)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So a couple things, because I know protein is like the word of the hour these days. And so everybody's like, get protein, get protein. What is enough protein? What does that mean?
Debi Borger (17:33)
So it is dependent on your activity and whether or not you work out. And so if you go by the daily allowance of protein, which could be 0.36 grams per day, right? ⁓ I think that's kilograms, 0.8 for women, but
Kelly Berry (17:52)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (17:58)
It's really depends on also your body weight. And like I said, if you're someone who exercises and works out, you want to take a look at how much protein you're getting, and then we want to up it a little bit more so that you have the ability to fuel your body through your workouts and through your recovery. So what I do is I sit down with my clients and I say, okay, well first,
what we need to do is track a whole week of eating and see what it is that you are eating, how much you're eating calories wise. That's the hardest thing to do because nobody wants to sit there and track how much food that they're eating in a week, but it's important to know where to start. Then when I see how much protein you're getting on a daily basis, then we can decide whether it needs to be increased.
or whether it needs to be decreased. And most always it needs to be increased. Mostly people are not getting enough protein. And then I look at the carbs, I look at the fats and that's all what's called macronutrients and macros. And then I'll be able to tell by how much your daily expenditure of energy is, what you need baseline, your basal metabolic rate, how many calories you need to be able to eat, breathe, move.
Kelly Berry (18:56)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (19:20)
pee, poop, sleep, blink, and then we go from there. So if your basal metabolic rate says, and this is just an example, I need 1,400 calories a day just to survive, just to menstruate, just for my hair to grow, my nails to grow, all of those things. That's your basic. That's the minimum of what you need. Then we break that down into your protein, carb, and fat. So it's like 30%, 40 % carb.
Kelly Berry (19:24)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (19:49)
The fat is a little bit trickier depending upon where you are as a woman in menopause. If we need more as we get older and our body isn't making the hormones, we need to supplement with a lot of avocado and olive oil and things like that. the carb, like I said before, we want it to be a nutrient-dense complex carb giving us enough energy and being able to fuel us to get through the day.
Kelly Berry (20:16)
⁓ Yeah.
Debi Borger (20:16)
That's the simple,
uncomplicated answer. If I throw a lot of numbers at you and the listeners, it's gonna get confusing. But if you look at your plate and you say, about four ounces of protein at every meal, which is about 20 grams, 20 to 25 grams of protein, that's where I like to start. So you look at your palm and say, does it fit in the size of my palm? And
Kelly Berry (20:22)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (20:45)
That's an easy way to eyeball it. And then we go from there.
Kelly Berry (20:50)
deal. So going back to the original question, like what can we do to like feel good and show up as our best self? So nutrition is definitely a part of that. And I think you gave us some really good things to think about. So what's another thing that we need to be watching out for or doing to achieve that like more holistic goal?
Debi Borger (21:08)
So move. So let's get onto the movement topic, the exercise topic. you mean I have to get up and actually do something about it? That's what I get. You know, I actually have to do it. Well, what's going to happen is if you don't do it when you retire, your doctor's going to tell you you have to do it anyway, and then it's going to be a little bit too late. But setting.
Kelly Berry (21:13)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (21:30)
I'm a very structured person in type A in some certain areas. I guess it's the teacher in me where I like schedule. like regimen and everyone tells me I'm very structured. But then on other things, I'm like, yeah, you know, it's fine. But set a routine for yourself. Set a morning routine for yourself. Own your morning, own your mind, I say. So if you get up in the morning and you start with
some movement, whether it's stretching or a walk, it gets the body going. It gets those feel good hormones and chemicals in your brain released, the serotonin, things like that. And you'll be in a better position going through your day. Then it will keep you regulated for sleep and for all of the other bodily functions, your digestion, things like that. movement, strength training.
Kelly Berry (22:21)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (22:27)
I can't emphasize strength training enough and strength training isn't just for muscles and looking good and all of that, but it's for bone density. And again, it's for the chemicals that it releases and it's for being able to be strong and get up off the floor and play with your grandkids and just know that you're making an effort now to make your life when you're older, better.
Kelly Berry (22:54)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (22:55)
I
see a lot of people that come to me after they've retired and they say, well, my doctor tells me to move. And I say, well, did your doctor tell you to move or did your doctor tell you to strength train for your bone density? But it's really important to get a workout plan going, to talk to a professional, not to try it yourself or to follow Instagram influencers who aren't certified. Find a professional, sit down and talk with them.
get an idea of how much you move throughout the day and build onto that, whether it's with just starting with one walk a day or one walk every three days or something like that, but getting more movement. And then we'll start to work on the strength training and that aspect of it. And it really goes hand in hand, all of it.
Kelly Berry (23:38)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, so I heard you say something about strength training and the chemicals that are I believe I've heard something about this before. Can you talk a little bit more about what that actually is, what those chemicals are, what they do?
Debi Borger (23:57)
Yes, without going into too much detail.
Kelly Berry (24:00)
Yeah, for a high level like me, know, but
I remember whenever I heard it, was thinking like, wow, that's really cool. So in that kind of way, not in a scientific way.
Debi Borger (24:11)
Yes, so for example.
family member who I just recently visited and was telling me that they're very tired all the time, that they're dragging through their workout a little bit. I kind of dialed in a little bit of nutrition and changed a couple things. within like a day or two, I got a text message saying, I have so much more energy now to get through my workout, to do all the things. And so when we start to work out,
and our body, we're breaking down the muscles in our body. Our body releases certain chemicals and uses certain protein and carbs to rebuild that muscle stronger and bigger, okay? And during that process, there are chemicals in the brain, the serotonin, the dopamine, and more that are released. And we walk out of the gym feeling, yes, tired and like we've challenged something, but it's...
gives us that feeling of euphoria because it's released those feel good chemicals in your brain. And the cortisol, which is our stress hormone, there's good stress and bad stress. So we're releasing the cortisol stress hormone because we're putting our body under stress during the workout, but it's for a good reason. Not because we're running around with our kids or because our business isn't doing well or because we're so overwhelmed and we're stressed in a bad way.
but we're actually stressed in a good way. And that's what we want for those chemicals when they're released in our body that make us feel better.
Kelly Berry (25:35)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yes. Got it. Okay, so then we're getting stronger and we're feeling better. That's the goal, right?
Debi Borger (25:48)
And in turn gives you more energy, right? When everything's working that way. At first, no, at first you're sore, you're tired, you're, know, but then those chemicals start to kick in and you actually kind of get like addicted to that feeling after you walk out of the gym and that euphoria and that workout high as it's called.
Kelly Berry (26:05)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (26:12)
And instead of the dopamine and everything being for bad reason in the cortisol, it's actually for a good reason.
Kelly Berry (26:18)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Something else, I have a question just kind of like protein. This is like another topic of the moment. Walking and walking with a weighted vest. I mean, I think I see that all the time. what, tell us about that. Where does walking fit into our like overall movement? What should we be walking with a weighted vest? What does that do for us? Like all of that.
Debi Borger (26:41)
Okay, so walking with a weighted vest is good for your bone density, for your body carrying weight. And it's funny because it can also obviously increase the intensity of your workout, right? So I've worn weighted vests that distribute the weight evenly over their torso.
So any kind of exercise done with that is.
harder because it's like if I add 10, 20 pounds onto my body while I'm stepping up on a box and stepping up and down and stepping up and down, it's more challenging, right? But also again, if you're an elder and you maybe don't have such strong grip strength to hold weights and things like that, you can put on the vest and it will, you can walk around with that.
without losing so much balance. It increases how much calorie you're burning. So when you're working just legs, opposed to working upper and lower, you're burning twice as many calories, right? So it increases the caloric expenditure. And like I said, it improves the bone density and it's good to add the weight on and for strength and endurance.
Kelly Berry (28:02)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (28:02)
Then
when you actually take the weighted vest off, you'll find that then you can do certain movements a lot better and easier and faster because you don't have the weighted vest on. So it's of also true like a swimmer who swims with like three bathing suits on. And then when they swim in the competition, they're only wearing one, they feel like they're going so much faster, right? ⁓ And you know, it just gets your cardio up. It's better for your cardiovascular health and your
Kelly Berry (28:12)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah.
Debi Borger (28:32)
Again, I may not put an elderly client on a treadmill for balance purposes, but I can certainly get their heart rate up by having them walk around the gym with a weighted vest on. So that's another reason why while we use those. I know that it's also used for balance and posture. You know, I have scoliosis pretty badly and
Kelly Berry (28:44)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Debi Borger (28:58)
you know, for being able to keep your shoulders back and your chest up and your core tight in order to support that. If you have a weighted vest on and you're going like this, right, with the weighted vest on, but you have to stay shoulders back and core tight, chest out, and you're working on your posture as well. I may not have certain clients that can't bend over and do reverse flies or something like that, but I'll be able to work on their posture in a different way by having them walk around in a weighted vest.
Kelly Berry (29:10)
no.
Yeah.
Debi Borger (29:26)
So
it's a lot more challenging and yes, people walking in weighted vests, in fact, there's a lot of new ones that I've seen out in the gym and people walking with lately that like tie up the front or, and interchange the weights on the vest, make it heavier, make it lighter. And it just makes the balance challenging when you're walking to be top heavy, right? Yeah.
Kelly Berry (29:38)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I have one and I have been walking in it. I actually have had one for a very long time. Anyway, that's kind of beside the point. you know, somebody stopped me the other day and was just asking me about the kind that I had and all of this. And, you know, one of the things that I told her is I feel like I walk with such so much better posture when I'm wearing it. It just makes you more aware of how you're like
holding your shoulders and how you're standing up. And for somebody who spends a lot of time at their desk, I feel like that's an important counter to what I'm doing. So it's good to hear you say that, because I feel that when I'm doing it.
Debi Borger (30:19)
you
Yeah.
How much does your weighted vest weigh?
Kelly Berry (30:30)
It's 10 pounds. Yeah.
Debi Borger (30:32)
Yes.
So you could walk around your house. could, you know, I mean, I've seen people wearing them all the time when they're doing a workout just to make the workout a little bit more challenging for them, right? Yeah.
Kelly Berry (30:36)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We had one, I think, a long time ago when all of those like mud and adventure races were really important. My husband got one and he was using it to train to like make that easier. So we've had it for a long time and I was like, think I'm just gonna try this one because it is very different from a lot of the ones that I'm seeing now and it is like full body kind of. So the weight is extremely evenly.
Distributed versus like some of the ones I've seen where a lot of the weights right on the shoulders And so it feels really comfortable to wear something that that helps, too Okay, so now we've done nutrition movement. What are what are other things we need to be doing to make sure we? Feel good as our best self
Debi Borger (31:14)
Mm-hmm.
think honoring where we are in the moment. So, and taking rest. What I mean by honoring where we are in the moment is being able to say, okay, like we discussed a little earlier, I need to take a day to do absolutely nothing and to regroup and just let my body feel the way my body needs to feel or the I need to feel at that moment.
Kelly Berry (31:47)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (31:58)
Do I wanna get up every morning and go to the gym? No, I don't. Sometimes though, that's because either I'm not working out enough and I don't have those chemicals going on like I was discussing in my brain that get me like excited to go and things like that. But also because I'm getting older and I don't train six days a week anymore like I used to. And I cut back to three days a week or four days a week, full body rather than, you know, six days a week and a split. But.
I think that not beating ourselves up and understanding that the rest is important. I just took a little over a week off. did a lot of hiking and I did do a bar class while I was gone. And then I was, okay, I'm good with that. When I went back to the gym this week, I up.
Kelly Berry (32:46)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (32:50)
I went up in weights, the weights that I had been using for a certain exercise that I've never gone heavier. I was like, this is too light. It was lying hamstring curl. And I laid down on the machine to do it. And I thought, no, really? I can go higher, heavier now because my body had that time to recover, rest and repair. And making a plan, like I said, if you fail to plan, plan to fail.
If you don't do your meal plan, if you don't schedule out what it is you're going to eat, make sure you have enough protein for the day cooked and ready to go, you're going to fail. If you don't pick the days that you're going to go to the gym and schedule them as an appointment for yourself to honor yourself, you're going to fail. And just because you may fail one day doesn't mean you get to throw in the towel and quit.
That's where structure can come in. And that's a good thing, to be able to say, no, I need to do this for me. I need to put on my oxygen mask first before I go out in the world today and help everybody else. That's extremely important. So honoring where you are, but also not being lazy about it and saying, well, okay, well, I had one rest day, now two rest days, but three.
Kelly Berry (33:43)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (34:04)
One of things, a couple of things I always say to my clients are never miss on Monday because you never want to start the week off. You want to, or you want to start the week off strong, never go more than three days without working out. Prioritize protein. I said, meal prep so that you're prepared and prepare in a way of having snacks and healthy things around you so that you don't give into those impulses.
Kelly Berry (34:13)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (34:34)
because you didn't plan and you're hungry and starving and now you'll eat anything and then you're going to throw off the progress and one cheat meal isn't going to ruin a week, but don't let your weekend become your week end. Three days of a weekend of just doing whatever you want and not is ruins the whole rest of the, you know, four other days that we had good progress, right?
Kelly Berry (34:48)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (34:59)
So it's sticking to your routine and being able to recognize those factors and say, okay, you this is my rest day. I can still go for a walk with my weighted vest. It's not, but I'm not going to strength train today. I'm going to give my body the recovery and try to get in those three to four days a week. Yeah.
Kelly Berry (35:16)
Yeah,
yep. I always tell people like recovery, you know, like you are getting stronger when you recover. And we talk about that a lot in, it's the same when you're working on like building that resilience and you do need like the rest to be able to reflect and digest. And that's where you can like embody some of the things that you've learned. It's very,
Debi Borger (35:29)
you
Kelly Berry (35:44)
there's so many parallels to like actually training and working out, but you need the rest to really just embody the change that you've made to be able to take that forward into whatever you're doing. you know, I think if you can honor that rest in both the physical and the mental, it really helps you when you're actually trying to act on or take what you're working on and implement it into your life, whether that is, you know, like physical changes or
health changes or just the way that you want to show up. I think that's so important.
Debi Borger (36:14)
Yes.
One of the things you said in the very beginning of this interview that was so important was it's not just showing up for yourself. It's showing up for the people that you love and being healthy for yourself, but also for the people that love you. And so what I mean by that is we want people we love to be around, to stick around, right?
Kelly Berry (36:39)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (36:40)
And I
know that you've gone through a recent loss and there are some things that we can't control. And then there are some things that we can control. And sometimes I think...
Kelly Berry (36:47)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (36:50)
I'm not pressuring people into working out, but I want them to understand that the healthier they are and the better they take care of themselves, the happier the people that are around them will be because they will be happy and they will be healthy. So therefore the people you surround yourself with will be happy and healthy. So it's not always just being selfish and saying, I'm taking care of me for me because I want to be healthy and I want to look this way and I want to do those things. But I have five nieces and nephews and I don't have any kids.
Kelly Berry (37:18)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (37:20)
but I wanna be of my own, but I have five, right? So like, I wanna be able to be happy and healthy and an example for them, but to show them that I love them enough and a partner or anything and be able to say that I wanna be healthy, not just for myself, but for you. I wanna stay around long enough for you and not treat my body in a way that's going to take years off of that.
Kelly Berry (37:24)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (37:48)
Obviously
there's things that we can't control. But that only makes the things that we can control that much more important. On a happy medium, like I'm not saying go through your house and take out everything that is, know, personagenic and you know, we're not gonna do that. But I'm saying that if you can just make small changes and it...
Kelly Berry (37:57)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Debi Borger (38:12)
just could be some small changes and little steps, which is what I work on in my coaching program, is to be able to say, okay, we're gonna, here is our goal, here is what we want, and we're gonna look at that and we're gonna break it down into small, actionable steps. Everybody has heard this, one step at a time, instead of looking at the whole staircase and breaking it down to get from one thing to the next, and then you keep building upon those skills, right? And then with,
Kelly Berry (38:38)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (38:40)
Everything that's going on in the world today that is an outside factor to help us lose weight and be healthy. Those things can just be an added bonus to already living a happy, holistic, healthy lifestyle. And like I said, if you eat properly to fuel your body properly, you will feel better and you will have more energy and we won't be moody because our hormones are going up and down and all over.
Kelly Berry (38:50)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (39:08)
cortisol is high and our bowels aren't working right and we're not sleeping right. If we move and physically take care of our bodies one small step at a time, even if that means starting with a morning walk and then eventually getting yourself into the gym or an online training, I do virtual training as well, that's the next step. And then we also look at the mindset behind it all because the mindset is the most important part.
back to what I said about not wanting to get up every day to go to the gym. I'm normal, I'm human, but I have the tools in my toolbox and the steps in place so that when I wake up in the morning and I'm like, I just want to press the snooze, I immediately put on a motivational speech or my pep talk app and I start hearing the other's voices in my head that are motivating to me. And then I'm like, I'm sorry, my legs and my arms aren't broken and they're attached to my body.
Kelly Berry (39:33)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (40:01)
I can get up and go to the gym and move. And once I put one foot in front of the other, the rest just flows. And then I never walked out of the gym afterwards and said, that was horrible. I always walk out and say, so much happier now that I did that. Going back to the chemicals that are being released, the hormones, and everything else. And properly fueling my workouts with a pre-workout and post-workout meal is important as well.
Kelly Berry (40:03)
and
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. So we are coming up against time. If you could list like or tell us at a high level, like what else should we be thinking about focusing on or yeah, what are the other things that are really important?
Debi Borger (40:41)
So my biggest thing right now in a simple way would be to be adding creatine to your diet as a supplement. I am also one practitioner who doesn't believe in a lot of supplements. You know, I would like to be able to get that from my food and, uh, but I will add in multivitamins, my Omega-3, 6-9, creatine.
Kelly Berry (40:57)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (41:10)
Start with a smaller dose. It's also not just for muscle, but it's also for mental and the brain. I can give you information. There's been tons of studies that have been done. It helps protect against dementia. And it's also beneficial for muscle growth and recovery as well. Collagen, I tell women, always make sure and research that your collagen
has all nine essential amino acids, especially tryptophan, because if it doesn't have all nine essential amino acids, it is not a protein. Our body does not use it as a protein. So when women say, I get my protein in the morning with my collagen and my coffee, I immediately tell them to send me a screenshot of the nutrition label. And I research, does it have all the nine essential amino acids?
Movement at least 30 to 45 minutes a day, depending on age and things like that, with about three to four days a week. More is great. Getting that heart rate up a little bit. And sleep. Setting a time in the evening where your do not disturb goes on and you're done. And trying to keep it consistent.
with eight hours of sleep and getting up in the morning and having that calm morning routine so you're not waking up and scattered and all of a sudden, know, the cortisol is always highest in the morning. Now you're even skyrocketing it because you're getting up and you're like, I gotta go, gotta, you know, to be intentional about things, to be intentional about the way you live your life. Having all these systems in place helps you.
Kelly Berry (42:45)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (42:58)
to be happier and more fulfilled in your daily life.
Kelly Berry (43:01)
Yep. Awesome. That was great because I think, you know, just like the stuff that Sadie and I talk about, you know, this is just an area where there is so much noise, you know, there's so much information and it's been made to be so much more complicated than it is. And when it's presented more in a more like approachable and not so complicated way, it feels just so much more attainable. And I think, you know,
Debi Borger (43:29)
Right.
Kelly Berry (43:30)
the way that you said it as you were talking about a lot of things, you you don't have to like, you can start with just a morning walk. And like, once you get that, you can then add something on. You don't have to like overhaul everything because that's when overwhelm sets in and then you're right back to where you started. So that was all, all really good. I think a lot of things that we all just know, but they all kind of.
complement each other, work together. Yeah, and that's great.
Debi Borger (44:00)
And I'm available if anyone has any more questions about specifics and getting into a little bit more detail about the protein and how much and all of that. But I feel that to overwhelm everyone, they get all this misinformation online and everything. So it's like I'm open to have a conversation and actually talk to people individually instead of just giving out a blanket statement of saying you should have this much and you should have that.
Kelly Berry (44:07)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (44:28)
And this is what the daily recommended because everybody's body is different.
Kelly Berry (44:33)
Yep, exactly.
Yeah, and I was that's a good segue. I was going to say all of Debi's information, her social handles, ways that you can find her and track her down and ask her these questions all in the show notes. Yeah, so I guess that's a good. Yeah, just tell us a little bit more about like what do you do? How do you help people? What is your programming look like in kind of like that high level sense? So people.
know like, hey, this is somebody I want to reach out to and see about working with.
Debi Borger (45:04)
Yes. So obviously I still do individual personal training in home, in the gym or online. And I do individual plans, one-off plans. If someone says, well, I can work out on my own, but can you write me the program? And I do nutrition programs as well. If someone just says, can you write me a meal plan and check in monthly and things like that. Then I have my
coaching packages, which could be a six week package. Then my bigger program is really for someone who is so overwhelmed with all of it and doesn't know where to start or is coming out of trauma and just doesn't have the wherewithal to do it themselves and to figure it all out. And that's a three month program, the E3 method. And that's where we sit down and we look over, you know, where your fitness, nutrition and
mental mindset well-being is at that point in time and what our goal, what your goals are and how I can assist you to reach those goals by creating actionable steps to get there and keeping you on the right path to get there and helping you navigate the obstacles and keep your eye on your goals so they don't fall to the wayside and at least
get you back after those messy moments on your feet. And then we have an ongoing program where you can, after the three month program, we can do a monthly check-in, monthly coaching calls. can be, you know, in the program I meet with everyone once a week, but in the future going forward, we can lessen that. it's, I try to meet everybody where they are. And I've said this yesterday, it's,
Kelly Berry (46:51)
Mm-hmm.
Debi Borger (46:53)
It's hard because I want everybody to be happy and healthy and I'm not going to turn anyone down for obvious reasons, but financially things like that, I try to work with everyone where they are. So if someone says to me, can't do your big three month overhaul, but I would like to do some personal training with a little bit of mindset coaching. Then I cultivate it and create it to meet you where you are. And I have young girls that are starting their own businesses.
Kelly Berry (47:15)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Debi Borger (47:20)
I have college and high school girls who just need that moral support and a little bit of guidance that don't want to take it from their parents or they don't get along with their parents. So their parents come in and say, can you help? And so it's kind of can be structured and created to what works best for you because again, it is an individualized purpose.
Kelly Berry (47:28)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah,
Yeah, I can totally appreciate that too, because I think a lot of times people don't really even know what they need. So it sounds like part of a really good part of what you do is help people understand where they're starting from and how you can support them through your method. And I think that's just awesome. I think you're extremely knowledgeable, not just
about the training part of it, but about how it relates to you as an entire person. We cannot separate how we are physically from how we are mentally. And that's why that holistic approach, I know you're very much on board with that and support your clients and all that in that entire way too. So I think that that's awesome. I appreciate you being here today and everything that you shared.
It was a pleasure. It's a great conversation. think a lot of people are going to find a lot of value in it. So thank you so much. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. So check out Debi and all of her links below. Give her a follow too and I'll see you soon, Debi. Thank you. Yeah.
Debi Borger (48:34)
I hope so. I hope so. Thank you for having me.
Kelly Berry (48:46)
Thanks for listening to Life Intended.
Sadie Wackett (48:49)
If something from this episode landed with you, stirred something up or gave you a new perspective, share it. Tag us, leave a review. That's how this work reaches more women who really need it.
Kelly Berry (49:02)
Life Intended is more than just a podcast. It's a movement back to self-trust, personal power, and living with intention.
Sadie Wackett (49:10)
and we're just getting started.
Kelly Berry (49:13)
So keep showing up, keep tuning in. If you're ready for more support on your path, head to LifeIntended.co. We've got tools, community, and programs to meet you where you are. Until next time.
Kelly Berry is a strategic business leader and business coach. She is known for her operational excellence and her ability to drive growth and results across multiple industries.
She is also hosting her own podcast, Life Intended.
