Fit Model Show Recap | Page Thorla and Ashley Jerry
Transcript of Ep: 87 - P2 Podcast
Page: Hi guys! So we have a special guest and that's my trophy. Ashley's just here. The trophy is a special guest.
Ashley: No, this is Page and Ashley doing a post-show recap podcast episode. So excited. It's a big deal. It's honestly a big deal.
Page: I think this is perfect. I'm just glad P2 has a podcast so that I can just talk.
Ashley: You have a lot to say.
Page: I have so much to say. I just spent so long writing the caption because it was too long and I had to cliff note it. So you guys, thank you for tuning in because this is the actual information. The details. The deets. The context.
So if you are listening because you're a loyal listener and you don't know what's going on - this past weekend was the Natural Ohio bodybuilding show in Avon, Cleveland, Ohio. And I did it. I competed in the show. Nobody knew. And nobody knew. So it was a big deal.
Basically show day - and I'm gonna explain why I didn't talk about it and just like the whole prep experience - but this trophy is my first place trophy. For fit model. Yeah, so the new division is fit model. We'll talk a little bit about that too.
I think it's cool to have ongoing discussions. You know, me and Ash prep, we're lifestyle focused, but we've been in the biz as competitors for a while. As most of you know, I learned a ton from the last team that I was on and I'm so grateful for that experience.
People who know a lot more than us and even people who know less than us can share what they think about it. I know I had my thoughts at first. I was like, "Wait, so somebody can just jump on stage and have the genetics for fit model?"
Ashley: Well, yeah, I think we can get to that. I think we both have opened our minds to it, but we knew we had to see what they were going to be rewarding.
Page: I'm over the moon excited that I got first in my class because I didn't really know what was gonna happen. Even all of the coaches prepping athletes right now are prepping girls for the division based on what they think they're seeing, like based on what's being rewarded. But to be honest, it's not super consistent yet.
I'm just very grateful that I did well because you can hype these weekends up to be things in your head.
Okay, so should we start from the beginning? We have a list.
Ashley: So this isn't too long, because no one really cares.
Page: So I got first. I only did open class, didn't compete novice, so I got first. And then went up for the overall, and there were three of us in the overall, because there were only three height classes. The feedback that I got was I didn't win the overall. And the feedback that I got was that I was a smidge too conditioned.
So I mean, truly that's it. So maybe at the end we can talk about what I plan to do with that.
We started our first challenge in January. It was six weeks. We made it a 10-week fat loss challenge. But that first one was called "Bodybuilder's Mindset Method." We really focused less on getting ready for an actual show and more towards somebody who wanted to do something really difficult like a prep, even without any interest in doing a show.
Ashley: It was more about the mindset. Our close friends did it. We wanted them to understand what we've experienced and what it takes to put yourself in something that is uncomfortable and still following through with it.
Page: Because as most people who compete know, it's one thing to follow directions and it's another thing to follow directions when life is hard. We really pushed them at the end. They were pretty low calorie, not quite contest prep, but hard enough that they were going to see a lot in just 10 weeks and see what they were made of. And it was really inspiring.
In January, when the challenge started, I was nine months postpartum. My third was born in March. I had stopped breastfeeding around month seven. I wasn't tracking, but after five years of babies and postpartum, I tracked enough to have an idea.
I had it in my caption and then deleted it - I had been eating enough, if not in a surplus, for like five years. Not to bulk or get back on stage - it was because I had to eat enough for pregnancy and then for breastfeeding.
My clients know that they have intuitive eating minimums with parameters to hit that involve protein, fiber and micronutrients. My protein was always over 100 grams. My fiber ranged from 15 to 30. And you all know who know me well that I know my foods that I need to have to get my micros in.
For each pregnancy, I would know the total calories based on my age, height and pre-pregnancy weight for breastfeeding, which requires more food than pregnancy based on calculations. Every time I checked my intakes since having Lillian last March, I was at 2000 to 3000 calories.
Ashley: You do that naturally. We've talked about this a lot. She feels like she doesn't do anything to recover from her pregnancies, but we've learned that over the years of tracking. We learn what our body needs, our hunger cues, satiation cues, and our normal is not normal to somebody else. We've learned it and then it becomes innate.
Page: I don't talk about it as this special thing that I do or this effort that I put in, but I've actually put in that effort and it just doesn't bother me.
So when I was heading into one year postpartum, I wasn't breastfeeding anymore, and the challenge came at a time - I didn't even set the challenge up for myself. The challenge started and I thought, even after a week after it started - my husband Brad did the same thing. He got his protocol from me for the challenge a week and a half after it started, so I did mine too. I wrote it out the same way I wrote it for all our challenge members. And then I followed it week by week. I didn't change anything.
I was like, "Okay, this week I'm changing my macros to this, because that's what it says based on the protocol." And all of sudden I started getting all these results. I was hungry some weeks, but I stuck with it.
90% of our challenge members were parents - we even had a dad. That was cool because we could commiserate about doing something difficult with multiple children.
Truly my prep started - I always knew I'd go back to the stage. I had no idea when. Since the last time I competed in 2019, I did three shows and got nationally qualified, but I still didn't have a lot of muscle mass. I started competing in 2015 in bikini, and then 2019, before I had kids, I was just coming into who I was as a woman, as someone confident in the space.
Then I reversed out of my show, and that December 31st, literally January 2020, I got pregnant. That was our plan, but it sort of left some unfinished business. I finally did well in NPC Bikini, and that's when you normally take a good off-season and then come back. Instead, I had three babies from four pregnancies.
I had unfinished business. My posing got better, and I just needed my stage presence to be on stage one more time, whatever that would look like. It was never like, "I'm gonna come back to Bikini and Go Pro." I didn't have a plan, I just knew I would probably do it again.
Then Fit Model got announced and we had lots of thoughts because we weren't sure of the look. They kept mentioning Ashley Kaltwasser was there, which helps because she's amazing - that's OG bikini. I'm not even OG, OG bikini, but I still did the stallion pose. Like 2015-2016 posing.
A lot of us this past weekend were like that. The camaraderie was so cool - we're back! But it feels like even though it's a new division, it feels like picking up where we left off.
When Fit Model was announced, we kind of let the dust settle. Dave Lieberman puts on two shows a year, and I've competed in his shows multiple times before. I had two bikini girls that I coached competing at this Lieberman show, so I was going to be there anyway. I don't travel a lot right now with my three kids being one, two, and four. So I thought, maybe I could do it too since it was local.
Ashley: We were talking about it for a while.
Page: Ashley was the first person I asked, "Am I being dumb? What do you think?"
Ashley: I think I was more biased against it at first. I just thought I don't want people to be on stage and just never prep. I think the experience of prep is such a big part of what bodybuilding is - knowing that you have to critique everything you're doing and incorporate every aspect into your life without letting it consume you.
I do have a different perspective on it now. I think fit model gives people an opportunity to do bodybuilding who maybe thought they never could. I'm sorry, but I don't have the glutes for bikini. I just won't. So I think fit model might be in my future.
Page: In the beginning, with Ashley Kaltwasser being the face of it, it seemed like going back to OG bikini because bikini now is so - I don't want to say unattainable because let's be honest, we could get the glutes, but a lot goes into that.
Let's be honest, we could be enhanced and get the glutes. I'm not saying it's easy, but I don't want you to sell yourself short. These bikini girls are insanely amazing. If you want to be bikini, you're signing up for major commitment - you're a beast.
I love the bikini look, but their take is that they don't want to make people feel that bikini is the first entry level of the sport, and I can appreciate that. Bikini used to be slightly more attainable.
Ashley: We had conversations this weekend with other coaches who said their clients don't want to look like that. It's not something they want their everyday look to be.
Page: And if you do want to look like that, it's not just lifting for a year and then prepping anymore. To get to a national stage in bikini, you need years of lifting. Not just muscle - you need to train for years.
My take on fit model was that I want competing to be a bodybuilding sport. To my core, I believe you were a bodybuilder before you were a competitor. It's a sport.
Ashley: It's a sport.
Page: So I wanted to make sure fit model still felt like bodybuilding. Ashley Kaltwasser's look did, but as it's been rolling out, the people they've been picking in regional shows don't necessarily look like her. They're figuring it out, and I think that's good.
Ashley: The rest of the year will be very telling as all the shows roll out, nationals roll out, and who the judges are. Regional shows are different than the bigger shows, national shows.
A lot of coaches were making good points that once there's a fit model pro show this year, the pros that come out of nationals and do that first pro show and win - that's when we're really gonna know what the look is.
Page: I loved my look. I was bummed I didn't get the overall, but I think what's really cool is they have to be very careful about what they're picking for what they want the look to be. These judges are amazing humans and they're figuring it out. They were honest that they're still trying to figure it out. My feedback was, "You missed it but not by much."
I think that's a big part of the sport. Anyone listening who wants to get into it - you can't just make this a one and done. It's not "I'm gonna do well and then that's it" or "I'm gonna do it and not do well and I suck." You have to be adaptable. I totally appreciate that they wanted that look over mine for the face of the show. But you can always get a second opinion.
Ashley: I think it depends on where you are, who you're against. You can do a show this weekend and do a show next weekend and have a completely different outcome because you're against different people and in front of different judges. You have to understand not to let it consume you because we do have real life. Unless you're bodybuilding for your business and making money off of it, it's an expensive hobby.
Page: You can be a bodybuilder and not compete. You can live the life, build your body, train properly, change how you look, even lean out without competing. Competing is getting judged for your muscularity, size, conditioning (level of leanness), plus your overall presence and look.
If you don't want to lose based on your makeup, hair, or stage presence, then competing isn't what you want - bodybuilding is. You don't have to compete to get the look.
But if you're interested in that and can be adaptable, there's a thrill to it. I remember in 2019, I did three shows. My first show, I had ombre hair - beautiful dark on top fading to lighter brown. The lighter brown matched my tan. I'm not saying that's why I didn't place as well, but it was one of the first things the judges mentioned - I didn't pop on stage, and my hair was part of that. It sucked to hear, but I dyed my hair back, and the next show, I got first place.
Ashley: That's a big conversation we have. You need to understand why you want to compete. Is it because you just want that look, or because you're passionate about it and want to be competitive in something? If you played sports when you were younger, that competitive mindset makes sense. You can't just do it because you want to be smaller. You have to be fully prepared for someone else to look better than you.
Page: If my girls don't brush their curls out, I'm upset! That stuff lights me up, which is why I know I still want to be a coach. We are team lifestyle, but I enjoy micromanaging the little things for people who want that.
Ashley: We also want you to have a healthy mindset. We're going to make sure you have support, that you're guided properly. We're not just like, "You lost a bunch of body fat, now go on your way." We're going to guide you and make sure you're supported fully, both physically and mentally.
Page: My "why" - Fit Model was opportunistic for me because they're looking for a softer look than bikini, which technically means you don't have to diet as hard. I don't want to say it's easier - I still worked really hard. But it probably was easier. If I had to condition for bikini or obviously take more time to build, bikini is harder.
When Fit Model came about, I thought - and I mentioned this in my caption today - I didn't feel I had any business competing. No one wanted me to compete. No one needed me to compete. I didn't even have a timeframe for when I wanted to do it again.
The results I got in the challenge made me realize I could do fit model. Not because it's easy, but because my body was set up very well and responded well because I have the right mindset.
No one knew I was prepping because I just did it. I didn't make it a big thing, even for my family. When the 10-week challenge went well, it solidified that this was an okay time to do it.
My why for doing it right now, at exactly one year postpartum - four pregnancies, three babies from 2020 to 2024 - was truly celebrating who I have become as a woman and how amazing a woman's body is. It's insane that we grow literal humans. I've had the privilege of being able to do that.
It's slightly a celebration that I don't do this for myself very often, but I've learned so much and take care of myself. Kind of giving myself a moment to shine and be like, look at what you've done for yourself.
Ashley: Page does so much, not only for her clients, but also the coaches that work with her and under her.
Page: This past year has been super emotional. I had a really amazing experience coaching the five years before P2. Making the switch to P2 and taking on assistant coaches - I never had assistant coaches before. I'm growing something new and it's been amazing. Ashley being the first assistant coach - I'm not really a "universe" girl, but the universe is universe-ing!
Ashley: I don't think anyone else should have been your first assistant coach.
Page: There are some things in my life that have happened that I'm like, there's no way that's just chance. And Ashley's one of them.
This last year in my life - I still have 40 to 50 clients that I manage myself. I have assistant coaches now. We're running multiple challenges quarterly. I have prep athletes. I literally prepped and peaked two athletes for the same show that I peaked myself for.
Ashley: And you peaked yourself. That was hard.
Page: That was hard. I was like, "What are you doing?" Ashley was like my mini-coach, but sometimes I would be like, "I don't want to talk about it." Plus I have three kids, and one of them is a baby.
So I feel like this truly was a chance to celebrate. It feels like the perfect opportunity to celebrate that.
The reason I kept it quiet - it wasn't truly for the shock factor, although of course that's always fun. I really didn't want anyone's input. I really wanted it to be for me. It's not that I didn't want input because others were wrong, but you get in your head and then it becomes almost somebody else's. For me to know and be in control of it, it was mine - either my mistake or my success.
Ashley: You also waited to make sure you were doing it for the right reasons, and that it wasn't going to affect your everyday life with your work, clients, kids, and partner.
Page: I didn't tell my clients. I didn't even tell the two girls competing until they already had their peak week plans. Because they don't need to worry about me. I told my client group chat the day before my show, so they got the exclusive before social media. I even got comments from clients saying, "I had no idea you were prepping, and I'm so grateful."
That means a lot because I don't want bodybuilding to affect what really matters - my family and my job. I love my job so much - why would I prep and have it affect something I actually love? That was really important to me. I wanted to just see what would happen.
Ashley: She was so chill about it. I'm like, "Page, you're freaking me out" because Miss Type A over here was Type C.
Page: I was very at peace with how I handled it. It was nice not involving anyone - I wrote my protocol and then followed it. I didn't second-guess it. There were moments - it's my first time coaching myself - where I wondered, "When I gave myself a refeed, am I just hungry or is this strategic?" I was a coach for myself.
Ashley: I couldn't do that because accountability is number one. We can write you a protocol, but a lot of people need accountability. That's why we love the challenges too - every week we're on a call, checking your progress and making sure you're going to achieve what you want.
Page: I took my check-in photos and sent them to Ash - she's my hype girl. Quick shout out to Chris Beal - he's been doing my training since January. I was using P2 On Demand prior to that, which is basically still programs written by Chris and Bryce. That speaks to P2 On Demand - when we talk about it, it's not just a money grab. It's the cheapest way to have access to what I actually do.
I had to train in the evenings in a cold garage. I'm so lucky to have the garage at all. There were moments during pregnancy when I thought it was too cold, but Chris's check-ins helped because someone was looking. That was a big sign that I could do this now - my mindset was good.
I made it work with three kids. I made "Do It Scared" stickers for my clients, but really it's "Do It _____" - do it tired, do it cold, do it annoyed. I wasn't happy the entire time. I wasn't carefree. I wish I had time to work out earlier, but sometimes it got to 5, 6, or 7 PM. That's annoying when I still have to put the kids to bed and then workout after.
But I can workout annoyed. I can follow a training program while pissed off. I've matured to realize it doesn't have to be perfect. To me, a good lift used to be in a gym, over an hour, with no distractions. Those are three things that are the opposite of my life now.
When I give feedback to Chris for each lift - preparedness, focus, energy, endurance, mind-muscle connection - I never put a five out of five. Never. And that's just me being honest, but I still got first place.
I want you guys to know that you can have threes and fours and twos and still do it. So do it scared, do it tired, do it annoyed. One of my clients said "do it lazy." I would work out in my pajamas - big baggy sweats, slippers that I'd throw off for lifts. That's so different from how I used to lift when it was a cute outfit and a perfect setup. Sometimes that's just not in the cards. But I still did it despite how I wished it was.
Any prep is gonna be hard. I was hungry. I dieted. The level of leanness I am right now is not maintainable. Even if fit model is slightly more attainable, I'm still at a level of leanness that is not normal. It's not even what we're promoting for our challenges. This is the extra.
Ashley: It makes me happy that fit model is still a struggle. It shouldn't be easy.
Page: It wasn't easy. It was hard, but I still did it. I'm 34, I've been in the bodybuilding world for 10 years. I would go to bed hungry, and Brad would say, "You chose to do this." When our daughter Isabel would want a bite of my oatmeal, I'd say, "Let me get you something else" - that's weighed and measured!
Brad saying "you decided to do this" was all I needed. I am hungry, but I'm going to go to bed and it's going to be fine. No one is forcing me to do a show or diet like this. He was a perfect support system - "I got you, babe. Whatever you need." But also, "You chose this."
In my head, I always thought I'd have kids and then get back on stage like Amy with her kids backstage. But it didn't make sense to have Brad and the girls there because they're one, two, and four. Zoe at four would have been chill. Isabel at two would have loved it - but only for 20 minutes at a time. And then a literal baby would have been fine, maybe, but it would have been more stress for me. Brad was getting updates here at home. Coming home to them felt the same as if I would have seen them at the show.
It's not what I pictured, but this felt better, more manageable. This was doing it for me as a mom. You're a mom above everything else. The fact that you could do this for yourself while still being a mom was impactful.
Ashley: And partnership is huge for that.
Page: Having Brad and I's partnership where he does musical pursuits and I do coaching pursuits is really nice.
The Cleveland show - first of all, shout out to everyone who was there. Kochi drove up from Columbus. My mom came - she's such a good supporter of the sport, always has been. My friend Bethany came. My other girlfriends had a birthday party back in Akron that Brad took the girls to.
Being at the Lieberman show, there were so many OGs there. It was so cool to be with people I met 10 years ago at LA Fitness in Cuyahoga Falls - we're all still doing it in different ways.
Ashley: It's always a part of your life. We might be competing when we're 60.
Page: I'm not from a bodybuilding family, so it's really cool to be creating this. My mom was an athlete though - she was a Kent State gymnast and track runner. She coached gymnastics for 25 years.
So being in Cleveland was kind of a full circle thing. The timing, the division, the challenge lining up, and being local with my clients there - it all just worked and felt so at home. And it was the best I've ever felt on stage. I've never had a show day like that ever before in my life.
Ashley: You were super chill.
Page: It makes me so happy to have that because I never had that before.
As for what's next, I don't know for sure yet, but something is next. Because they're still figuring out the division, it would be silly to not get more feedback. Although I didn't get the overall, I'm proud that my feedback wasn't "change everything." She basically said, "Stay the same."
At first that's disappointing, but it's not because I chose to do a new division that they're still figuring out. I'll be competing again, if for no other reason than to just see what somebody else says. Stay tuned - I don't know if I'll keep it as secretive anymore.
Our first challenge was "Bodybuilder's Mindset." Now we have the next challenge, which actually started yesterday. Our first call is tonight. We're super excited, and we have a lot more members this time because our last one was so successful.
We started the challenges because we want other people to be able to work with us at different price points, less intensely - just "tell me what to do." Our one-on-one clients get more hands-on support, but the challenges are a way of just getting it done - access to us.
The challenges are 10 weeks long with 11 calls - one at the beginning and one at the end. You get a personalized protocol based on a nutrition questionnaire - age, height, weight, dieting history, current intakes. We start you in a particular place and end you in a particular place.
It's aggressive because true fat loss, not just scale weight, either takes a long time (slow and steady) or is slightly more aggressive (like a prep). Our 10-week challenge is more aggressive, and the only way that works is if we set you up first.
I don't know many other challenges that have homework before starting or that don't accept everyone. We only want you to do our challenge if it's going to work for you, and it's only going to work if you're eating enough before doing the challenge.
P2 On Demand isn't just workouts. It's our member portal, our website for anybody who pays for access. It's as low as $14.99 a month, and you get all our modules that Ashley and I have written.
One module is what I call a "metabolism reset," which sounds woo-woo, but your metabolism is affected by how much you eat and whether you're feeding your body what it needs for a healthy thyroid, healthy gut, muscle building, and fat oxidation.
The metabolism reset is six weeks long, focused on helping you figure out your maintenance macros - what you need to be eating at your age, height, and weight. The last couple of weeks focus on tracking your micronutrients. There's a 10-page PDF with food sources for particular micronutrients and a worksheet to help you find foods you actually like.
We had a bunch of people do the metabolism reset before our first challenge. One of them started to see fat loss just in that six-week period - about 10 pounds - just by eating at maintenance and tracking micros. Most people come to us for weight loss but they're actually under-eating.
Our next challenge after this current one will likely start in July, but if we get enough interest and people want to start earlier, we'll start earlier. If it fills up, we're ready to go.
Ashley: If you're thinking about it, ask us. Set yourself up for success now because we don't want people to apply in July and then we have to say you're not ready.
Page: This is the perfect time to learn if you've never tracked before. I have my book, "Macro Tracking with a Purpose." If you've never tracked, you can start with that module, then do the metabolism reset module, then apply for the fat loss challenge.
We have it all, and it's not hundreds of dollars to work with us. Right now the early bird pricing works out to $35 a week for accountability with a dietician and a personalized protocol.
I love you so much.
Ashley: I love you too. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening.
Page: Thanks for listening. If you have questions about anything we've said - about P2 On Demand, what we offer, the challenges, or fit model - let us know. We're taking deposits to reserve spots.
Ashley: Who wants to do fit model with me? I might be convinced. I might do this challenge we're starting right now.
Page: Love you guys.
Ashley: Love you guys. Bye.
DISCLAIMER: Bryce Calvin is not a doctor or registered dietitian. The contents of this document should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Consult your physician on matters regarding your health. Materials in email transactions are not to be shared.
 | A guest post by
|