My story

My journey to Next Phase Physique

For most of my life, weight was something I watched carefully. Then I reached my 40s, and something changed.

I'm a larger-framed woman and have always carried my weight fairly evenly, although my legs have always been an area where I carried more weight and struggled with cellulite. For much of my adult life, keeping my weight under control felt relatively manageable.

At the time, I didn't understand what was happening. Looking back now, the signs seem obvious. But when you're experiencing them one at a time, it's easy to blame yourself instead of realizing that your body is changing.

I started gaining weight, so I assumed my lifestyle was the problem. My solution? Exercise more.

And I tried just about everything. CrossFit. Running. Orangetheory. Different programs, different approaches, more cardio. At one point, I was doing Orangetheory four or five days a week and was still about 25 pounds heavier than I am today.

I couldn't understand it. I was exercising. I was trying. Why wasn't my body responding the way it used to?

The signs I didn't recognize

Around the same time, other things were changing too.

After recovering from COVID, I began noticing that my hair was thinning. At first, I wondered if I was imagining it. Then one day my mom looked at me and asked:

“Is your hair thinning?”

That was the moment I knew it wasn't just me.

I spoke with my doctor and eventually saw a dermatologist. Initially, the hair loss was attributed to COVID, so I assumed it would eventually resolve. It didn't.

As more time passed, I began looking for answers. Eventually, that led me to have my hormones evaluated. Because I had been using an IUD for years, understanding exactly where I was hormonally wasn't straightforward. After having it removed and allowing my body time to establish a baseline, it became clear that I had transitioned through menopause.

Suddenly, so many things began making sense. The disrupted sleep. The hot flashes I'd blamed on other things. The weight gain. The feeling that no matter what I did, the scale wouldn't move — or that any weight I lost came right back.

I hadn't suddenly lost my discipline. My body had changed, and I hadn't understood what it needed.

Under the care of my medical providers, I began hormone replacement therapy. Sleep was one of the first changes I noticed. But HRT was only one piece of a much bigger puzzle. I wanted to understand what was happening to my body — and what I could actually do about it.

I had to learn to train differently

I'd always exercised, and over the years I'd accumulated plenty of equipment for working out at home: a bike, barbells, dumbbells and eventually a Tonal.

Tonal became a turning point for me because it introduced more structure into my strength training. Instead of randomly choosing exercises or simply trying to burn as many calories as possible, I began following progressive strength programs. I learned about progressive overload and started paying attention to something I'd spent years overlooking: getting stronger.

As my strength improved, my goals began changing too. I didn't just want to weigh less. I wanted to build muscle. I wanted to change my body composition. I wanted to feel strong and capable.

And I started realizing that the number on the scale couldn't tell me the whole story.

Nutrition was the missing piece

Training differently helped, but I still didn't fully understand nutrition. So I started learning.

I learned how to track calories and macros. I learned the importance of protein. I learned how to meal plan and meal prep instead of simply trying to “eat healthy.” Most importantly, I began understanding the relationship between nutrition, muscle, strength, recovery and body composition.

But I also discovered something else: knowing what to do and consistently doing it are two very different things.

I'd make progress, life would get busy, summer would come, we'd travel or socialize more — and some of the weight would creep back. Eventually, I decided I was done jumping from one approach to another. I wanted to put all the pieces together.

I became consistent with my nutrition and macros. I prioritized protein. I continued progressive strength training. I made daily movement a priority, aiming for 8,000–10,000 steps and turning an after-dinner walk into part of my normal routine.

But there wasn't one magic thing that changed my body. It was finally putting all the pieces together — and doing them consistently.

Then I saw what was actually happening

One day my husband took some pictures of me while I was working out. When I saw them, I was shocked. I remember looking at a picture of my back and thinking:

“I had no idea my back looked like that.”

For once, being surprised by a picture of myself felt incredible. I could actually see muscle. I could see the result of the strength training, nutrition, walking and consistency I'd been putting in.

And something clicked. My success wasn't simply that I'd lost weight. I had changed my body.

More importantly, I'd changed my relationship with fitness. Exercise wasn't about punishing myself for what I'd eaten or seeing how many calories I could burn. Food wasn't something I needed to fear or drastically restrict. And cardio wasn't the answer to everything.

I finally understood that I could eat to fuel my body, train to build it and use movement to support my health rather than constantly trying to make myself smaller.

My personal journey became something more

The more I learned, the more fascinated I became. I started reading and researching menopause, strength training, muscle, nutrition, bone health, hormones and healthy aging.

I've studied the work of researchers, physicians and educators including Dr. Stacy Sims, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, Dr. Amy Shah and Dr. Vonda Wright, along with coaches and educators in the strength and nutrition space.

Eventually, learning for myself wasn't enough. I wanted the education and credentials to help other people, too. That led me to become an ISSA-certified personal trainer. And ultimately, it led me to create Next Phase Physique.

Why Next Phase Physique?

Because I know there are women out there doing exactly what I was doing.

You're exercising. You're trying to eat well. Maybe you're doing more cardio because that's what you've always done when you wanted to lose weight. But your body isn't responding the way it used to. And you're wondering: what am I doing wrong?

I've asked myself that exact question. It took me years of trial and error, research, education and experience to understand that I didn't necessarily need to work harder. I needed a different strategy.

That's what I want Next Phase Physique to provide. My coaching focuses on the fundamentals that made such a difference for me: purposeful strength training, nutrition education, adequate protein, daily movement, realistic habits and — one of the biggest pieces — accountability.

I'm not interested in crash diets, endless cardio or perfection. I don't expect my clients to stop going on vacation, eating dinner with friends, celebrating birthdays or enjoying their lives. Because that's not sustainable.

I want women to learn how to create a lifestyle that supports their goals and still leaves room for living.

I'm still in my next phase too

I'm not writing this story from the finish line. I'm still training. I'm still learning. I'm still working toward my own goals. And I think that's important.

It has taken me years to understand my body and significant consistency to see the changes I've made.

There wasn't a 30-day transformation or a magic solution.

There was education. There was trial and error. There was strength training. There was nutrition. There was accountability. And there was a decision to keep showing up.

Next Phase Physique isn't about getting the body you had at 25 or 30 back. It's about taking care of the body you have now and building it into something stronger, healthier and more capable for the decades ahead.

I've lived the frustration. I've done the work. And now I have the education and training to help other women find their own path forward.

This is my next phase.
I'd love to help you build yours.

JillJill McCrackenISSA-certified personal trainer · Founder, Next Phase Physique