We are so excited to welcome our guest, Michelle Spottifora, founder of Faithful Workouts. She blends faith, fitness, and food to empower women in strengthening bodies and faith. Topics include biblical wellness, body image victories, and habits for energy.

Michelle Spottifora inspires many women via Christian workouts, retreats, and programs transforming lives through scripture and community. Her path: 1980s fitness without faith, then motherhood/church sparked conviction to infuse Jesus into her classes.

Key Topics

• Faith-fitness fusion: ABCs—Ask God (James 4:2), Believe (Mark 9:23), Check motives (1 Peter 5:7).
• Momentum starters: 5-min songs, routines, alarms, cues like shoes by your Bible.
• Ideal workouts: Cardio, strength (fights 40+ muscle loss), core (back pain prevention), balance, stretch—target 150 min/week.

4 Health Tips for Women Over 40 Evidence-based from diverse studies, tailored for women:

1. Movement

150 min/week across cardio, strength, core, balance, flexibility; efficient multi-muscle moves.

Sustains metabolism, averts falls/injuries, fuels purpose.

2. Whole Foods

Emphasize real foods; embrace "get to" gratitude over diets.

Acts as medicine, builds lasting vitality.

3. Hydration

Flavor water (berries/mint); maintain 70% body water.

Sharpens focus, accelerates calorie burn.

4. Added Sugars

Cap at 24g/day; gradual cuts via labels.

Curbs cravings, promotes youthful joints/skin.

Learn more about Michelle and connect with her here: https://faithfulworkouts.com/

Join Michelle’s faithful workouts community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faithfulworkouts/

Workout videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/faithfulworkouts

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🇺🇸Hosted by Tori Shirah and Tracy Stine

💌Contact us ➡️ UnlikelyJoCo@gmail.com

In this episode, we sit down with licensed professional counselor and perinatal mental health specialist Emma Donaldson, who walks alongside Christian moms in the postpartum season. She shares how becoming a mom herself shifted her from trauma work into perinatal mental health, and why so many women quietly spiral with anxiety while still loving Jesus and their babies deeply.

Emma helps us name the postpartum anxiety mistakes Christian moms don’t see coming: spiritualizing symptoms and assuming it’s “just a faith issue,” hiding intrusive thoughts out of fear of being judged or seen as unsafe, and buying into the “super-mom” myth that a good mom does it all alone with a smile. She also unpacks the massive hormonal crash after birth, the reality of baby blues versus postpartum depression, and how long hormones, breastfeeding, and sleep deprivation can keep your nervous system on high alert.

We get honest about Christian clichés like “just be grateful” or “just pray more,” how they unintentionally deepen shame, and what it looks like instead to anchor your heart in God’s character without denying your mental health. Emma shares why intrusive thoughts are far more common than most moms realize, why they don’t mean you want to hurt your baby, and how safe, faith-informed support can make your shoulders finally drop.

If you’ve ever thought, “I should be grateful, so why do I feel so anxious and crazy?” this conversation will help you see that you’re not broken, you’re not a bad Christian, and you don’t have to keep doing this alone.

Emma Donaldson is a licensed professional counselor and perinatal mental health specialist who supports Christian moms in pregnancy and postpartum. After years of specializing in trauma, becoming a mom revealed just how unique and intense postpartum anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts can be—and how often they’re minimized or spiritualized away. Emma now focuses her practice on pregnant and postpartum women and couples, offering flexible virtual counseling that fits real nap schedules and real-life chaos. She is also the founder of Joyful Mama Mental Wellness, an online space created to educate and support moms with mental-health–informed, faith-integrated care so they never have to feel like they’re “going crazy” alone.

Connect with Emma: https://www.instagram.com/joyfulmamamentalwellness/

Joyful Mama Mental Wellness: https://www.joyfulmamamentalwellness.com/

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⭐️Write an apple review and YOUR review could be read on our next episode!

🇺🇸Hosted by Tori Shirah and Tracy Stine

💌Contact us ➡️ UnlikelyJoCo@gmail.com

What if God is not asking you to move into the “next big thing” but to be grounded right where you are? In this conversation, Tori and Tracy get real about identity, calling, stay-at-home motherhood, and the exhausting chase for affirmation outside the home.

For the woman who keeps asking, “Am I falling behind?” or “Shouldn’t I be doing more?”—this episode is your permission slip to breathe, be where your feet are, and trust that God has you exactly where He wants you.

• Tori’s 10-year wrestle with being a stay-at-home mom and constantly chasing “God’s will” in the next opportunity, title, or achievement.​
• Tracy’s journey of stepping away from a good, successful thing to lock in at home during a hard season and what it looked like to quiet the noise and get off social media.
• How the word “just” (as in “just a wife and mom”) sneaks into our language and steals the value of the most important roles God has given us.
• The craving for affirmation and recognition—why words of affirmation feel so good in work and ministry, and how unseen faithfulness at home still deeply matters to God.
• Letting go of guilt, comparison, and cultural pressure to “be more” and instead anchoring your identity as a daughter of the King.
• The idea of being grounded not as being stuck or stagnant, but as being anchored in trust like a boat on the waves—still moving, but held secure by Jesus.
• Seeing each season (babies, teens, moving, new church, college-bound kids) as temporary, purposeful, and part of God’s timeline, not a permanent label on your worth.​
• Gratitude for past seasons—even ones that may have come from striving or partial disobedience—and how God still used them for provision, growth, and connection.

This episode is especially for you if:

• You feel pulled between home and hustle and wonder if you’re “wasting” your gifts at home.
• You’ve stepped away from something good (a job, business, or ministry) and are grieving, doubting, or second-guessing the decision.
• You’re struggling with comparison on social media and feeling like everyone else is “ahead” of you.
• You’re longing for peace, presence, and permission to be fully where God has you right now.

• Trusting God’s placement and timing in every season.
• Holding dreams, homes, churches, and plans with open hands.
• Remembering that nothing is wasted in God’s hands—even the seasons we’d label as striving or misaligned.

You are not “behind.” You are not “just” anything. You are loved, called, and placed on purpose right where you are today.

If this episode encouraged you, send it to a friend who is wrestling with her worth, her work, or her role at home, and remind her she doesn’t have to keep chasing the next thing to be in God’s will.

You can also share your biggest takeaway by tagging us on Instagram and telling us what “being grounded” looks like in your current season.

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💙 Support the Unlikely Housewives! Represent with our UH Merch! bit.ly/unlikelymerch

🧖‍♀️Sunlighten Sauna Sponsor: https://get.sunlighten.com/unlikely Save up to $1700!

🗣️Join our community on Facebook and connect with us on Instagram!

⭐️Write an apple review and YOUR review could be read on our next episode!

🇺🇸Hosted by Tori Shirah and Tracy Stine

💌Contact us ➡️ UnlikelyJoCo@gmail.com