We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ami Patrick a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ami, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
My purpose didn’t arrive in one lightning-bolt moment. It unfolded in two powerful evolutions, both born from lived experience, frustration, curiosity, and ultimately, deep conviction.
My professional life began in the nonprofit world, working in communications and community relations. After my second son was born, I stepped into the role of stay-at-home mom. I had spent years either pregnant or nursing, my sleep was fragmented with a baby and a toddler, and slowly—but unmistakably—my health began to unravel.
I was exhausted to my core. Anxious. Chronically bloated to the point where people asked me daily when my third baby was due. I bounced from my primary care doctor to the ER, where they suspected a bowel obstruction, to a surgeon, then to a gastroenterologist. Test after test. Appointment after appointment. And the final diagnosis? “IBS.” No plan. No guidance. No lifestyle support. Just a label.
That frustration became a turning point.
I returned to the chiropractor who had supported me through pregnancy and delivery. She was the first practitioner who ever mentioned the words “gluten-free.” That single suggestion cracked the door open to a completely different way of thinking about health. I began exploring holistic healing and using food as medicine. I moved away from a processed, weight-loss-centric mindset and embraced real, whole foods.
The transformation was profound.
I resolved chronic asthma, allergies, and acne. My digestion regulated. My energy skyrocketed. I felt grounded, empowered, and back in my body. And I knew, deep in my bones, that I couldn’t keep this to myself. I began my holistic health certification, started teaching workshops, and eventually wove in my love for fitness by becoming a personal trainer and group fitness instructor.
Then came the second evolution: perimenopause.
What had “worked” for years, teaching 10–12 group fitness classes a week, waking up at 4 a.m. for clients, training again at night, restricting calories, suddenly stopped working. I felt inflamed and puffy. My body composition shifted. My energy tanked. My sleep was disrupted. And I realized something startling: I knew almost nothing about the physiological changes that can begin in a woman’s mid-to-late 30s.
Like many women, I thought menopause meant hot flashes. Period.
So once again, I dove in. I studied. I learned. And I radically shifted my lifestyle: less cardio, more strategic strength training; less chronic calorie restriction, more nutrition periodization; fewer empty carbs, significantly more protein. My body responded. My energy returned. My strength — and clarity — grew.
Around this same time, I lost my mother.
She was 67. It wasn’t until my adulthood that I fully understood the extent of her lifelong disordered eating and poor body image. Years of restriction, stress, and neglect left her body without reserves, without muscle, without resilience. She entered the hospital on March 24, 2020, for what seemed like a simple sprained ankle. She passed away just weeks later, on April 30, in a rehabilitation center.
My heart was shattered. But my resolve became unshakeable.
I now teach women that midlife is like setting up a retirement account for your body and brain. The small daily deposits — how you move, fuel, recover, and manage stress — compound over time. Those habits either create a future filled with vitality, independence, adventure, mental acuteness, and strength…. or one defined and limited by chronic illness, frailty, constant medical appointments, and watching your own life from the sidelines.
Lifestyle choices are one of the strongest predictors of how a woman experiences menopause, and therefore midlife as a whole.
My purpose is to make sure women know this: you do not need to settle, shrink, or silence yourself for nearly half of your life. This chapter isn’t about decline. It’s about design. It’s an invitation to rise with confidence, energy, a strong and capable body, and a sharp, vibrant mind to match.
That’s the work I’m here to do.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I turned 50 years old in July 2025, and I have more muscle, energy, and confidence now than I did in my 30s. That alone tells you a lot about the work I do. I believe in walking my talk for sure!
I live near Niagara Falls, New York (despite being a sunshine-loving, palm-tree-dreaming human who fully intends to move south one day). I’ve been married for 23 years, I’m a proud mom of two boys, 18 and 20, both college freshmen, and I share my life with three dogs who keep things lively. And the role that lights me up is serving women in midlife.
Professionally, I’m a strength and nutrition coach, holistic health educator, and mentor for women 40+ who feel frustrated that their bodies no longer respond the way they used to, despite “doing all the right things.” These are smart, capable women who are tired of blaming themselves for hormonal changes they were never taught about. My work exists to change that narrative.
What makes my approach special is that I don’t chase trends or quick fixes. I combine science, strategy, soul, and sass. I meet women where they are — physically, emotionally, hormonally — and help them build habits that actually fit their real life. No extremes. No shame. No hustle-yourself-into-burnout plans.
My coaching is built on three pillars: strategic strength training, intentional nutrition, and nervous system regulation, all wrapped in real support and coaching. I work with clients both virtually and in person, and my philosophy is simple: systems over sessions. One-off workouts don’t change lives — habits, structure, and coaching do. My goal is transformation that lasts, not temporary motivation.
My signature program, LIFTED, is the embodiment of this work. It’s a comprehensive midlife muscle and metabolism program designed to help women rebuild strength, confidence, and energy while reducing inflammation, fat gain, and overwhelm. The LIFT Method teaches women how to load their bodies with intention, fuel properly for this stage of life, regulate stress and recovery, and thrive with support. The next cohort will launch in early 2026, and it’s always incredibly powerful to watch women step into their strongest chapter yet, physically and mentally.
At the end of January 2026, I’ll also be introducing Liver Love, a reset-style program focused on one of the most overlooked drivers of midlife health: liver function. This program supports detoxification pathways, hormone metabolism, digestion, energy, and fat loss through nutrition, lifestyle strategies, and nervous system support. It’s not a cleanse or a crash reset. It’s about restoring foundational health so the body can do what it’s designed to do.
Finally, I’m incredibly excited to begin partnering with a physician and regulated pharmacy to offer medically supervised peptide therapy for my clients. This is not about rapid weight loss or shortcuts. Lifestyle is always the foundation. Peptides are a supportive layer, used thoughtfully and responsibly, to help address symptoms that consistency alone hasn’t fully resolved or to help women uplevel their results. This includes support for fat loss, muscle building, injury healing, inflammation reduction, energy, metabolic health, cognitive clarity, and even skin vitality.
At the heart of everything I do is this belief: midlife is not a crisis. It is a full on CALLING. Women do not need to accept feeling “meh” for half of their lives. With the right strategy, support, and education, this can be the strongest, most confident, most alive chapter yet. And that’s exactly what my brand, and my work, stands for.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When I look back, three things stand out as absolute game-changers, especially for women in midlife. None of them are flashy. All of them are foundational.
1. Understanding that self-care is not selfish. It’s a responsibility.
For most women, especially mothers and caregivers, self-neglect is worn like a badge of honor. We put everyone else first, kids, partners, parents, careers, neighbors, until guilt, people-pleasing, depletion, and burnout become the norm. That was me.
When I finally began to release those patterns, something surprising happened. My exhaustion decreased. The resentment softened. And I became more present, grounded, and patient, not just as a mom, but as a woman and a coach. The airplane oxygen mask analogy isn’t cute. It’s insanely powerful. You cannot support others while running on empty. Taking care of yourself isn’t optional. It’s your responsibility. Own it.
2. Letting go of all-or-nothing thinking.
For years, I chased perfection, perfect meal plans, perfect weeks, perfect workouts. Diet culture trains us to believe that one “off” moment ruins everything, sending us straight into the “I’ll start over Monday” cycle. That mindset puts your life on hold.
What actually creates change is consistency, not perfection. Small, repeatable habits done daily will outperform extreme efforts every time. The boring basics, the walk, the protein, the sleep, the strength training, the pause to breathe, those are the things that compound into big, lasting results. The little things aren’t little. They’re everything.
3. Learning that the nervous system drives the results, especially in your 40s and beyond.
This was the missing piece for me for a long time. I wanted the right workout. The right macros. The perfect plan. But when your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight or deep burnout, your body doesn’t feel safe enough to change. No amount of workouts or chicken and broccoli will override that.
Regulating my nervous system — through breathwork, short morning meditation, journaling, limiting screen time, and becoming fiercely aware of what drains me — has been the biggest game-changer of this stage of life. Boundaries became medicine. Calm became productive. And my body finally responded.
My advice for anyone early in their journey:
Don’t do this alone. Get support. A coach helps you see your blind spots, holds the vision when you can’t, and gives you the most efficient, effective, customized path forward. Growth doesn’t require suffering. It requires strategy and support. That’s how you create a quantum leap instead of spinning in the same cycle for years.
Midlife isn’t about trying harder. It’s about doing things differently, and doing them on purpose.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The biggest challenge I’m navigating right now is the sheer amount of noise in the wellness space. With social media, AI, and algorithms driving trends at lightning speed, menopause has become the “hot topic.” On any given day, women are told to fast longer, eat keto, biohack harder, take GLP-1s, do Pilates, ride Peloton, lift heavy, rest more, or somehow do all of it at once.
The result isn’t empowerment. It’s complete overwhelm.
Women are confused, frustrated, and second-guessing themselves, even when they’re putting in real effort. One of the hardest parts of my work right now is helping women slow down enough to recognize that what they actually need isn’t another trend. It’s personalized guidance, education, and support. Coaching isn’t about being told what to do; it’s about being met where you are, having your questions answered in real time, and adjusting the plan as your body and life change.
The challenge, then, is not the lack of information. It’s cutting through the noise so the women who truly need support can see the value of coaching and connection.
The way I’m working to overcome this is by leaning into what technology can’t replace: real human connection. I’m incredibly grateful for opportunities like this publication, podcasts, workshops, and long-form conversations where nuance, context, and lived experience can exist. These spaces allow me to share my mission without sound bites or fear-based messaging, and to actually talk with women, not at them.
As we move deeper into the age of AI, I believe connection will become the differentiator. Listening, mentorship, and thoughtful guidance aren’t scalable in the same way, but they’re exactly what women are craving. And that’s where I’m choosing to stand: as a steady, science-backed, compassionate voice helping women feel less confused and more confident in their bodies and choices.
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Photos: Chelsea Modern Images
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