This episode is a conversation about loss, grief, and fitness with Julia Steier. Julia lost her husband in 2013 to rare liver cancer when she was 28 years old. In the months and years afterward, Julia used her grief to create positive lifestyle changes. She has been involved in NCAA Athletics for 14 years and has continued to document her fitness, athletic, and grief journey in her heartbreaking and honest blog, The Unwanted W. Julia’s journey has been featured in US Lacrosse Magazine, SoulCycle, and The Guardian. She currently resides in Florida with her husband, who is referred to as Regular Guy on her social media, and recently had her first son last February. Julia runs the largest free widow fitness Facebook group called Widow Dark Fitness.

In this interview, Julia and Tesa discuss:

• Concerns about being treated differently when you are grieving
• Finding stability in your life while grieving
• The range of emotions that make up grief
• What kept Julia and Tesa getting out of bed during times of deep depression and grief
• Grief as “love turned inside out”
• Showing love by showing up
• Combating self-loathing during grief
• How fitness helped Julia move through the emotions of grief and eventually helped her feel more confident about herself and her life
• The non-linear stages of grief
• Using the lives outside your own that you contribute to as a means to carry on
• The importance of a support system and the importance of always respecting that support system
• Finding love after loss and connecting through grief
• Julia’s best advice for widowers

Links:

Julia Steier

• Instagram
• Website
• Widow Fitness Facebook Group

Tesa Saulmon

• Instagram
• Website
• Facebook
• Newsletter