Biggest Best Life

I Went Back to School at 41 and Accidentally Lost 70 Pounds

• Lauren Chapnick • Season 1

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We share how one decision can bust the “too late” myth and create momentum that reshapes career, health and identity. Lauren’s path from stay‑at‑home mom to nurse and coach shows why experience is power and why starting at 41 was exactly on time.

• why one bold decision creates momentum
• challenging the myth of being too old
• using the foggy‑road strategy to start
• transferring life experience into new careers
• modeling reinvention for your kids
• unexpected gains in health and confidence
• fear management through action and curiosity
• practical first steps to pivot with purpose

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SPEAKER_02:

You want to show your kids that it doesn't matter how old you are. You follow your passion. You can make a change at any point. You can change your life. You can reinvent yourself. That's really what you're doing. You are reinventing yourself. And that is exciting. That's amazing. And you can do it. You can absolutely do it. I am living proof that you can do it.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Biggest Best Life, the podcast that guarantees a dream minute, look louder, and step fully into the rock star life you are made for. You're not too late. You're right on time. And we're just getting started. Here's your host, Lauren Chapnick.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey friend, welcome back. This is Lauren Chapnick, and you are listening to Biggest Best Life. Today I want to share with you an episode from my first podcast. It was called Nursing Student Coach. All the episodes are still up. I did 40 episodes, and it was a podcast for nursing students. But this one episode that I'm going to share, it was the most popular episode I did, had the most downloads, most views on YouTube. And that is because I think it resonated with so many people. It was not just for nursing students. This was an episode for everybody. Everybody who feels like there's something more, and there is a bold step that they are hesitating to take. And how the power of one decision creates this incredible momentum and tips that first domino, which leads to the next big move and the next and the next. And how when you take that first step, you don't know what's coming, but it will blow your mind. And it is magical. And if you can just have that courage to get over all of those fears, all of the doubt that's in your mind, that feeling of, am I too old? Is it too late? And just take that first step, the magic that can happen. So I will take you to that episode now. I'd like to introduce myself.

SPEAKER_02:

Today's episode is for anybody who thinks they are too old or it is too late, or you are simply afraid to make a change. And this is a show for nursing students, but this episode is for anybody, anybody who's thinking about making any kind of change, a career change, any kind of change in your life where you feel that there's something more for you. Maybe something has been calling to you. In my case, I was called to be a nurse for years and years and years before I finally listened and took the plunge and did it because I was afraid. I kept saying, it's not the right time. Maybe I'll do it later. It's just whatever it was, it was a lot of excuses. And I finally realized I turned 40. And sometimes that's when it happens. It's when it happened for me. My husband said, What do you want for your birthday? I said, You know what? I want to finish my prerequisites and go to nursing school. I want to be a nurse. It was time. And here's the thing: it is about taking that very first step. And you don't have to know where it's going. You don't have to know exactly what it's going to look like. All you have to know is that you don't like where you are right now and take one step. I heard this analogy recently, and it's so relevant. It's like you're driving down a road in your car and it's pouring rain and it's foggy, and you can really only see two feet in front of you, but you just keep going. And eventually you're going to get home or you're going to get to whatever the destination is. In many of our cases who are listening, that's getting your nursing degree. On a personal note, I was stuck. I was overweight. I was depressed. And I didn't even realize that I was until I wasn't anymore. And when you just take that first step, there were so many doubts. There were so many questions I had. Like, how am I going to go back to school? How am I going to go back to work when I have two kids who are used to having me at home? Those questions. And you know what? Once I started, once I signed up for that very first prerequisite class, it just was a domino effect. And that's what happens. You take that first class, that first step, and it charges something in you. You realize, wow, there is this whole other universe out there. And I get to be a part of it now. And learning something brand new at a later stage in your life is so rewarding because you're choosing to be there. And whatever fields it is, whatever change it is, you are so valuable. The life experience that you have that you're going to bring to this new path, whether it's nursing or anything, those life experiences that you've had. Maybe this is a second career and you want to make a change and do something else, you're going to be better at that thing than you would have been if you had done it when you were 18, 19. You know, because you have all this life experience to bring to it. You have more things to connect with your patients about, your future clients. Let's say you're a mom, a dad. Let's say you've experienced loss and grief. You have a way to connect with future patients that you may not have had. You have learned life skills, you have learned how to talk to people, and that is a gift. What you will bring is such a complete whole person. Now, specifically with nursing school, if you have the fear, am I too old? The answer is heck no. You are never too old. You're not. If you want to do this, you do it. I went to nursing school. I went back to nursing school at 41. I was not the oldest person because it doesn't matter. Nursing needs you. The world needs you to be a nurse. If you have a calling to do this, if you have a passion to do this, you listen. I don't care how old you are. I don't care if you're 90, you get in there and you do it. You are valuable. You are meant to do this, you can do this, and you are not too old, and you will bring extraordinary value, insight to all of this. And here's the thing: I was scared. I was scared. I was a mom, still am a mom. I was a mom of two very young kids. And when I first started to go back to school, I was scared. So scared. What's this going to mean? And so many wonderful things came out of it that I didn't even realize. It didn't even cross my mind the things that would happen. Like setting the example if you are a parent, setting the example for your children that you are a fulfilled, complete parent. You know, do you think you want your kids to see somebody who just gets by and watches watches Netflix and you know, just goes through the everyday mundane routines and goes to bed every night and just waits for life to be done? No, you want to show your kids that it doesn't matter how old you are. You follow your passion. You can make a change at any point, you can change your life, you can reinvent yourself. That's really what you're doing. You are reinventing yourself, and that is exciting. That's amazing. And you can do it, you can absolutely do it. I am living proof that you can do it. I was overweight, afraid to go out, didn't want to be seen, and would cancel plans with friends because I didn't have any clothes that fit me. That's where I was in my life. And going back to school, because to go back to nursing school, you have to take a lot of science classes. And so what happened personally was I started taking anatomy classes and learned that it's very unhealthy to be overweight. I knew that. We all know that. But until I really saw how the cardiovascular and respiratory system works and how you're overloading the workload on your body when you have extra weight, until I saw that and learned it, I didn't really fully wasn't motivated, not enough. And so that first initial decision, I'm going to change my life, I'm going to go back to school. It wasn't even about the weight loss. It was about changing my life, being a happier person. And one of the things that happened along the way was I happened to drop close to 70 pounds. And so it's just one of those things that once you start, you take that first step. I didn't say I am going to go back to nursing school, lose 70 pounds, change my life, become super healthy, start a podcast, start a coaching business. I didn't see any of this. It all just created itself because it's a domino effect. One decision impacts another, impacts another. And it's this exponential growth of personal development, happiness. It's your destiny, really. And when you are doing what you're supposed to be doing in life, when you're living your true purpose, the universe responds. The universe rises to where you are and presents things to you. And life changes. And it's incredible. And that's what happened to me. I went from overweight, stay-at-home mom, and transformed myself into nurse, nursing student coach, happy, in shape, healthy human who's living my best life. And it started with one decision. Did I have fear that I was too old? Yeah. Did I have fear that everybody was going to look at me like I was the grandma in the room? Yeah. Did that happen? No. Not in the least. And if anybody thought that, I wasn't aware of it because I was so happy to be there. Here's the thing: you can change your life. You can absolutely make this change. You can take one step. One decision will change everything. I'm living proof of that. And I know that if you want to make this change in your life, you have it in you. That first step, that first decision is all you need to do. Take a step forward. And what will happen will blow your mind. You will reinvent yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

And I can't wait to hear about it. So that's it. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for listening. And if this resonated with you, please share it with a friend who you know could benefit. And if you could take a moment and leave a quick rating and review on Apple Podcasts, I would appreciate that so much. It really truly helps get the show into the hands of people who need it. So let's get out there. Let's make the world better by making those bold moves. Trust your gut, get off your butt, make today awesome. And I will see you the next time. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for tuning in to Biggest Best Life. If today lit a fire in you, follow, review, and share it with someone who needs the smart. And remember to text best life one word at 833 681 6463. Get Lauren's weekly dose of motivation to your phone. Now go out there. Live boldly. And never settle for less than your biggest best life.