Tone It Down

This week on Tone It Down, Karena sits down with Danese Rexroad, the OG Chief Clinical Officer at Ways2Well, a Texas-based preventative healthcare company. Danese spent 15 years in trauma and the ER before moving into preventative wellness, and one night in the trauma unit changed how she sees everything: your baseline health shapes your outcome. She explains the difference between "normal" and "optimal" blood work, which hormones shift first in perimenopause, and why so many women get handed an antidepressant when it’s really something else that’s missing. They get into peptides, the truth about testosterone for women, GLP-1s as a bridge rather than a quick fix, and the brand-new world of Muse cells. 
[03:03] Normal vs. Optimal: What Your Blood Work Is Really Telling You
"Normal" ranges cover the entire population. Optimal ranges are much narrower and catch issues before they become problems.
Symptoms matter as much as numbers. If you feel off and your labs look fine, keep asking questions.
A standard GP panel often skips progesterone, testosterone, free testosterone, DHEA, insulin, and full thyroid markers.
[16:57] Menopause Is a Journey, Not a Destination
Symptoms to watch for: insomnia, new joint aches, frozen shoulder, vaginal dryness, vision changes, brain fog, and stubborn belly fat.
Danese's own first symptom was a frozen shoulder, a year before her labs showed a change.
Rising insulin resistance and cortisol both play a role in midlife weight gain.
[23:15] Sleep, Bedtimes & Melatonin
Setting a consistent bedtime supports your circadian rhythm, gut, mood, and hormones.
Melatonin can work as a short-term bridge, but the bigger question is why your body isn't making enough.
Check your sleep environment first: room temperature, pillow, air quality, and a snoring partner all count.
[34:43] Peptides 101
Think of a peptide like a text message: a short instruction that tells your body what to repair.
Danese breaks down her favorites, including BPC-157 for tissue repair, GHK-Cu (copper peptide) for skin and inflammation, and thymosin alpha for autoimmune support.
Why sourcing matters: untested "gray market" peptides bought online may not contain what the label says.
[48:55] Muse Cells & Regenerative Medicine
Muse cells are a rare subset of stem cells that can travel to damaged tissue and help repair it.
Danese uses them for injuries, joints, and whole-body recovery.
She explains why lab standards and limited replication matter for quality.
[59:08] Inside the Longevity Lab & Rapid Fire
Danese walks through red light therapy, plasmapheresis, and the HOCATT, her favorite 10-in-1 treatment.
Sauna or cold plunge? Danese picks sauna and explains her concerns about cold plunging in perimenopause. Karena shares why the plunge works for her.
Strength training over cardio. Magnesium over melatonin. Blood work over the scale.
New to the Tone It Up app? Head to toneitup.com/activate and enter code TID20 to take 20% off your annual membership!
Connect with Danese:
Ways2Well (https://ways2well.com)
@daneserexroad on IG (https://www.instagram.com/daneserexroad/)
Let's Connect:
Karena Dawn — @karenadawn on IG (https://www.instagram.com/karenadawn/)
THE BIG SILENCE PODCAST (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-silence/id1607181597)
Join the #1 Fitness App for Women: Tone It Up App (https://my.toneitup.com/pages/tone-it-up-app)
Tone It Up YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@toneitup/featured)
Tone It Up Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/toneitup/?hl=en)

In this autumn check-in episode of Tone It Down, Karena sits down solo to chat about the season of new routines, the loneliness so many women feel in their 40s and 50s, and why she built this year's Fall Challenge around the one thing we’re all nostalgic for: being together. She shares the simple, real-life ways she's been making new friends (shy girls, this one's for you!), explains why you don't have to wait until January to feel good, and answers your voicemails about her favorite creators and whether Tone It Up is hiring.
Record your own question for Karena to answer here (https://www.speakpipe.com/karenadawn) and you could be featured on the pod! 
[02:55] Why So Many Women Feel Lonely in Their 40s and 50s
So many friendships used to form at work. Remote work changed that for a lot of us.
Karena gets honest about how work took over her own life after buying Tone It Up back.
This is the heart of the Fall Challenge: a homecoming for OG TIU girls and a welcome for anyone new.
[05:22] 21 Days to Change Your Ways
Build your routine now so the holiday season doesn't knock you off track.
Every workout in the program is labeled with the year it first came out. Get ready to reminisce!
Find your people with #TIUteam, or search your city, like #TIUAustin or #TIUChicago.
[08:05] Real Ways to Make New Friends
Go to the party solo. Karena is shy and does it anyway.
Book a weekly walking or coffee date with a girlfriend.
Buy two tickets to a show and invite someone new.
[~10:50] Your Voicemails
Listener Allie asks who Karena follows right now. Her picks: Valeria Lipovetsky and comedian Jordan Jensen. Now she wants YOUR recommendations.
An anonymous listener asks about the Tone It Up hiring. 
The team is remote right now, but Karena's goal is to be back in person in Austin. See the job listing on her LinkedIn.
New to the Tone It Up app? Head to toneitup.com/activate and enter code TID20 to take 20% off your annual membership!
Let's Connect:
Karena Dawn — @karenadawn on IG (https://www.instagram.com/karenadawn/)
THE BIG SILENCE PODCAST (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-silence/id1607181597)
Join the #1 Fitness App for Women: Tone It Up App (https://my.toneitup.com/pages/tone-it-up-app)
Tone It Up YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@toneitup/featured)
Tone It Up Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/toneitup/?hl=en)

When Rachel Hague came by to interview Karena for Hard Knocks Business, Karena had one condition: she got to interview Rachel, too. In this conversation, Rachel shares how she landed her hosting role out of 950 applicants, what she has noticed about the founders she interviews, and how writing helped her through losing her sister. She also talks about finding her people in Austin, the rescue dogs who changed her home, and what a sabbatical taught her about who she is beyond every title. If you have ever wondered how to make friends as an adult or how to follow a next step that feels scary, this one is for you.
[05:14] Growing Up Taking Charge
Rachel's Vegas childhood in a family of entrepreneurs and how she learned early to look after everything around her.
Her take on eldest-daughter energy: reading the room and taking control are habits that often lead to building companies.
[07:02] Writing Through Grief
How losing her sister shifted her sense of identity and how she came to see grief as the source of her superpowers.
Her view that grief reaches everyone: "Everybody has experienced grief, whether they're going through a breakup, whether they're just grieving a past version of themselves, or whether they've lost a family friend or a pet."
[12:57] What Bodybuilding Taught Rachel About Discipline and Health
Two shows, at 18 and again in 2024, and the structure and habits each one gave her.
Her realization that the magazine version of fitness wasn't the true definition of health.
Her honest take: a competition is a good way to test how hard you can push yourself, but long-term bodybuilding takes a toll on the body.
[21:16] Staying Present With Big-Name Guests
Why she doesn't get starstruck: everybody is human, and treating guests like stars would keep her from asking good questions.
You don't need to be fit to build a company, but fitness helps you enjoy what you've built.
[25:57] Building a Voice as a Creator
Her focus on finding her voice as an interviewer, and her vision for more Hard Knocks verticals built around her audience.
Her reminder to herself that not every video will be her best, and that audiences evolve with you.
[31:51] Routines Built Around Her Cycle
Why she has no set morning routine, and how she plans interviews, travel, and journaling around different weeks of her cycle.
Her targets of 7,000 to 10,000 steps a day and three lifts a week, and her habit of writing down ideas before bed.
[38:16] What a Sabbatical Taught Her About Who She Is
What she did with the time: rest, painting, dog rescue, and finding out who she is.
Her realization that she'll keep changing, and that chasing a past self or a future self kept her from being present.
Her view on audiences: "We are going to change as founders. And our audience is going to evolve with us."
Connect with Rachel:
@rachellhague (https://www.instagram.com/rachellhague/?hl=en) on IG
@hardknocksbusiness (https://www.instagram.com/hardknocksbusiness/?hl=en) on IG
Let's Connect:
Karena Dawn — @karenadawn on IG (https://www.instagram.com/karenadawn/)
THE BIG SILENCE PODCAST (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-silence/id1607181597)
Join the #1 Fitness App for Women: Tone It Up App (https://my.toneitup.com/pages/tone-it-up-app)
Tone It Up YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@toneitup/featured)
Tone It Up Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/toneitup/?hl=en)

This week, Karena catches up with Melody Afkami Dawson, founder of Melody DanceFit in Austin. Since their last chat, Melody has gotten married, had a baby, and continued to build her business through it all. They talk about why dance works as a nervous system reset, how motherhood changed Melody’s relationship with ADHD, and the conscious choices she and her husband made to break old family patterns. Melody also opens up about staying true to her purpose in a social media world that rewards being polarizing and shares the science behind why dancing might be even healthier for us than we realize.
[01:40] Dance as a Nervous System Reset
Melody explains anxiety as stored energy, and dance as a way to physically shake it loose.
The difference she feels between traditional fitness and dance: dance lets you let go a little more.
Melody shares why having a baby has actually helped her ADHD rather than making it worse since a newborn's schedule leaves no room for time blindness.
[07:21] Building Melody Dance Fit From the Ground Up
COVID pushed her business online and led to the creation of Dance to Heal, her six-week digital program built around repetition and emotional release.
Melody describes the shift she's watched in people who repeat a dance for the first time versus the fiftieth.
[13:13] In-Person Energy vs. Scaling Online
Melody's read on why people are more non-committal post-COVID, in fitness and beyond.
Why she believes nothing replaces in-person energy, even as she leans into digital tools that let her teach from home with a baby.
[15:17] Breaking Generational Patterns as a Parent
Melody and her husband did a conscious audit of both their families before deciding to have a baby, keeping what worked and leaving what didn't.
She describes learning to soften her instinct to address everything immediately, a pattern she didn't grow up with.
[22:04] Comparison Culture and Choosing to Feel Good Over Looking Good
Melody names the trap directly: seeing a hundred people online who look like they're doing more than you, even when you're doing plenty.
Her stance on being told polarizing content performs better: she's not interested in trading her integrity for engagement.
Her guiding line: "I would prefer to have my life feel good than look good. I would prefer for my business to feel good than look good."
Listen to Melody’s episode of The Big Silence (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-silence/id1607181597?i=1000654914598)
Connect with Melody:
melodydancefit.com
@melody_dancefit (https://www.instagram.com/melody_dancefit/) on IG
Let's Connect:
Karena Dawn — @karenadawn on IG (https://www.instagram.com/karenadawn/)
THE BIG SILENCE PODCAST (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-silence/id1607181597)
Join the #1 Fitness App for Women: Tone It Up App (https://my.toneitup.com/pages/tone-it-up-app)
Tone It Up YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@toneitup/featured)
Tone It Up Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/toneitup/?hl=en)

This week Karena sits down with Pilates expert and Sharp Body Pilates owner Jasmine Sharp for a wide-ranging, honest conversation. Jasmine breaks down the real history of Pilates (yes, it started with hospital beds), debunks the "Pilates Princess" stereotype once and for all, and gets real about her own perimenopause journey,  including the hormone shifts nobody warned her about. They also dig into fascia, working through injury without giving up, and how she found community and connection as a single mom building a business. 
[00:55] The Real History of Pilates
Jasmine shares how an injury from ballet led her to Pilates.
The surprising origin story: Joseph Pilates originally designed the reformer to help injured soldiers get moving again from hospital beds.
Classical, contemporary, and high-intensity Pilates are three distinct approaches, and Jasmine breaks down what separates them.
[04:25] Debunking the "Pilates Princess" Myth
Jasmine and Karena tackle the culture clash between the strength-training and Pilates communities.
Even male athletes are starting to see the value of Pilates as a complement to their training.
[09:01] Getting Honest About Perimenopause
Jasmine opens up about her perimenopause journey starting at 42 — the weight gain, the hormone shifts, and the mental toll of "loving yourself" one day and feeling betrayed by your body the next.
Why she believes women aren't taught to talk openly about these changes, even within their own families.
Her approach: staying transparent about trying different solutions, including a supportive, honest conversation about her experience with a peptide as one tool in a larger toolkit, not a stand-alone fix.
[15:45] Motherhood, Business & Finding Community
Jasmine reflects on the difficult balance of building a business while raising her daughter as a single mom.
The loneliness that can come with pouring everything into work and parenting and the deliberate steps she's taking now to build friendships and community.
Her advice for reconnecting: find your gym or studio, seek out women-forward groups, and put yourself out there.
[25:24] Fascia, Pain & Moving Through Injury
Jasmine explains what fascia is and why it holds onto tension, stress, and old injuries.
Practical tools for release: foam rollers for bigger areas, massage balls for targeted spots.
Her advice for anyone feeling discouraged by chronic pain: find an instructor who will work within your parameters, not around your setbacks.
Connect with Jasmine:
The Sharp Method Pilates (https://www.thesharpmethod.com/sharper-life)
@thesharpmethod on IG (https://www.instagram.com/thesharpmethod/)
Let's Connect:
Karena Dawn — @karenadawn on IG (https://www.instagram.com/karenadawn/)
THE BIG SILENCE PODCAST (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-silence/id1607181597)
Join the #1 Fitness App for Women: Tone It Up App (https://my.toneitup.com/pages/tone-it-up-app)
Tone It Up YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@toneitup/featured)
Tone It Up Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/toneitup/?hl=en)