About Paige Hathaway: A mom and personal trainer. She found a purpose in life sharing her passion for health and fitness because it transformed her life for the better. Within her journey she knew she wanted to share this incredible new way with others, here she created both the PHIVE app and FITIN5. The plan is to encourage others to dream big and conquer their goals. All while being the best version of themselves; mind, body, and soul. She has over 10 million followers across her social media platforms and continues to be the “OG” fitness icon she is known for.

How do you define what it means to truly be feminine?

Let’s talk femininity! Being one of the first fitness girls on social media over a decade ago to have muscle and showcase them, I received a lot of hate. I am grateful though to “break the mold” allowing people to see that muscles on women were not manly but they are in fact feminine and beautiful. That if you are feminine it doesn’t mean you are weak. To me, femininity means embracing who you are and being comfortable in your own skin. Maybe things can contribute to making you feel more feminine. Fitness plays a major part in my achieving my feminine power because it allows me to work on my body which makes me feel more confident and embrace my feminine curves! Also, being a mom allows me to connect with my femininity, because I’m a helper and nurturer at heart.

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What is one beauty standard that you wish you could get rid of forever?

THE “BODY POSITIVITY MOVEMENT” TOXIC

yes, the BPM promotes loving every inch of your body without changing into what society defines as a certain thing. While I do feel this movement has been (and continues to be) immensely necessary and transformative, I can’t help but wonder if it’s also hurting as much as it helps?

HEAR ME OUT…. Obviously, body-shaming is one thing and in my mind, it is never ok to make comments like “you’re too thin”, “you’re too fat”, etc. We must try harder to empathize with the struggles of others, and avoid adding pressure or insecurities.

However, it is important for each person to be conscious of their health status, and try to fix unhealthy habits. Yes, you can still have cellulite, etc even if you’re healthy and I’m all for us normalizing REAL BODIES (hence showing my own “imperfections”) I think self-acceptance is very important and people caring about their own state of mind/health is key. However, I don’t encourage unhealthy habits because their burden on health is beyond study. (Increases risk of disease, affects mood, and energy to name a few)

I feel as tho we should avoid self-damaging habits, that sometimes are looked at as self-love. You can accept your body and work towards a healthy lifestyle. And by healthy I do not mean you have to be skinny because being skinny doesn’t necessarily mean you’re healthy.

Another thing is “FIT SHAMING" (which I have been since this movement has started) Wanting to lose weight and self-love aren't mutually exclusive apparently; who is to say that your self-worth is "corrupted" because you're doing sit-ups to tone your stomach? There is no "right" or "wrong" reason for wanting to lose weight as long as only YOU are the one in charge and you're proceeding safely right?

I’m a HUGE ADVOCATE for normalizing REAL bodies. We are not robots running around with perfect bodies and even if you think someone has a perfect body (trust me they don’t) but I can’t help but wonder if the body positivity movement is hurting or helping… message me on Instagram and let me know your thoughts.

How do you maintain a healthy balance of life as a mother, wife, and fitness guru?

Making sure that you’re living a balanced life is critical. Being dissatisfied with a relationship or not having an exercise routine, being bored, stressed, uninspired by a job, or maybe lacking a spiritual practice may all cause you to feel unbalanced. Which can cause emotional eating, depression, anxiety the list goes on. I personally have made a habit of checking in with myself, to ensure I am not neglecting any important aspects of my life. It can seem like a lot to balance being a mom, and running my own businesses all while taking proper care of myself and I can ensure you it can be a lot of pressure if I let it. I just try not to let the weight of life weigh me down and I continue to make sure my bucket is full. When my thinking changes — which it always does from time to time and the weight of the backpack gets heavy, I take it off and dump it out.. meaning I try to let it roll off, adjust my mindset right away and push to continue moving FOWARD. Do what you can with what you have control over and set the rest aside.

What do you think is the key to having success in a fitness journey?

It is my personal belief that anyone can become or accomplish anything IF they truly believe in themselves, overcome their own fears, take risks and be persistent until their goals are met. The reality is that most people that have a goal lack some of the essential elements needed to succeed (desire, faith, a plan, daily action, commitment, determination, learning from failure, persistence)

In my eyes, Anyone who is completely committed to their goal will do whatever it takes to gain success. If you feel you're not "talented" enough let me inform you that talent shadows hard work. There might be people out there that are more “talented” than you but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you. What separates the talented from the successful is EFFORT. Lack of time your excuse?? Then you have the inability to prioritize your goals. (You make time for what’s most important in your life) The only limitations in life are the ones we create, believe, and oppose upon ourselves because no lack of money, time, or talent should stop you from pursuing what you want most out of your life. You just have to be willing to put in the work, it may not be easy but EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

**Have any of your clients taught you something about yourself or life in general that you haven’t thought of before?**

This is such a great and powerful question. The answer is YES although it is hard to narrow down this answer because we as humans have so much to learn and can learn so much from those around us. One thing that sticks out to me tho is that everybody has suffered, everybody has gifts, and everybody has a story.
I owe my clients a great deal. Helping them achieve life goals, gain longed-for peace of mind, and heal from trauma gives me a sense of satisfaction that’s hard to match. But there is so much more that I derive from watching their growth. They inspire me every day with their courage, their determination, and their faith in life.
We'd be wise to discover the barriers, gifts, and stories within ourselves. We have the choice to craft that story and live it as our truth, rather than just being swept along the current of life and waiting for life to happen to us.

Do you have any upcoming projects/events that you are excited about? If so, what are they?

I am very excited to introduce and talk about my new app that just recently launched. It’s called PHIVE! PHIVE is a one-stop-shop app with endless workouts, interactive nutrition, and a strong community to help you fall in love with yourself and your journey! I found my purpose in sharing my passion for health and fitness because it completely transformed my life for the better. Within my journey I knew I wanted to share this incredible new way with others, here created both the PHIVE app and FITIN5 (which lives in the PHIVE APP) The plan is to encourage others to dream big and conquer their goals. All while being the best version of themselves; mind, body, and soul. COME JOIN ME AT PHIVE… Let’s do this!! □

Article Credits

Paige’s Instagram: @paigehathaway

FITIN5’s Website: Take the Best Fitness Challenge at Home

Paige’s Website: https://paigehathaway.com/

Photo Credits: @michaeloliveri