Graced Health Podcast

Amy Connell, Host

Episode 500 — 5 Uncomfortable Lessons Learned in 500 Episodes

Hey everyone. Welcome to the 500th episode of the Graced Health Podcast. It's good to be back. I took an unplanned month off. This was not on my Bingo card. This was not on my content calendar for 2026. Yet here we are. If you are on my Tuesday emails, you already know this.

My dad passed away unexpectedly at the beginning of February, and I have just needed the time.

I will be sharing a little bit more about what happened with my dad, and a few thoughts and lessons from him, at the end. For months, I have known that this 500th episode was coming and I have been trying to figure out how to celebrate 500 episodes. I had a lot of ideas — some of them were from me, some of them were from you.

But if I'm totally honest, they were a lot of work. People were saying, "Oh, I love it when I can hear clips from former guests," and I love that idea too. It's just a lot of work, and I just didn't have that bandwidth, especially now.

I've been praying about it and asking God, "Where do you want me going with this?" And he led me to a surprising theme, which was uncomfortable lessons over these 500 episodes. Now, you guys know me. If you have been with me for any of these episodes, you know that I like to keep it positive. I like to keep it encouraging. Encouragement is one of my spiritual strengths. So saying that I'm going to have uncomfortable lessons feels uncomfortable to me. But I decided to go along with it — and I had no idea, though God did, how pertinent that theme would be.

In today's episode, I am going to share some of these lessons with you and weave in some business lessons that I have either experienced or learned through the actual act of podcasting and from my guests. It's going to be a bit of a mix, and I hope you'll hang with me and give me a little bit of grace as I pull these two things together.

In this episode — because I always get asked about stats — I'm going to share some numbers with you, plain and simple. I'll share some uncomfortable lessons I have learned, including a deeply personal one that I learned after recording and scheduling the 499th episode. And then I will share some business decisions you may want to know about. Nothing huge, just things as we move forward that I think you might find interesting.

Podcast Stats

I hit publish on my Graced Health website in May of 2016, which means not only are we celebrating 500 episodes right now, we will also be celebrating 10 years in May. I have been podcasting in this business longer than I haven't been.

I am honored and blessed to have had over 150 guests join me — some of them more than once — over these 500 episodes. The episodes themselves have ranged from very short — I used to call them "Ask the Trainer" and those were five minutes or less — to longer-form conversations.

I often get asked about podcast stats, and it's a bit like when people used to ask me about my running pace. The number is what it is. I'm doing the best I can. There's always going to be someone faster, and there's always going to be someone behind. When I raced, I came in at the number I could come in at — and that's how I feel about this.

That said, I don't mind sharing. These numbers could be much higher if I did all the things the experts tell me I should be doing. But that's not always what has felt authentic to me. Just like I wouldn't compare my half marathon pace to an Olympic runner's pace, I'm not going to compare myself to other podcasters — which is easy to say and really hard not to do. There are times I'll see another podcast doing really well and I'll start beating myself up: you should have done this, you should have done that. And at the same time, I feel comfortable with what I have done to get here.

So, with that said — if you are listening from one of the 150 countries that have tuned in to the Graced Health Podcast over the years, about 91% of those listeners are from the US. But I also have a wonderful scattering of other countries, and I want to give shoutouts to Australia, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, and the UK — all of which consistently show up. If you're tuning in from one of those countries, go to the show notes and click where it says "Click here to message Amy" and let me know where you're coming from. That would be so exciting.

We have reached 4,020 cities. About 18% of those are local — I live in the Houston, Texas area, so that includes my suburb and surrounding communities. But I also want to shout out some cities that consistently tune in: Tulsa, Oklahoma; Stillwater, Oklahoma; Atlanta; Toronto, Canada — Dan, I see you, I know you've been here a long time — Lubbock; and Frankfurt, Germany.

There is a website called Listen Notes that shows where you rank globally in podcasting. If you ever want a bit of a hype boost for your show, go there, because it takes into account all podcasts that have ever existed — active or not. If you type in the Graced Health Podcast, it will tell you that I'm in the top 2% globally. I'll take it! But like other numbers, it doesn't tell the full story, because it includes podcasts that are inactive or have only ever released one episode. So I hold all of this loosely.

I am almost to 100,000 downloads. That sounds like a great number, and it is — I'm not complaining. But I'll admit it can get a little discouraging when some A-listers launch podcasts and hit millions of downloads per episode. I'm not an A-lister, and I don't want to be, so that's okay. By the end of March 2026, I expect to reach 100,000 downloads, assuming things continue as they have been.

A hundred thousand downloads after six years — sometimes I look at that and think, "You needed to be doing some other things." But there's always someone further along, so what do I do? I go back to approaching the show in ways that feel authentic to me and where God is leading me, not the way the experts say I should be going. I know there's more I could be doing, and I'm consciously choosing not to, because I'm trying to have the kind of balance in my life that we talk about all the time on this show.

People often ask how many followers I have, which seems like a simple question but isn't. Every podcast platform — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube — has its own analytics. The best I can tell you is that Apple Podcasts accounts for about 68% of my total listens. If I use my finance degree and do some extrapolating, that comes to roughly 915 followers on the audio portion alone. I also have somewhere around 1,600 to 1,700 followers on YouTube — but those feel like a completely different category, and I'm still getting my arms around YouTube.

Five Uncomfortable Lessons from 500 Episodes

Lesson 1: You can always do more — but should you?

With regard to your health, you can always do more. Just like you can always run faster. But should you?

I was texting with a girlfriend recently, and she said — and I have her permission to share this — "I am doing so many 'right' and 'good' things while still grappling with grief, and yet I'll beat myself up about the one part of the one thing I'm not doing right. It's not what I eat, which is very good, or how much I move, which is a lot. But it's not doing enough lifting. Or whether it's parenting or marriage or homeownership or friendship — it can always be better."

And this is what I want you to really hear: in my heart, I know exactly when it's enough. I'll say that again — in my heart, I know exactly when it's enough.

Sure, you can probably be doing more with regard to your health. But it might already be enough. That's where reflection and discernment come in. That's where you look to God for guidance.

I could be doing more on social media — which I have not been on since July of 2024. I could be doing more on YouTube. But I just don't want to, and I'm choosing not to. And honestly? My podcast numbers have actually gone up since I stepped away from social. So thank you for that. Thank you for sharing the show.

When I do get on social media, it's filled with marketers and wellness voices screaming that you need to buy this one thing that will solve all your problems. It feels icky. The connection is shallow — likes, taps, a "fire" emoji in the comments. That's not the deep connection that matters to me.

People have asked if I've considered going to Substack. Substack is having a moment right now, and it's just not right for me — at least not right now. I feel like I have created in Graced Health a quiet corner. The most grace-filled corner of the wellness industry. I want it to stay intentional and without all the noise. Maybe one day I'll join Substack. Maybe one day I won't. I don't know.

I think you show up to this podcast and this community because you are looking for clarity in the noise, and I feel it's my responsibility to honor that.

Lesson 2: Hold your health habits loosely.

Things can, will, and probably should change — and that's okay.

My workouts change often. Yours can too. If you're doing the same thing you've always done, or keep returning to something because it used to work, it's worth asking whether that habit is still right for you now.

The most educated people I hear talking about health almost always include nuance. The more research they've done, the more they understand that the answer is often, "It depends." Even when you find something that works, your season may change — and then you need to change with it.

That has been so evident in my last month. I was just wrapping up my Moving Forward Together small group cohorts and we'd talked about our non-negotiables — the things we will always do. Mine, over the last month, were shaved down to drinking water and getting even 30 seconds of fresh air and sunshine. If I could get more, I got more. There was no strength training. There was some gentle walking. A girlfriend drove in from Stillwater to take me on the most gentle, loving walk — and that was exactly what I needed.

I try hard not to create panic in my teaching. I've talked to so many women who say, "They tell me I'm supposed to be doing this, taking this supplement, lifting this way" — and there's just panic. We don't need more of that. It is so rare to see a headline or thumbnail that says, "It depends," or "Maybe." Instead we get hard, absolute words designed to pull us in. And that's not helping us.

From a business perspective, holding things loosely looks like this: I used to run ads on the show, and now I don't. Over the last year I made a conscious decision not to monetize the podcast. I realize that's not an option for everybody — for me, right now, it is. You have told me that you trust me, and I hold that so carefully. It's like I'm carrying around a little crystal cross of trust that you have given me. When you tune into the Graced Health Podcast, I want you to hear the content, the grace, the education — without a lot of other noise getting in the way.

We are in what feels like a supplement era. Everyone is pitching a supplement, and I'm just weary of it. I did a whole episode on supplements — I'll link it in the show notes. But anything that comes with superlatives and a "must have" label? I'm sorry, I just don't trust it. There is no magic wand. There never has been. It's a combination of a lot of things.

Lesson 3: Sometimes we do things we don't want to do so we can do what we want to do — now or later.

We talk a lot about taking care of our future self — a phrase I learned from my writing mentor, Kathy Lipp — and I love it. We may need to make a choice today to care for our future self, unless our current self needs the attention. Because sometimes we do things just knowing we'll be glad we did.

I did an episode on January 12th, 2026 called "The Crucial Pre-Workout Question," and it's all about asking yourself: Why are you showing up? What do you need today? Because the answer can be very different from day to day. This nuance is either highly annoying if you just want someone to tell you what to do — or freeing if you need some grace. And I think a lot of you show up here because you need some grace.

Having said that, sometimes we don't want to do something — exercise, strength train, meal prep — but we do it anyway for our future selves. Sometimes I don't feel like lifting heavy things. But I do it for my bones and my muscles, both now and for my future self. And yes, you heard that right — this personal trainer doesn't always want to strength train.

In my business, there are also things I don't want to do but need to do. YouTube, for example — it's kind of a bear on the back end. Thumbnails, metadata, the whole thing. I'm trying a template approach right now because I'm so tired of thinking about it. But these are things I'll do because they are good for the future of the podcast.

Lesson 4: Working and working out is hard. Rest is harder — at least for many of us.

So many of us don't feel productive if we aren't checking a box and getting that little dopamine hit. I am one of those people.

We've been conditioned to believe that a workout needs to be an hour — it doesn't. That it needs to leave you sweaty — not true. That you should feel like you've slammed your face into a wall when you're done — absolutely not. We are not hearing enough that rest days are important, that your body gets stronger in recovery, that it's okay to skip a workout every now and then. You do want it to be a skip and not a trend, but skipping is okay.

From a business perspective, I take planned rest from the podcast. I typically take two to four weeks off at Christmas and do something different in the summer — last time, I pulled one meaningful snippet from guests where they really brought the grace, and that was the episode. I need that recovery from the rhythm of weekly episodes.

This time, I'm coming back from an unexpected month off — which I'll say more about in a moment. And I'll tell you, it is hard to take that kind of rest. It's hard because I fear that if I don't show up with new content every single week, you'll want to break up with me. You'll see a week or two of silence and unfollow. But I've also heard — in the quiet of coaching calls and conversations — that some of you appreciate that I practice what I preach. And maybe you didn't even notice I was gone for a month. Maybe you're just here for a new episode. Either way, I'm glad you're here.

I have thought about stepping back from the podcast more significantly. I prayed about it. And God, so sweetly, infused new life into me — with some help from my business strategist, Soraya Estes with Think Purple Consulting. Highly recommend her if you need strategic help with your business.

Through my work with her, I was able to get clarity about this year. In 10 years of business, this is the first time I've gone in with a truly strong strategic plan. This year I am resting a little more by not creating so many new projects. Instead, I'm focusing on two things:

First, Strong and Vibrant at Home. If you've been saying, "I know I need to strength train, but I don't know what to do, I don't want to go to a gym, and I can't hire a personal trainer" — my hope is that SVAH feels like the right fit. You'll do your workouts at home, with me, in 30 minutes or less.

Second, the small group cohorts. We just finished our first Moving Forward Together cohort. I'll be doing it again in September and possibly in the summer for my educator friends. These are the two things I'm focusing on this year. And already, that clarity has given me peace and confidence — even through a month when I was far from my desk.

Lesson 5: We steward our bodies well, but we are not in control.

On February 6th, I finished prepping this episode and planned to record it the following Monday, to air on February 17th. Little did I know that a few hours later, my dad would die at his dinner table. His heart simply stopped.

He had been feeling unwell that week, but well enough to go pick up dinner for him and my mom. They had plans to eat their takeout and watch the Olympics opening ceremonies. He had a doctor's appointment on Monday — our theory is that he figured he'd just talk to the doctor about it then.

One thing he always taught me to do — and I still do it today, including at my most recent annual exam — is to get bloodwork done before your appointment so you and your doctor can review it together. When my sister called his physician's office on Monday to say he wouldn't be coming, and that he had passed, the physician called back. He looked at the labs, and he told us there was nothing alarming. His words were that my dad's heart had simply reached the end.

This is the man I have bragged about on this podcast. He played 18 holes of golf and walked two and a half miles on his last birthday. He walked nearly every day. He was resistance training at a gym and gaining strength. He had the data to back it up. He ate a nourishing, balanced diet. He had a great community of golfing and neighborhood friends. He was outside in the fresh air. He slept well. He was always puttering, always doing something. He checked so many of the longevity boxes we talk about on this show.

So it seems strange to say it was a shock that a nearly 80-year-old man died. But it was — to all who knew him and all who knew how he lived. My family is devastated.

But what a reminder that we are always held in our Heavenly Father's hands. We are not in control. I will say it again: we are not in control. We do what we can to steward our bodies. We use them to do what God is calling us to do, and then we trust in his plan. And sometimes — like this — that plan is hard. It is really, really hard.

I really wished God had consulted me on this. I had a lot of reasons why my dad should have lived so much longer. But God is God and I am not. And I trust his timing, even when I hate it.

I'm also grateful. One of my dad's greatest fears was needing long-term care. He would say, "Amy, I do not want you taking me to the bathroom. I do not want you shaving me. If it gets to that point, hire someone." He had such a fear of that kind of dependence. And now that never came to be.

I am grateful for the extra two days I got with him when a snowstorm canceled my flight while I was helping my mom recover from her knee replacement. I got to hug my dad and tell him I loved him 11 days before he passed. We live 535 miles apart. That was a gift.

I am grateful for the friends who showed up, and for the relationships that have deepened through this.

So yes — I will keep talking on this podcast about taking care of ourselves. Drink your water. Get outdoors. Lift heavy things. Get sunshine. Invest in your friendships. Eat a variety of plants. I believe all of that matters. But most importantly, we must grow our relationship with God. He is the one with ultimate control, and only our eternal health is guaranteed.

There are some health influencers out there I wish understood this. People who talk about living forever — I'm so sorry to tell you, that is not going to happen.

Thank you for being part of 500 episodes. Whether this is your 500th episode or your first, I am truly honored and so glad you are here. Until God calls me out of this, I will keep showing up to help you move forward with grace and strength.

That's all for today. Go out there and have a graced day.