Advertise on podcast: This Wasn't the Plan with Tara Resnick

Mother's Day is complicated. And this episode is for every woman who feels like Sunday wasn't made for her. Whether you're navigating infertility, pregnancy loss, a failed IVF journey, or living childfree by circumstance - or you're grieving your mom, estranged from your mother, or simply struggling in ways the world doesn't talk about enough - this one is for you. In this episode we talk about: Why Mother's Day is hard for so many women in so many different waysHow to actually get through the weekend without losing yourselfWhy your worth has never been tied to being a motherWhat it really means to be whole exactly as you areWhy every single thing you have built and survived deserves to be celebrated You are not what didn't happen to you. You are everything you chose to become anyway. This episode was released early - on Saturday instead of Monday - because some of you needed it before Sunday. Not after. New creator from this community alert! My brave and powerful friend and former podcast guest is sharing her journey on TikTok. Go follow @victoria.in.progress for everything from her IVF Journey to childfree by circumstance to decluttering! Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick www.tararesnick.com

What happens when the woman who holds everything together finally falls apart? In this raw and honest episode, I open up about a breaking point that changed everything — and why it had nothing to do with the parking machine that set it off. After 13 hours alone managing a family health crisis, I hit my limit and cried for three hours. But this episode isn't about that day. It's about the lifetime of overfunctioning, carrying, and absorbing that led to it. I break down why some of us become "the strong one," what happens when you finally stop, the guilt cycle that follows, and how to sit in the discomfort of disrupting patterns that were never sustainable. I also talk about how overfunctioning can often be self-abandonment and how choosing yourself is not selfish. Plus: life updates on dating, making new friends in your 30's and 40's, and falling deep into a drugstore beauty rabbit hole. Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick

What do women over 40 wish they had known in their 30s? I’m 43, and here’s the truth I learned the hard way. In this episode of This Wasn't the Plan, I share the life lessons I wish someone had told me in my 30s about relationships, boundaries, people pleasing, fertility and starting over. These are the lessons that cost me alot - staying too long in the wrong relationships, losing myself trying to keep the peace, and hard truths women need to hear. I open up about navigating IVF as a single woman in my 40s, rebuilding my identity after heartbreak, and what it really takes to start over when life doesn’t go according to plan. If you’re in your 30s and feel behind, stuck in a relationship that isn’t changing, or questioning your next chapter, this episode will speak directly to you. This is the conversation I wish someone had the courage to have with me sooner. In this episode, I share: What waiting for the wrong partner to change really costs youWhy people pleasing is self-abandonment and how to stop losing yourselfThe truth about setting boundaries and why it feels uncomfortable at firstHow to start over in your 30s or 40s when life doesn’t go as plannedThe one person who was always responsible for saving me Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/

This week I’m joined by two women who know what it means to rewrite the plan - and do the deep personal growth work that comes with it. Jess (@thegreatdetour) married her high school sweetheart and at 35 made the brave decision to leave a toxic relationship and start completely over. Victoria (@victoriamahoney29) spent years navigating infertility and IVF before choosing to stop treatments and build a life that looks different than she imagined - and is beautiful because of it. Together we’re answering YOUR questions in a full Ask Us Anything episode covering divorce, friendship breakups, healing from toxic relationships, being childfree by circumstance, what emotional maturity actually looks like and life when the plan falls apart and you have to find yourself again. This one felt less like a podcast and more like three women having an honest conversation over drinks — and we think you’re going to feel every bit of it. In this episode we cover: • Navigating divorce and the identity shift that comes with it • Healing from toxic relationships and what recovery really looks like • Friendship breakups — why they happen and how to heal • Choosing to stop IVF and what life looks like on the other side • Personal growth and emotional maturity through life’s hardest chapters • What “starting over” actually means at 35, 40 and beyond • How to build a life that wasn’t the plan — but is yours This Wasn’t the Plan is the podcast for women navigating infertility, life after IVF, being childfree by circumstance, divorce, breakups, reinvention, healing, personal growth, and the beautiful, hard work of starting over.

Six months ago, something ended. For me it was IVF, and the dream of a life I'd spent years trying to build. But this episode isn't just about infertility - it's about what happens after any hard chapter closes and you're left figuring out who you are now. This is my honest six-month update. Not the performed version. Not the "look how far I've come" highlight reel. The real one - including the parts I've been embarrassed to say out loud. I talk about what genuine healing actually looks like when you're still in it. I talk about your body after it's been through something - hormonal shifts, grief weight, the strange experience of looking in the mirror and not quite recognizing yourself. And I talk about why six months is nothing. Why your body, your identity, and your sense of self take so much longer to recalibrate than anyone tells you - especially in your late thirties, forties, and fifties. If you've come out of a divorce, a loss, a fertility journey, a career ending, or any chapter that took more from you than you expected - this one is for you. In this episode: What healing looks like when you're surprised by your own progress but not yet doneWhy your body isn't failing you — it's just on its own timelineThe truth about recovering physically after something hormonally or emotionally significantWhy comparison to who you were before is an unfair data setWhat's actually helped: the unsexy, repetitive, boring things that move the needleWhy consistency and grace will always outperform pressure and perfection Code PODCAST40 gets you 40% off the Reclamation Guide at www.tararesnick.com Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/

Nobody counted more carefully than you. Nobody tried harder. And it still didn't work — and that's not a coincidence, that's a system that was never built for your body. This week I'm sitting down with Gina Livy — weight loss expert, bestselling author, and founder of The Livy Method — a program specifically designed for women who are done with the diet-culture hamster wheel and ready for something that actually works. But before she became the go-to expert for hundreds of thousands of women? She pivoted. Hard. Gina shares her own story of turning life's unexpected turns into her greatest power — and how that journey became the foundation of everything she now teaches. We get into ALL of it: Why calories in, calories out is one of the most dangerous oversimplifications in women's healthHow hormones, perimenopause, and menopause are running the show in ways nobody warned you aboutThe psychology behind our relationship with food — and why shame has never once made anyone healthierWhy ditching the scale, the measuring cups, and the counting might be the most radical thing you do for your bodyHow the real factors — stress, grief, identity loss, life upheaval — live in our bodies and affect our weight in ways traditional programs completely ignore This conversation hit different for me. Because so many of the women in this community are already doing the hard work of rebuilding their lives after something they didn't plan for — and their bodies are carrying that story too. You were never broken. You just never had the full picture. Gina Livy is the bold, purpose-driven founder and CEO of The Livy Method, a lifestyle behavior change program transforming weight loss by helping people focus on how they eat, think, and feel. As a best-selling author and keynote speaker, Gina has helped over 150,000 people ditch diets for good. With 30+ years of experience, she’s built a community in 55+ countries, with over 7M podcast downloads and a mission to make weight loss kind, accessible, and sustainable. The Livy Method Spring Live Session begins on April 20, 2026, and runs for 91 days. The program is hosted within a private Facebook community and includes access to the new Livy Method App, which features built-in LivyAI for a personal experience, along with ongoing support and guidance from their program specialists. Connect with Gina Livy: Instagram: @ginalivy https://livymethod.com Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/

Losing a friend as an adult is one of the most common — and most untalked about — experiences we go through. And yet almost no one gives us permission to actually grieve it. In this honest solo episode, I share my own experiences losing a close friend during the hardest chapter of her life, and why that loss cracked something open I couldn't ignore. I walk through the three archetypes of friendship loss I developed, why adult friendships naturally shed as we grow, and why some people simply don't have the capacity for hard, honest conversations — and what that means for the relationships in your life. This episode is about normalizing friendship breakups, giving yourself permission to grieve them fully, and understanding why difficult life seasons will always reveal who's actually built to stay. Topics covered: Why adult friendships endFriendship breakups and growing apartHow to grieve a friendship endingAvoidant friendships and conflict avoidance in adultsLosing friends during hard life seasonsThe three types of friendship loss Connect with Tara: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/

Grief can come from infertility, lost dreams, identity shifts, divorce, career changes, or the life you thought you were going to have. In this episode, I sit down with grief and resilience expert Blair Kaplan Venables to talk about what it actually means to live through loss and come out the other side with purpose. Blair shares her personal story of navigating deep grief and how those experiences shaped her work helping others process loss, build resilience, and create meaning from painful chapters of life. Together we explore how grief shows up in ways we often ignore, why unprocessed grief can manifest physically, and how sharing our stories can help others heal. This conversation also dives into the unexpected paths life can take when things do not go according to plan - and how those plot twists can open the door to growth, purpose, and resilience. If you are navigating grief, rebuilding after loss, or learning how to live a life you never planned, this episode will remind you that healing is possible and that your pain can become part of your purpose. Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/ Connect with Blair Kaplan-Venebles Instagram: @blairfromblairland https://blairkaplan.ca/ https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/

Life rarely goes according to plan - but the chapters that challenge us the most can also teach us the most. In this Season 2 premiere of This Wasn’t the Plan, I sit down with Jess Prudhomme from The Great Detour™ to talk about navigating the realities of divorce, friendship breakups during hard seasons, and infertility. Together, we explore resilience, and how to embrace your next chapter with confidence, wisdom, and self-trust after heartbreak, IVF struggles, or major life pivots. I also share personal updates on post-IVF life, new family moments, and the lessons of rebuilding on your own terms. If you’ve ever felt like your timeline is off, your plans have been rerouted, or your relationships are shifting, this conversation is for you. Get ready to reclaim your story, honor your journey, and step boldly into what’s next. Get the Reclamation Guide, my step-by-step 30 day guide for rebuilding your life and identity after a hard chapter, and stepping into your best season. 40% off flash sale until March 3 use code HEAL40 at checkou! https://tararesnick.com/the-reclamation-guide-rebuild-your-life-and-identity-after-a-hard-chapter Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/ Connect with Jess Prudhomme: Instagram: @thegreatdetour https://www.thegreatdetour.com/

What happens when you stop chasing the life you were told to want and choose yourself instead? In the Season 1 finale of This Wasn’t the Plan, I sit down with Victoria for an honest, deeply validating conversation about being childfree by circumstance after infertility. After four years of trying to conceive, two rounds of IVF, and four miscarriages, Victoria and her husband made the conscious decision to stop trying - not because it hurt less, but because continuing came at too high a cost. Together, we talk about the grief no one prepares you for, the pressure to keep going, and the strength it takes to walk away from a dream that once defined your future. This episode explores what it really means to choose yourself after infertility, how to navigate life without the timeline you imagined, and why being childfree by circumstance does not make your life smaller, less meaningful, or incomplete. This conversation is for anyone experiencing infertility, IVF burnout, pregnancy loss, miscarriage grief, or redefining their identity and purpose after life takes an unexpected turn. It is also for women who are tired of being asked intrusive questions like “Do you have kids?” without space for the reality of what they have endured. If you are learning how to rebuild, redefine your future, or trust yourself again after loss, this episode will remind you that your life still matters - and that choosing yourself is not giving up. Season 2 launches March 2, 2026! Connect with Tara: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/ Connect with Victoria: Instagram: @victoriamahoney29

In this episode, I sit down with writer and creator of The Life Actually Company, Laura Behnke, for an honest conversation about releasing societal timelines and learning how to meet the life you never saw coming....multiple times. Laura shares how her 30s unfolded in ways she never expected - from letting go of pressure around marriage and milestones, to meeting her now husband later than planned, to navigating unimaginable loss when both of their fathers were diagnosed with cancer and passed away in the same year. We talk about fertility struggles, needing IVF due to a rare genetic disorder, the emotional toll of trying to conceive, and the curveballs that continued long after she thought the hardest part was over. Laura also opens up about what it was like to finally become a mother - and then face another life-altering diagnosis just months later. This episode is not about overcoming for the sake of inspiration. It is about reality. About grief, uncertainty, resilience, and what it means to live a life that looks nothing like the one you imagined - and still find meaning inside it. If you have ever felt behind, blindsided, or deeply exhausted by trying to control an uncontrollable life, this conversation will meet you exactly where you are. Connect with Tara: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/ Connect with Laura: Instagram: @laurabehnke https://www.laurabehnke.com/

In this episode, Jessica Field opens up about navigating life’s unexpected turns - from moving across the continent and starting over, to facing infertility and multiple miscarriages. She shares how trusting herself, embracing change, and building resilience have shaped her journey. Tune in for an honest, empowering conversation about strength, resilience, and finding your path through life’s unplanned challenges. Connect with Tara: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick Join The Unplanned Life Community: https://tararesnick.com/the-unplanned-life-community-childfree-women Connect with Jessica: Instagram: @yourspiritualwellnesscoach https://www.yourspiritualwellnesscoach.com/

What happens when you are childfree not by choice and forced to grieve a life you deeply wanted? In this solo episode, I speak honestly about infertility, choosing to stop trying, and what it actually means to be ok after letting go of the dream of motherhood. This is not a conversation about positivity, manifestation, or silver linings. It is about grief, agency, boundaries, and learning how to live fully on the other side of loss. I share how traveling to Paris helped reconnect me to my body and reminded me that life does not end when one dream does. I also address the pressure women face to stay hopeful, trust the law of attraction, consider adoption, or continue trying at all costs - and why deciding to stop is an act of self love, not failure. This episode is for women navigating childlessness not by choice, infertility grief, or the complicated reality of choosing peace after years of striving. You are not broken. Your life is not a consolation prize. And you are allowed to choose yourself. Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/

Tara here! I’m on vacation this week, but this quick placeholder episode is perfect for women looking to start over, boost self confidence, and focus on personal growth. Take a moment to revisit past episodes, reflect on your journey, and recharge your mindset. Even a small pause can spark clarity, motivation, and positive change. I'll resume regularly scheduled episodes next Mon. Jan. 12, 2026. Happy New Year!

Dating after major life changes like breakups, divorce or infertility can feel confusing and overwhelming - but it doesn’t have to. In this episode, Aleeza Ben Shalom from the Netflix series Jewish Matchmaking, shares her insights on modern dating, starting over, and building self-confidence. You’ll discover how to: Navigate dating with clarity and intentionAvoid repeating old patterns that keep you stuckHandle sensitive questions about children with confidenceEmbrace your story as a source of strength and attractionBuild self-confidence and find meaningful connections Whether you’re reinventing your love life, healing from setbacks, or ready to date with purpose, this conversation offers practical strategies, mindset shifts, and encouragement to help you find love again on your own terms. Connect with Tara Resnick: Instagram: @tararesnick TikTok: @tara_resnick https://tararesnick.com/ Connect with Aleeza Ben Shalom: Instagram: @aleezabenshalom https://marriagemindedmentor.com/