“I’m a very scared, very anxious person that does all of these things with my hands shaking.”
Jess Greene joins Dan Harty for a deeply honest conversation about her transformation—from a hundred-pound weight loss and serious health scares to becoming one of the most accomplished ultra-distance runners in the world. Jess shares how movement, meal planning, and consistency helped her rebuild her relationship with food, her body, and herself, not from a place of punishment, but from a desire for healing and longevity.
The conversation goes far beyond running, as Jess opens up about living with anxiety and OCD, how endurance sports became a powerful tool for managing mental health, and why gentleness—not grit alone—was the key to sustaining long-term change. Along the way, she explains how fear, grief, and self-doubt don’t disappear at the finish line, but can be carried, processed, and transformed through movement and community.
00:02 — Jess explains how simple meal planning supported her 100-pound weight loss
07:00 — Living with anxiety and OCD while pushing physical limits
10:00 — Why movement is essential for Jess’s mental health
17:00 — From a broken leg to discovering running later in life
21:00 — How endurance skills transfer from parenting, academics, and life
24:00 — Reframing weight loss away from appearance and toward capability
31:00 — Why comparison and leaderboards steal joy
35:00 — Running 100 miles around her own neighborhood
38:00 — What keeps Jess returning to the Moab 240 year after year
46:00 — Healing grief, shame, and emotional wounds on the trail
52:00 — The brutal realities of racing through extreme weather and exhaustion
Join the 40-Day Fight here: www.40dayfight.com/more-info
Thank you Jess for being a guest on Delay the Decay!
Find Jess on social media:
- Jess on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randomhappythings/
Delay the Decay is a podcast for unashamedly ambitious people who want to live longer, better and deeper by prioritizing what’s really important in life.
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Dan Harty is a coach, entrepreneur, and former pastor, who helps people build resilience in body, mind and spirit by emphasizing faith, fitness, and fighting the natural decay with daily habits rooted in biblical truths. Find Dan on social media:
- Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dharty123/
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- Dan’s Guides: www.danhartyguides.com
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