Transcript
Speaker: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton podcast. So in today's episode, I chat with Vicky Swift. Vicky Swift is an online coach. She is founder of Coached by Swifty, where she helps women eat smarter without starving. And she is an absolutely incredible coach with an incredible message. And she's also in my lead her mentorship program. So I've really gotten to know Vicky quite well and over the past few months and gotten to know her business and her mission quite well. And she really is making such a difference in the health and fitness industry in helping the ordinary woman. Achieve what she really is meant to achieve. We have the most incredible conversation. So we talk about everything, everything health, fitness and business related. We talk about the narrative of women having to be smaller and skinnier and how women we were ingrained in this mindset from a very early age through magazines and now through social media of why do we always need to be smaller? Why do we always need to be skinnier? And to really start moving away from that, we just we talk about the joy of discovering your true potential through health and fitness and how when you really kind of build that evidence and that confidence, how it spills into all areas of your life. we talk a bit about the true cost of building a business in the early days. So she talks about the early days of, of, of building her coached by Swifty business and really what, what it took to do so, because I think sometimes people think that, and building a business, particularly an online business is easy. And we really talk about, you know, the, the, the cost it took on her, you know, as a parent, as, as a woman, her her own health, her own time, and and just really what it took. and We also then talk about being a mum and balancing health and fitness, running a business. So this is just a lovely, well-rounded conversation. We spend a lot of time talking about health and fitness, a little bit about business and just in general, a conversation about being a woman and stepping into the best version of yourself. am
Speaker: I just know you're going to enjoy this as much as I did. So without further ado, here is the episode with Vicky Swift. Vicky, welcome to the podcast. Hey, I can't believe that I'm on your pod, mate. Excited.
Speaker: I'm so, this is a long time coming, actually. I've talked about this before. and I'm really excited to chat, coach to coach. And and yeah, we we're finally doing it.
Speaker: Yeah, a long time. So for anyone who doesn't know who you are, and do you want to just share a little bit about you, what you do, and maybe kind of the journey that led you to what you do?
Speaker: and So I am this year, 40, mum of a 15 year old. and How I sort of, my background is like, I think a lot of women had a kid, piled loads and loads of weight on, was probably really unhappy with my appearance.
Speaker: And then i was actually bigger after having my daughter at nine months than I was when I was pregnant. You know, I think we kind of had this vision that like, oh, he'll just bounce back. But absolutely because I was still stuffing my face and really got had a very big, hard look at myself and transformed my life, basically. Yeah.
Speaker: And never look back. That is sort of how I have been in that. So my daughter's now like mental, like she's 15. So that was like 15 years ago. And there's obviously it's been a bit of a bumpy ride, but I've been a coach for the last five years.
Speaker: and so yeah, that's so a little bit about me, which I'm sure we'll chat a bit more in depth along this ah podcast. So being an online coach then, is your coaching based on your own journey?
Speaker: as to ah you You say that you transformed your life. So I want to obviously pick that that apart a little bit. So yes, a lot of my how i ah well, a lot of what my clients tell me is like, Swifty is so relatable. Like you have been there, you've done that, you know how we feel. And that's exactly why I became a coach because I've done diets. Like I think back to some of the crazy things that I have done over my life to get weight loss. You know, as women, I feel like I grew up in a generation where, know,
Speaker: Everything was skinny. You know, you went into Topshop with your... used to save my dinner up money up from school and I'd go into Topshop on a Saturday and everything was like... Nothing was above a size 10 and everything was like size zero. That was such a big push was that at the time of me growing up. So you have this sort of model in your head of like what you were meant to look like. And I grew up... Like my dad had his own business and I think this is why I'm so like...
Speaker: with where I am in my life that right now is, and it was a very male environment. He had a motorbike shop. So my mum was the only woman who worked there. And you know, the you hear like the guys talking about how they spoke about women. And that's how I thought you were meant to sort of look, you weren't meant to be a certain way.
Speaker: and how then diet culture led us. so then that negative mindset with, with that, that is exactly what like I've worked on so much with myself. And I help women with that because again, kind of feel like women, my own, my age have have grown up with that as well. And working to improve that relationship with how you see yourself and numbers and scales and, you know, that diet clubs did with the relationship with scales, the terminology around food, which right now I would call it out as like very, very disordered, you know, when it's called like cheap meals and, you know, you can't have that, that's bad for you, you know, working on that so much myself. has helped me then become the best coach out there to helping women and men. Like I don't just want to categorize women because I do coach men as well. And there is guys out there that struggle with relationships with food, struggle with their body image as well. So, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. And I think it's it's interesting, isn't it? Because we there's so much talk about how detrimental social media is in relation to comparison and, you ah this ideal body type and body size that's being portrayed on social media. Like that's like social media is just ah another version of what we've always had to live with. Like, and that's only in our lifetime as as two 40 year olds talking like this. You know, I say we talk to our mothers and our grandmothers. You know, this has been going on.
Speaker: probably centuries like you know for the but like when we when you actually really think about I actually saw a post on Instagram I think it was I think it was Tara Dixon who posted yes yeah yet with the magazines yeah and like uh where to explain to anyone listening who doesn't know what i'm talking about um Tara posted a kind of a carousel post on her Instagram Tara Dixon and she she was like It was about the skinny culture that we grew up in and the magazine articles and how every magazine article, like front page was about who looked horrible on the beach, who looked super skinny, who. Or not was a big thing, you know. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: like it and i have forgotten all of that that's you know that we were that's that's exactly how we're supposed to when we were young and i'd said this so i say to my clients like if you're following somebody who when you look at their page isn't what you want to see from a health perspective then maybe making you feel like you should look a certain way in terms of body image and it's not healthy body image you know um that that's that unfollow button is there for that reason you know you don't have to follow i follow people follow people like like courtney black for instance years ago like lockdown when she was doing home workouts and promoting you to move your body because it's good for your head didn't have an issue but then when she's gone on to like oh i've got to do lymphatic drainage because that's got me this core and you know how she spoke about food is very very disordered eating
Speaker: unfollow, you know, like Joe Wicks, unfollow. Like they've changed as people, but not always for the better. You don't have to follow that. But the magazines, every magazine you bought, whether that was Heat, Closer, you know, Top of the Pups, they were ridiculing. Like one minute Britney Spears was looking like a car crash because she was in joggers and a hoodie. So she's obviously put weight on. The next minute she's like...
Speaker: looking ripped and unreal and still getting criticized. Like, the girl couldn't do right for doing wrong. And yeah that was in every single magazine. So no matter what you picked up, you saw it. You heard it on the radio. They were our media platforms. We didn't have social media. But now you do have, I would say, a little bit more control over what you do see on your Like For You page.
Speaker: Yeah, and that's it. Like, we yeah, with we're probably bombarded with more. But we... And we have we do have control, but I think we forget that we have control because of the the whole idea of reels and TikTok. And it's it's, you know, whether it's Instagram reels, Facebook reels or TikTok, doesn't matter. It's the same thing you're scrolling and you're being fed the next video or the fed next picture that, you know, you're being fed it. So that makes it a little bit harder, but it's really important to remember when you're scrolling, what you stop on is what you're going to be shown more of or what you engage in is what you're going be shown more of. And to remember that so that if, you're watching like if you're actually watching things about people's weight or about how to get super ripped or whatever it is that you're you're watching, you are going to be fed more of that, whether you're following them or not, which is what's kind of scary with the with the real feed.
Speaker: And I think as well, when it comes to, like, we need to be a little bit more aware. Like, so when we talk about that unfollow button, someone that, you know, if you're if you're following someone that maybe isn't making you feel good about your body because you're comparing them to theirs or they're they're promoting an unhealthy thing,
Speaker: way of doing things or perspective or disordered eating sometimes I think we might not be aware you know that like you know, maybe myself and yourself would be a bit more aware as coaches. But I think I think back to myself five or 10 years ago and I'm like, I saw these women with these incredible bodies and I didn't actually understand.
Speaker: Yeah. What has to be sacrificed to that for not everyone. Some people are genetically gifted and, you with good training and and good quality nutrition. they They look incredible. But there's a lot of people that were being glorified for bodies that were a result of eating disorders or very disordered eating, if not classified as a de disease at eating disorder.
Speaker: Definitely. And like, before I became a PT and went to my first um self-employed job in a book, which was in a but very bodybuilding gym, I hadn't realized, and this wasn't even as women, I hadn't, until I got talking to the bodybuilder guys, especially the like guys that were like 50 plus who would come out of the bodybuilding scene, but were still obviously training because it's a,
Speaker: it's still a lifestyle even though you're not doing like shows how much of the disordered eating and that for me was a very quick because of I always got told and I'll never forget this one guy saying I'll never be taken seriously as a coach I'll never make it I'll never be successful because I haven't done a bodybuilding show but hearing all them are just went that is the last thing I want to do why when I have worked on my relationships with the scales with eating healthy my eating habits, all the rest of it, would I want to put all that under sacrifice and go back to square one? I wasn't ever prepared to do it ever. And my, one of my best mates who's come out of PT life after six months, um,
Speaker: of doing it said, do you really think, and at the time I think I was coaching a lovely lady who lost like five stone with me, and this was at the start of her journey, she went, do you really think that lady there is interested in Vicky if she stood on stage or not covered in one seal? She went, I think it'd probably put her off coming to Vicky because she wouldn't relate to Vicky.
Speaker: She can relate to Vicky because she knows seeing her start photo to how she is now that's possible. She was in my shoes. She's not going to judge me. She's going to understand the busy mum life while trying to work and put tea on the table. She's going to get that.
Speaker: So yeah absolutely, you know. And what most people want, obviously generalizing, everyone wants different things. But for most people, if they want to lose a bit of weight to be healthier, they want to be healthier. They want to more energy. They want to look a bit better in their clothes, feel more confident and be able to enjoy their lives as well. Like, You know, and it it can veer it very quickly in the other direction where it it gets super restrictive.
Speaker: And then it gets healthy in a different way. And and it's it's finding that zone. Yeah. It's finding what works best for you. And, you know, and I think it's different for everyone as well. I think it's important as well. Yeah. that People get sucked in into clever marketing, you know, and um I've been a bugger of that over the years, you know, but things like, like how terminology is used. Like I hate it when I say I've actually got a video to edit on this, like words that I hate, like detox, detox,
Speaker: Like, what are detoxing from? Like, if you need to, like, are you drinking too much alcohol? You do not need a full, like, right, I'm not going to drink alcohol for one month. And then you can't sustain that. Like, because all you're going to do is then think about it even more. Like, fair enough, reduce it. Or if you're finding alcohol that, like, myself was a big issue in your life,
Speaker: go sober but you don't need a detox from from everything and no you don't need a detox shake or a detox yeah you don't oh it's just shite you know you have a liver actually for your liver is what is detoxing so and like shreds like jesus christ i hate like i see it so much in the in the area that i i'm like wondering my work from they are very what i call crash dieting you know shreds and like you can get lose this in this X amount of time. And it all just screams like like the amount of women I get to me who have gone, I've tried everything. And I went, yeah, because you've gone balls deep, really hard for six weeks and not gone out. And then the second like you've got and gone on holiday or you've you've you've gone out for ah your birthday, you're like a human dustbin and then back to square one and you feel rubbish because it's that you're your cycle that you're fed into that this will work. And then when it works, brilliant.
Speaker: So then you go back to it because you in your mind, like Slimming World, for example, everyone loses like a shit ton of water weight in the first week because they've eaten everything in the house before they've gone to work the first weight in. And then the week after, they're like, oh, my God, I can eat unlimited amount of pasta. I can eat, you know, I can eat cooked breakfast every day.
Speaker: oh yeah, I've lost six pounds this week. Yeah, this really works. And then obviously the more weeks go on, they're not losing the weight, but in their mind, it works because of that psychological part of our brain is fed that to think that it works because it's worked very early on, but they're not thinking about the brain long-term over like a six month, 12 month period. Is it working? Is it sustainable? Can you go on a holiday and still maintain and manage your weight in a healthy way are you not then going on like a big binge because you've often fallen off the diet or I'm not on plan this week you know if your answer's no to those questions it's not sustainable
Speaker: It breaks my heart. how Like, and you know, i like like yourself, i I speak with a lot of women, you know, before they sign up to coaching. I ah coached a lot of women over the years.
Speaker: And what breaks my heart the most is... when someone has genuinely lost belief in themselves that they can actually do it because of every failed diet and every time they fail at another diet it's like they're building evidence that they can't do it so like I speak with a lot of women who genuinely don't know like they come to me like I don't know if I yet can actually do this anymore I don't know that I can lose weight I like So many women feel that way. And it's because of this diet culture and like it really like, you know, some some coaches get really angry about it. It actually just makes me so sad. It breaks my heart. because And like it is like my mission in life to be able to show women that like I've done it like and I've had a similar journey to you. Like, you know, we've both done it. that We have lots of clients who've done it where.
Speaker: it's It's the slow and steady approach. It's like you don't have to change your whole life. Your life as you enjoy it is okay. We've just got a tweak it a little bit. You don't have to adapt to someone else's meal plan. That's why I don't do meal plans. like you know You have to be able to to live your life and...
Speaker: your life and it I don't know anyone who's done like a really restrictive, like 1200 calorie diet or they've done a juice diet or they've done anything where they've lost weight really quickly. So like I know lots people have lost weight really, really quickly.
Speaker: I don't know anyone who's kept it off. No, absolutely not. And that is the point. And when we get to the stage that we realize that there's no quick way to do this, but there's one really, really effective way to do it. And if you just commit, to the slow and steady showing up for yourself imperfectly every day it like massively massively pays off over time i say this to a lot of women when they're like oh i've only lost a pound or i've lost x amount in in the last eight weeks and they're like only only lost that
Speaker: like, do you know, like I think I've even got somewhere in my office, like a little module of of what that fat looks like. And I'm like, what's the chuffing rush? Like, what is the rush? Like, you've got the rest of your life to focus on your health and that's what you want to, when you're seeing it as a lifestyle and not that quick fix and like, what is the rush to get this weight off? Like, there is no rush ever to get that weight off, you know? And it's not about the weight it loss. It's about the the what I always call the sweet spot.
Speaker: And this is something that I know you'll do with your ladies as well. It's like, right, OK, we've been in our deficit for X amount of weeks. We're now going to reverse out of our deficit and have a good maintenance block. And that is the sweet spot of life because you can have a few more carbs. You have got that extra bit of energy to push the extra reps out in the gym, which is going to help you build muscle better and more efficient which makes your body more efficient and then if you do still have more weight to lose regardless of what your size is I will do this with every client is then you can come back into a deficit and your body responds even better you know this phased approach is so important yeah and It's something that I get so excited to to teach people about because a lot of people don't know this, you know, yeah that particularly like I think if you've got any more than about like seven to 10 pounds to lose, you're going to have to do it in a phased approach. Realistically, like, yeah, because and even sometimes with the the small amount of pounds to lose,
Speaker: Doing it in a phased approach can be more effective. It depends on the person and how their body responds. But for anyone who doesn't know, we're talking about going into a diet phase where you're in your calorie deficit and nothing restrictive, just a slight calorie deficit. And you're tracking and you're in your deficit for eight weeks, 10 weeks to 12. How long would you keep someone in a deficit?
Speaker: Definitely no longer than like, it depends on the person and it depends on how consistent they have been throughout their dieting phase. If the, you know, some people might've had ah a week, a week's holiday. So then we'll obviously have a maintenance for that week.
Speaker: and But definitely no longer than like, I know myself when I did my photo or shoot prep and cat had me in for 20 weeks, that was for me personally too long for a lifestyle client. So no longer than 18 weeks.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. kind of I think usually what they had like no longer than 16 weeks. There are ah always some exceptions. People's bodies are responding well they're really enjoying it. They're in flow. If someone's really in flow, I'll never take them out of it when it's working well. But and for ah for most of us, myself included, you know like to be honest after about eight weeks I need a break ah yeah i'm I'm a terrible dieter but I just like I just love being at maintenance I just yeah it's just you know like just because you're at maintenance and especially like the first few weeks of coming up to maintenance you're still really in a deficit as you reverse out of it so I say this a lot and people I've had girls who are like I can't believe and this is again something I love as a coach when someone says to me
Speaker: I can't believe how much food I'm eating and I'm not hungry, but I am feeling on fire and I'm not gaining weight. And I'm like, this is the sweet spot. Like we get so scared as women to eat food, eat carbohydrates and healthy fats. And this is where it has to be most of the time. like you And then and like with, so like with that phased approach, just as we're kind of guiding people for who don't know to explain them, then we we get to this sweet spot, which is this maintenance and We spend a lot of time in this maintenance phase so that we give our metabolism time to recover, our mindset time to recover. are Like you said, the strength, that the energy.
Speaker: And then the magic thing is when we go back, if we have more body fat to lose, we go back into the into it your second diet phase. And go on, you tell them what happens when you start your second diet. Your body responds so much better because it's had that break. It's not like it's not low on that energy and yeah you've got a bit more muscle on your body because you've been strength to training. It starts on higher calories as well, aren't you? Yeah, you don't always have to. Every dieting phase I've done, my calories have always been different because I've had them more muscle on my body and my body's had that break and it's responded so much better, you know.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, it's a sweet spot of training. And I know this is sometimes then where as a coach, sometimes you can get a little bit frustrated with people because they'll come to you and then they've got where they're like, oh, yeah, I'm feeling good. And they've only done like, say, just the dieting season with you.
Speaker: But then you know that they haven't had that maintenance season to maintain their weight. And again, then it it can sometimes create that like all on off approach. If you've not done a maintenance season for a minimum, i would say eight weeks is what I'd put someone on it as a minimum season to give their body that break and reverse out of it properly is they don't know then how to eat at maintenance. So they're either still on dieting calories or they've got those old habits seep in and they're not tracking the calories I've not tracked today.
Speaker: And don't get me wrong, I pull some clients who I know after a while of doing maintenance Right, let's remove tracking. Let's see if we can maintain our weight without having to track our calories, keeping everything as you've been doing because it's your lifestyle and see where we sit at with our weight. Obviously, if we notice our weight is coming too low, we know that we're not eating enough. And obviously, if it's spiking up, we know we we're going over and we can obviously pull things back and with some other tools. But...
Speaker: That is where then if you're not tracking, you're not keeping that mindful after your deficit and those old habits can seep in because you're not you're not as aware and you've not got that.
Speaker: Sometimes it's a little bit of that respect for yourself as in like, i like that chocolate bar doesn't matter or oh that extra glass of wine doesn't matter. And before you know it, yeah those pounds of have come back on because you've not had that maintenance season to understand what to eat and be calorie aware of of those foods.
Speaker: Yeah and I think there's a huge amount of awareness needed when you know like that oh when we're in a deficit we're so focused on tracking and you know getting ahead of ourselves and being organized and staying in it and I think then when we come to maintenance and we relax a little bit automatic behaviors come back in and that doesn't make us bad people it's It's from our subconscious mind. They're so deeply ingrained and programmed in our subconscious mind that it really takes ah like there's still a lot of work to do on the awareness side of it. Noticing things coming back rather than going into autopilot and just sliding back into old habits that, you know, there is that. Yes, you you like that time tracking and maintenance is hugely important. So you can notice things. And even then, when you take your tracking away, notice the things that are starting to slip back. Don't be judgmental or hard on yourself.
Speaker: it's We're human. It's part of it. like But then once we're ah what once we're aware of it, we can be like, OK, I need to create the gap there. what what do I need to do how do I need to react or respond instead and that can take like that's that's a lifetime of work and it's it's a case of we always need to be self-aware and we always need to not be self-critical and be constantly pushing and over hard on ourselves but having the awareness of being like oh why do I keep doing that and being willing to be curious and explore Why is that a habit? what Where does it stem from? What's triggering it? And when if the awareness awareness is the first step to actually changing things that we feel like we've no control over.
Speaker: And it's such a huge part of the process, I think. 100%, again, like a lot of reflection within checking forms. And it's like, I'm not just going to push over something if something's happened in that week. So I'd be like, right, I want you to now message me over. Like what has happened in that day from the moment we've woke up? if you Have you consumed something on social media that's triggered you? Has somebody said something to you?
Speaker: How was our sleep? How was like your day? Like what what have we done today? Right, yeah, i i was on ah I've had a really rubbish night's sleep and I didn't eat my breakfast. Right, well, that's the first thing that's then led us to what's happened in the afternoon.
Speaker: we know that then we can work, we've got to work on that. You know, and again, that comes from reflection because if you're not aware and you just think, oh yeah, I've eaten too much today, but I don't know why, you're never going to then work on that. You're not going to then see those habits and and nat those patterns into that. Like, again, and I've had some women say to me, why are you asking me about my menstrual cycle? Well, because I like to record it because I know the week before you're maybe going to need,
Speaker: a bit more magnesium into your so into your body you're going to need to be going to bed that little bit earlier for more sleep you know you may be going to be needing a few more carbohydrates and i'm going to bring your calories up for four or five days because your body needs that and as a coach i want to support you in the best way possible and to educate you like i always say this like i just don't just want to give you exercises to do, which don't get me wrong, my app is amazing. That's only a very small percentage of it.
Speaker: I want to help you to have a healthier and happier lifestyle. It's not just about like, right, we have got our body fat percentage down. we can go out and know what to choose off a menu that is going to support our gut and support our energy levels. We're going to leave the gym feeling more confident than when we walked in and certainly more confident than when we started the program. You know, there's so much more to coaching than just, right, these are your calories and I want you to do some squats, you know.
Speaker: And there's so much more to ah the the coaching journey as a client as well than just back to the to the magazines and the way we've been brought up to just being skinny and the smallest version of ourselves. yeah There's so much more. hate that word. I hate the word skinny. it Yeah. My mum the other week went, oh, you're looking you looking skinny. And I went,
Speaker: Please don't ever call me that because that that is a triggering word for me now. Like, and my very first, like, this is a lady who really, she's no longer here. She was my one of my best friends, and got me to be, she owned a gym and she got, she pushed me to do my qualifications. She, when I very first started doing, like, classes, because that's how I got into, actually, the gym,
Speaker: about 14 years ago now, ah she was like, ooh, Vicky, you beast. You're a beast, you are. And at the time, i was like, that's a bit, that's a bit manly word, that, isn't it, beast? But after a while, I realized why she was calling me, because she was like, you're strong. Like, no one's benching what you're bench pressing. No one's, like, putting the effort in and training like you're training. It's a compliment, like, because she'd done bodybuilding and things like that. So she had seen that
Speaker: in me you know now if someone was to call me that I'd be like I'd rather get called a beast over getting called skinny because i I do not want to be skinny at all I want to look I want to look strong I want to look you know confident all those uh words that as women we get have been scared of over the years that is what I want I never want to get called skinny ever And it's funny, our mom's generation, yeah it it's a compliment. They mean and as a car sorry mean it as a compliment because that that that's what... That was diet culture. you know when Women are supposed to be small and they're supposed to be skinny. But in relation to that confidence that you talk about, like that's what it's about. like It's the strength and the confidence. And I love this. like I love this about coaching. and i love that like I can remember this in my own journey, that moment of realising
Speaker: Oh, I was able to lift that or just watching other women in the gym. Like, and I was in CrossFit gym in my early days and yeah like it's crazy shit happens in a CrossFit gym. and And that's a whole other thing. But and just watching women deadlift, like really heavy weight and squatting. And I was like, what? How are these? And like and they look so like petite, like, you know, and in my naive mind at the time, I'm like, oh, they're so slim. Like, you know, yeah I learned very quickly.
Speaker: It's not about being small. It's not about being skinny or slim. And the feeling of being able to lift something you didn't think you could lift or run at at a speed or a distance that you didn't think you could run or jump onto a high box that you were terrified you were cut your knees off and you were able to do it. And like just all of this stuff that you were that I did with my physical body and it changed me forever. Like it really did because I was like, this is no longer about. And before that, like any diets or workouts or anything I'd ever done before, that was always about how to look. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to look well. And I know that's a goal for a lot of people.
Speaker: But I think when you realize that looking well is the side effect and actually. That's the byproduct of it. It's the byproduct. And it's the fire inside you. It's the being like, holy shit. That's self-belief. I am so capable. Yeah. And it's building the evidence, isn't it? That you do it. And it spills out into every area of your life. And that's what the journey is about. I don't care what people's goals are when they come to me. Or, you know, why they're there. I want to lose weight. I want to be slim.
Speaker: Come, join me. get stuck in very soon. It's going to become about so much more than that. It can still be about that too, but it'll be so much deeper. Yeah. Like I've had in the last year, women who have joined me, who have worked out from home because just they busy mums and they've got busy lives, you know, working and picking the kids up and then the husband. And three of these women have gone to be self-employed.
Speaker: And they've all said to me, if I hadn't have joined your program and I didn't think I'd be able to lift weights because I couldn't get to a gym. And if I a joined your program and with you and your confidence in me, you've believed in me and you've made me more aware and more confident.
Speaker: It's given me that self-belief to go, well, why can't I be self-employed and run my own business? And I'm like, you sometimes forget about the the power of your coaching and like what you give people and the power of those, like doing something that you didn't think you could do. And then you absolutely smash those goals, goes into so many other areas of your life. And like to then go, right, I'm not going to work for somebody because, you know, the pay, the holidays and just the mum life doesn't always fit.
Speaker: But I'm going to set up, why can't I do that for myself? Because I always say this, like, anyone listening to this and you're thinking about like either getting a coach or working for yourself or you know you want to go on holiday on your own or you want to do a photo shoot anything possible like why not you because like there are so many people out there that are doing it why can that not be you yeah the only thing holding you back is you yeah And it's funny, I used to have this mindset like growing growing up and like all through my 20s really. It really wasn't until my 30s that and like when I started properly training that that i I realized this.
Speaker: But I genuinely thought that other people were better than me and that other people were stronger than me. And Like, and it was a genuine, like, limiting belief that I had. And it really wasn't until I started proving to myself because i I like I would have been quite anxious and afraid, like. So until I start proving to myself bit by bit, like in the gym, but also in other areas my life. Oh, I can do it. So I think sometimes when we feel afraid, we're like, oh, I couldn't possibly do that. That's great for Vicky that she was able to do that, but I couldn't do that.
Speaker: It's different if you don't want to do something. Yeah, you've got want to do it. Yeah, because everyone has different likes and different, like not everyone wants to build their own business. Some people like to go to work for someone else and be able to switch off. Yeah, it's got a benefit. And you know, at times it's tempting. and Sometimes I'm a bit like, oh, do I well do i want that again? Yeah. Well, indeed, this week. You know, everybody's different that way. And same way that not everybody wants to go lift super heavy weights in the gym, but they want to go to a Pilates class and they love Pilates or they're really into yoga or they they love working out strength wise at home and they're building up a decent dumbbell collection at home. You know, there's no one size fits all. But what's true for everyone and like I believe this to my core. And I i' probably talked to talk to you about this in in like our leader and like group calls or whatever, that we are all here for a reason. Like we are all on this planet for a reason. We all have different traits. We all have different personalities. We all have different strengths, you know, different ways of doing things, different things that we enjoy and different things that light us up. The combination of all of that, we all have this like little like fire inside us.
Speaker: And if we're, if we're ignoring all of those things, it stays really small. And that's when we, you know, make, keep ourselves small for others. But when we start to take baby steps into, oh, I'm enjoying this. Oh, look what I can do. oh and suddenly that fire in us is is growing and it's building. And it's, that's when we start to build a confidence and we're like, what else can we do? Things start to fall in our path. We start It's never about jumping so far out of our comfort zone that we you know fall off the cliff of overwhelm or anything, but it's just moving slowly in the direction. And and sometimes like I remember starting my business. I didn't even know what I was starting really at the time, Vicky. I really just... It was like, this feels right. I could like i was following my gut and it was that little fire inside me. And I was like, this feels right.
Speaker: Oh, I'm loving this. Oh my God, it's 11.30 PM and I'm still working on this. I'd never do that for teaching. You know, things like that. Or rushing around because I had to go to the gym because I was so excited to go because I couldn't wait to see my friends. And, you know, like, cause we, I was doing class-based training.
Speaker: workouts and it was just so it was it was that fire and it just it built and I think if as humans we can learn to slow down enough and often just follow that it's different for everyone it could be building a business it could be doing a bodybuilding show who knows it could be running a marathon it could be like everyone has different goals But if we need to stop intellectualizing them and we need to start feeling what feels right for us, that could be becoming an artist, a singer, taking back up and ah an instrument, learning a language. It's like it's I just think we've lost that connection to ourselves. And when we find it, it's magic. And one person is not better than the other. None of like people who are. You're competition yourself. Yeah. People who are who are coming across as really successful or are really successful or are really happy.
Speaker: They're just tuned into that fire inside them and everyone has it. It's just, you have to slow down. You have to slow down enough to hear it, to connect with it, to feel it.
Speaker: yeah That's the challenge, I think. yeah And I think sometimes we're scared. Like, so when I first became a ah PT, the reason how I got not pushed into it, but that's maybe the wrong word, but i got I got the sack from my job very unexpectedly. I loved the job. I left and went back to work there and I just got basically told to, well, I did F off.
Speaker: And I'm a bit like the person, like some some women would have just been like, oh my God. Well, I was like, where's my car keys? See you later. and that was it and we'd just come out of the second lockdown so i i'd worked all throughout lockdown but didn't get paid because the shop wasn't open but i got told well if you don't sell bikes you will have a job to come back to so like trying to sell bikes from home was hard but i sold i did sell them like that's how good i was at my job and that wasn't to blow my own trumpet i was good And so I was in a bit of a rubbish place and i was just like, well, I just need to get a job. I don't care what it is. And I found a cleaning job. I'd never done that before.
Speaker: And know I loved it. And it allowed me to build. I'd been building behind the scenes, posting lockdown workouts. Everyone else was like sat at home drinking.
Speaker: I was posting daily workouts on my own social media page. I didn't have my business page to just inspire people. That's why I was doing it. But my other half was like, why are you taking time to edit this? I was like, because if I can do this, if if little Swiftie in a little village where nobody, you know, don't have a huge friendship group, but if I can inspire women,
Speaker: and men to move their bodies to make them feel good at a time where we can't leave the house and see people and stuff. Like my dad was literally took lockdown life to a literal, like even when they let us see each other at Christmas, he won't let us in the house. Like he was like, no, I don't want to risk it. And I'm like talking to him through a glass door, you know?
Speaker: So if I could do that and I continued to do that. And then when I launched my business, which was a bit of a wild time, i bought a house. I put the offering for the house the same day I launched my social media page. I was like, that is just a typical me doing everything all at once.
Speaker: And I couldn't believe in my first week that I had two people contact me for a consultation. And I was like, oh my God, people people have booked a consultation with me.
Speaker: And then i got quite quickly booked up, which again, I'm like, oh my God. people want me to be their personal trainer. Like I'm new, I've not done this before. i' not I've not told, I've never instructed people to exercise before. Obviously I had lots of experience. I've been in the gym, I've done inductions and you know taught classes and things, but I'm like, this is this is new. so But I didn't put all my eggs in one basket, not because I didn't believe in myself,
Speaker: to ah to a to a degree, but because, you know, I still needed money. I didn't want, I still needed to put food on the table. And I was very lucky that my mum and dad, are retired my dad they retired early because my dad was a workhorse and my mum, and they never had any holidays. They didn't really have time off work.
Speaker: And my dad has put that grain into me, which is sometimes a good thing and not a good thing. And it's something that have had to work up along, probably in the last 18 months where we've burned out and things. But I then became like, i was literally like on busy days, i was up at five o'clock in the morning,
Speaker: going to do a couple of my cleans that I could go to at that time. Then at 8 a.m. m going and PTing in an afternoon, going back cleaning and then PTing up till 8 p.m. at night. And I'm like, someone's got to give. Like, I am, I'm a burnt out Swifty right now. And what am I doing? Cleaning toilets, which again, no shame on that because I always say this to people. If you can't find a job,
Speaker: You can find a job cleaning and it will be the best job you ever had. It'll be the best paid job you'll ever have and the physical-ish job you'll ever have. And you will meet some amazing people yeah while doing it, especially if you're doing things like holiday cottages and things like that.
Speaker: But I knew that why am I doing this when I could be charging this and helping somebody when I'm turning clients away right now? So I had to make that commitment to, well, I'm going to really give this my best chuffing shot, right? Because if I'm giving up these cleans, I don't want to say that I'm not doing that.
Speaker: And this is my full time job. And I did. I was grafting hard. to a point like, I'm having to say no, I can't take anybody else on, because I'm working six days a week, no only Sunday as a day off that people saw was a day off, because I wasn't in the gym, but that Sunday as a day off was food shopping, washing, seeing my daughter,
Speaker: and planning my sessions for the following week, because I wasn't a coach, and this is why people told me that I was good, because I was having proper programs and recording and what exercises they were doing as a structure.
Speaker: They were going, oh, my God, I've never had a PT doing this before. And I went, well, that's why I'm your PT, because I want you to progress progressive overload. I want to see your progress with what you're using. I said, I can't remember what weights I use in the gym. So how am I meant to remember another 40, 50 people's weights and reps and what exercises that they're doing? I said, you might not be able to do an exercise and I need to know that. So you've got a program.
Speaker: So I had all that to organize. And when I then put everything in, I was like, oh, my God. And it's really funny, actually, because my friend who I spoke about a bit earlier on when she said, would you ever do it online, Swifty? And this was only in the first six months of me being a PT. And I was like, absolutely not. Like, i love face to face. Like, why would I want to give this up? Why? Like, I've built this great business and I'm helping so many people. Why? Why?
Speaker: Online wouldn't work for me. They love me face to face. And now she like I was on her. She was on my podcast, Chloe, and she she laughs at me. She's like, do you remember when I said that to you? And now look at you with a full time online business. And I'm like, yeah, you've just got to look back and reflect at how far you've come and where you've got to where you are.
Speaker: Yeah, it's got such an it's so interesting to hear your story. And like, you know, that like that ties in what I'm saying about the fire inside you, like working six hour days or six day weeks. Yeah. Oh, like 12 hours more a day.
Speaker: For six days week. You don't do that unless you've got a fire inside you that you're working towards something like. Yeah. Like I'd take my daughter to school. This is when like I was full time PTing. So I'd train myself in the morning, walk the dog, take my daughter to school. I'd get in the gym for 8am because that worked. It was very rare. It was only on the days as my partner wasn't at work that I would then do earlier than that.
Speaker: And then sometimes that was a bit of a sacrifice to my own training, which I didn't always like. But sometimes what you've got to do to build your business. And then I'd rush. She'd finished school at 2.30.
Speaker: I'd finish my last session at 2.20. I'd run to the car. I was always that mum who was always late. I'd then take her home or take her to my mum's. And then I'd be back in the gym for like 3.30. So I'm doing all of that. I'm trying to eat. So I'll be eating with while driving like a squeezy yogurt or, you know, a protein shake to try and get my food in. And I'll be back and I'll be there at till late p.m. at night.
Speaker: And it's like... my mate would be like, Swifty, you're just running around like a blue-ass fly. Like, when do you get a minute? I went, when I'm asleep. I said, my head is that pillow, I'm asleep.
Speaker: And then my alarm goes off at five. You know? But if I ain't have done those reps in the gym and the hours and the... coaching people because I do believe like you have to coach people face to face to know how bodies move to know how people and communicate with people etc if I hadn't done that I would not be in the best position to coach people as I do now and I think that with this culture as well like because I know we're we're we're on the topic of business a little bit like and we'll bring it back to to health and fitness in a minute, but I like these episodes to have a mix of both because it's it's really interesting and they both kind of lend into each other. But I think in this culture of everybody wants to build an online business, not everybody does, but a lot of people want to build an online business. that if They want to have the laptop lights. I want to sit on the beach and check it in with my clients. And, you know, that that that's being an online coach is an easy life. First of all, to get to a position
Speaker: to be able to have a successful in-person or online business is doing exactly what you've described. Like I have my own version of that, which I've talked about on the podcast before, where it's a fucking grind. You're up first thing in the morning, you're you're working late, you barely see your kids. The mom guilt is unreal. and you're just go go go constantly the whole time and but it don't you're not complaining about it you're feeling guilty like well for me personally I was feeling guilty as a mother that I wasn't that present and that I was working all the time but I was also so fucking obsessed I was just like I know where I'm going I know what I'm building I know what I'm doing I know how much of a difference I'm making in people's lives that I'm working with and that's important and I think that in order to build a business you can get you be you will get to the stage of freedom and the freedom of your time and when you do you you get to be your own boss you decide when you do it but it's hard work and it's extremely it's unhealthily hard work in the early days yeah it is and
Speaker: I think why that fire in my belly came was then about a year into being a personal trainer, so I was full-time, my dad got...
Speaker: very, very quickly ill. He got diagnosed with myeloma cancer, which is a form of blood cancer. And he got rushed to hospital. Didn't think he would live. There's not, I would never answer my phone. I would never have my phone on on loud or anything like that when I was personal training somebody because I'm like, they're paying for my time. And I remember once my watch flashed up and it was my dad ringing.
Speaker: from the hospital and I said to my client, I'm really sorry, can I get this? My dad never rings me and he's ringing me and I'm just a bit concerned because he's not very well. Yeah, sure, go get it. And he rang me going, I don't think I'm going to live. I don't think I'm going to make it out of this hospital. I was like, dad, you can't talk like that. you've've We've got to be strong. We stick to our little motto when mu we used to do quad racing together. We're like, we stick together. We've got this. And I was like, we stick together. I said, I'll come and see you. said, I'm coming to see you tomorrow. You can't give up, dad. You can't give up.
Speaker: And then when I went to see him the next day, he was like, I adult i just don't think I'm going to get out of here. And he's like, he said, and he's always been my rock because he's not it's not my real dad, but he it he is my dad. I see him as my dad. And he's like, as was like, he can't give up. And he's like,
Speaker: yeah you've got be the rock now. You've got to go and grind your ass and make this business work. Cause its like, this is it now. you've got You've got to do that. And I think because of that conversation and because of how my dad built his business, he was always working and to be successful, that got grained into me. But then it came a point of,
Speaker: And I have this then conversation with my mom of dad didn't have to do the food shopping. Dad didn't have to do the washing. Dad didn't ever come to school. And I'm not slating my dad and putting my dad under the bus here, but it's very, very different.
Speaker: for a male of my dad's age to be in that culture. the woman did everything. dad now, I got them an air fryer for Christmas and my dad's like, I don't know how to drive it. I'm like, dad, it's not a piece of machinery. It is literally a presser button. I got it to make mum and your life easier. I won't use that, can't drive it.
Speaker: first So he's so much like not that like, wouldn't have a plan to change your bed or do a washing machine or, you know, if you go to the supermarket with him, it's that is a day out. Like, so I've really had to work hard on like that work life blend.
Speaker: a lot more because and I'm like he doesn't get like I can do this business from home and help so many people and and my income and be able to then if Katie needs to do something well yeah I can take an hour off to do that where he would have never have done that for me so I've had to work a lot on now I've got the business where I am happier with and being able to do what I do and it is all okay to take a day off a week a Sunday off and not feel guilty for that like I need that to then be refreshed for the week ahead and not feel that mum guilt and like my washing's done and people have got clothes, there's food in the fridge, you know. Yeah, and I think you've hit on such an important point here. And actually, this is kind of the whole reason why i i built my lead her mentorship as well, is as a woman who built a business and at the time felt very alone in it that I didn't have people who, who,
Speaker: were doing something similar, who had had done something similar and any of the mentors in my early years of building the business and actually right up to even now our own male and again I know I get myself in trouble one of these days generalizing I'll be cancelled but I do find in general even in today's age that it's in general harder for women to build a business because we're trying to do it all and I'm saying in general there are always exceptions so let me just say that i'm not I'm not branding everyone with same stick but
Speaker: In general, I see it with myself. I see it with you. I see it with the other ladies that we work with. I see it with other women that I've been in mentorships with, you know, that we're trying to, you know, be parents or we're trying to, you know, work a second job. We're trying to keep a household. We're trying to keep friendships. you know, spend time, look after her parents if they're older, you know what mean? Like there's there's always other responsibilities. Whereas a lot of the men that I've been around now saying that a lot of them are are young men that don't necessarily have families yet.
Speaker: But it's laser focus. It's tunnel vision. They're just focusing on them and their business. Even the men who do have kids, do have partners quite often. It's like,
Speaker: their tunnel vision, they're building their business, theyre theyre they now their mentality a lot of the time is to look after their family, you know, and to provide for their family. And there is that traditional sense of, you know, men feel they want to provide for their family and women feel like they want to care for their family.
Speaker: I want to do both and doing both is really fucking hard. So like what you've described, that you eat that grind, that that early day grind that you had to do to bring your business to a certain level, I had to do that same grind.
Speaker: There's a period that that needs to be done and women need help and support to be able to do that. They can't do it. They can't just neglect their kids. And just there, you know, like they have they have to have a little bit of balance. So, like, you know, in those early days, I had Dave, my husband, and he did take over everything in the house and he did a lot of the school runs and I was there when I could be. And then I wasn't there a lot and a lot of guilt around it. My house kind of went to shit a little because he did his best. But like I love him, it wasn't the way. Oh, no, he's going to be listening. He's going to be editing this. Sorry, Dave.
Speaker: But it wasn't. In the early days, I, you know, if he was cleaning the bathrooms and he's listening to this now, I'm going to be honest. I'm going to be honest. In the early days, and he'd be cleaning the bathrooms or I might see or he'd have done something and he wouldn't have done it the way I would have done it. Yeah.
Speaker: I had to just keep my mouth shut because I'm like, Kate, you're lucky you have someone to do the things that you used to do while you do this. yeah I can't build a business. I mean, nitpicking what he, what the fuck he's doing. And he'll he's been listening this, but he's still fucking nitpicked. I didn't as much as I wanted to, I promise. and But, you know, and I had to let go of that. And I did very quickly because you, you know, if you need help and support, it's like, you know, if you need your parents to watch your kids, don't be nitpicking how they're watching your kids. Just be grateful they're watching your fucking kids. Like i was just grateful that
Speaker: I had someone there that could pick up the pieces. And now saying that I had and it's only fair. I had done it for years when I was a teacher. I i did pretty much all the household and all the kids. So if he was commuting in and out of Dublin. He wasn't home till late. That's what suited us at that time. When I was building the business, he was working from home. So suddenly it just worked. And he was really happy to do it. Like, it you know, I think you probably felt he'd missed out with all the commuting over the years. And it, you know, it was it worked for us.
Speaker: But sorry, my point, i am I'm coming back to a point of this with myself, yourself, any women that that I've worked with or are worked worked alongside, that level of intensity can't last forever.
Speaker: Yes, because we't give in. So it's it's about you do that initial push and then you have to get some level of balance back because and you have to grow at a sustainable, steady pace within your business, particularly actually for all of us, regardless what your business is.
Speaker: because your health's going suffer, your mental health, physical health, your hormonal health. We're, you know, we're both 40 now, you know, we're heading in that direction of already my hormones are starting to be like, okay, you know, so it's, um, we like, it gets to a stage where it is.
Speaker: We have to get, so it's it's not always going to be perfectly balanced, but we need a little bit of balance. And I think that's a challenge that women feel a lot more than men in general.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. And I can sometimes like, I'd have been lost without my mum and dad have been retired and my daughter, me and my daughter's dad act together. week That was probably when I really started to focus on my health and we split and And I remember sometimes saying like, I'm not the only parent here, you know, like, and I think as women, we can get like feeling like it's all put onto us and just sometimes needing to remember, well, as I'm not alone here. Why am I why am i the one doing trying to do everything?
Speaker: when there's two there is two parents, you know. And and like you said about, and I remember having this conversation with my daughter's dentist when she was like, oh, you need to not be to this, so for a teeth and not this. And I was like, well, I don't have control over, you know, she's not always with me and I don't have control and I'm not going to start nitpicking because someone's bought her some Haribo over looking after my child that I really need that for, you know. Yeah.
Speaker: pull back on the judgmental and you know but but yeah so yeah and we got to stop trying to be so perfect yeah and i think just getting a little bit more intentional when we're working and we're providing and we're building a business our kids are watching like and they're like without without us ever having to tell them what we're showing them what believing in yourself what going for your dreams is what what it actually takes to build a business, what hard work is, like what dedication is, we're showing them that. And I think mine, seeing my dad like working on bikes till 10 o'clock at night, like getting me up at five o'clock in the morning to go on business trips and buy things and and go like, used to take me to his bank appointments at like eight years old because there was no one else to look after me. You know, it wasn't a, I want her to see what's in the bank. It was a, you everybody box which he can't be in the shop on your own. You know, the other lads won't look after me.
Speaker: because that that wasn't their job, you know. So I went everywhere with them. But because I've seen that, that's made me who I am today. And the same with my daughter. And I i say this to so many parents who I coach, like kids don't do what we tell them. My chuffing doesn't. if i'm gonna say If I told her, like, do eat this, do this, do that. No, but what she has seen over the years, she will come for walks with us. yes the other day she'd seen me make this viral video and was like I've seen that mum can I try that yeah then I've caught her putting chia seeds in a smoothie she was eating a kiwi earlier she goes into the garage gym and will do do some strength training because she's seen the benefits from me and she knows that like without me doing that I wouldn't be who I am now and
Speaker: I say that kids don't do what we they we tell them to do, but they do what they see. And that's why as a parent, you want to make sure your health is in is in a good place and you're not like living on takeaways and all the rest of it, because your kids will be like that. But if you focus and cook healthy meals and they can see the benefit of your energy and you as a person, they will replicate that as well.
Speaker: Yeah. And I can just see actually from, from this conversation and you talking about your dad has been, a you know, and I can tell the way you talk about him, you can see how much of an impact that just the way he has built his business and lived his life and being in your life has had such an impact. And I think when we are the parents ourselves, we forget how much of the impact is. And it's so important that when we're busy, not to feel guilty for working. Yeah. You know, which is easier said than done. Notice when we feel it and be like, well, no, I'm doing something real here. They're seeing it. So be in work when you're in work, when you're off and you're with your kids, stop fucking stressing about money. Stop stressing about your job. Stop stressing about the finances or like what or what's what you have to do tomorrow.
Speaker: Be present so that it becomes quality time rather than quantity of time. and that you're present and you're actually having fun and you're you're you're enjoying time with your kids or your partner or your friends or whoever it is that you're spending time with when you're off. And then just learn that switch, you know, be intentional. and Actually, who is it that said this to me? but and And it always stuck with me. Ciaran O'Neill. Ciaran O'Neill from TMP.
Speaker: Don't be the person at the beach thinking of the office and the person at the office thinking of the beach. Yeah. Which is what's the trap that so many us fall into. And it's so true. And in relation to bringing this back to health and fitness, what you're saying there about being the example as well.
Speaker: and We again forget our impact as as parents by just how we live our lives. i I noticed this a lot with my kids being teenagers now and, you know, especially my oldest boy is 16 and 16 and a half. Like it's just happened. I'm like in the year and a half and he's going to be 18. I'm like, oh, my God. And I'm kind of have I taught him all the lessons? Is he able to keep himself alive when I'm not there? Is he going to do something stupid that's going to put himself in danger?
Speaker: Does he know how to treat girls properly? do You know, all of these things in my mind and I'm like, I haven't had this conversation. I'm like, Dave, have to have this conversation with him. And then I'm like, but also he has seen what hard work looks like. He's seen what a respectful, calm, safe home is to live in. He knows what healthy relationships are. he He's like, all of my kids have seen what a healthy lifestyle looks like and that it's not obsessive and that we don't restrict and that we can have some chocolate and, you know, a glass of wine or we can have a, you know, a packet of crisps or we can get a takeaway every now and again. We don't get takeaways every weekend in our house. It's we get it every now and again. Yeah. And most of the time we cook and that's what we do. And it's normal. And my kids see it as normal going to the gym or in the early days when they were little, normal to be doing a workout on the kitchen floor. Yeah.
Speaker: And they used to join in. And it's the best gift that you can give your kids is to include them in this healthy lifestyle. 100%. And going back to like when I was filming my lockdown workouts, like I'm not academically clever at all. Like,
Speaker: failed at school apart from business, funny enough. That was the only subject. I got a distinction in that. And it was really funny because they weren't going to let me do that. And my dad went into school and was like, you don't let her do this qualification. and i will i will I will make it publicised that you're a shit school and you're letting a pupil who actually wants to succeed, you you're letting her down. And they ended up letting me do and I got distinction. He was like it was like giving them the Bs. So, yeah, like...
Speaker: Then lockdown live, I'm doing that. The only thing I was coaching Katie in was PE. I'm like, right, come on, we're doing PE each day. And she did it. She loved it. I'm like, right, you're going to write the programme. We're going to do it together. mit I made it fun. I didn't make it like, you've got to do this. i was like, come on, mate. Like, we'd get out. she'd have She'd have a bike and a scooter back then. Like, how old was she in lockdown? I want to say about seven, seven or eight she was in lockdown. Yeah.
Speaker: So I made it fun. Like we got we ah we had a dog. So I'm like, right, I'll run with the dog. You go on your bike and we'll we'll go here and see a tree or something, you know, like the our interesting lockdown life was back then. In the middle of nowhere. and And right, we're going to go for a walk on the on the cliff top. So right, we're going to do this. Right, we're gonna by mom look at the state of the windows. Right, going help me do that and you can get a pound if you do it, you know. Making things fun with your kids and the same with cooking. like Some of my best recipes came from them, like my banana pancakes and banana oats. and But she'd make it all with me because I made it fun.
Speaker: you know wasn't i've I've got to do this. It was like, right, come on, let's let's do this and it'll be fun and you can eat it at the end. you know And it's all that about enjoyment, not taking it like so regimented and so like strict and like you've got to do this. I always say if you involve your kids and making things like fun, putting things in little balls that you've already maybe be like organized, but they have just got to put it on, you're involving them. So they're like, oh.
Speaker: we've cooked a pizza but it's not from a takeaway and I always say to Katie like I'm not buying a pizza from a takeaway Katie it's far too expensive I said what we will do we can get one from the shop and then like make our own or you can buy your own and we then we can make I'll put my homemade chips in the air fryer and we can then use the money to then maybe get an ice cream or or do something with from that as a sort of cost point of view from from that yeah and they're the things they remember the making the pizzas with you and doing the dinners and and
Speaker: that that's the stuff they'll remember, not the money that you've spent on them. Yeah, 100%. She remembers like lockdown life about, you know, do you remember when you filmed me doing this and sent it in? Because they t the tea the added like ah an app that you could upload their activities on. So do you remember when you filmed me and my teacher saw me doing some press-ups, you know, on my knees or doing some yoga? And and I was like, yeah, mate, that seemed like a lifetime ago. And I said, and it was such a good time because we never spent as much time together as as me and her. and
Speaker: And I said, and i I loved it. Like I said, we we had such a good time, didn't we? Yeah. Yeah. And it's funny. It feels like such. I don't think it seems like that long ago in some ways. And I was actually talking to Jayden about this yesterday. We were out walking with my dad and.
Speaker: it Like it's for them, it's a lifetime ago. Like he's 16. He was like 10 when COVID started. Like, you know, whereas for us, it just feels like a few years ago. And I didn't seem where grab boy but it see it. But it's when I yeah think about when I see photos of that time and I'm like, oh, they were so little compared to what they are now. And it the time goes so fast. Like it I just think stop putting off your goals. Stop putting off your dreams, your health goals, your career goals. whatever it is that you want to that's inside you.
Speaker: ah There's a saying that and Wayne Dyer always says, I'm listening and reading a lot of Wayne Dyer lately, and but don't die with your music still inside you. And I fucking love that saying. I'm like, whatever that is for you,
Speaker: whatever it is that you want to do that you're too busy to do, you're too afraid to do, you're too self-conscious to do, you're not sure if you can do, I promise you, you can. Just gotta take brief step. Everyone's just to wait the perfect time. And I'm like, there's no perfect time in your life. There will always be something going on. There will always be, I think some of the biggest things I've achieved have been through the time, if you were to say that to someone, they'd like, why did you do that then?
Speaker: Well, it just happened. you know i didn't put it off. And, i you know, that will make you stronger if you're doing it through a sheep time as well. You know, i think but the if I can do this right now while I've got, you know, this going on and I can do it when life's that bit calmer and it'll feel a lot easier. But it doesn't mean that you can't do it. And yeah, I put off, I went on my first solo holiday this year.
Speaker: Like when I first met UK, that's the first time I've been on a plane on my own when I came to Belfast. yeah And I was like, right, well, like why can't I actually go on a holiday on my own? Because that's not to say that me and my partner don't get on, but we've got a dog and neat we can't put him into kennels and no one can look after him. So Mick's going on holiday together very, very hard. My daughter didn't want to come with me because I'm not cool enough now. She's 15. So I was like, right, well, I'm going to go on my own. And...
Speaker: I loved it. I was like, why have I left it till 39 years of age to come on holiday on my own? I had the best time. So I'm like, well, now I've done it once. I want to do it again. You know, why not why did I put that off? And just that, again, that having that confidence and that self-belief.
Speaker: Would I have done that when I was a mum at 15, over 15 stone? Absolutely not. Like, It's that what that confidence and over the years and that self-belief has has built to being able to do things like that.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, what a place to finish. And what I want to finish on, right, first of all, before we we actually finish up is what's your mission? My mission is to help people, mainly women, but I do, like said, I do coach men as well, eat more.
Speaker: because so many women eat a ridiculously low amount of food. So get them to realize that carbs aren't the enemy. Our body needs carbs. Our muscles need carb. Our brain needs carbs.
Speaker: Our digestive system needs carbs. And to get, whether that is you working out from home with dumbbells or going to the gym, getting you to be the strongest version of you, lifting with intensity,
Speaker: and feeling confident in your body. and not picking yourself apart, seeing the positives in you. you know Again, I do a lot of this with with people. It's like, tell me what you love about yourself, not what you're hating on yourself. Because once you start, oh, I like my eyes, I like my hair, I like my nails, you're seeing yourself in a much more positive light rather than a negative. So seeing that confidence, that is like my mission is to get people to eat more, lift heavy, feel good.
Speaker: Love us. What does the word health mean to you?
Speaker: Being able to have a life and a lifestyle that works for you. Because what works for me, like I go to the gym four days a week, I run. And I know there is coaches out there that would tell me that, well, you could get better glutes if you didn't run.
Speaker: Yeah, I know I could. but I'm not willing to sacrifice me going for a run. And I also want a strong heart. And I enjoy running. It gives me a really, I get a really good dopamine. I don't think I haven't got my phone on me, so I'm free.
Speaker: I'm not willing to sacrifice that just for a better bum. My glutes are okay, but I don't want them. I do want them better, but I'm not willing to sacrifice that. So health for me is what works best for you.
Speaker: You know, just because something works better for somebody else doesn't mean it's going to work for you. and Making sure what you're eating is, again, working for you.
Speaker: People will ridicule ready meals, for instance. But if you're a busy working mum and you don't have time to meal prep every week, having maybe one or two frozen meals in the freezer that you can come home and pop in there is better than you stopping and it ordering fish and chips or a takeaway on the way home.
Speaker: So health is, again, what works best for you. Nourishing your body when you can. You know, it isn't always going to be perfect. Stop chasing that perfection and looking at as your health. Have you improved from where you were six months, a year ago, two years ago, to where you're currently sitting?
Speaker: And once you see that as a lifestyle... Rather than this hamster on a wheel and yo-yoing on every quick fix and every quick diet and you're happy in your body and your confidence, that's what like health is for me. like eating Again, going back to my mission of eating more, maintaining your weight, not just being like chasing that low number. right Look at your body.
Speaker: Is your body composition better? Yeah, no one knows that chuffing number on the scale. Yeah. Couldn't agree more. Vicky, thank you so much. This has been such a great conversation. I've really, really loved it. Thanks for having me. and Tell everyone, where is the best place to find you? Is Instagram the best place to do it? Yeah, Instagram, Vicky Swift coaching, coached by Swifty is me.
Speaker: Yeah, check her give her a follow. and And your content is so good, so relatable and just so helpful to to the ordinary woman, which is is what's needed.
Speaker: So thank you so much.
Speaker: Thank you so much for listening to this episode. And as always, if you enjoyed it, please do share it with your friends and your followers in your WhatsApp groups on your stories. If you do tag me at Kate Hamilton Health and at Kate Hamilton Business and do share the episode with anyone that you think it may help.
Speaker: Also, if you haven't yet, please do subscribe to the podcast. This makes such a difference in growing it. These little things of sharing it with people who need it, subscribing. and And I really, really appreciate and your help and your support as I continue to grow this.
Speaker: If you are looking for support with your health and your fitness goals and you want a long term sustainable approach that is realistic and science backed, this is exactly what we do inside my Nourish Her health and fitness coaching.
Speaker: If you're looking for support while you're building your business and you want to do it in a profitable way that doesn't cost you your health and your freedom. This is exactly what I do in my Lead Her business mentorship. I've shared links to both in the show notes. So if you're interested, have a click, have a read, reach out to me.
Speaker: I'm happy to answer any of your questions and I hope you have a great day and I will see you on the next episode.
