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#113: Orla Power: How to build lasting health habits at every life stage
666 Plays23 days ago
In this episode of The Kate Hamilton Health Podcast, I’m joined by the incredible Orla Power - a health, fitness, and lifestyle coach with a passion for helping women, especially during the pre and postnatal phases. Orla’s journey is one of powerful transformation, from working as a hairdresser to building a thriving online coaching business that empowers women to take control of their health, even amidst the chaos of motherhood and major life transitions.
We dig deep into what it really takes to create lasting, sustainable health - beyond the quick fixes and diet culture nonsense. Orla shares practical strategies around nutrition, why a calorie deficit isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, and how hormonal shifts in postpartum and perimenopause impact weight loss. We also talk about mindset, limiting beliefs, and the small but consistent steps that lead to true change. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by trying to balance it all, this conversation is packed with real talk, relatable moments, and actionable advice to help you move forward with confidence.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
[00:00] - Meet Orla Power: From hairdressing to online coaching during the pandemic
[00:45] - Shifting from in-person PT to building a thriving virtual wellness business
[12:13] - Why nutrition matters more than perfection - and busting diet culture myths
[23:16] - Calorie deficit 101: What you really need to know about tracking
[28:10] - Rewiring your mindset: How beliefs can hold you back (and how to change them)
[29:12] - The weight loss struggles of women in their 50s - and how to support them
[30:25] - Supporting pre and postnatal women with realistic, holistic coaching
[35:46] - Weight loss vs. fat loss: What’s the difference and why it matters
[39:17] - Hormones, aging, and health: How your body changes over time
[43:30] - Finding balance: Setting fitness goals while managing life’s daily demands
[46:40] - Simple lifestyle shifts that lead to better health and more energy
[52:21] - Redefining what health and longevity truly mean for women today
Links & Resources:
- Connect with Orla on Instagram here
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends who might benefit. For more health and fitness tips, follow me on Instagram and TikTok @katehamiltonhealth.
Music b LiQWYD Free download: hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb [http://hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb] Promoted by FreeMusicPromo [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbycji-eySnM3WD8mbxPUSQ] / @freemusicpromo
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Background
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton Health Podcast. So in today's episode, I chat with Orla Power. So Orla Power is a health, fitness and lifestyle coach, personal trainer, nutritional advisor and pre and postnatal specialist.
00:00:26
Speaker
Her philosophy centers around making fitness enjoyable and food guilt free, allowing clients to reach their goals while still actually enjoying the process. As a pre and postnatal specialist, she is particularly passionate ah about supporting women through all stages with practical evidence based advice.
00:00:44
Speaker
So we have the most amazing conversation. We chat about absolutely everything and anything.
Transition to Online Coaching
00:00:48
Speaker
We chat about gym floor to online and the difference between a gym personal trainer to an online coach and both of our transitions to becoming online coaches and why that experience of working with people on the gym floor is particularly important.
00:01:03
Speaker
We talk about nutrition, diet culture, calorie deficit and how being in a calorie deficit doesn't necessarily mean tracking calories. We talk about parenting, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, the scales.
00:01:17
Speaker
And we actually talk a little bit about life changes that sometimes need to be made to be able to live an authentic, healthy lifestyle. I really think you will all get so much from this episode. And myself and Orla have so much in common. and I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
00:01:38
Speaker
Hi Orla, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. It's so lovely to connect and I'm really excited about this conversation because I think we both kind of come from the same kind of wavelength when it comes to health, fitness, wellness. So it should be a nice chit chat.
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And the madness of being a mom and all that. Yeah, balancing it all. with Exactly. Yeah. So look, I suppose, do you want to introduce yourself to listeners? Explain a little bit about you and your journey so far. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm Orla Power.
00:02:06
Speaker
I am an online health fitness coach. I don't know kate what to even call he ourselves these days. Bit of everything. and Health, wellness. I mean, nutrition. I specialize in pre and postnatal coaching as well. So working with predominantly females.
00:02:21
Speaker
So, yeah, I started out as a personal trainer. I had done some nutrition as well. And then i was doing a lot of my work was all in person on the floor. COVID came and then i kind of transitioned everything online.
00:02:36
Speaker
In fairness, I did have a a little bit online already and I was so grateful that I did. So Austin just starting from scratch, you know, work over it. So I guess I just grew it online. And then the gym that I was working in just never reopened when everything else did. So, yeah, I was kind of pushed online, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me because after that, then I got married and had kids. And, you know, so it's just it's suited, I suppose, to me at the moment and for the madness that is my life. My online coaching business and everything is completely online. Now, I know i do meetups and that kind of thing, but it's predominantly fully online.
00:03:07
Speaker
Amazing. And how long did you work as a
Career Influences and Changes
00:03:10
Speaker
personal trainer? Like, were you years in the industry on the gym floor? i was actually a hairdresser, funnily enough, for 11 years first. And then I, like, changed then in 2017.
00:03:20
Speaker
So what was that, 2017 to 2020? Was it COVID? COVID is 2020. I can't believe that's, like, five years ago now. I know, it's mad. My whole concept of time is just warped. Oh, mental, mental. So...
00:03:33
Speaker
You know yourself in COVID, it's even hard to remember. There was times where we were back in the gym again, then we were out again, then we were back again. so i would have dipped in and out of it, I suppose, the in-person stuff probably for another year or two.
00:03:46
Speaker
And then we actually went Thailand. We were one of those COVID couples that our wedding was cancelled five million times. So eventually we ended up going to Thailand. I think that that was the year we got married. Was it 2022?
00:04:00
Speaker
We went for eight weeks and then that was, I think, when the everything reopened and it was like Freedom Day in Ireland and all this kind of stuff. And I just remember my mom ringing me and being like, you're going have to fucking come home because the wedding is going ahead this time.
00:04:12
Speaker
When we came home, we came home and there was only like eight weeks to the wedding. And when I came home from there, then I was like, no, this is it now. i'm not going back into the to the gym floor. It was just it was a lot. It's very hard to rely on people showing up and you've got cancellations and you're changing people's appointments and, you know, you're renting a space in a gym. And it was just it's a lot. You know, it is a lot. Now, look, I think I'm so grateful for the years that done it and it really helped to like build my business, et cetera.
00:04:39
Speaker
But again, you know yourself as your life changes, as family comes into the equation, as you're doing crash runs and drop offs and stuff like that, it's very hard, you know, to manage it all. It really is.
00:04:49
Speaker
I think that fork in the business has happened, like in the fitness industry as well. And I think a lot of people are kind of really not aware that it is kind of two separate jobs, you know, and when people are, you know, hiring an online coach, they need to look at whether it is an in-person personal trainer they want or an online coach, because it's very, you know, it is very different being with someone on the gym floor and working with the movement patterns. And I think it's a really, really important part of an online coach to have that in-person experience so that you understand how people move for when you are programming for people or even to be able to give cues and tips online.
00:05:21
Speaker
It's so important to know what a real person in the gym moves like and don't presume. You know, I think a lot of younger coaches that are coming up and coming straight online, they don't know how a 38 year old woman like myself moves compared to their 22 year old body. You know i mean? And I think it's really, really important.
00:05:37
Speaker
I just wanted to interrupt this episode to talk to you a little bit about the Kate Hampton Health Group Coaching Service. So with your group coaching, this is if you're looking for some structure and support to reach your goals, whether that is health, fitness, fat loss, strength within a really supportive and really motivating community.
00:06:01
Speaker
Included in the group coaching, you will have personalized calories and portions reviewed as necessary and directed towards your goals, food lists, recipes, meal plan ideas, step goals, home or gym based workouts, depending on where you want to train.
00:06:18
Speaker
And they are changed up every eight weeks. We have a lot of mindset work. App access. So you'll have access to the Kate Hampton Health app. Weekly yoga classes on Zoom. WhatsApp group community. A weekly group Q&A with myself.
00:06:32
Speaker
Fun challenges like step challenges with prizes to win. Daily habits form. A weekly self check-in form. And then a fortnightly progress check with your coach as well so that you are getting that accountability side of things.
00:06:45
Speaker
You'll have a library full of lifestyle guides, library full of lessons and seminars, all updated regularly. There will be weekly group Zoom calls with myself and the team.
00:06:55
Speaker
We have regular guest seminars as well. And it is a very, very hands on group coaching
Group Coaching and Enrollment
00:07:01
Speaker
service where we have you from every angle. So for the group coaching, it is €249 for the first two months.
00:07:10
Speaker
And then it rolls into a monthly membership of €79 per month. from month three onwards for as long as you want to stay. You can't just join this group coaching whenever you feel like it.
00:07:21
Speaker
We do intakes on this every eight weeks. So the next time our doors are opening is the 23rd of April. The doors will open on the 23rd of April. This always sells out.
00:07:33
Speaker
When it does, the doors will close and we will start on the 5th of May. So this is the perfect time if you want to get summer ready. and you want to feel confident and feel amazing in your clothes, in your own skin, now is the time to get signed up. So watch this space.
00:07:48
Speaker
I will be advertising it 23rd of April. Make sure you grab your spot, be ready, and I will see you then. And I'm sure you work with as well, you know, women in their 50s and 60s and beyond.
00:08:00
Speaker
So I forget that, too, that, you know, for me, it was normal just to do my couple of years, you know, on the gym floor. And obviously it transitioned, I suppose, unplanned, but it worked out like fine in the end. And I did have my experience.
00:08:12
Speaker
But, you know, you forget that nowadays that's not actually the normal thing that coaches do is to go into a gym floor. When I was hairdressing as well, you know, there's people that do online courses and there's people that just go to college and then come in on the salon floor and just presume that like they do it all.
00:08:28
Speaker
Whereas I had done the trade route. So done the problem, done the cleaning, done, you know, all the crappy work. And that's part of what makes you, you know, that practical experience. So, yeah, it's an interesting thought when you actually look at it that way. And I think I even saw in my clients, and I'm sure you're the same as well, some people...
00:08:47
Speaker
were happy to move online with me. But other people then, not only were they not happy, but I might even said to them, like, this isn't going to suit you. Like, you need to find another in-person coach because you need to be one-to-one in the gym. And I think when you're doing personal training, it is a lot more exercise focused. And when it's online, I do just find it is a lot more like the nutrition side of things. And like, there's no one way to explain it all. Sure, there's not. But it's it's definitely different.
00:09:14
Speaker
Yeah, for me personally, the i can help people more by working with them online because your exercise in the gym is such a small percentage of your overall healthy lifestyle. And to be able to focus on nutrition and sleep and mindset and limiting beliefs and daily movement ah in the form of like walking even, you know, all of these things that need to be worked on. And I think sometimes when people start on a weight loss journey, they think that they just need to go to the gym.
00:09:40
Speaker
And it's like going to the gym is a tiny piece in the puzzle of an overall healthy lifestyle. And I would argue it's really not the first piece. Oh, one hundred ah honest to God, I've even done content and stuff on this as well. And I'm like, I'm sorry to burst your bubble.
00:09:54
Speaker
I am a personal trainer and I'm telling you that you don't have to exercise to lose weight. And that's a fact. Not that I'm not encouraging it. I want everybody to be exercising. But there is so much more that comes before it. So I really do think like that people that want to completely transform their actual lifestyles going to a personal trainer once a week for an hour gym session, it's not going to do it.
00:10:15
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I think knowing what you want when you're signing up to a coach, like if you're like, I need help to lose weight, to fix my lifestyle, to start learning about what type of movement I should be doing, online coach all the way.
00:10:27
Speaker
If you're like, I want to start lifting weights, heavy weights in the gym. and I'm not sure how to do that, then go to a personal trainer because they're going to show you how to do it. Because you'd see people in the gym trying to do things like, let's take like, you know, ah a barbell or a DL.
00:10:41
Speaker
And if you don't know how to do that properly, you can hurt yourself or, you know, doing a deadlift or whatever, you know, so it's really, really important. And what's great about the gym now is, you know, even I know personal trainers are expensive and I think, you know, I actually think personal trainers probably don't charge enough for how much value they give to people's lives. But it is expensive to keep up a personal trainer long term. I know that. There's so many gyms with wonderful small group personal training now, you know, and it's a great way to meet people and have community. And I worked in that setting for a while and then I worked in kind of the more commercial gym side of things as well.
00:11:11
Speaker
And there is that personal connection with your coach, but also the other people. And it is a great entrance to learning how to lift weights effectively. But it's really important to know that if it's your whole lifestyle and if it's like you want to get healthier, you want to lose weight, then definitely an online coach is the way to go.
00:11:28
Speaker
And I think it like like what you said there at the start, it's just important for people to know that they are two different things. Like I'm sure, Kate, that you probably have because I know I have clients who are with me online, but also have a personal trainer or they're part of CrossFit or they go to some of these semi group personal training in classes or whatever, semi group PT. I can't even say it.
00:11:48
Speaker
So you know what I'm trying to say, but they're in part of these small group training. And they say to me, like, is is that OK? Like if I keep doing that? And I'm like, no, that's amazing if you keep doing that, because I know that you're in a good place with your exercise and we can really focus on your lifestyle, your nutrition, your like you said, like going for your walks, your sleep, your stress and all that kind of stuff.
00:12:05
Speaker
But yeah, it's gold, I think, for people when they realize because a lot of people don't. They just presume it's all the one and it it really isn't. Definitely not. And I suppose, look, let's talk a little bit about nutrition then, because I think this is the most important
Nutrition and Diet Misconceptions
00:12:19
Speaker
thing. If you're coming to a coach looking to lose weight, we have to focus. It is like people, what don't people say like 80% nutrition? I'm like, I'm sorry, it's like 98% nutrition as far as I'm concerned. like It's nearly all nutrition.
00:12:30
Speaker
But I think we're coming from such a damaged place. Diet culture has a lot to answer for. I'm excited what we got here. So let's talk a little bit about this.
00:12:44
Speaker
OK, so, oh, nutrition. you know what? I just find recently and I literally only literally only had a conversation with somebody about it earlier as well, another coach that and I'm sure, Kate, you're the same. i feel sometimes I am.
00:12:58
Speaker
like a parrot and I'm like, people must be sick of listening to me talk about the importance of protein, talk about the importance of fiber, talk about the importance of, you know, beer in your diet and all the stuff that we all preach about.
00:13:11
Speaker
But then you get somebody that will say to you, oh, but is protein not just for bodybuilders? And then I'm like, oh, OK, no, I do need to keep preaching the same stuff over and over again. I don't know. Do you find that that sometimes you feel like, am I actually boring people with saying the same things? But then yeah you're like, you're not because people aren't listening or there's I don't know, people are so tied into how did diet culture from over the years, how did the likes of, you know, the slimming groups without naming names really take this much hold of people that we are still struggling to get people out of that?
00:13:46
Speaker
You know, the old ways of thinking of, oh, you know, your sins and your points and all that kind of stuff. And bread is bad for you. And, you know, fat's going to make you fat. And it's a hard job that we have to get people out of that. But I just don't know what it is that warped people so much into it that they can't get back out of it or that like it's a struggle for us to pull people out of this kind of thing.
00:14:10
Speaker
The slimming clubs, like being afraid to use real olive oil or, you know, yeah having to use fry light in your pans or not but even thinking about eating an avocado or nuts or peanut butter because the amount of points or sins or whatever that are in these things.
00:14:27
Speaker
And then having women come to me that are not like, you know, protein is low or whatever, you know, but the healthy fats that they're eating is scarily low, which are so important for our joint health, our brain health, our hormone health.
00:14:40
Speaker
And there's no wonder that women are suffering huge issues with cravings, with the low protein, the low healthy fats and a really high sugar, I suppose, yeah like a very high, a diet high in carbohydrates. And I'm not demonizing carbohydrates.
00:14:55
Speaker
at all. Like we need them. But what I find we need to do is rather than trying to start taking away things, we need to start putting things in. We need start pushing our protein levels up with real food sources.
00:15:07
Speaker
And we need to push up our healthy fats and really have to move away from these beliefs, because if they were true, they would have worked and they didn't. I think like the way I try and describe it to people or if I'm trying to explain because I'm like, how do I get somebody to believe me over believing something else that they've read online?
00:15:27
Speaker
But like the way I look at it is and it's the same with yourself as well. What we do isn't invented. It's not. a made up plan or it's not a certain type of diet. I'm like, we deal with nutrition and, you know, fats and healthy fats and something that we've invented that we think you should include in your diet. Protein isn't something like this is actual nutrition. We're not biased.
00:15:51
Speaker
It's not made up like points are made up or it's not made up like sins are made up. This is the facts and this is the science, you know, and we know when there's evidence there to support that we need to have our carbohydrates. Like you said, obviously, they need to be limited, but just like our fats, but they need to be limited as well.
00:16:08
Speaker
There's essential fats for a reason. There's essential proteins for a reason. And it's not something that we've invented or, you know, any the plans or diets or, you know, whatever journeys I take my clients through. This is what I say to them. like, this isn't something that I've just invented.
00:16:22
Speaker
You know, this is what I've learned. This is what I've studied. This is nutrition. And I'm sure you see it as well when you some females are like, oh, but when I was doing, we'll say Slim and World or when I was doing whatever, I used to do this and I used to that. and'm like, yeah, but that was made up.
00:16:35
Speaker
Do you know what I mean? Yeah, that was just an invented diet, like the Special K diet, like Slim Fast, like they're all made up and they're not based on evidence. And it is frustrating trying to get it across to females. But It is the best feeling in the world then when you can get it across and you see the effects of it.
00:16:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think a general rule of thumb, if a diet has a name, it's probably not the way you want to go. If it's got a name, the whatever diet, then just steer clear.
00:17:05
Speaker
Or if it's a brand, like if it's, a you know, like any type of, yeah, like Slim Fast or, you know, even Motivation Steak. ah slimming world. And I find even a lot of the information that is being put out in the internet, there can be doctors with very extreme opinions, which I think is the most
Balanced Nutrition and Lifestyle
00:17:22
Speaker
harmful.
00:17:22
Speaker
The likes of doctors coming on and talking about how we really need to be eating a ketogenic diet or we really need to be eating only a plant-based diet or like, you know, like two opposite things. Like eating only meats and fats, eating only plant-based foods, you know, putting these extremes out there and saying you need to do this for your health.
00:17:40
Speaker
They're taking really small margins of scientific studies, pushing them and not looking at the bigger picture of the other more studied areas of nutrition. And it's really, really frustrating.
00:17:51
Speaker
But I think the best thing to do is to stay away from the the names and bring it back to basics. But like, we need to bring it back a few generations. Like if we all went back and ate like the way our grandparents ate.
00:18:04
Speaker
Think of how your granny used to cook. What did your granny used to make for dinner? Like veg, meat and spuds. Go eat that. You know what mean? Yeah, exactly. With a bit of real butter, you know what mean? Or whatever, like, you know. and But it's very hard. Exactly what you said there. And I've been thinking about this a lot recently as well. it was in another podcast that came up You've probably heard about it's being talked about quite a lot this week.
00:18:23
Speaker
I guess that was on the Mel Robbins podcast. But again, I'm like thinking of the people that are listening to this and like, how are people supposed to know that it's horseshit? Basically, you know what some of these people are putting out there? help How how are supposed to know? And like me and you, Kate, like how do we convince people that we're the ones that are telling the truth?
00:18:42
Speaker
It's so hard. like I think if you actually looked at the evidence of if we looked at chronic disease back in the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s, even, you know, compared to now, it's going to say it all.
00:18:57
Speaker
We're eating too much, first of all. It's the actual quantities of food that we're eating it is a huge issue as well. Too much overly processed foods. and the marketing of them. But also then when we throw in that these extreme diets and I know most people, Barb, maybe the big businesses are trying to help in what they believe.
00:19:15
Speaker
But by putting out an extreme diet saying you can't eat carbohydrates or you can't eat whatever, you know, people think, oh, God, this is what I need to do for my health. and they're so worried for their health and they go to the extreme. And then it eventually rebounds and drives them back to the ultra processed foods that they're trying to escape from when actually it's like, what can we add in that's really good for us? What's going to make me feel good?
00:19:38
Speaker
And it takes you away from the restriction of I have to take away my chocolate to take because you don't have to take away anything. It'll naturally fall off and you'll be left with just a little bit of the bits that you enjoy in a balanced way.
00:19:50
Speaker
I really think that like if it's any approach that people can take, it's like, what can I add into my diet? I really also thinking as well, and I know it's very hard for people, especially people that are very overweight and really want to get rid of weight. But if you really just focus on improving your diet and feeling better, look at the weight loss as like a byproduct. It will always follow once you're doing that.
00:20:12
Speaker
But I think where people really get it wrong is they want to start coaching or they start these diets or even people that come to myself or yourself. It's like, yeah, but I need to get two stone off or I need to get three stone off. I'm like, look, we we can't start like that. You have to.
00:20:25
Speaker
I'm going to say to you, need to be eating more fats. You need to be eating more protein. You need to be exercising. You need to be moving more. They're the things that you need to actually be focusing on, not I need to get the scales down. So I think that's probably a massive problem with people as well.
00:20:39
Speaker
The focus is in. the wrong place and if they never focus on the actual process itself and how to get themselves there they're just never going to get there but people just think if you're just obsessed with three stone or 10 kilos or whatever it is that ah that's going to make them get there but it never works out like that you know it really doesn't we We do need to change the way we're looking at, you know, and back to the basics, back to the like non-sexy stuff of your, like you said, your veg, your meat, your potatoes, your porridge, or your protein source at breakfast, your sandwich for lunch. you know what Have a chicken salad sandwich on your...
00:21:15
Speaker
your soup for lunch. If people ate boring like that, they would be in a far better position and they'd be avoiding the extremes that way as well. It would tick lot of boxes. But again, I think it's because it's not sexy enough. It's not exciting enough. It's not extreme enough.
00:21:29
Speaker
That's why people don't catch on to it. They feel like, no, but I need an extreme. I need to do something drastic. And they don't. They just need patience, time and basics. That's literally, I always say, like time and patience. And like I know like ah fat loss is simple. like A healthy lives lifestyle is simple.
00:21:44
Speaker
It's not easy. me it's It isn't easy, but it is simple. And it starts with simple steps. This is where like a coach like myself or yourself is able to help and you know and tell you what to focus on first.
00:21:54
Speaker
But it is a case of, do you remember that interview, that good morning? It was a good morning. interview that James Smith did years ago where he was like, you know, think about your dog. If your dog is overweight, what are you going to do? Feed it less and walk it more.
00:22:07
Speaker
It's like, but we're the same. Like it's true, right? In the most simplistic form, we need to eat a little bit less. But the problem is we go so extreme, we way too less and then we overeat, which is a whole different issue. Eat a little bit less, move a little bit more, go for a walk every day, even if it's five or 10 minutes, whatever. Just do more than what you're doing. You can always add from there.
00:22:24
Speaker
But then it is the, I suppose, the complexities of the types of foods that we're exposed to and, you know, the macronutrient balance and the micronutrients, and you know, fiber and yeah they like it is so much more complex than that.
00:22:35
Speaker
But as a starting point, I need to eat a little bit less and I need to move a little bit more. This is the problem. I think that that's probably not extreme enough for people. Like you said, if you're not walking at all now, start going for 10 minute walks every day. And people like sure, that's not going to do anything for me. I'm like, but you're not doing anything at the minute. Like you have to start somewhere.
00:22:50
Speaker
People ah want you to tell them you need to start doing an hour of cardio every second day. That's what people want to be told. Even though they're not going to do it, they want to be told the extreme. And it's like, no, just bring it back. Like you said, just move a little bit more, eat a little bit better.
00:23:04
Speaker
Now, obviously your environment, there's a lot of things that come into that as well. But actual fat loss and how it works is pretty simple. It's just getting people to actually do it. And there's so many different avenues to do that with.
00:23:16
Speaker
With my clients, like in in my coaching business, we a lot of the clients, we will get them tracking calories. And I think that's... works well for some people. Some people do not want to track calories. And what I always say is in order to lose body fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit, but you don't have to track calories to be in a calorie deficit.
00:23:33
Speaker
It depends on what type of person you are. I'm a very much, I'm a numbers person. I like to tick boxes and I like to know where I stand so that I'm being as efficient as possible. That works for me. Other people, that is their worst nightmare.
00:23:44
Speaker
And there are so many other ways around it. And I think bringing it back again, I keep saying, I feel like this, this episode is going have to be called back to basics or something, but so that it is you know three meals a day yeah at least you know at least three meals a day you don't want to go long periods without eating on every plate you want to ah protein source a carbohydrate source a healthy fat source with some vegetables in two of those meals because I and wouldn't be a vegetable at breakfast kind of girl but you know some people know I'm like if you're vegetables in your lunch and your dinner that's three meals a day and then I'm like keep your snacky snacks to like 300 calories
00:24:17
Speaker
But like, even if you did that, because that's actually what a lot of my clients do do, do do, do that. Is that proper? I don't know. But anyway, so they would have their breakfast and I'm like, get a fat portion in, get a carbohydrate, get a protein in there.
00:24:31
Speaker
And then some might have, you know, if they're having eggs, they might have like tomato and roccius or if they're having porridge like me, they might have like raspberries. So there's micronutrients going in there. With your lunch, do the same thing.
00:24:41
Speaker
With your dinner, do the same thing. And then with your snacks, you know, have a bit of fruit, bit of fiber, whatever, you know if you're having a banana or something, but also have your curly-whirly or your twirl or your protein bar, or whatever it is that you want.
00:24:54
Speaker
Genuinely, if people just followed that routine without even tracking a calorie, they would do really well. Do you agree there is some clients that will never track a calorie and they actually don't need to track a calorie. Then there's other people then that will do really well while doing it. There's no real fit. But it's funny what you said with the calorie deficit.
00:25:15
Speaker
I don't know, do you notice this? But I think a lot of people think a calorie deficit is a type of diet. Yes. Or they think it's tracking calories. Yeah, it's a calorie-restricted diet.
00:25:25
Speaker
I'm trying a calorie deficit now for the summer. I'm like, what? Do you know, it's and I actually did do a post on this as well. I'm like, a calorie deficit is not a type of diet. Like every diet has you in a calorie deficit.
00:25:38
Speaker
yeah So I think, you know, there's probably lots of people Googling, like, how do I do a calorie deficit? Like, this is the kind of diet that I want to do. But whether you're watching your portions or whether you are tracking calories or you know, whatever approach you're taking,
00:25:49
Speaker
Ultimately, you will be in a calorie deficit if you're making progress. Yeah. And just well let's clear it up. A calorie deficit is when your body is burning more calories than what you're consuming. And that doesn't mean burning with exercise. We're burning calories even just being alive.
00:26:06
Speaker
We can enhance it with walking and steps. But, you know, it's moving a little bit more, eating a little bit less and a little bit less being the huge deficit. hugely important part if we go down the restrictive route, which again is the extremes. It seems it seems too boring. And this is where I think, you know, like some people will always say, oh, tracking calories is really bad. It promotes disordered eating. It's restrictive.
00:26:26
Speaker
And I'm like, we measure our blood pressure. We measure our finances, you know, I'm like, it's just a way of ah it's actually just a way of keeping track of what we're eating. And it can be really beneficial, especially if you're someone listening who tends to go extreme and be like, I'm cutting out everything.
00:26:41
Speaker
You know, I'm like, if you're you actually get tracking your calories with just about 300, 300 or below your maintenance. per day, it'll actually teach you how much you can eat. It can educate you on what you're eating, what's in what you're eating and how much more you're actually allowed to eat to be able to sustain it long enough because fat loss takes time.
00:26:59
Speaker
It's a slow, boring process and you need to be able to stick to it. You need to be able to enjoy it. I think it's important to note on that as well. You know, there's a lot of people that are very anti-tracking calories, but I don't think it's the tracking calories that's the issue. And this might come across to like a bit blunt, but it's the person If that person has issues, like that's their issue, you know, and that that's a different story altogether. That's something that they need to work on.
00:27:22
Speaker
But for a lot of people, if you're in a good place with your relationship with food and all that, tracking calories can be quite a positive experience. But there is certain people, of course, that it's it's never going to suit them. And it's it's something that they...
00:27:34
Speaker
You know, if they've got obsessive behaviors or, you know, they get addicted to the likes of my fitness pal and stuff like that, obviously being in a calorie deficit or tracking calories is not suitable
Mindset and Health for Women Over 50
00:27:43
Speaker
to that person. And, you know, I would have clients that I would never get them to track calories because I know that it's not a good fit for them.
00:27:49
Speaker
But I don't think it's the actual tracking calories that's, you know, the issue. It comes down to the individual. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And there's never a one size fits all. and no I will always have an open mind to everything I do see and hear in relation to nutrition, because I always want to be curious, never want to close off my mind.
00:28:07
Speaker
There's a lot of shit out there. But, you know, I'm always open to hear it. But I think that brings us nicely onto the topic of mindset, because what I have discovered from working with hundreds of women,
00:28:18
Speaker
is we can know all the stuff. We can know how much protein, carbs and fats we're supposed to have. We can know what calories we're supposed to be tracking. We can know how to use MyFitnessPal. We can know it all. And something is blocking us.
00:28:30
Speaker
And this is what I think is the biggest issue for most people in reaching their goals. is the unconscious beliefs, like, you know, the limiting beliefs, the subconscious behaviors, the coping mechanisms that we develop. And the older we get, the worse that gets. So it's so much easier to get a 20 something year old to lose weight in general, obviously, generally speaking, because first of all, their metabolisms are in top shape.
00:28:53
Speaker
They only of themselves to worry about and they can just go about it. Whereas as we get older, we start having kids, We have more responsibility in work. We're climbing the ladder. We've got husbands or we've got ex-husbands or, you know, we're raising kids on our own.
00:29:07
Speaker
We've got aging parents or other relatives that we're looking after. Our responsibilities pile up and pile up. And I actually find, in my experience, women in their 50s have it the worst. It just gets to a height where it's like their responsibilities are so high. The stress is so high.
00:29:23
Speaker
They've forgotten themselves somewhere along the way. You've got perimenopause or full blown menopause in there as well. And it gets really, really tough. You could know it all, but it's not a whole lot of help if you can't dig deep to resolve what you need to resolve.
00:29:36
Speaker
And I think as well, a lot of females in that age bracket have got to a stage where they just kind of accept this is it and I can't actually do anything about it anymore. And I think that that's an issue because you're trying to crack. No, you can do it, but you need to do x Y and Z. But they're like,
00:29:51
Speaker
have already resigned to the fact that this is just how I'm going to be and I can't do this anymore. And I think as well, a lot of people in that age bracket now, what would have happened to them is probably when they did have kids and they were in that postpartum phase in the after kids phase, if they didn't have any help or they didn't have any guidance or they weren't being coached or they, you know, didn't understand anything to do with health, fitness or nutrition after kids,
00:30:19
Speaker
And now it's, we'll say 20 years later, like there's a lot of damage after being done along the way. Whereas I would hope, you know, and I suppose this is probably why I love working with pre and postnatal as well is because now when women are having kids, I love that, you know, there is so much help and support out there, you know, about rehabbing afterwards. And I'm not going to say like getting back in shape, but like improving themselves again, getting confidence again, you know, and repairing all that, all of that.
00:30:45
Speaker
Whereas I think, you know, 20 years ago, So people that were are in their 50s now, when they were in their 30s having kids or in their 20s having kids, that wasn't as readily available. So I think that that's probably a big issue as well. Would you agree with that? Yeah, Jesus, like it wasn't readily available back when I had my oldest. He's 15 now. So like that's 15 years ago.
00:31:05
Speaker
was 23 when I had him. And I remember the midwife being like, make sure you do those pelvic floor exercises. You'll thank me when you're 40. And now I'm coming up on 40 and I'm like, God damn it. I didn't even know what they were back then. because they No, no. Like within the health service in Ireland, and I know I've had a conversation with the pelvic health physio from the UK. It's the same in the UK. There's not a whole lot there in the public system. You do need to go privately to pre and postnatal coaches like yourself to get the support you need. But the gym I worked in as well, the girl who runs that gym, she does pre and postnatal classes. So she has like a babies and barbells class, you know, and everyone brings their babies and
00:31:38
Speaker
you know, do their postnatal stuff and, you know, start lifting weights again. And it's fantastic to see that there's so much more support around there. But I think in relation to going back to the women in their 50s, I think it's really important that it doesn't matter if, you know, along the way, things haven't gone according to plan and you didn't have that support and, you know, that you feel like you've lost pieces of yourself along the way, because that's what life does a little bit like. It does chip away at you and It can be very hard. And when you start putting everyone else first, which as Irish mammies, we tend to do that.
00:32:09
Speaker
This is your time now and you can start piecing yourself back. Oh, I think it's like this is amazing. you know what i mean? This is such a good opportunity and time, especially Because a lot of women, again, we can't speak for everybody, but a lot of women will say in the age bracket, like their kids are somewhat weird, but they're not at the stage where they're like caught up with grandkids and stuff like that yet. So it's like this is your time, you know, to really focus on yourself and you can give yourself back the time and you can. You'll see a lot of them saying they struggle with weight around their midsection or, you know, they've never really got into exercise.
00:32:43
Speaker
All those things can be done then. It is never, ever going to be too late. And I think if anything, it's such an incredible thing to do because you're defeating the odds or defeating like what you thought about yourself, what couldn't be done.
00:32:56
Speaker
And I love that. You know, I love the only thing you need is an open mind. Be willing to take in new ideas and let go of things that haven't served you. And I think this is where coaching becomes really important.
00:33:09
Speaker
And I see it like most of the women that come in through my doors are in their 40s and 50s. It's so amazing to see. I think what we're talking about with nutrition, but how it doesn't have to be extreme. It is baby steps.
00:33:20
Speaker
And when we take on that on board that it's like, OK, all I have to do is baby steps. I can fit that in around caring for my parents and, you know, going to work and raise and driving my teenagers around or whatever it is that you need to do.
00:33:33
Speaker
You're like, OK, I could fit in a 10 minute walk to start. Sure. I definitely structure my meals a bit better. You probably see that like the amount of people that would reach out and be like, oh, I'd really love start like coaching or like i have three kids or, you know, I'm always at matches in the evening time or I spend Saturdays at the side of a sideline. So I don't really have time for X, Y and Z. Like I got a message very similar to it this morning.
00:33:54
Speaker
I don't really have time for exercise because I'm committed to like kids sports and blah, blah, blah. and I'm like, no, this is OK, like, but you just need to start. Everything is workaroundable.
00:34:04
Speaker
You know, everything is. You can no matter if you are working seven days a week, if you've got 10 kids, if you've got no kids, if you're in your 50s, if you're in your 30s, if you're a young single mom at the age of 20 and studying on the side, like,
00:34:19
Speaker
everybody has an opportunity to improve themselves. And especially again, i know, you know, we're talking about the two of us, but when you're working with coaches like us, because we are realistic, we're not, you know, military style and we know what it's like to live in the rat race, I suppose, at times. And that, you know, me or you are not out training seven days a week and eating 1200 calories and, you know, getting 12 hours sleep every night. You know, we're living in this madness as well.
00:34:47
Speaker
So it just feels really good, I suppose, when people trust you and you're like, this is how it can be and this is how you can have it. It doesn't have to be that extreme or that, you know, I'm too old or I'm not fit enough or I'm not young enough or everybody has an opportunity to do it. So, yeah, I think it's such a feel good, isn't it, in our jobs to be able to do that for people?
00:35:06
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I think a really important thing as well is In your 40s and 50s, we talk about patients with fat loss. You have to be realistic in the fact that it is slower. And I hate that to be the bearer of bad news.
00:35:21
Speaker
You know, there is no quick fix to this. It is slower, but it that's even more important for it not to be super restrictive because it is going to be slower. And also what I've noticed from working with a lot of women through perimenopause is quite often the scales won't budge, but huge changes will happen with body composition and measurements.
00:35:40
Speaker
And eventually the scales will start to move. And I think there's a huge fixation with the scales. So let's talk a little bit about the difference in, i suppose, weight loss and fat loss. So what I will say on that note as well, just for anyone that is listening, it's the very same postpartum with the scales.
00:35:57
Speaker
Number one, if people are breastfeeding or not breastfeeding, they always say that to people, like, look at your boobs, how much they change during the day. Like the scales is going to be changing along with that. If you've got fuller boobs, if you're just after doing a feed, if you're due to do a feed, obviously hormones come into play massively postpartum, the very same as in perimenopause, hormones are going to come into play hugely. there What else is quite similar, I think, is sleep, you know, sleep disruptions, stress levels being up and down as a result.
00:36:27
Speaker
That's going to affect the scales. There's just so many things when you're looking at hormonal changes and different phases that females are in. It's like during your PMS week, you know, your scales is going to be all over the place.
00:36:38
Speaker
But I think really, first all, that women have to know you have to just accept this. You're never going to just make your scales move the way you want it to move. You're never going to be able to stop it acting in crazy ways in perimenopause.
00:36:53
Speaker
You're never going to be able to stop doing that during PMS. you're never going to be able to fully control it when you're postpartum. So I really think that women just have to accept that. But people find that really hard to do.
00:37:05
Speaker
But like you think about it, I'd never look at i just say look at you and be like, oh, Jesus, Orla looks great. She must be about 10 stone. We never think that about someone else. I've never wondered like, oh, Jesus, yeah, Mary across there now.
00:37:19
Speaker
ah She's lost a load weight. She looks great. She must be 11 stone now. Like you you' done me think in sizes, but we also think in energy and mood and like, oh, my God, you've got a great energy about her. we She looks great in her clothes. Did you see her out at the night out or whatever?
00:37:32
Speaker
That's what we look at. But if you think about it as well, right, when you get a new client starting with you and this is what always makes me laugh to people have fill out a form and, you know, their consultation form, they'll put in their weight. But if I see 80 kilos, 90 kilos, 100 kilos, I never instantly vision. Oh, that's what this person must look like. You haven't a clue.
00:37:52
Speaker
No, you have not got a clue because 70 kilos will look completely different. on everybody, 80 kilos will look completely different. So, you know, when people say to me, oh God, Orla, I'm, you know, such and such a kilos. I'm like, that means nothing to me.
00:38:07
Speaker
Like it doesn't mean anything to you. And if you were to ask anybody that, they would find it really difficult. But look, back to, I suppose, what you were saying at the start there with the difference in weight loss and fat loss and weight gain and fat gain.
Understanding Weight Fluctuations
00:38:19
Speaker
Again, I suppose you could talk for hours on it, but you're going to have to learn how to understand this and you're going to have to get a little bit educated on it. I'm sure you've got podcasts done on it, Kate. I know I do myself. rather than just being that person that's like, oh, the scales is up or the scales is down and leaving it dictate your mood.
00:38:34
Speaker
Like learn how the scales works for you. If you're perimenopausal, like you said, and you weigh yourself for a week or weigh yourself two weeks or at certain parts of the month or whatever it is, and you can see it going crazy, then I just think,
00:38:48
Speaker
you know, again, in the best way possible. But like you're stupid to leave that control you when you know that no matter what you're doing, it's still going to do its own thing anyway. Like we can be banging ourselves our head against the wall like when it comes to the scales. But no matter what we do, even if you were to go off and starve yourself for the next week, I still can't tell you that the scales is going to drop.
00:39:08
Speaker
You know, I think we don't realize just how much. And I think you made a really good point with the postpartum tied in with the perimenopause. It's the same thing. It's the hormonal fluctuations, the stress, the lack of sleep that happens in both of these stages. And actually, even if I take myself as an example, who has just traveled back from America the other day, OK, and so the stress, the lack of sleep there.
00:39:31
Speaker
I stepped on my scales yesterday morning. Now i do I have no emotional attachment to it. I knew like my ankles were turned into cankles like, ah you know, I'm so filled with fluid from the long flight. And I stepped on the scales and I'm nine pounds up.
00:39:42
Speaker
And I laughed because I've got nine pounds of water in me. Nine pounds water. And I stepped on the scales this morning and four pounds that has gone already. Yeah, that I was going to say there's no way you gained nine pounds of actual fat. No, and I know I had three meals a day pretty much and I was walking lots and i yeah I had a lot more calories, I would imagine, than what I would usually do at home. But it was six days.
00:40:04
Speaker
Like I know like ah at tops, I probably gained a pound of body fat. Think of how many people would have been in that position yesterday and absolutely had a meltdown thinking, oh my God, I've gained nine pounds. I've undone it all. Yeah, I've undone it all. Yeah, I've just popped it on my stories there because I think it's so, so important and you know to realise that it is water.
00:40:24
Speaker
And this is the point. So that was, you know, lack. Obviously, that was altitude as well and being sit being on a plane. But it it is the stress of travelling long distance and the lack of sleep from it as well. So I think that is...
00:40:35
Speaker
That's a real point when it comes to postpartum, you know, with new baby, not getting enough sleep and the stress of all those changes in your life. When you go through perimenopause, night sweats, not being able to sleep properly, you know, not really kind of feeling in control of your own body.
00:40:48
Speaker
It's the same kind of stress in very different situations. And these are two times in your life when the scales is really reluctant. Fat loss will still happen, but you have to give it a chance. But the problem is most people, they're giving up a couple of weeks in because they're not seeing the scales move.
00:41:05
Speaker
Yeah, because you like the scales are moving, it's not working. Yeah. So I genuinely do prefer, and I'm sure you're the same, anyone postpartum, anybody, perimenopausal, just not to use the scales.
00:41:17
Speaker
It's different if people are in a good place with it and they can kind of take it with a pinch of salt. But in general, if it's not serving you, which for anybody like that, it's like the week of PMS again, or like the week of your period, you your scales is not going to be a good judge of your, of character, let's say that week.
00:41:35
Speaker
So if it affects you negatively in any way, then what are you getting on it for? Just leave it off. Because again, people who are negatively affected by the scales and get annoyed during PMS, get annoyed postpartum, get annoyed in perimenopause, they are the people that give up easier. And it's really sad because the reason they're giving up is because of the scales, even though it's not even telling the truth.
00:41:57
Speaker
Yeah, and they could have lost pounds of body fat. Absolutely. And be holding on to pounds of fluid. Like, you know what to mean? And one of my coaches, Lindsay, she's fantastic.
00:42:08
Speaker
But she has two. She probably has on her Instagram page. You can go and check them out if you want to, anyone listening. But she has two pictures of herself before she ever started in the gym. And when she was working towards her photo shoot prep or was it afterwards, she whether she would she gained a bit more. I can't remember what what it was, but when she was in incredible shape, she weighed the exact same in the two pictures and looked completely different, you know, and in her new one, like, you know, she's got strong shoulders and legs, she's snatched at the waist, but you know, like looks really strong, really healthy.
00:42:38
Speaker
And in the other one, she doesn't look unhealthy. Yeah, she holds more weight in her middle. Her legs are much smaller and she's the exact same weight, but a completely different body. And I think we that this is how much we like and these people that that you're watching on Instagram or wherever you're watching people that you think, wow, they're in incredible shape, but they look so slim or this, that and the other.
00:43:00
Speaker
They more than likely have a hell of a lot of muscle on their body. They're more than likely spending a good amount of time eating plenty of good quality foods. yeah And they're not starving themselves and then binging because they can't stick to it.
00:43:12
Speaker
Absolutely. And I just wish people could see that and also understand. i think probably part of it is maybe when you see people like that or even people are looking at me and you, do they think that we have maybe an advantage or we find it easier? You know, I think that that's probably a hard part of it as well.
00:43:30
Speaker
I do think I have an advantage in the sense that I can go to the gym at 10 a.m., m that my kids are all in school. I don't have to work another job anymore. now Don't get me wrong. I used to work as a primary school teacher for 15 years and then I transitioned to become a coach. And that for a long time I was working two jobs and it was a lot of really stressful period.
00:43:48
Speaker
I know what it's like to have to train late at night when you don't feel like I don't have to do that anymore. But because I've lived both, I do know that, OK, it is a bit easier for me to get it done then.
00:43:59
Speaker
And there is a bit more time there. But I'm also running a business. And for me, I always feel really grateful when I'm in the gym at 10 a.m. m on a Monday. day I'm like, Jesus, this is great. And I do know that struggle of having to go out for to to the gym for 7 p.m.
Consistency and Routine in Fitness
00:44:12
Speaker
when you really, especially in the middle of winter when you really don't want to.
00:44:15
Speaker
But this is where mindset comes in. It's like, OK, that might not be ideal, but if that's the only time in your life that you can do your training, you don't need to train every day. Even if you start off and you got two workouts in a week and was consistent with it, you went every Monday and Thursday or something.
00:44:31
Speaker
And you were like 7 p.m. Monday, day Thursday. I'm not even going to argue with myself. I just go. And you just go because you'll never feel like it. Do a five minute action. Commit to five minutes. feel like after I've done the warm up, if I really don't want to do this, I can leave.
00:44:44
Speaker
I used to do this all the time. I used to go to a CrossFit class and I used to always be like, oh, I'm so tired. And literally I would be like, i don't know that I feel very well. Like, I think I'm too exhausted. I might be a bit lightheaded. I don't think I just say, Kate, go do the warm up. You can leave after the warm up want to.
00:44:58
Speaker
I never left after the warm up because once I got moving, I felt amazing. and And always, I never, ever, ever regretted pushing myself to go. Yeah, no, I completely agree with you. So yeah, look, everybody will have their own pros and cons and their own advantages and disadvantages. And whether you're working or not working, if your kids are in school or if your kids, you know, are not in school yet and they're home with you all the time. And I don't know, does anybody really excel in it being ideal for them? But and even like what we spoke about earlier on, like you can't compare he yourself either to 20 year old who's living at home and gets all their meals handed to them.
00:45:32
Speaker
and doesn't have a job and is in college but is off now for the summer. So they have all the time in the world. You know, we can't compare them either. They also have the social life and the drinking culture and all of that to contend with. So everyone has their struggles or they also have a lack of self-belief. A lot of them, you know what I mean? They don't know who they are.
00:45:49
Speaker
So like I wouldn't, so I wouldn't want to be 20 again if you paid me. Like, but then I think it's so easy for us to look at every stage of life with rose tinted glasses and look be like, oh, wouldn't that be great? Like sometimes, you know, some of my clients in their 50s, they're like, oh, yeah, me and my husband, they were off down to the south of France for a month or whatever. Sure, all our kids were grown. I'm like, I'd love if all our kids were grown. And then I'm like, no, Kate, stop, you don't.
00:46:09
Speaker
So it's so easy to, you know, we can do this like or week or, you know, I came back from Miami. I was at a business thing and the lads at the business mentorship were heading off to Mexico afterwards because they don't have kids yet. But then I'm like, a lot of them will settle down someday and they'll lose all of this.
00:46:22
Speaker
You know what i mean? Whereas then I'll be living my best life when my kids are raised. We have to appreciate what stage of life we're at. and I think it's really important not to always be wishing for more, like wishing for something else. But what I will say, and this is another belief I have in relation to barriers for reaching your goals or barriers for setting up a healthy lifestyle can actually be.
00:46:42
Speaker
And this can be ah this is a really big statement to make. And for some people, it might feel unhelpful, but i I do feel it needs to be said. And I'm just going to say it. It can be your whole life. So if you hate the life that you've created for yourself, you're not a tree.
00:46:54
Speaker
move You know what i mean? And this is probably about as harsh and as real as I get. I'm like, if you hate your job, if you hate your partner, if you hate where you live, if you, you know, whatever it is that I know there's some things that we have to do, you know, if yeah if we've got sick people in our lives and I'm not talking about that. So I'm talking about the everyday stuff, you know, I'm talking about there is no reason why you can. I'm not saying every everyone upend your lives now and make huge changes. so Kate Hamilton told me to, but start making little changes so that there is space in your life for you.
00:47:24
Speaker
Again, I had this conversation with somebody yesterday. I'm trying to even think who it was, but this is what we were discussing, like that there is people out there that will find it all hard enough because they're in a job that they absolutely hate.
00:47:35
Speaker
But at the same time, they're never going to do about it because they just presume... this is why everybody just hates their job and I have no choice but to do this. And then that makes their home life much more stressful. And, you know, dropping and collecting the kids is a lot more stressful than a result. And then they couldn't even think about exercise or looking after themselves because, you know, everything else is...
00:47:54
Speaker
ah such a chore for them but it's hard to get across to people like that you know and i i feel like even what you were saying there it is all so true and i absolutely would would say the same thing as well but i do find then as well the people that need to hear that and the people that need to do something about it are the people that won't listen to a podcast like this or else they will and they won't want to hear it this kind of stuff you know Yeah. And it it doesn't even have to be the case of, you know, changing your job or, you know, whatever. you know, I understand that everyone wants to do that.
00:48:22
Speaker
But creating boundaries, I think, and, you know, just being like this space in the week is for me. But if there's something that's that's making you sick to your stomach with worry and stress or you're losing sleep over, you know, something needs to be done about that. Otherwise, it's going to make you sick and you only get one life like this is your life.
00:48:40
Speaker
Don't be living it for what you think other people want you to do. It's so important. When I left teaching, that was such a big step for me. And my parents thought i was having a midlife crisis. I think a lot of my friends or people around me thought it was just i losing my mind altogether. What is you? And everyone was like, oh, are are you back to teaching yet?
00:48:57
Speaker
And i in my head, i was never going back. I had a mortgage, three children, like not even three young children. You know, three children are really starting to cost me like, you know, and it was really like,
00:49:09
Speaker
I had this guilt and this sense of like irresponsibility that I was being selfish, that I was being irresponsible, that this is not a clever move to make. But there was something in me that was like, no, I have to do this.
00:49:20
Speaker
And it's funny when you make big decisions like that, like those feelings of guilt and of, you know, insecurity of it's all really, really normal. You're not going to get the support that you're looking for from others until you don't need it anymore. That's what I've learned. You need to believe in yourself, like whatever your goal is, whether it is, you know, a career move or whether it is, you know, a house move or whether it's, you know, leaving a relationship or starting a new relationship or whatever, whether it is just creating a healthy fit, like health and fitness lifestyle for yourself.
Self-belief and Life Changes
00:49:50
Speaker
Changing your lifestyles.
00:49:51
Speaker
Yeah, creating that time for yourself, getting people to mind your kids so you can get out and and do things for you. That can all feel, you know, all of those emotions can come up. But if you're looking at everyone else for reassurance and support, you're going to be waiting. You have to believe in yourself first.
00:50:08
Speaker
And when people see you doing things, then they're like, oh, wow, look what she just did. Exactly, exactly. Like it's just pushing people or getting people just to make that first at the change.
00:50:20
Speaker
It's like anything. I suppose it's like fat loss, you know, it's it can seem scary and it can seem like it's not possible. And then you just need people just to do like a week or two. And then, you know, they start to see, oh, this is actually working now. And that's what motivates you to keep going.
00:50:33
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, if I could get everybody and like you're saying yourself, you could encourage everybody to do something for themselves, for their life, for their health, for their fitness. Like we would, but yeah, some people are just a lot harder to crack, I think, than others. Or like what we spoke about earlier, like you're talking about your women in your 50s or your perimenopausal women, they just presume that I just can't do this.
00:50:56
Speaker
Yeah. Or I wouldn't be able to do that. You're limiting beliefs. You're just accepting that it's too late for me or I don't have the time or, you know, I'd never be able to undo all everything that I've been doing.
00:51:08
Speaker
It's beliefs for a lot of people, but people don't see that. You know, they really don't see that. So the only way you change beliefs is by creating evidence and you create evidence by doing. So sitting around thinking about things, what you can and can't do, just do. And this comes back to exactly what we're saying about the lifestyle changes and the nutrition baby steps.
00:51:26
Speaker
What's one thing I can do today to move me towards my goal? just adding in one thing when that starts to feel easy, add in another. You're never going to grow in your comfort zone. It's just not going to happen. the but it doesn't mean you need to fire yourself off the cliff when you're like, oh, this starts to feel easy. OK, now it's time to add in the next thing.
00:51:40
Speaker
Like it should never feel easy. It should feel good and really rewarding. But easy is not a place that you want to be in all the time. If it doesn't challenge you, it's never going to change yeah you. Yeah, but overwhelm is not a place you want to be in all the time either. So it's to find that balance between that easy and that overwhelm and get somewhere in the middle and then add the next thing on. And so that's exactly what we do in my coaching services. They run these habits bit by bit, depending on the client and what I look for.
00:52:05
Speaker
But anyway, look, I just realized we're coming towards the end of this podcast and this has been the most
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:52:11
Speaker
amazing conversation. I didn't even mean to go into a whole life change. No, don't go to the same.
00:52:15
Speaker
That's what love about the podcast. You never know where it's got go. I'm going to fire one question at you before we finish. Wow. OK. What does the word health mean to you? Health. Do you know what? It's funny. I was like the first thing that came into my head instantly was longevity.
00:52:30
Speaker
That's the first thing that came into my head. yeah So I think that that that's obviously what he for me at the moment. And I think this all changed when I had kids and I'm expecting now again, I'm five and a half months pregnant.
00:52:40
Speaker
Oh, congratulations. So for me, health for me is being healthy enough to live long enough to enjoy my kids, to hopefully enjoy my grandkids someday.
00:52:53
Speaker
But not only, you know, being a bed looking at them all, but I want to be healthy enough to be up and out with everybody and being mobile and you know that that really is what health is to me now. Now, obviously aesthetics and stuff like that all come into it and i look forward to my you know postpartum phase and rehabbing and all that kind of stuff as well.
00:53:11
Speaker
But to me, health really is about you know the future and future proof for myself, my family, setting good examples and being, you know as they say, adding life or adding years to my life, but also adding life to my years as well.
00:53:27
Speaker
that I want to be here for a long time, but I want to be healthy enough to be able to enjoy it for all that long time. You know, everything I'm doing now, walking my dogs, going out to the park at the weekends, going out to the beach, I want to be doing that, you know, in 50 years time as well.
00:53:40
Speaker
So, yeah, I think that that's what health is for me. It's like the longer, bigger picture. And maybe that just changes when you have a family. I don't know, but that's what it is for me anyway. Yeah, I love it. Such a good way to finish.
00:53:52
Speaker
And so true. I couldn't agree more. And you're right, that quality, the quality of the longevity being so, so important. Yeah. yeah If anyone would like to reach out to you, where is the best place to find you? I'm Orla Power Coaching on Instagram, on Facebook, on gmail.com, on.ie, you know, it's Orla Power Coaching. You'll find me.
00:54:12
Speaker
Yeah, just Google or you'll find or search or wherever you listen to or watch your social media. Orla, thank you so much. I have loved this conversation. much for having
00:54:25
Speaker
I just want to say thank you so much for listening to the podcast. And i would just ask for one thing from you, if at all possible, could you make sure that you subscribe to the podcast? It really does make such a difference.
00:54:39
Speaker
If there's a particular episode that you've enjoyed, please do share it in your WhatsApp groups, share it on your stories, tag myself and the guest. in your stories. All of these things really do help to grow the podcast. And obviously, if there's anything you'd like to reflect on, please do leave a comment.
00:54:56
Speaker
It would mean the world to me and i will see you on the next one.