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#94: Rosa Flaherty: Losing weight, finding sobriety, and transforming her life through holistic health
897 Plays5 months ago
In this episode of the Kate Hamilton Health Podcast, I chat with my friend and inspiring online fitness coach, Rosa Flaherty. Rosa shares her incredible story of losing 30 kilos, navigating body image struggles, and overcoming alcohol dependency to become a trusted voice in the fitness world.
We dive into the real-life challenges of sustainable fat loss, staying consistent with your goals at social events, and managing stress in today’s fast-paced world. Rosa also opens up about how social media influences our view of health and why authenticity and self-reflection are so important for holistic well-being.
If you're looking for inspiration and practical advice to create a healthier, more balanced life, this is the episode for you!
Key Questions Discussed:
- How did Rosa transform her personal struggles into a thriving coaching career?
- What are the key principles for successful and sustainable fat loss?
- How can you balance fitness goals with an active social life?
- What role does self-reflection play in maintaining mental clarity and personal growth?
- How has Rosa’s relationship with alcohol impacted her health journey?
- What are the dangers of social media's influence on body image, and how can we combat them?
- How can we redefine health to prioritize authenticity and well-being over appearances?
Links & Resources:
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.
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Transcript
Introduction of Rosa Flaherty
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton health podcast. So today's episode is kind of a special episode where I chat with my friend and online coach Rosa Flaherty. So Rosa, as I just said, is an online coach, but she's someone that I know personally as well. And.
00:00:26
Speaker
We share a lot of similar beliefs and mindsets around health, fitness, life in general. And I just thought it would be really nice to have her on the podcast and talk through some of those ideas together. So that's exactly what we did. We chatted.
00:00:42
Speaker
a lot about her own journey and the fact that she has actually managed to lose 30 kilos in weight herself. So there is no better woman to give you tips and tricks around fat loss than Rosa. We talk a lot about mental health. We talk about alcohol and how much you life has been better without it and her struggles with alcohol and mental health. We talk about body image, social media comparison. Rosa is in her twenties, but so she is like an old soul and she is so refreshing in the fitness industry to have a young person with so much soul about them. And I really do believe she's going to make such a difference out there as an online coach.
00:01:24
Speaker
sharing her wisdom, her unusual wisdom for her 22 years. We talk so much more around social events when dieting. We talk about healthy lifestyle from a holistic perspective and really looking at it as a whole lifestyle and how health and fitness really is about a better feeling rather than a number.
Rosa's Fitness Journey
00:01:44
Speaker
So I really hope that you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. It has a real personal touch to it. So without further ado, here is the episode with Rosa Flaherty.
00:01:56
Speaker
Rosa, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to, as I said, there's going to be much more kind of like a girl chats kind of vibe of a podcast, which I'm really excited for kind of, I suppose, letting everybody know a bit about you and discuss the mindsets and the topics that we share come in interesting. Okay, cool. I'm excited. So I suppose, first of all, do you want to tell everyone a bit about you and what it is that you do?
00:02:23
Speaker
Okay so I am Rosa obviously and I'm an online fitness coach. I would say I'm relatively new to the industry but I've kind of been in the background for a long time basically, long story short, a I went through my own fitness journey a few years ago and I began making TikToks about it and the more that I kind of gave out advice on TikTok and began helping people the more that I realised how rewarding it was and that I actually really, really enjoyed it. So this year I beat the bullet, I did my course and here I am, online fitness coach and loving it. And I've been so lucky to be able to watch this evolution of you becoming this amazing fitness coach. Yeah, you've literally been there every step of the way. Just seeing you kind of build that belief in yourself that you can help others and do it as a career, which has been really, really exciting to watch. That's incredible.
00:03:11
Speaker
Will we go into like your journey and talk a little bit about what made you want to be a coach and what exactly it is kind of that that you've been through personally? Yeah, cool. So I actually got into fitness at a very young age. I remember me and a friend of mine got into the gym when I think we were in like first or second year. And I remember so vividly having a conversation with a family member and she was kind of saying like, now that you're in secondary school, are you kind of thinking about what you're going to do? And I remember saying to her that I wanted to be a fitness influencer.
00:03:40
Speaker
Not a coach, a fitness influencer because at the time I was obsessed with Rob Lipsett. I was like a diehard Rob Lipsett fan and yeah that was obviously an epiphany I'd had but I think when it came to fitness I have struggled with body image for I would say the most part of my life. I was bullied when I was in school for my weight and I suppose I put that back to to the back of my mind because I didn't look like an online coach. That's what I thought. Anyway, I didn't look like an online coach. People wouldn't take me seriously. And then I ended up going to college to be a broadcaster. I wanted to be a radio DJ and left after second year, I think. And that was kind of in COVID and in COVID that's when I
From Weight Loss to Influencer
00:04:22
Speaker
gained a lot of weight. I think I'd gained maybe 20 kg. My mom was off work, so she was cooking all the meals and I was taking full advantage of it. And I just.
00:04:32
Speaker
remember looking at myself in I think maybe I'd taken a photo when we'd kind of yeah it was when things started opening back up and I went to a friend's birthday party and I got on a photo with a couple of my friends and I was like oh my god I didn't even recognize myself and I was like okay I need to do something about this and um I went on to google and I was like how do I lose weight because I've obviously tried over the years with yo-yo diets i enrolled myself in slimming world when i was 17 years of age i literally had tried everything and i was like this time i'm gonna take it seriously and i will literally do whatever it takes because my confidence was just on the floor and i found out like about calorie deficits and stuff so i started doing home workouts i think i was doing HIIT workouts got myself a couple of dumbbells and i was just following workouts on youtube
00:05:20
Speaker
getting my steps in and eating in a calorie deficit and I ended up losing 10kg by myself and I then started with a coach after losing 10kg and went on to lose another 20kg so in total I've lost just over 30kg and I think Obviously I started making TikToks. So what happened was after I had lost, you know, a good chunk of weight, I made like a little transformation video just for me, just to kind of reflect and look back on how, how far I had come. And I was like, oh my God, I'd love to post this on TikTok and share it with people. Cause obviously we're still kind of in COVID and like, I hadn't really seen many people and I was like, I'm going to.
00:05:57
Speaker
shock the nation i was like oh god when i post it when i not and so adam my boyfriend was like come on post it like what have you got to do is why not share it with people and i posted the transformation video anyway and it literally blew up overnight i think that one got it just over three million views and i was like oh like holy shit and then people were kind of coming to me for advice and i was like this is all quite weird because i had always i definitely felt like an imposter because as i said i never thought i looked like a coach or i never i didn't think that people would take me seriously because of the way i looked and then i posted another transformation video a few months later that got over 22 million views my followers literally skyrocketed overnight and then i just basically fell in love
00:06:43
Speaker
with helping people, I was giving out advice posting what I ate in a day, what I got in my food shop, how to lose weight and I was like oh my god this is so rewarding because then I had messages from people being like your videos helped me so much and I'm like oh my god I genuinely couldn't believe it and yeah I've been doing that for it I'd say making TikToks about three or four years and then this year I was like right so I know deep down that this is what I really really want to do So I enrolled in a PT course, completed that at the start of the year and launched my own business in May of this year. So it's been five months, nearly six months, and it's been absolutely incredible. And I haven't doubted for a second that it's not what I want to do, you know, that kind of way. Like, you know, when you start a new job and you're like, Oh God, this is a bit crap or whatever. And it's just felt so right. Like literally every step of the way, it's just felt like this is what I was born to do. It's incredible.
00:07:36
Speaker
Isn't it amazing that what you said as a young girl happened without you even really having to do much to achieve that in the sense that you said, as a young girl, I want to be a fitness influencer. You know, looked after your own health, just said, oh, sure, look, fuck it, I'll post it.
00:07:54
Speaker
And then all of a sudden you were a fitness influencer. I'd say you probably realized quite quickly that, you know, there is a difference between a fitness influencer and obviously becoming an online, but becoming a coach. yeah with a cash shift Isn't that all part of a journey? Like, you know, you have a goal, you start on a path and then suddenly another path opens and your goal starts to extend. It's so lovely to hear that you haven't doubted once, you know, starting your own business and becoming an online coach.
00:08:21
Speaker
Because I think there's a misconception. A lot of people think that being an online coach is easy. It is definitely not an easy job. It's not what people portray on social media. yeah It involves giving a lot of yourself to others. And I do believe it's not made for everyone. So I'm just so happy that you're so fulfilled from what you're doing. Mm-hmm, absolutely. Like, it's incredible. It's literally the best job
Coaching Success Stories
00:08:43
Speaker
in the world. It's so rewarding. And I find that for me, even if I'm having a bad day and then I, you know, log on to my laptop and I do check-ins, within five minutes, there's like a big smile on my face and I'm like bouncing around and I'm like, this is actually incredible because it's like when my clients are sharing their wins with me and, you know, how they're feeling, it's so, so contagious. Yeah, like you have people messaging you being like, you've changed my life. And I'm like,
00:09:07
Speaker
what like no that's that's crazy no i didn't it's so rewarding it's very easy to forget as well i think when you're in it but if we take it back now to your journey of losing 30 kg in total yeah just over 30 kg i think yeah you are okay through that's absolutely incredible so you have got all the tips and tricks that my ladies ladies and gents that are listening now would want to know
Advice for Beginners in Fitness
00:09:34
Speaker
if you were to I suppose give any advice where should someone start when it comes to starting on a fat loss journey and what are the most important things to focus on in your opinion? When someone comes to me and they're a complete beginner I would very much so focus on just nailing the basics right it doesn't have to be
00:09:53
Speaker
doing five workouts a week, eating obviously ridiculously low calories and doing loads of cardio, nailing the basics. So focusing on the quality of your nutrition, right? Even if you're not going to jump straight into, you know, tracking calories, literally tracking every gram of food that you're eating, increase your protein intake, right? That was the one thing for me. And I used to find it like my head would be wrecked when I'd be like watching YouTube videos. How do I lose weight? And people would be like, eat your protein, eat your protein. And I'm like, my head would actually be wrecked with that, but it's only,
00:10:23
Speaker
Since I started like actually prioritizing my protein intake that I realized how much it really did help. Get moving, right? If you're not ready to, you know, commit to going to the gym or getting your workouts in, get your steps up. And for me, that was something I did in my first fat loss phase was I prioritized my steps. I started doing 10,000 steps a day and I'd already more than doubled my daily average step count. So I'd already improved the quality of my nutrition. So I was eating more fruit and veg, eating more protein.
00:10:51
Speaker
moving more by going to hit my 10,000 steps a day. Managing my stress as well was a big one. And I don't think that people realize how much stress plays a part in fat loss. So managing my stress and just making sure that I had the correct habits in place for dealing with my stress rather than, you know, turning to food, which is what I had always had done and also prioritizing my sleep. So they've always kind of been the big four to me. So like the quality of my nutrition, steps, stress management and sleep.
00:11:21
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Yes. I love this. And bringing it back to basics. And it isn't just about food, like and yeah exercise. It's so much more. And actually I was doing a little bit of reflection on this. I was doing some education for my ladies and I actually wrote it down. It's like I had an epiphany. I wrote out about fat loss, right? So I'll actually read this to you what I wrote out today. I was like, fat loss is simple. It's not easy, but it's simple. So basically fat loss is simple habits repeated over time, imperfectly.
00:11:50
Speaker
while constantly reflecting and learning. Yes, absolutely. So yeah, it's just like, that's it. Yeah. And then I'm like, I kind of broke it down in my head to about, like I said, nine simple habits.
00:12:04
Speaker
But basically planning ahead, tracking your calories, macronutrient balance. So I'm talking about our protein, carbs, fats, that kind of stuff. Food quality, daily movement, resistance training, sleep, hydration, reflection time. Whether that's just doing a bit of journaling or going for a walk by yourself to actually reflect on what's working, what's not working.
00:12:26
Speaker
And what I think is really important about all of this stuff, I'm like, if you were doing all of those nine habits, you would literally be acing life, but you're not realistically, life gets in the way. So there's going to be ups, there's going to be downs, there's going to be good times, really good times. There's going to be really bad times. There's going to be loads of in between regular boring times. So if we slowly start layering these in, so like you said, you know, focus on just eating a little more protein.
00:12:50
Speaker
focus on just eating better quality food, just focus on getting out for a daily walk. Start with one thing at a time. yeah When that starts feels to starts to feel easy, layer in another bit, constantly pushing yourself, but not to the point of overwhelm. And then when shit hits the fan and like, you know, something unexpected happens in life like it always does. It's okay you can take a little step back but you don't need to give up on all your habits because you can't manage some of them. Exactly and this is something I actually really resonate with as of recently so as you were saying there like when shit hits a fan you don't need to just fully give up. I had like something unexpected happen recently in my personal life and I just kind of
00:13:27
Speaker
spiraled a little bit, but what I was able to do was focus on nailing the basics. So I knew for a fact that like the gym was not my biggest priority over the last couple of weeks. So I got out, moved my body, hit my steps. I was focusing on the quality of my nutrition. So I might not have been tracking every calorie that I ate, but I was focusing on the quality in my nutrition and like.
00:13:45
Speaker
making sure that it was benefiting me and making me feel good. I was, you know, prioritizing my sleep. So like anytime I find that like maybe I am getting a little bit overwhelmed and I can't kind of keep up with everything that I have going on, I'll bring it right back to the basics. It doesn't seem as overwhelming. And then over time, like week by week, I'll start, you know, bringing those habits back in. So like, for example, this week I got back to the gym. Next week I'll focus on doing something else.
00:14:11
Speaker
when When we get overwhelmed, right, I think two things drop from my experience. And that's calorie tracking, and the gym, huge, or workout, homework. it yeah It's usually calorie tracking in the gym for most people. And then people think they're like, Oh my God, I've had such a bad week. And then I'm like, how was your sleep? Oh, wait, look, you got like 12,000 steps each day. Oh, you've actually been eating protein carbs and fats and you've been having three meals a day yeah and you've just been fucking busy. Like, you know, and that's the thing about most of my clients, no one's no one that I work with is lazy. We're all just busy. We're overstimulated. We're overworked and we're stretched in too many different directions. You're not a failure by having to take a break from the gym or just not track for a while. yeah In fact, well not to we're not supposed to track for the rest of our lives. No, no, absolutely not.
00:14:57
Speaker
It's a tool that we use when we want to get from A to B. And sometimes when we're trying to get from A to B, it takes a little detour and we have to take a little break from it and we'll get back on course in due time. Yeah, absolutely. Let's talk a little bit around social events.
Balancing Social Life and Fitness
00:15:09
Speaker
Okay. um entire So how old are you Rosa? I'm 22.
00:15:13
Speaker
I'm just a baby. You're 22. So yeah, she's a young one. She's a young whatever. So no, no better person to ask about this. Okay. Social, event it's easier for me. I'm 38. I don't, I'm quite anti-social in the evening times. I like that. I know not all 38 year olds or anyone older than me is as anti-social as I am. I like to go out, do things during the day and chill in the evenings as much as I can. Obviously I don't always get away with that. Sometimes I have to go places.
00:15:36
Speaker
As someone who is in your early twenties, and I know you're actually a bit like me, you're a bit of an old soul. Yeah. Anti-social 22 year olds out there, boss but it's like trying to to balance 20 something life with, you know, the lifestyle that you want to lead. What are your tips even for your clients? Cause I'd imagine a lot of your clients are similar age to you. What tips do you give around social events?
00:15:58
Speaker
Yeah, so personally for me, obviously my relationships, right? My friendships, my relationships with my family are so much more important to me than tracking my calories and losing weight. And I have really, really learned over the last few years that like you absolutely can do both. Like you can still have your social life and you can still make progress. And there are just a couple of different ways that I go about it. So.
00:16:21
Speaker
obviously if you're going to be going out every single weekend going over your calories you know going out drinking coming home with a kebab in your hand you might not make the progress that you want to make but say for example if you're going on like a night out maybe like every few weeks once a month calorie bank that week right obviously we know your body doesn't know what day it is right so if you save 150 to 250 calories Monday day to Friday have those calories to spare for Saturdays that you can go out enjoy yourself that bit more and as long as you're making like relatively okay choices and then I think the most important part is like being able to bounce back from that and this is one thing that I tell my clients all the time
00:17:03
Speaker
You going out for a meal at the weekend and potentially going over your calories is probably not going to do damage, but the damage is going to happen when you let that roll into Sunday, then into Monday, then into Tuesday. So you've gone over your calories on Saturday. On Sunday, you've said, oh, feck it, damage is done now. I may as well finish what I started. So Sunday you order a takeaway, then Monday, and it just becomes like this toxic cycle. And then that's where most of the people Most people just kind of give up on their progress or give up on their goals. So if you're able to literally pick yourself up the next morning, dust yourself off, drink a pint of water, get out for a walk, do your food shop and get back to your normal eating, you'll realise that you actually still can go out, have a social life and still make progress. So obviously calorie banking is a very, very useful tool, but also
00:17:50
Speaker
the ability to make better choices when you're out and for me when I'm dieting obviously the goal is like not to be dieting forever, right? I do not want to have to draw this diet out any longer than I have to because I love food too much and I love being on higher calories and I love feeling really strong and when I'm dieting It is so hard to sit there and say no I think I'm going to make a better option than just order like you know the pizza with the garlic dip and the chips and then order a dessert and you know maybe go for cocktails afterwards. It is so hard to make that better choice but when you are able to do the hard shit that is when you are going to grow and that's when you're going to make progress and
00:18:32
Speaker
Like obviously when it comes to eating out, making better choices, right? And that doesn't have to mean eating something that you don't want to eat or something that you don't like. Just base your meal around a protein source, right? so Order veg on the side, order mash instead of chips, maybe order your sauce on the side, maybe opt for some lower calorie alcoholic drinks, right? So like rather than getting cocktails or beer, maybe opt for like a gin and a cinnamon tonic or vodka and a Coke Zero, right? Yeah, I'm planning ahead a little bit as well. So it's kind of like, oh go you don't have to 100% stick to the plan, but go out with some sort of plan. So then you're less likely to be like, oh fuck it, I'll have the starters. Oh fuck it, I'll have the dessert. I'll fuck it, I'll have the cocktail. yeah You know, you could be like, I'd go out, have a good time. And when you think about it, if you think about like any nights out, anyone listening, if you think about any of your nights out that you've had in the past three months, can you actually remember exactly what you ate and drank?
00:19:24
Speaker
And maybe some people can't. yeah I don't fucking remember anyway. No, I wouldn't. like And what you're saying about pre-planning, if one of my clients texts me and they're like, I'm going out for dinner on Saturday, I have no idea what to order, I'll be like, send me the menu. Send me the menu or Google the menu, have a look, see what choice you could make that is probably going to you know align with where you want to be in a few months time and is going to align with the goals that you want to achieve. And it's going to take you that step closer to achieving those goals.
00:19:52
Speaker
And it's kind of been my little to like, obviously, as I said, like if you're going out every single weekend over and building, like you're probably not going to make that progress. You have to remember why you're doing this and like being able to, you know, pull back on going out and saying Fecca every single weekend. If you're able to pull back on that for a short period of time, OK, because like a fat loss phase, that's temporary, right? And you're not supposed to diet forever. And like you're not going to be dieting forever. So if you can just kind of, you know,
00:20:20
Speaker
pull back a little bit for however long it is that you're going to be dieting. When you eventually do reach that stage of like being able to introduce more regular, you know, social outings, you're going to appreciate it so much more and you're probably going to enjoy it that bit more, but you're also going to have those habits in place so that you can go out and enjoy yourself in like a healthy, healthy way and still enjoy it. And then be able to get up the next morning and get straight back on track.
00:20:47
Speaker
That's key as well, isn't it? Like, and I was only just talking to Lindsay about this today, actually just after we saw you at the gym. I was actually recording a video on it and we were talking about guilt and how like guilt ruins so much of it because you feel guilty because you fucked it up. And then you're like, what's the point? And then like, rather than just being like, okay, I relaxed, I had a good time. I'm going to breathe away this guilt. I'm going to actually just get my shit together and maybe do a little reflection on it and be like, next time, what could I do different?
00:21:18
Speaker
And then move forward and realize it's not, it's not about being perfect, yeah but I also think with consistency. So it's not about being perfect, right? It is about being consistent. So, you know, losing weight or, you know, like losing body fat is about consistency, but it's not about being consistently perfect. So like I was talking about all those habits there, you know,
00:21:36
Speaker
that I had that I'd literally listed at the planning ahead the track of the calories like if you were doing all that it'd be like literally like you know like the perfect week which rarely happens yeah but I think where the consistency actually is or needs to be is consistently picking yourself back up yeah brushing yourself off reflecting on what happened and moving forward and that's what success is it's caught like you're gonna fall down you're gonna fuck it up ah like regularly, we all do. And I think it's the people who consistently get up, try learn from it, move forward, it'll happen again, maybe to a lesser effect, learn a bit from it, and you get better over time. And I think that that's where the consistency needs to be. And I think there's a confusion between consistency and perfection sometimes.
00:22:20
Speaker
Yeah, no, I absolutely agree. Like it's definitely the ability to be able to pick yourself back up and keep chipping away at your goals. Because again, if you're saying feck it on Saturday, letting that run into Sunday, then into Monday, then into Tuesday, that's where the damage is going to be done. And that's where you're going to give up on your goals. And then you're going to find yourself back in this place and maybe a few months time and be like, this is why, i like, why can't I stick to something? It's because you give up the second you might have, you know, a little, a little, what would we call it?
00:22:49
Speaker
a little wobble, but like, if you are going into a dieting phase with the expectation that you're not going to have any wobbles, you are just, you are not feeling anyone but yourself. You are literally not feeling anyone but yourself. I am literally the wobbliest person out of them all. yeah that' I'm just like teaching my clients. I'm like, being wobbly is normal. Like, you know, so yeah, it is normal and it's just about so realizing that it's normal and that we're all in the same boat and everyone is showing you their highlight reels and sharing their wins. And ah what you're seeing on social media is not all the ups and downs in someone's day know and and never presume that everyone else has it together because like more than likely they really don't. Yeah, no, they don't. They don't. Yeah, everyone's just navigating away and to doing their
Struggles and Benefits of Sobriety
00:23:33
Speaker
best. I want to talk to you a little bit about alcohol because I know this is an important topic to you yes and it's actually an important topic to me and I was only talking
00:23:43
Speaker
and about this in the podcast recently. I think it came up on two separate conversations I've recorded recently because I've had kind of an up and down relationship with alcohol over the years, but actually even just in the past year. But I'd love to hear your story around alcohol and where you stand with it now.
00:23:58
Speaker
Yeah. So I actually only opened up about my story properly recently when I turned 600 days sober. So I think I'd call- Congratulations, first of all. Thank you. So I think I'd always been quite maybe apprehensive to share my story because I think it's almost a fear that people are going to look at you differently. But I got over that. I got over that. It's fine. So basically, obviously, naturally started drinking from a very young age because that's what we do in Ireland.
00:24:26
Speaker
yeah it was like listen it was a big part of my teenage life going out at the weekend getting absolutely pissed at my friends that was grand that's what you do but then i think i was 19 when i started working in a pub just after covid and i kind of got sucked into like the pub lifestyle and drinking alcohol became a part of like my everyday life and I'd be drinking after work. I would say, like say for example, if I finished work at 11 o'clock, I could be there until four or five in the morning and then rolling in the door home to you know sleep for a few hours and then be back into work at 11 the next day.
00:25:00
Speaker
At the time I was really really struggling with my mental health and I was using alcohol as a way of kind of numbing everything that was going on in my head because obviously like my mental health had gotten so bad that I just I didn't want to face um anything that was actually going on in my head so I would just drink and drink and drink until I was just stupid.
00:25:20
Speaker
and I think I was working there for just under a year and I didn't even recognise the person that I had become when I would have a few drinks in me and it had almost gotten to the stage where like I couldn't properly socialise with people without actually having a drink in my hand and admitting that you have a drinking problem at the age of 19-20 is something that honestly I think has shaped the person that I am now because that was the hardest thing that i ever had to admit to myself and i think i really noticed it when you know my relationships began to suffer i started losing friends i would wake up and literally be like oh my god i'm going drinking today absolutely buzzing and it was constantly living for like you know 11 o'clock or six o'clock whatever time i was finished work at that day so that i could sit down have a drink and sit there for the rest of the evening and
00:26:10
Speaker
Yeah like if I was going out and if I was going on night out with my friends I just became this awful awful person to be around and I was abusing it right. I i really was because I didn't have good intentions going out. I wasn't like no I'm going out to have good time. I was going out to ignore everything that was going on in my head at the time so I think I had left the pub in the June maybe of that year and I kind of said like oh I'm gonna stop drinking now and it didn't really happen I was still kind of finding excuses to go down to the pub on like a Wednesday evening and I'd be like oh you are you coming for a drink you know i I was that friend I was like you're coming for a drink you actually couldn't imagine me now. but No I can't even imagine this I don't know with Rosa. Granny Rosa but yeah so I really really just kind of
00:26:55
Speaker
fell into a downward spiral with it and was completely abusing it and I think it was, so it was Christmas Eve of that year that I was obviously having a couple of drinks at home and I opened a can of pink gin and I just looked at it and I was like I actually cannot keep going on like this, there has to be a better way of dealing with whatever is going on in my head at the time I was on antidepressants, I was in therapy twice a week, it was just an absolute mess and I ended up pouring the kind of pink gin down the sink and I was like right we'll do 30 days, we'll do 30 days, we'll do dry jam, see how we get on and yes so 30 days turned into 60 then into 90 and here we are like I'm well over 600 days sober now I'm not sure when that was it was maybe two months ago that I got 600 days sober so this year it'll be
00:27:44
Speaker
two years two years on a roll call so it's crazy do you ever intend on drinking again i'm not saying that i never will drink again but i think at the moment it doesn't make sense for me to drink i'm well able to go out and enjoy a night out without you drinking my hand i can get in the car and leave whenever i want that is probably my favorite part about it i wake up every sunday morning feeling fresh you know i'm going off with the girls and i'm doing things with my family and Yeah, I just, I don't think it makes sense for me to drink at the moment. Listen, I might, five years time, could be a year's time. But I think for me, like, it's funny because I actually have quite and an addictive personality. And when I was drinking, I'd never be able to just go for one drink. If I was going for a drink, I was out for the night. Now, I think that where I am in life now, I'd probably be able to manage it that little bit better and have that bit more of a balance. But for now, for the foreseeable, I just, I think I'm too good without it. There's no point in reintroducing it.
00:28:42
Speaker
Yeah. Isn't it funny how we find it difficult to be like, I won't ever drink again. I suppose it's making it such a long-term declaration because i had I've had this conversation, like, you know, I've done ah like episodes on this, you know, ah a year or two ago as well on the podcast. And I didn't drink for almost two years. And I kind of always said, never say never, but like deep down, I was very much, I will never drink again.
00:29:07
Speaker
And then slowly over the past year, it's funny, isn't there those little pulls in our society? Like I was at a wedding and I was like, so don't want to be able to have a glass of wine with the meal, you know, or it was like toasting a friend, getting her new apartment, you know, been able to have a glass of the second, toast little things. But it was just like a slight little pull in again, that I felt like I was missing out on things.
00:29:29
Speaker
So I dipped into it a little bit over the past year, you know, and nothing majorly, and I very much changed my relationship with alcohol, which was amazing. And I was only talking about, I think it was with Kieran O'Neill, I was talking about this in a recent podcast. But over the past year now, I've had a particularly busy, stressful year in a good way. But, you know, everything that I learned about myself when I stopped drinking for two years, and this connection, like deep within that I felt within myself, and I was just so sure about everything and the path that I was on in my life and everything.
00:29:57
Speaker
this sense of clarity that I never felt my whole life right. yeah I had this and I slowly started to lose it over the past year and when I say like you know I might have had a few drinks at one wedding in like last September then I was in Brighton for IFS had a few drinks at that then you know maybe at Christmas I had a couple of glasses of wine and then there was the friends 40th and I had a couple of glasses of wine at that and then there was a wedding in June let's say You know, so it was like just a few little occasions dotted around. It wasn't like drinking at home or anything, you know, like the way I used to ah back in the day, nothing like that. But even with them dotted over, i and like, it could have been other external factors in my life, but I started to lose that clarity. yeah And it's only in recent months now, and now I'm like, I'm done. I was disappointed in myself that I got pulled back into, but this is a perfectionist mindset, that I got pulled back into the societal pulls, I suppose. suppose
00:30:51
Speaker
But I've never been shorter now than ever that I don't want it. I don't want it to be part of my life at all anymore. Because I feel like I'm literally losing myself to it. Yeah. And that's in a non extreme way. That's even just even one beer on holidays in the sun. I'm like,
00:31:10
Speaker
fucking zero beer tastes the exact same to me and I get it saying like on the two years off I did holidays I did parties I did yeah all everything without it and I didn't miss it and the holidays like this year I had lovely holidays this year but I did have like a beer or two a day a lot of the days of the holidays i didn't feel as good as i did on the holidays that i didn't yeah it's insane and like i suppose i can't really relate to that at the moment because obviously i haven't drank in nearly two years and i'm assuming that if i was to have a drink you know tonight or tomorrow whatever i probably would feel that sense of disappointment because i'm like you came so far you've done all this work on yourself like i definitely really relate to that kind of clarity and
00:31:54
Speaker
I have never known myself as well as I have over the last nearly two years since I stopped drinking and even like my friendships like at the age of 20 everybody drinks right and I did not have any friends that didn't drink or were willing to you know go on a hike on a Sunday morning you know rather than being recovering from the night before so I was a literally forced to create genuine connections and kind of seek out people that loved me for who I was and not just with a drink in my hand. And I have all that now, you know, like I have incredible friendships with, you know, people that don't really drink alcohol and I've had so many incredible opportunities. I genuinely think if I still drank alcohol, I would have never set up my own business. Probably wouldn't have, you know, had as much of a successful fitness journey as I have like over the last
00:32:44
Speaker
year and a half like there's so many things that I do not think I would have right now if I hadn't have made that decision and I suppose one thing that a lot of people kind of get wrong when like I tell them this story is like they think that I'm like shaming people who drink are I'm like you shouldn't drink alcohol but like I decided to quit because I couldn't have a healthy balance with it but like for someone else they may be able to have a healthy balance with it where they have like only a couple of drinks on Saturday evening you know like the choice to be more responsible with it is definitely something that like I don't think anyone could reg regret. It's absolutely life-changing like it really is and you know anyone listening who's you know kind of sober curious I urge you to
00:33:23
Speaker
do a 30 days, yeah see how it feels. If you feel amazing after the 30 days, extend it to another 30 days. you don't have to ever You don't have to ever commit to anything like long-term ever. But I do just think this time it's like, I know for sure what's at stake and I'm not willing to trade it because I've experienced the joy of what it's like to have that clarity and that connection with yourself. And I don't ever want to that to slip away again yes for the sake of something that isn't that important to me. now and that and that's Again, like you just said, I'm never judging anyone else in relation to it and I think everyone's life choices are completely up to them and alcohol affects different people different ways. As someone who's you know who has had mental health issues in the past myself, particularly with chronic anxiety, panic attacks,
00:34:12
Speaker
it's It's not good for me and I'm very sensitive to alcohol. So me too, like yeah there serotonin levels in my brain, like i I spent years on medication for, to keep my serotonin levels up. I do not need it anymore in, in like the past 10 years. I haven't needed to be on medication, which is amazing. But.
00:34:30
Speaker
When I drink alcohol, my serotonin levels drop even after one drink. I know they do because I can feel it. So I'm like, for me, because I'm that sensitive to it and because I do have to mind my mental health and my anxiety, I'm like, it's not fucking worth it. It's just not worth it. But I want to ask you actually in relation to your mental health, because this was something that was never, that I never thought about and was, no one ever asked me. When you were struggling with your mental health, did anyone ask you, do you think maybe the drinking is making it worse?
00:34:57
Speaker
You know what? Yes, actually, honestly. Yeah. So I was in therapy twice a week and I'd go into my therapist day on a Monday morning and she'd be like, so what have you been up to? And I was like, well, I was out Friday. I was out Saturday. I was out Sunday. I had a great time. And I suppose I'm very, very, very grateful for her because she definitely kind of did say, well, like this and why don't we maybe like, you know, reduce it. And then like, I definitely worked alongside her.
00:35:23
Speaker
like trying to, you know, cut down on it that little bit more. But im I think with how much of a part, like, alcohol played such a huge part in my life at the time that I think that the people closest to me may have been hesitant to say anything to me about it.
00:35:42
Speaker
because of how I might have reacted to it and I'd be like if someone had said to me like do you think like maybe you should put down another drink in a little bit maybe that's not helping I'd probably be like oh like what are you saying like right yeah yeah I definitely think so and like I will say my only regret is that I didn't quit sooner ah you're only 22 you're grand It's interesting that like, you know, you were at like, so we're talking about what are we talking about? Like 2020, 2022, 2022, 2022. Okay. So um like, it's much more normal to not drink, you know, people are much more aware of the effects of alcohol. When I was really struggling, again, it was similar age to you. Like it was, well, it kind of all came to a head at about age 21 or so for me. So that would have been 2007. So in 2007,
00:36:33
Speaker
first of all mental health what like I felt ashamed yeah that I was cry because that's because it wasn't talked about it was you know like people who were suffering from depression or you know had mental health issues you know that there was something wrong with them yeah it it wasn't as widely spoken about everyone just kind of kept it quiet and you just kind of got on with your shit and that's what it was like in 2007 but drinking was so normal like even more normal back then than it is then so was never okay So Jesus sure it wouldn't be the alcohol. like wouldn't you know yeah It would never entered my mind that the fact that I was going out from Friday to Sunday, binge drinking all weekend, not getting much sleep when I was in college was still in college, working the weekends, working Saturday and Sunday early, getting fuck all sleep and drinking the evening times, that maybe that might have had something to do with it. I know. i much at all It's insane. And like, I definitely think in the last, like in the last couple of years, anyway, not drinking is a lot more common now than it would have been. Like even, yeah even when I quit alcohol Christmas, 2022, like it was kind of unheard of, especially for people of my age anyway. And like, it's almost a case of like, you tell someone that you don't drink alcohol and they look at you like you've 10 heads.
00:37:41
Speaker
But I would never look at someone like that if they told me they went out Friday to Sunday you know and binge drank like that. It's Ireland, right? like It's it's a such a huge part of our culture. And I think only maybe in the last year there's actually been you know hiking groups and things for like specifically for people that don't drink alcohol. But like still, it's just such such a huge part of our culture. And like I definitely, since I quit drinking, I am not half as social as I used to be. and like I am such a social butterfly, right? I thrive off social interactions. I love chatting to people and I'm definitely not half as social as I used to be when I drank. And like, there definitely are some downsides to not drinking alcohol as well. Obviously there's like way more positives, but there are a few downsides too. Like, for example, if I go on a night out, it's almost as if my nights out aren't as enhanced, if that makes sense. yeah Like, yeah you know, what
00:38:37
Speaker
You're like on a night out and you're having like deep conversations with people and you're like chatting shite, but like, I don't have that now. Do you know that kind of way? I'm kind of like looking at everyone. It's difficult at 22. Whereas I'm like, I've done there. I've been there. I've done that. I have the stories I have, you know, I have the adventures, like it's all been done. And I don't want those nights out anymore, I suppose. It's my different, you know what I mean? But also I think there comes a point in a night that you don't remember. So like you can actually go out and still be sober, have a great time and then hop in your car and go home at least. You know what I mean? I'll leave you to it. You're not going to remember any of the rest of it anyway. You've you've been part of the fun yeah and then it's like, yeah, yeah. And you do feel a little sad when you're leaving at first. You feel a bit like, oh, I'm a bit boring. For me it was a bit like, oh, I'm boring. yeah Like that took me a long time to overcome.
00:39:31
Speaker
And then I'm like, I don't fucking care if I'm boring. Probably I'm boring. But like, you know, people will tell you that you are boring too. Like, if you tell someone like, oh, I'm not drinking at the moment or whatever, they'll be like, oh, you're dry-shiced. Like, they won't be around the bush with it. But like, yes, I like being boring. But you know what? More people are jumping on this non-alcohol wagon. Like, they're realising.
00:39:54
Speaker
the magic that there is to it. yeah And it's like, wow, look at all this that it's available to me. And I think anyone who who you know feels that they might have a problem with alcohol or it's causing issues in their life, or they're curious about starting, like head into your little sober curious phase, looking to discover that magic. Like what, what am I going to get? What am I gaining rather than what am I losing? And then you weigh it up. Cause I think now I'm at the stage now that I know, like I know there's nothing I'm losing out on missing out on nothing as far as I'm concerned I know what I'm gaining and I won't be willing to trade it. I think whatever you decide around it and around your health when it comes to alcohol, knowing very clearly what your values are around it and why or why not you're doing it.
00:40:35
Speaker
is is really important rather than just being reactive, like being a sheep. Yeah, exactly. yeah I actually really want to talk to you then a little bit about, I suppose, body image, social media comparison, because I sound like such an elbow when I say this, but when I have young people on the podcast, now no, but seriously, I do, I like to talk to, you know, and I remember I spoke to Troy about the, I had Troy in the podcast, Troy, so Jesus, it must be like a year ago, a year and a half ago at this stage. I remember that, that was a long time ago.
00:41:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was a long time ago now, but I talked to him about this a good bit as well, because I find it really interesting, again, I'm so really old, your generation, your generation that grew up with social media, because like, I turned 18 in 2004. So I grew up, oh fuck off. So I grew up, like, I was a child, like, yeah, so my childhood it was the 90s. Right, yeah. My childhood was the 90s.
00:41:26
Speaker
my teen or the early 2000s, it was a great time to grow up. Okay. We got to do all the shit where without anyone being able to record it. You know, like we got to live our best lives. We got to, you know, make our mistakes by the time, like, what do you think? But I don't think the iPhone was invented until 2007, wasn't it? us Yeah, no, I think it was something like that. Yeah. Or Facebook or something came out in 2007. Like I remember being in college in 2004.
00:41:54
Speaker
and getting my first email address. yeah Like, you know what I mean? Like we're talking like, so that's how I grew up. So social media was something that I grew up with as an adult. yeah So for your generation, and like I know a lot of my listeners will have kids, you know, your age or or coming up to to that age, you know?
Impact of Social Media on Body Image
00:42:13
Speaker
And I suppose I just like to hear from firsthand, like what, because I'd imagine with kind of, you know, if you've had some struggles with your mental health and with your body image and your confidence,
00:42:22
Speaker
does so a lot of this stem from social media? Oh absolutely I genuinely think that if social media didn't exist I probably wouldn't have ever had half the body image issues that I have had like even still right and like with comparison I still suffer with comparison right and but like I consider myself to be quite confident in myself right I'm very secure I'm very like I'm quite content with how I look but I still like I will open Instagram and be like oh my god she's unreal and I just find myself like spiraling comparing myself to every single person on that app and like even last week I did a huge unfollow spree on my Instagram because I was like I just need to remove it like that's all I need to do because if I can't see it then I'm not going to be thinking about it. Definitely growing up with social media was
00:43:11
Speaker
a huge disadvantage when it came to body image and confidence. I do think that a lot of my issues probably did stem from that. Now also, I was but i was bullied in school for my weight. So I do think like that's probably where the majority of it came from. i am But social media, definitely huge, huge part to play in it.
00:43:29
Speaker
Were you overweight as a child? Like, I was I wasn't like, just had a little, I call it puppy fat. But then I look back on pictures of myself and I'm like, I hear like, I was just a little bit chubby.
00:43:44
Speaker
Yeah. Just a little chub. I know. Well, a lot of kids as they're growing into themselves, they take a stretch of it, you know, absolutely. But I think it's in a funny how girls, and it's I'm really conscious of this because I have an 11 year old girl. yeah She's in sixth class now, you know, and she's into her skincare and her makeup and her hair and social media as much as she, you know, all of this is starting. And like I know from myself growing up, we didn't weren't exposed to social social media, but as girls, like I i did this all through my like late childhood, to teenage years, and, you know, early 20s, that comparing yourself to others. And it's probably really only in my 30s that I don't do that anymore. And I think as as females, we do that, but that would have very much come from TV, like in my generation would would have been TV, magazines, you know, like anyone who's kind of 35 and older, it would be, you know, that diet culture of, you know, we were all, everyone was like, women were skinny, and we had to be skinny. Now it's kind of about being strong and, you know, having a nice ass and all that stuff.
00:44:40
Speaker
But we were only exposed to what we could what was on the TV when it was on, or what magazines we bought or whatever magazines our friends gave us. Whereas I feel like it's magnified now for girls, it's this is why it's so much harder is and there's so much more mental health issues because there's no escape from it. Whereas before it was like, I can only read this fucking magazine so many times and I have to wait till next month to get the next issue. You know, or I've watched the TV programs I want to watch. It's not on again till tomorrow at seven o'clock or whatever. You know what I mean? So it's not, it wasn't constant scrolling. Yeah. I think it's, it's causing huge confidence issues for, for girls. Yeah. 100%. And I do think there's a lot more like body positivity out there now than there was like, say a few years ago, but still like it's shit like,
00:45:25
Speaker
Yeah. As someone who puts stuff out in social media, I understand how the social media algorithm works, particularly when it comes to like Reels, like Facebook Reels, Instagram Reels, TikTok. You know, some people are aware of this and some people aren't, but I'll i'll talk through it anyway. You know that as you're watching something, it's going to show you more of what you're watching. But algorithm very quickly.
00:45:44
Speaker
basically knows you better than you know yourself nearly and it's gonna keep showing you things like for example like I hate Conor McGregor but I also really like mindset stuff so sometimes he will show up on my feed because you know he talks mindset stuff and I'm like real quick and like I have to swing because I'm like I don't want that fucker showing up on my social media yeah like you know at the more we watch things so if we're watching toxic stuff or following toxic people or even if you don't they're not toxic people so it's a bit harsh but they're not doing like you're comparing yourself to them they're not doing you any good yeah ah you're going to see more of it and it's going to just confirm yeah the beliefs that you're building in your head. Whereas if you do, like what you said there, a social media cleanse and you start like, if people saw my social, like I don't actually, like for someone who's always like, cry online I don't consume a whole lot of it. Like me too. i don't Like, did you see so-and-so stories? I was like, no, I don't, I don't watch things. Like I don't, I don't really watch things on Facebook or Instagram.
00:46:37
Speaker
If I am scrolling on social media, which I do, you know, a couple of times a week, it'll be TikTok. And I do, and if you saw my TikTok feed, like I'd say people are like, what is wrong with this girl? It's literally all like business stuff or else it's like spirituality or like mindset. Like people cleaning carpets. I'm like, wow. So it's literally like, I don't see any of the negative because I've literally filtered my algorithm that way. So I think anyone listening is really important. You know, if you're,
00:47:06
Speaker
coming off social media and you're feeling shit about yourself, you can control that. Start flicking through it or start by searching me searching for videos. Or do you know what's happened to my social media feed recently actually? As I started Google, I've been going down a bit of a rabbit hole and I've had to actually stop.
00:47:21
Speaker
and with the whole P Diddy scandal. Oh my God. And that's been a little negative on my TikTok. So, you know, like, and that's a perfect example, but I've stopped now and I've flipped past them. yeah So it's now no longer showing me the P Diddy stuff anymore. Exactly. And now I'm back to, you know, all the, you know, the conscious alignment and all this stuff that's coming up. Like you really do have to protect your own piece. Like for me, for example, even things like the news, right? I do you not watch the news, okay? If something is very important, I will hear about it, but I have removed all the news or to eat all that gone off my phone so that I cannot see it because I would literally open my phone, bam, bad news. And then I'm like, oh my God. like And then I like, I am such, I'm like a sponge. I absorb absolutely everything. So someone tells me the teeniest, tiniest bit of bad news. I will like carry that and like feel it yeah so deeply.
00:48:12
Speaker
So I just remove it. Like, and as I said, I did a social media kinds last week. I went through, I actually thought one followed a lot of coaches because I didn't unfollow me Rosa. I didn't. I would never do that. I mean, because fan, I actually unfollowed a lot of coaches because I found like I was comparing myself to all of their content and I'm like, Oh my God, their content is so much better than mine.
00:48:34
Speaker
is what they're saying right and what I'm saying wrong. And I was like, as soon as I started to notice myself kind of questioning myself, I was like, no, I just need to get rid. So yeah, I don't follow a lot of coaches either. And the reason why I don't is not necessarily for a comparison, but i course it's more for authenticity. I want to be true to myself, yeah even if it it does end up being the same as someone else who's out there or whatever. I don't know that because I'm not following them. And so I'm just being me and putting out what's what's true to me and my clients.
00:49:02
Speaker
And from my experience and help people that way. And I think because the fitness industry online now is extremely overly oversaturated, I think it's really important to be authentic. Definitely. But it's it's hard. It's really, really hard because like, I actually remember talking to you about this, like when I was kind of trying to brainstorm like content and stuff, I was like, Kate, I actually don't know who I am.
00:49:24
Speaker
I don't know what my personality is when it comes to making content. Like I don't know who to be. And you, you said to me like, just be yourself. And I was like, I have consumed so much of like everyone else's content that I'm like, I feel like I'm pieces of everyone else. If that makes sense. Do you know what I mean? You just need to live in your own little bubble. That's what I've done.
00:49:44
Speaker
That's what i just' doing yeah ah how you find out who you are. Like, you know, listen to podcasts, read books, spend time with people who love you for who you are and like journal and it comes to you. Like, I think that's true for anyone listening, you know, that I think we've become so reactive that you need that time out away from, and I think that's why I've become so antisocial
Importance of Alone Time for Well-being
00:50:05
Speaker
as well. I lose myself ah when I'm around other humans too long.
00:50:08
Speaker
I love being around people, but only for a certain amount of time. And then I need to withdraw. Yes. And do I need to be not not necessarily alone, I just need to be in my ear in my safe space, kind of, you know, where I'm not, where where I get to be me, because I get lost. But even in my, my own family dynamics, like again, i'm I'm very close to my family, like this, me and my sister, and it's just the two of us, like, you know, in my my original family, but even when we all get together and we all go on holidays together and everything and my family, like everyone's really outgoing, you know, but like we like we could do a week holidays together. I have to withdraw a little bit. I find it hard to be around even loved ones that much. And I think it's it to know that when you actually do need that little bit of space to you, to honor that is really important.
00:50:53
Speaker
Yeah, like I would have been absolutely terrified of my own company a few years ago. And now it is something that I value like so, so much. Like if I don't have, even if it's five minutes by myself, just writing in my journal or, you know, literally just sitting there staring into space. If I don't have that, I will feel suffocated. I am so like, I value my alone time and my own company so, so much.
00:51:21
Speaker
Yeah. And you need to protect it. Especially as you're anyone on this journey of self-development and anyone listening to this, if you're listening to this, if you got this far into our conversation, you're interested in your own personal development. And I think you really have to protect it and you have to be very careful who you talk to about it yeah as well. You know, I've given to women I have that start working on their fat loss journey with me and they haven't told anyone. yeah They're like, I'm doing this for me. yeah And I really respect that. And I think it's really important that you know, there's certain things that, you know, even though like my sister would be one of the people I'm most closest with in the whole world, there's things I won't talk to her about, not because I don't trust her with it, but just it's so personal to me, and my personal development, or if I'm working through something that I haven't actually
00:52:02
Speaker
made sense of or I'm not that sure, you know, or things that that yeah are developing into my identity that I'm not, I don't know how to talk about. I won't, you know, or there's other people that I will talk about different things with, but I just think it's really important to protect who you're developing into because we're always developing.
00:52:18
Speaker
When we stay static, that's when we end up sick. We end up, you know, having mental health issues. That's when things go wrong is when we're stuck. We're supposed to be constantly developing and changing and that's okay. That sentence that you hear from people being like, oh, you've changed or you're changing.
00:52:33
Speaker
Like we're supposed to. Yeah. Thank God I have. I didn't want to be the person I was two years ago. And we don't always have to know ourselves because we're always learning as we go. And I think that reflection time, back to that list that I had there for for fat loss, I'm like that reflection time is everything. yeah That's how we learn, learn who we are. oh valuable yeah Last question before we finish up. okay What does the word health mean to you?
00:52:56
Speaker
Ooh, okay. Well, to me, health has absolutely nothing to do with how you look.
Defining Health Beyond Appearance
00:53:03
Speaker
i'm It's not having abs, it's not being shredded, it's not having muscle, it's not looking a certain way. It's what you do on the inside, if that makes sense. You know, eating to feel good, moving your body because you have the privilege to do so, and just kind of having that balance between being a healthy human and also being able to enjoy your life and enjoy the good foods. And I suppose what I'm trying to say is that you feel good. Like that's the number one priority. Like if you feel good, you're healthy. Yeah. Health is a feeling. Yeah, it is. Yeah, absolutely.
00:53:42
Speaker
And you're never going to feel fulfilled by numbers. Never. Ever. No, no, we've been there done that. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. So nobody do it. But yeah, numbers can be used as tools along the way. Yes. But it is the feeling and always lean into the feeling. And you know, if the numbers aren't due showing you what you want them to show, stop focusing on them so much and focus on the feeling because that at the end of the day is the most important. It's never going to be on your your gravestone or no one's ever going to remember you and be like, Oh, Rosa, wasn't she lovely at 10 stone? It's like no it would be like Rosa was kind to others, had a zest for life and loves to go out and make the most of it. It's never about the numbers. you I think that's really, really important to remember. Yeah, 100%. And that is definitely something I've learned so much over the last couple of years. like Especially when I first started out my fitness journey, I was like, right, I'll be happy when I get to this weight. And like the more I got into the process and took that focus away from the scales, I realized I was actually learning to love myself.
00:54:40
Speaker
in the process and appreciating my body for what it actually does for me, rather than, you know, the number it shows on the scales or like how it looks in a bikini. Like I actually appreciated my body because I was able to walk places, see beautiful things. You know, I'm able to lift up my nephews and give them hugs and like, like your body does so many incredible things that like you need to appreciate it for. And the scales doesn't mean anything.
00:55:05
Speaker
doesn yeah Doesn't tell me anything about the kind of person that you are. I do not care what weight you are because it tells me nothing. It's literally the least interesting thing about you.
Closing Remarks and Listener Engagement
00:55:14
Speaker
Do you ever look at anyone and be like, I wonder what weight they are? No. I would never, like, never even enters my mind. Why are we so fixated on it? It's crazy. I'm never going to be like, oh, I wonder what weight Rosa is. and So why we give that so much thought is absolutely, like it's beyond me. yeah Rosa, thank you so much for this conversation today. I have absolutely loved it. I literally feel like we're sitting and having a cup of coffee. I love it. I know, it's lovely. I feel like I need to go and make another cup of tea. yeah
00:55:40
Speaker
But look, if anyone wants to kind of know a bit more about you, connect with you, where is the best place for them to find you? And so I am very active on Instagram and TikTok. My Instagram name is at RosaflaFit. And I think that's also my name on TikTok. I'm not 100% sure. I think it is. RosaflaFit, check her out and give her a follow. You're absolutely amazing. Absolutely beautiful inside and out. Thank you very much Kate. I bet you your flower listeners are not going to believe that I'm 22. They're going to be like, that girl is 45.
00:56:09
Speaker
there's this el one in Yeah, inside this young one's body. No, you're absolutely amazing. And I'm so excited to see your coaching business grow, because I really do think you're going to make a difference in the fitness industry. And I don't say that to many, because I believe it's true. And I think the the fitness industry needs more soul in it. And I do think that that's exactly what you have. And I think it's special.
00:56:29
Speaker
And I'm excited to see what you do. Kate, that's so kind. Thank you so much. Do you want to cry? No. But thank you so much, Rosa. No, thank you, Kate. Honestly, you're so good.
00:56:46
Speaker
I just want to say thank you so much for listening to the podcast. It really means so much to me that there are people out there actually listening to what I have to say and to the conversations that I'm having with others. So thank you so much. If you are enjoying the podcast, could you please make sure that you are subscribed? And if not, if you could hit that subscribe button, it really does make that much of a difference. Also, if you would like to leave a review on any of the episodes that you listen to, that you particularly enjoy, I would love to hear what you have to say.
00:57:14
Speaker
And also, if there's an episode that you've enjoyed, please do share it on your social media, in your WhatsApp groups, with your friends. If you're sharing it on your stories, please tag myself in it and whoever I'm interviewing, this it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you're interested in working with me and my wonderful team, please do you contact me about applying for coaching. So you can contact me at Kate Hamilton health at gmail dot.com.
00:57:40
Speaker
or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, all Kate Hamilton help and you will be able to apply for coaching. We can organise to have a chat and see if it's a good fit for you and get you moving towards your goals.