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#95: Karen Murphy: Empowering women over 40 through wellness, resilience and finding purpose
685 Plays4 months ago
In this episode of the Kate Hamilton Health Podcast, I sit down with Karen Murphy, an online coach helping women over 40 redefine their health and fitness journeys.
Karen shares how personal tragedy inspired her shift from a high-pressure corporate career to building a purpose-driven life centered around wellness. We dive deep into the challenges - and rewards - of prioritising mental and metabolic health, building sustainable habits, and embracing resistance training as we age.
Karen’s story is filled with resilience and practical wisdom. Whether you’re navigating grief, reevaluating your priorities, or just starting your health journey, this episode is packed with actionable advice and heartfelt encouragement.
Listener Note: This episode includes a discussion of infant loss, which some listeners may find sensitive or triggering.
Key Questions Discussed in This Episode:
- What inspired Karen to pursue a career in health and fitness after personal loss?
- How can women over 40 balance health, family, and demanding careers?
- Why is resistance training particularly beneficial for women as they age?
- How do sugar and alcohol affect our overall health, and how can we manage their impact?
- What role do sleep and stress management play in achieving wellness goals?
- How can you build consistent, healthy habits without striving for perfection?
- What strategies help women navigate perimenopause and menopause with confidence?
- How do you define your “why” and use it to drive lasting change in your life?
Links & Resources:
- Connect with Karen Murphy 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.
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Transcript
Introduction & Personal Connections
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton health podcast. So in today's episode, I chat with online coach Karen Murphy. Karen is a mum. She is an online coach and she works with women mainly over the age of 40. So we obviously had a lot in common.
00:00:27
Speaker
and a lot to talk about. so So this conversation I really think you're going to enjoy. Even if you enjoy it as a fraction of the amount as I enjoyed it, that will be amazing.
Karen's Journey to Coaching
00:00:38
Speaker
So we start the conversation around what got Karen on this health and fitness path, which then eventually led to her setting up her side business of being an online coach. She still works in the banking industry. She works as an online coach on the side. And I love this and can really relate to this as a you know having a proper passion for something that you're willing to work on the side. And that is what she is doing. We start the conversation, like I said, about what started her on this journey. And this is from quite a difficult period in her life where she lost her infant son.
00:01:14
Speaker
at 37 weeks pregnant and the grief that she had to deal with and then go on to having two other pregnancies and all of the anxiety that that would bring as along with the joy. But for Karen, this was a very pivotal moment in her life with dealing with the PTSD that followed the infant loss to being a mother, the stresses and the anxieties that that brought that led to her taking control of her health, of her mental health, of her wellness and discovering this passion for health and fitness, which isn't too different to my starting point as well, in relation to anxiety and discovering a passion for fitness that led to, you know, this belief in self that I had never experienced before. So there's so much there to really inspire you from her early story.
Health & Fitness for Women Over 40
00:02:07
Speaker
We spend a little bit of time talking about career change and then we move into the whole area of health and fitness and building healthy habits and where to start. We talk about protein, we talk about fiber, we talk about the importance of sleep, of stress management.
00:02:25
Speaker
We talk about alcohol and we talk about sugar and how they have such an effect on our bodies, especially as we head into our forties. And then on the topic of our forties, we talk a little bit about perimenopause and menopause, and we talk about the importance of resistance training. So not only do we talk about, you know, how this is important for us to be able to move better and keep strong as we age,
00:02:50
Speaker
We also talk about the importance of it for our metabolic health and for preventing chronic disease. And I think that's a really, really important point that she makes in this. It's a really empowering conversation. I really enjoyed every minute of it and I really hope you do too.
00:03:10
Speaker
Karen, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. I'm excited to talk to you. Yeah. And I'm looking forward to all of the different things that we're going to talk about today. But before we jump into that, will you tell everybody who you are, what you do, and a little bit of background on what's brought you to where you are today?
00:03:26
Speaker
Yes. Okay. So my name is Karen Murphy. I'm 43. So I'm a mum. I still work in the corporate world. So I work in the banking sector, but I guess as my kind of side business that I'm, I guess, growing on the side, I have a small client base at the minute. I'm a qualified personal trainer and nutrition coach. And really the focus is on, you know, my client base would be women mostly over the age of 40 and kind of helping them to, I guess, navigate your forties through the fitness and you know health and wellbeing and that kind of stuff. Amazing. And what led you to taking this career change and what happened that made you kind of be like, I don't want to want to be a banker anymore.
00:04:10
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's definitely a very different career kind of move. It's very much the bread and butter at the minute, but I think, you know, kind of like yourself, Kate, you know, I remember listening back in your podcast and you were talking about, you know, your teaching and how you loved it. And I love my job and I work for a great company, but it's that kind of purpose. I guess how I got to that, I'm going to probably go back about probably 10 years. So I would have always been, I guess, into kind of doing some level of fitness, like I'll be doing You know, outdoor kind of boot camps and like maybe kind of like running like maybe a couple of K or something like that, but nothing serious. It was more just for the physical side of things. I want to be this size or look, you know, this way or whatever. So it was very superficial. And so 10 years ago, I was married probably a year or two at that stage.
Coping with Grief and Finding Purpose
00:04:58
Speaker
and I got pregnant with my first son. So I had a very normal pregnancy, no complications, and I was very much kind of everything by the book. And I guess this really is a story for anyone that is pregnant or is a mother. It's really kind of, I guess, your worst kind of nightmare. So I was almost 37 weeks pregnant and I was in the office and I was sitting at my desk and I suddenly was like,
00:05:28
Speaker
I'm not feeling much movement. It's a bit strange. So I was googling and then I ran the hospital and they were like, you need to come in immediately. And I was like, okay, this sounds a little bit dramatic, but I was like, I'll go in. I ran my husband, went in there and they kind of see me immediately, which I was a bit like, okay, usually you're kind of waiting a bit. And I went in and I had a scan.
00:05:51
Speaker
And they were like, OK, let's just give it a minute. We're going to just get another doctor. And the other doctor came in and looked at the scan and was basically like, they're so harpy. After that, I guess it's kind of like an outer body kind of feeling.
00:06:06
Speaker
You have to go through kind of process, I guess, everything that's like happened. And, you know, my husband was there and was very much kind of like, you know, how has this happened? Why has this happened? Why did this happen to me? And then you have to kind of navigate, I guess, the next stages of what needs to happen.
00:06:24
Speaker
So that that was a real pivotal moment in the kind of start of you know health, fitness, and wellness. Not that I had struggles with any kind of issues, but it gave me, I guess, kind of an opening into life and death. It's like so sudden that things can change.
00:06:44
Speaker
And it was more kind of like, okay, you know, this is this is weird. And I became very aware of my like my own health and, you know, kind of managing that and having to navigate kind of grief after that, basically.
00:06:58
Speaker
Yeah. And in a time, you're talking what, 10, 11 years ago. So I was pregnant 10 years ago and then it was, you know, so nine years ago. So nine years ago. Yeah. I'm sure the supports were there, but it wasn't as widely spoken about infant loss as it is now. I think, and you know, if it seems to be a lot more readily available, you know, that people know where to turn. Whereas at that time, I would imagine was probably a very, very lonely time.
00:07:24
Speaker
And you kind of summed it up there because it it is a bit of that. It's kind of like the loneliness because a lot of my friends, I was at that age where we're all having kind of our first babies and all that kind of stuff. And it's very much like, you know, this is my first. And it was like, how did this happen? And I'd heard of it happening before, but you know I never thought it could happen to me because there was no you know underlying issues. And I was like, how could this happen? I did everything by the book. For my own reassurance, you know I was like, I need to get to the bottom of it because I want to have more children. It was basically a blood clot in the placenta. And it was instantaneous that it happened. And so it was just very unfortunate and you know obviously horrific that it happened. And I think the thing, there was
00:08:10
Speaker
some support systems in place that did help but I think 10 years later it's you know vastly improved. I think probably one of the biggest issues after that was I wanted to you know have more children but had to kind of navigate you know the grief of this so I was like okay I'm going to take a year out and just you know not you know, think about having children because I think it would just be not a very kind of smart move to make when I haven't addressed anything that's happening. So thankfully, I never had an issue getting pregnant, but I got pregnant again. And I had another boy who's seven and a half now, but no one I guess explains your walkthrough through the process is
00:08:52
Speaker
dealing with that pregnancy again and trying to navigate that and kind of like getting to you know a certain point where you kind of feel safe. Like I remember the last six weeks of that pregnancy, I was in the coupe every single day getting like the, not the scans they where they have the the heartbeat.
00:09:10
Speaker
about for like the last six weeks. Thankfully, my job was very accommodating, of course, but trying to kind of navigate all of that was just very, very difficult that no one really helps you with. You know, because again, it was, it's still kind of a taboo and it's just so different for everyone as well in terms of how they process it. You know, some people kind of want to bury it away and kind of forget that it happened and others then are are a lot more kind of vocal about it.
00:09:35
Speaker
I would imagine kind of balancing that need and want like to become a mother with the probably the crippling anxiety that comes with going through this again yeah and the fear of it happening again. It must have been a real struggle to get that balance.
00:09:52
Speaker
Real struggle and i think as well that once you get to you know having your baby and the babies you know healthy and well. It's then you know what happened then after that was you know six months later is when things really hit because it was kind of like i guess.
00:10:08
Speaker
I don't want to say postpartum depression, but it was definitely something along those lines. Like my doctor, you know, he was a great doctor at the time and he was about to retire and was really kind of experienced in dealing with, you know, mothers and that kind of thing. And he had said that, you know, this is extreme stress, post-traumatic stress, basically, that you're dealing with. But he was like, you're going to be fine. And I think that reassurance helped someone just kind of saying that.
00:10:35
Speaker
was that you're going to be fine. You're going to be able to work through this. And I was just kind of, a because it was like extreme anxiety, just like racing thought horrific. Kind of like how am I going to cope? I have a six month old baby and you're sleep deprived and all these things that, and then obviously that what happened with losing my first son, all of that just kind of like hit at once. I was kind of like, Oh, I'm going to need to be on medication or something. But his first kind of thought was that you're going to be fine. What you need to though, is to talk to somebody. and kind of work through the grief and you know that's what I did and I think that kind of like started really my thinking around you know health wellness your mindset and all that kind of stuff because I wasn't even with that lady for for a long maybe a couple of weeks but she was phenomenal and she you know taught me things like breathing like box breathing which the Navy SEALs use
00:11:29
Speaker
And I was like, wow, this is, you know, if the Navy SEALs, this is how they deal with difficult situations and things like, you know, the 4-7-8 breathing and gratitude, journaling, all that kind of stuff that I'd heard of before, but I never, I guess, put it into practice prior to them. I think you touched on a really important point here that I think a lot of people can relate to. And I think when people hear this, anyone who might be struggling it might just be a little bit of a, oh my god, I'm not going crazy kind of moment because I experienced this as well. I think when we go through really stressful times, really difficult times, really traumatic times, and it doesn't have to be compared to, you know, losing a child, everyone's stress or trauma can be different. But I think when we're going through difficult times,
00:12:14
Speaker
adrenaline gets us through. So we can go years and years and years just surviving, surviving, surviving. And then when everything is okay and everything calms down, that's when it hits like an explosion. Whether it's anxiety, whether it's depression, whether it's racing thoughts, whether it's, you know, physical illness, yeah it can hit us like a ton of bricks. And We could be like, what's wrong with me? Like there's nothing wrong. I've got a beautiful baby boy. I've got a wonderful life. I've got a great job. I'm happy. I'm not stressed. It's not the stress that you're currently in. It's what you've survived through and haven't had the capacity to process. It's living in your body basically.
00:12:54
Speaker
Yeah. And it's funny, Kate, because there were signs, you know, physically before all this had happened. Like, I remember going to the doctor and I was like, I feel like I can't swallow. And so she was like, except me for all these. scan So there's all these physical signs that were starting to happen first. But at then I didn't understand like the mind, body, like all that kind of stuff. I didn't really understand any of that stuff at that point. But there was definitely signs that this was all kind of manifesting. And then me with anxiety as well actually was yeah like the swallow thing you know that yeah be point of quite difficult like I'm well like I've never been great one for swallowing tablets and things like that but anyway that's besides point but just you know in general yeah just kind of swallowing food would sometimes have been a challenge or for me like the tightness of the chest that I'm able to breathe properly or heart palpitations I will still to this day
00:13:42
Speaker
I'll get little heart palpitations when I know that I'm overdoing it. I'm like, okay Kate, it's time to slow down. Like my doctor put me through all the tests. I wore the heart monitor, the whole lot, went for chest x-rays and like checked everything physically because they were real physical symptoms before I was ever diagnosed with any type of anxiety.
00:13:58
Speaker
Yeah, very, very similar symptoms,
Mental and Physical Health Connection
00:14:01
Speaker
funnily enough. You know, that was kind of the start of it. And I read some like amazing books at the time. There was a book, what's her name? Dr. Kelly Brogan, A Mind of Your Own. And it was a New York Times bestseller. And that book came out in and around that time or maybe a year before. And I remember reading that book and there were so many kind of light bulb moments. Cause she'd talked a lot about this, like, you know, mental health and gut brain connection. And that's when I kind of learned about all that kind of stuff. And I was like, wow, like the food you eat,
00:14:28
Speaker
how you move managing your stress and all that kind of stuff. And that was really an eye-opener then into kind of like managing, you know, how how I could manage my own health going forward, not just physically, but mentally, that was the kind of most important thing.
00:14:42
Speaker
So this was the pivotal moment for you then, because that was actually what I was going to ask you then. yeah where it was like When you discover that health and fitness and looking after your body, how much that radiates into every aspect of your being, yeah I think when you realize how powerful that is and how much of a positive influence that it can have in every aspect of your life,
00:15:02
Speaker
there's your buy right there. Yeah, exactly. However, no matter how hard life gets, no matter how many ups and downs, no matter if you have weeks or months where things aren't going according to plan, foods not great, exercise isn't great, you will always navigate back to it because you know, this is what makes me feel good.
00:15:18
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's not like a type of thing as well that, you know, you have all this information and then you can make all these changes straight away. It takes years. And then I went on to have ah another little boy. So three boys I had who's now five and a half. So life gets in the way. You're a lot sleepy and you're still trying to work and COVID hits and all that kind of stuff. So it takes years to kind of put a lot of that stuff into practice. And then it's like up and down all the time as like things happen and you know you're hit with you know x y and z but i guess that happening to me nine years ago i've taken so many positive things from it i guess in terms of you know how to kind of navigate a lot of really difficult situations and i guess what's actually important you know putting things into perspective yes being like why are we spending the best years of our lives
00:16:07
Speaker
hating the way we look, trying to be smaller, trying to be faster, or whatever it is, like, you know, beating ourselves up when we can't, when things don't go according to the plan. yeah Why? When in a moment, everything can change. Not to be really, really depressing about it, but it it can. And I think that we don't want to look back on our lives and be like, I wasted all those good times not being happy.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm like a totally different person to what I was 10 years ago. And I remember at the time going, I just want to feel like normal. I just want to feel like myself. And someone, I think it was a nurse that said to me, and she was like, this is your new, like normal.
00:16:48
Speaker
And I remember going, no, like I don't want that. like No, no, no. But it was actually one of the kind of best things that happened in some ways because it led me to you know finding a purpose, which is a big thing. like I could continue working in the career that I am in now, my full-time job. But through this and navigating through this, I found kind of a purpose, a wider purpose or a higher purpose.
00:17:12
Speaker
in, you know, the kind of health and fitness side of things and particularly for women, you know, over 40 mothers in particular. So yeah. I think such an amazing mindset to have being like, okay, this has brought me to where I am and to to be able to see meaning and everything that happens I think is you know no matter how I suppose traumatic and how horrific it is that we move forward you know what can I learn from this like what I try and do every day and like I was actually only talking to my clients about it today you know I have this belief like very much we either win or we learn so if we're journaling every day or we're even just reflecting like what were my wins today I got opening up and got my workout done or I got out for my walk or you know
00:17:51
Speaker
What are my learning opportunities today? There's no such thing as failure. What can I learn from today? When I'm feeling really tested by things not going my way, I'm like, what is this trying to teach me? And I know sometimes that's easier said than done, but I think if we start with the small stuff, it makes it easier then for us to navigate the bigger stuff when it comes. And it doesn't mean that we we work through things quickly. And I think that's a huge misconception as well is.
00:18:15
Speaker
In relation, if we bring this even into kind of ah let's start talking a bit more about health and fitness here, everyone wants everything quickly. Nothing is quickly. Like you've just said, you're talking about from when you had your second son who's seven and a half to now, we're talking seven and a half years of layering in different habits.
00:18:32
Speaker
and having your third son in between and you know lots lots of different things happening in your life because there's a huge misconception as well that you start a diet, you start a health and fitness routine and it's just gonna be perfect and when things don't go according to plan we give up. It's part of your life. Life has ups and downs.
00:18:50
Speaker
So will this journey. Exactly. Exactly. And that's the thing. And I see it all the time, you know, with the small client base that I have and, you know, my colleagues and work, it's just, you know, wanting this kind of instant fix and just wanting to lose the weight now. And you're never going to, like, I guess, make the big changes by having that kind of mindset around it. And it's really finding out your why beforehand is so important.
00:19:14
Speaker
And digging deep for that why, you know, why am I starting this journey? Because I want to lose two stone. Why do you want to lose two stone? Dig deeper. Keep digging. Keep asking yourself why. And yes it's amazing what what you'll come to. So like another part of the story as well. So I worked for a really large Irish bank. and that bank was leaving the Irish market so I was getting my redundant which I was delighted about because I was like not that happy there. To be fair they held so many amazing workshops and they had some incredible speakers come in and there was a lady that did a workshop on this on kind of finding your purpose and finding your why because so many people were you know had been there 20 years plus you know and this was going to be a huge change but for me I was kind of like this is great.
00:19:55
Speaker
But I still was struggling with, what do I want to do? And those kind of pivotal moments can be incredible because it's like, you know, you can, you have time to reflect and go, what do I actually want to do? And it was really during that time that, you know, through those workshops, it was like writing out your why, what do you actually like doing? And I was like, I remember writing things like, well, I like working out. I like learning about health and fitness. I like mindset stuff, reading, all that kind of stuff. And then it kind of came, I was like, actually. And then I was working with a personal trainer at the time.
00:20:24
Speaker
And I was like, I think I actually want to do this as a long-term career.
Starting a Health Journey - Is it Right for You?
00:20:28
Speaker
That was kind of another pivotal moment, I guess, in kind of like reflecting on why I wanted to go into this space, finding that purpose.
00:20:36
Speaker
Yeah, that's amazing. If you think about it, if, you know, anyone listening is kind of at that pivotal moment in their life and they're like, I'm really unhappy. I do want to make a career change. Or you know what, there's a redundancy coming up. I feel lost. Literally right at what do I enjoy doing? What am I good at? What am I doing? Put all reason out the window. What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? What would I do for free? Yes.
00:21:00
Speaker
see what comes up. When I trained to become a personal trainer, I worked in gyms. I worked in person with people for a long time while teaching on the side. So I worked during the day. I worked at night. I sacrificed a lot of time with my kids. My husband was great. He kind of slid in and kind of, well, you know, I felt like it was his turn. and I did it for a long time, but he was working from home then at that stage. So it was great. But it took a lot of sacrifice. It took a lot of work. A lot of people would have said to me, like, are you crazy? You're working nonstop. I worked every weekend.
00:21:30
Speaker
But I loved it. yeah The days I found hard were the days I had to go to school, not the nights or the weekends that I had to work in the gym. And I loved working at the gym. And even to the point where I was cleaning the showers or cleaning the machines, whatever I used to love, like just put my headphones on, listening to podcasts and learning about business and learning about, you know, like how I was going to make this life for myself, doing what I enjoy. But I think yeah my point is when you actually figure out what you enjoy doing, like you'd be surprised how you can build a life around it.
00:21:59
Speaker
I believe so, yeah. It's definitely the future plan, doing a lot of stuff in the background to see how I can make that work. And that's the thing, like I'm very much doing this on the side, but again, it doesn't feel like work. I just love doing it. That's an amazing kind of feeling to have.
00:22:15
Speaker
Yeah, let's take this in a little bit of a direction now of if someone is listening and they're really just getting started on their health and fitness journey and you're talking about that this is very much a slow and steady process, where would you suggest a client would start?
00:22:30
Speaker
I think I did a reel on this at one point around kind of, you know, absenteeism in the workplace or something like that, right? And I've kind of read some studies on this and really it's around kind of finding your why. That's, you know, essential really. But looking at this from understanding like your metabolic health, right? If you look at it from that standpoint, so things like your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your waist, these are really important factors. I think that women in their 40s need to be really, really aware of it and having a baseline for your overall health. Like this is something that I started, I was probably a bit late doing this, but I was like, I don't need to go to the doctor because ah I'm fit and healthy. But it's a complete opposite of that. And really, I think if you're starting out in this journey, what what's really important is working with your GP first.
00:23:21
Speaker
and making sure that you have a good baseline of your metabolic health that is I think absolutely crucial for women in their 40s. I think probably younger than that but that is really important and I know a lot of companies will kind of offer those services as well like as part of their health care plans and stuff like that but that is really really important to kind of get that first right.
00:23:42
Speaker
The other thing then is, you know, one of my first clients was my mom and she wasn't going to track her bloody food. Getting her to use an app, you know, to start tracking her. No, that's not going to work, you know?
Dietary Changes and Health
00:23:53
Speaker
So you have to take a very different approach with who your clients are.
00:23:57
Speaker
and making their life easier. What are the changes you can make now, right? So one of the things with her, she had, I mean, a shocking sweet tooth. I used to as well. So, you know, she needed to really sort this out. So I put her on, so this wouldn't be, you know, maybe the best approach for everybody, but for her it worked. And I said, we really kind of curb this, right? So let's look at maybe like a five day sugar detox. Now, obviously I hate the word detox. It's horrible.
00:24:22
Speaker
but for her that kind of terminology just worked right so she was like okay five days that seems realistic so we started with that she you know would text me every day and she's like didn't have any sweet stuff today so she was having sugar and her tea and maybe a couple of biscuits and and whatever but then when she got to the five days she was like oh my god i got through five days right and that was like a huge milestone for her So I was like, okay, this is great. This is like probably a year now at this point. And she's managed to curve that make massive changes. The other thing then was we looked at, so diet was really the the key focus in the beginning. And then it was, you know, increasing her protein. It wasn't bad, but just increase it because she would have like, you know, your standard.
00:25:01
Speaker
I guess Irish breakfast would be, you know, tea and toast kind of thing or like porridge. So we looked at, you know, kind of increasing the protein amount and then things like, you know, fiber because we talk about protein all the time. Right. I mean, I'm sick of Instagram at this point because it's like protein. Yes, we know we need to eat a lot of protein, but what's probably missing more is, you know, the amount of fiber that people are not consuming per day.
00:25:24
Speaker
I love that you have brought this up because I feel the exact same. Like, yes, we need to eat more protein, but I'm like, dear God, stop stuffing yourself with protein moses. Yes, exactly. like like the toilet Exactly. And it's just like, Oh God, but I think we're we moving past this at this point, I hope, because I think the recommended amount is 35 grams per day of fiber.
00:25:47
Speaker
for an adult. And that's probably not even optimal at this point. And I think the average person in Ireland is consuming in about five to seven grams. Like, what? like So shocking. This is like really, really scary. But this was an eye opener for me, you know, years ago as well. So even with my mum, I had her kind of increasing her, you know, fibre amount and all that kind of stuff. So those are, I think those are like really basic things that you can start with before you go into even resistance training and all that kind of stuff. So looking obviously diet, we know that it's like 80 kind of 20 year old, but I think the fiber absolutely essential. That is like probably the easiest thing that you can start with. All right. Let's talk a little bit more about this because I think, you know, people think with fiber, but but I go to the toilet just fine. I'm regular, like I must be getting enough fiber. So with fiber, we're talking about whole grains, oats,
00:26:39
Speaker
We're talking about bread, pasta. A lot of people don't realize fiber. We're talking fruit and vegetables as well. And lots of it. So not only is this going to help with your digestive health, help with your weight loss and for feeling fuller, for sticking to calories if you're tracking, but also, which I think you'll probably agree, your gut health, which in turn, your mental health.
00:27:00
Speaker
Exactly. It all ties together. And it's those micronutrients that you're getting, you know, that you're not going to get from your brown beds and all that kind of stuff. Like the great thing about if you're consuming more fiber in the sense of, you know, your veggies, your fruits, your chia seeds and all that kind of stuff, you can eat them in abundance.
00:27:18
Speaker
like you don't necessarily need to track them. No one's going to overeat bloody carrots or broccoli, you know, fill up half your plate with this food. And I guarantee you, if you make those kind of changes, like loading up your plate with, you know, veggies or in the morning, like, you know, your chia seeds and your yoga roll and some fruit, you are going to feel a lot fuller and obviously all the health benefits then that come with that.
00:27:41
Speaker
When we look at fiber and we look at fruit and we look at vegetables, you know, and taking this as one of the first steps that we make. And even if we talk about protein as well, and you know, increasing our protein, I think it's really important. The first step towards long term, long lasting change is what can I add in rather than what can I take away? And that I think is the game changer for women when we stop restricting, not allowing ourselves have food.
00:28:07
Speaker
because we're trying to lose weight. Oh, I can't have this. I can't have that. I've been like, I have to have my fiber. I have to have my vegetables with every meal. I have to have my fruit. I have to have a bit of protein on my plate. When we add that in, there's not enough room for all the other stuff. you we use it It is the about crowding out, but it works and you feel better. It makes you want to do it. It becomes a habit and everything does kind of fall into place.
00:28:29
Speaker
It really does. I always say those are the kind of like, you know, the starting blocks is obviously we know that with the diet, but I think those key things around the fiber rich foods and obviously your protein amount. But again, not eating the shite. And I've seen you do reels on this as well with the bloody protein. I had a trainer at one point, I won't mention his name, but I remember I was struggling to get my protein up. I think I was on like 120 grams a day. Like before that, I was probably only consuming about maybe 50, 60.
00:28:58
Speaker
And I was like, oh, I'm really struggling. you know And he was like, just eat you know the protein puddings. And I was like, but they actually don't make me feel really good. like I actually feel like horrible after eating them. And it's just like, no, you do not need to eat that crap. You really don't. There's other ways around it. about looking it out in your meals. it' so It's looking at your breakfast, lunch and dinner and and getting it in there. Your snacks don't need to be protein. Like, you know, definitely
Balancing Professional and Personal Life
00:29:22
Speaker
not. That's funny because I get quite a lot of shit on social media when I do those videos, but it's like, it's great. It's like, as it triggers people, you know, if I hold up the protein bar, like you don't get protein don eatingating this done without eating this shit. I'm not anti-protein bars. I'm someone who eats chocolate every day. ah I would just rather have a Fredo bar
00:29:38
Speaker
than a protein bar because I prefer it. There's nothing wrong with a protein bar, but don't use it to get your protein. Have it as a treat. We need real food. One of the most questions I get asked is, oh, how do I up my protein? I just eat more fucking chicken. But not even that much more. If you're currently eating 50 grams of chicken with your lunch,
00:29:57
Speaker
double it, have a hundred crayons. Like i've I've just put on my stories there that I'm in my sister's house recording this. I have my packed lunch with me. I have a full packet of the Carol's chicken. And then some people would be like, okay, it's, you know, that's quite processed. I'm like, ah look at the ingredients. It's good quality enough. I didn't have time to cook chicken. Having plenty of vegetables today too. I'm, you know, getting my exercise in. I feel like.
00:30:17
Speaker
pretty good balance. Exactly. And it's all about balance. You know, I mean, I don't need just like vegetables all day long, of course, I'm going to have like treats and stuff like that. And it's all about balance. You don't need to necessarily cut this stuff out. It's just, you know, again, like you said, adding more the good stuff and in turn, you're going to feel better overall kind of better for your health. And then like the other really basic thing. So obviously the food is the most important part, but You know, for like my first client, my mom, I mean, she was just a great client to start with because she was really motivated and, you know, wanted to make the change. So that just makes it easier. You know, we had to add in, you know, resistance training, but she had never done before, you know, cause she came from the era of your sit-ups and maybe some like jogging or that kind of thing, you know? So this was like a new thing for her, but she just grasped it straight away and she just started losing. She was a newbie to it. So again, she had those newbie gains.
00:31:09
Speaker
I think it's a year later now, and she's still doing it, you know, because she understands what this is going to do for her long term health, you know? Amazing. For context, how old is your mum? She's quite young. She would be not even 65. So yeah sixty yeah yeah yeah. So my clients, I guess, range from that kind of age group all the way down to early 30s.
00:31:29
Speaker
But particularly my focus really is women 40 plus that would become my main demographic. But again, like the other basic things are the sleep. Like we take this for granted so much, you know, and I see you talk about this all the time on your stories and reels around the sleep side, again, one of the building blocks. And again, you know, managing your stress. You can have all those kinds of other things like the food and the exercise, but if you're not managing your stress, it's just going to be a lot harder to kind of lose fat and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, nothing else matters. It's funny. I'll use myself as an example here, just with obviously growing my business and just being really busy with clients. My sleep took a hit for a while for a good solid year. I was kind of getting up at 5am because I didn't have enough hours in the day. And you know, so I was getting up at 5am not getting to bed early enough. So I was getting.
00:32:15
Speaker
on average about six hours sleep per night, which some people will say, God, that doesn't sound that bad for me over time. That had a huge impact actually on my physical appearance. Like it aged me quite a lot in the space of a year on my mood, on my mental health. I noticed little life things. Like I said, like the little heart palpitations are little things coming back anxiety related. Yeah. And I'm talking in recent months to the point that I kind of got to the start of the summer and I work with a performance coach and he was like, Kate, now actually it was kind of by the end of the summer, he was like, I think you're getting really close to the point of burnout. so He was like, you need to switch off. So I've completely changed my sleep. like I will prioritize my sleep over everything else. And you know, it's amazing how when we're more busy and we prioritize other things, which happens in life. So, you know, it's not about being perfect. You know, there will be times when sleep will take a hit.
00:33:03
Speaker
but being like i have to prioritize this because everything else even my enthusiasm my clarity of thought you know which is all really important for what i do because you know i'm sharing ideas and i need to be able to think clearly that really took a hit with the lack of sleep and then my stress levels were up also because of it so everything was kind of being affected by it and it's amazing i now have completely restructured. I think it was like an anxiety of letting go and just trusting that everything can run smoothly without me holding onto to it so tight. And actually, this is the first time I've spoken about this publicly, I suppose, but I have a whole new perspective now. I have more boundaries. I now will put myself before the business again.
00:33:42
Speaker
And because it was, it would have been something as a teacher, I'd always have put myself before my job. but You know, I would have made sure I got enough sleep. So I now will make sure I don't get up as early anymore. I get up at six instead of five, still early, but I get to, I put my smallest to bed and I go to bed at half nine. So I'm getting plenty of sleep now. I feel better for it. I'm not grasping onto things that I feel like I need to control.
Consistency Over Perfection
00:34:03
Speaker
I have boundaries. I will prioritize my exercise again and my head space.
00:34:08
Speaker
And then when I'm in it and I'm with clients, when I'm with people like yourself that I'm talking to, when I'm creating content, when I'm, you know, doing check-ins, whatever I'm doing, I'm fully engaged in it and I have the energy for it and I enjoy it again. I nearly lost grip with that for a while. And sorry, that was a really kind of long about me moment. No, I like that. Yeah. To put it into perspective, that's how important your sleep and your stress management is. You couldn't lose the enthusiasm for it everything if you don't.
00:34:37
Speaker
100%. I think that is important that you kind of touched on that because we just take it and thank God we've kind of moved away from that, you know, point in time where it was like, you don't need much sleep, you know, you just need like three, four hours a night and, you know, go, go, go, go. Thank God we've kind of moved away from that and that, you know, sleep is back to being important and that it is essential for our health.
00:34:59
Speaker
Like, yeah. And everyone is different. Everyone thrives on different amounts. Like my husband and only gets about six hours sleep. He high performing. Like he's really, he just gets on with everything. He's got so much energy. I'm like a week away running together now and he'd like fly ahead and be no bother.
00:35:15
Speaker
I'm like, you're, you fucker. Like that's how much, like he can't sleep longer than that. He just wakes up. He's like a child. Like, like it depends on the person, but what I would say is so like, don't stress if you're someone who's you only get six hours sleep, but do ask yourself, are you surviving or are you trying it? Cause there's a huge difference.
00:35:31
Speaker
A hundred percent. Yeah, exactly. It's just part of, I guess, the package. If you're kind of starting with a new client, it's like diet first. They're the simple things to tick off and change and then exercise comes next. And then, you know, once you've kind of you know sorted that out, it's those other kind of pieces then that are really going to matter. yeah You know, like the sleep and stress management and all that kind of stuff.
00:35:52
Speaker
not complicated, but you know, so many of us just get it wrong. And I was, of course, one of those people as well. But now I've learned to just be more selfish. And like you sleep, I'm like, I'm, you know, I aim for a certain number a night, because again, I would kind of almost identical to you, I would get the heart palpitations, the anxiety, if I, you know, haven't had enough sleep, because then I'm having loads of coffee. And then it's just like a vicious cycle.
00:36:15
Speaker
I know. And and it's just so easy to fall into. And I think all of these things that we're talking about in relation to you know protein, fiber, nutrition in general, sleep, stress, resistance training, all of these things, I think it's really important to note that we don't need to be nailing all of these all of the time. This is for life. And I think, you know, there's no secret to health, fitness, fat loss, whatever your goal is.
00:36:38
Speaker
It's just consistency, but I think there's a huge misconception of consistency and perfection. yeah It's like consistently picking yourself back up and moving forward because that's literally what life is, isn't it? It's like, right on Jesus, I've knocked sideways again, up I get and go again and learn to enjoy the journey. And, you know, you'll have periods where you'll get really into your workouts and your fitness. And then there's times where it's not as easy to manage and you might be just focusing on moving your body, getting out for a walk, and you know, watching your food quality. Like, so it depends, you know, on on what's going on in your life.
00:37:11
Speaker
Absolutely. It really does just to depend and just go easy on yourself and that it's, like you said, you're in it for the long run. This is not, you know, once you kind of get your why, you know, and especially for women over 40, it's all about kind of managing your health in the kind of next phase of your life. And so it's a long term game, you know, it's something that you just continuously have to kind of work on and it's not going to be like a straight path at all.
00:37:36
Speaker
Yeah. Let's talk a little bit more about kind of, you know, as we get older. Okay. So heading into our forties, facing perimenopause, a lot of my clients are in full blown menopause or perimenopause. So I have some clients that are throughout the other side and some ladies with
Adapting to Life Changes - How to Manage?
00:37:52
Speaker
younger kids. We have a a good mix of listeners here, but a lot of my clients are dealing with perimenopause symptoms. And quite often that's the reason why they've started coaching. They're like.
00:38:03
Speaker
I don't recognize my body anymore. And a lot of what we do is really just kind of reconnecting women back with who they are and discover what their bodies are capable of. I get a lot of women who start coaching with me and don't know if it's even possible to lose body fat or to change. So I suppose what what I'm trying to ask here is in relation to calories in versus calories out. One comment that I often hear is what used to work doesn't work for me anymore.
00:38:32
Speaker
it's like it it's not just as simple as calories in versus calories out. And that's the thing and I had a really sweet tooth like my mum when I have my treats every day and that was fine I love that but I would always kind of retain like body fat in in my my middle section right and then as you kind of after having kids and then the sleep is nice, it kind of just keeps getting like wider and you're like, okay, I'm still eating the same, but all these kind of like changes are happening, still working out all that kind of stuff. So I had to like, look at my diet, even though I was eating a lot of protein and fiber and stuff like that. I kind of looked at my sugar and I was like, okay, should I maybe look at kind of reducing this? So I used to eat it every day. But I went through a phase where I was like, let's try and eliminate this. And that honestly had
00:39:15
Speaker
a huge impact on my fat loss. I'm not saying that everyone needs to do this, but for me, and I think it's about looking at, you know, once you get to a point where maybe you reach your kind of fat loss goal, right? And that you want to start, you know, um focusing in on certain areas, you want to maybe lean in on your tummy area or something like that. I think sugar, I cannot tolerate it like I could many years ago. And the same with alcohol. These are two kind of major changes that I had to make as a woman in her 40s. Because it's just, yeah I can't tolerate it anymore.
00:39:50
Speaker
Yeah. As a woman who's still in her thirties, I can't tolerate alg alcohol anymore either. When it comes to sugar, I find it really does depend on, but I'll call aside for a minute, cause I do want to talk about that for sure. When it comes to sugar, I think this very much depends on the client and where they're at in their journey, because I do agree a lot of what we eat is filled with sugar. I think we don't realize how good we can feel without it, but also I think.
00:40:16
Speaker
Sometimes what happens with a lot of women when they try to diet or lose weight, they, instead of stepping out of the comfort zone, they throw themselves off the comfort zone cliff by giving up everything that it rebounds. So it's not necessarily for everyone, but I am interested to hear your experience of when you do cut it out, what you experience.
00:40:34
Speaker
Yeah. So again, like I said, I used to always love sugar, ate it every day. You know, like when I'm talking about sugar, I'm talking about like chocolate bars and stuff like that. I'm not talking about like anything of fruit or anything natural, but what I found was it, so I'm 43 now and I've definitely, I mean, period manifolds, that's all you hear now. So you're kind of like.
00:40:52
Speaker
you know, it's a hot topic also at the minute. Your hormones are starting to fluctuate. So things like sugar and even caffeine as well. It's like your body, like if I don't have enough sleep, I could get like heart palpitations or anxiety or something like that. And I found that sugar was having that impact on me, especially if I was eating that in the evening time, which is when I usually crave it.
00:41:12
Speaker
But I found that it was like increasing those symptoms. So that's why it wasn't really anything to do with, Oh, I want to lose more fat or and anything like that. It was more kind of my symptoms that I was now getting. And I'm assuming it's to do with, you know, the hormone fluctuations that I just, I couldn't process it like I could before. And that was the main, that that was for me. And that has made a massive impact. So again, if I do want chocolate, I'll eat it, but I might just eat it like earlier on in the day or something like that.
00:41:39
Speaker
when I can kind of process it better and it's less likely to impact my sleep. Because that's the thing, it's the sleep side of things where things start to kind of like change. You're like, why am I waking and up at like 4am? You know, that never happened before and I'm exhausted. And so interesting that you say that, though, because I think sometimes we're so automatic with our habits. So like for me, for years, from when the kids were really small, it was always like tea and two little chocolate bars in the evening time. But I sit down and watch TV.
00:42:07
Speaker
And like it was just something I looked forward to and I just did it all the time. And that was great. And it's only in recent months that I realized that I can't get to sleep. My sleep is so much better when I don't have tea and chocolate just before bed. And like a lot of people, anyone who knows me listening to this will be really surprised to hear me say this, but I've actually stopped doing that at that time. And.
00:42:29
Speaker
The main reason why I stopped initially was because it was making me wake up to wee in the middle of the night, which was bothering me with my sleep, because I don't just get up to to go to the toilet. I'll argue with myself for, I actually don't know how much time goes by and I go back to sleep, you're fine, go back to sleep, you know, knock it open. up to door My bladder's gonna burst, but it's okay. I'm not getting out of bed. So like this, I don't know how how long if I just got up and gone to the toilet and come back, I'd have been back asleep. But it was disturbing my sleep, so that's why I stopped. But then I noticed I was actually getting to sleep.
00:42:57
Speaker
easier as well. And then suddenly that has had like a domino effect on my evening routine. I no longer watch TV midweek. Like my husband is delighted because he gets to watch all his programs that I don't watch. And so like Monday to Thursday, I just, I put Kai to bed and then I go upstairs, I do my stretching and stuff. And I read a book in bed and I fall asleep. I take magnesium beforehand and I go to sleep and I have the best night's sleep. And this has been the,
00:43:24
Speaker
all because like I really do the quality of the sleep without the chocolate and the tea now I know that's sugar and caffeine before bed so obviously you know makes fucking sense that it would make the huge difference but if we take that approach like you said there of making little changes in how we approach our routine can make huge differences into how we feel. It's making little tweaks. Like me, you have all the other stuff down, we get it, you know, all that kind of stuff. But I'm still constantly, because again, like it's great when you hit your forties, all this other stuff starts happening as a woman.
00:43:58
Speaker
And you really do have to start tweaking things or being curious about making those kind of tweaks and trying different things. And things change all the time. So what works this week may not work, you know, next year. So it's always about China. And again, alcohol ahead, you know, with alcohol, I know you met a lot of changes as well. I always loved my Prosecco and I would probably open a bottle on a Friday evening and, you know, maybe have a couple of drinks then.
00:44:23
Speaker
over the weekend, and I loved my Prosecco, that just cannot happen for me anymore. So I might have, you know, the odd time, maybe like one or two drinks on a Sunday, you know, maybe every six weeks, something like that, because again, it was impacting my sleep, impacting my mood the next day, all that, it was just like a knock on effectiveness, like it's just not adding like anything to my life. And I know so many people and so many friends that have given up at this point, they're just like, it's just not adding any value to my life whatsoever.
00:44:50
Speaker
I don't think people realize how good they can feel and how much that they can actually achieve. And I don't mean by any like high performance stuff, you I just mean in your day to day life and how you can actually experience life and your relationships and your friendships and all of your experiences.
00:45:08
Speaker
when you take alcohol out of it. It's like, it is life changing. And that doesn't mean that you have to say, I'm never going to drink again. Like you just said there that you you do drink. I didn't drink for a long time. I've had periods where I've had a few over the past year or so kind of got off it again. I don't think, I don't think I will for the foreseeable future again, because it's kind of reminded me. I'm like, no, I actually have felt a little bit unclear, even with the little bit that I've reintroduced, but that's a personal decision. And that's not me saying that no one can drink, but I do think it's interesting.
00:45:38
Speaker
to test yourself out, give yourself a month, give yourself three months, whatever, cut it out completely. Notice the difference, make the decision on that and have a new relationship with alcohol. A hundred percent. Like, I mean, I'll definitely get to a point where I will just stop drinking it completely. But at this point, it's kind of like every couple of weeks, you know, I'll have, you know, like two or three drinks. So I'm not ready to give it up just yet.
00:46:03
Speaker
But I have made so many changes. And it's honestly, when I do have a couple of drinks, I'm just like, Oh, why did I bother? Because it's just adds nothing to my life. but Like nothing. But it's not first class. It's like, Oh, and then after that, it's just like, pointless.
00:46:17
Speaker
And I think it's, yeah, it's very much to know that you know you don't have to give it up. You definitely don't have to, but I did an interview with Beatrice Caffrey on this and she, we were talking about Perry menopause. Beatrice is amazing, but she's like alcohol and Perry menopause. It's the one no brainer to make things a little bit easier for yourself.
00:46:37
Speaker
Oh my God, it really is. So that's why I probably was like, you know, the sugar thing I looked at first, cause I was like, so I'm not sure if I'm ready to give up per second just yet, even though I wouldn't drink a lot of it. But that's why I kind of looked at the sugar part first. Cause I was like, yeah maybe I can probably, you know, cut back more on this, but it does make a huge impact in your forties, maybe in your thirties. Well, I don't know. But for me, that's when my early forties, that's when, you know, hormones definitely started to start shifting a bit.
Importance of Resistance Training
00:47:05
Speaker
Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about resistance training before we finish up because like I get a lot of women that start coaching with me and you know, they could be in their forties or their fifties and they've never resistance trained before and think quite often it's too late. Now your mother is a perfect example of, you know, that it isn't too late. My mother also the same in her sixties has taken up some resistance training too. It is not just about looking good.
00:47:30
Speaker
Let's talk a little bit about why we all, whether we're 20 or whether we're 70 or anything below, or like even my teenage son is resistance training. You know, like why should we be resistance training? And that's specifically into kind of our menopause years.
00:47:44
Speaker
Yeah. Well, it's just amazing. And I mean, like, you know, we're all the same. We love weight training, but not everyone does. Let's be honest. And I would have been that person probably 15 years ago where I was like, Oh, it's just so boring. You know, I just want to do like the classes and all that kind of stuff. And I know obviously better now, like my mom, she picked it up, like I said, in her kind of early sixties, there was an incredible lady that I always try to follow women that are like.
00:48:10
Speaker
10 years older than me, 20 years older than me, 30 years older, 40 and so on, right? And I use them as like, what's kind of possible with aging, right? And there's an incredible lady, I think her handle on Instagram is called train with Joan. I don't know if you know her. I follow her. Yeah.
00:48:26
Speaker
And she is an incredible example of what is possible and you know how strength training can be started at any age. I think she was like 72 and had a long list of chronic conditions when she started weight training. And now she has this incredible business and she trains you know women all over the world and all that kind of stuff. But I guess You know, back in the day, I would have been like, you know, any kind of train I did, it was like, okay, I need to be the certain size or blah, blah, blah, whatever. But it's really, as a woman in my 40s, it's all about kind of my health and managing my health. So kind of back to metabolic health, right? You know, you have to start worrying about things like that. I never thought I would be talking about is your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your weight circumference, and why that matters, you know, for future chronic diseases.
00:49:12
Speaker
Resistance training is essential for managing these metabolic conditions or your metabolic health. So that for me is a huge driver. And that's why I think it's so important for women in our 40s to look at it from that point, from a kind of a health point and managing those side of things because they creep up like really quickly. Like I never thought I would have to think about blood pressure. you know And that kind of thing. you know ah you I think it was checked when you were pregnant, and then I never really thought about it after that. Well, in your 40s, you have to start thinking about stuff. Well, you have to be proactive about your health and kind of managing you know all that stuff. So again, like why so the metabolic health side of things, obviously, that's essential.
00:49:50
Speaker
But again, I came back from Lanzarote and my in-laws were there and I was training my father-in-law and it went back to, you know, he was just like, oh, I don't want to do this. And I'm like, well, do you want to be able to sit on the toilet in 20 years? And it was that basic kind of, you know, reason to resistance drain. So getting him to do a squat, you know, kind of understanding how this links to your everyday kind of activities and how you age.
00:50:16
Speaker
Yeah. And like, so if we look at that and we look at like a squat is literally being able to sit down yeah and stand back up. If we look at an overhead press, we're talking about reaching that top shelf to be able to get something off the top shelf. If we look at something like a pushup, we're talking about being able to get yourself up off the floor. If we look at a deadlift, we're talking about being able to lift a heavy shopping bag off the ground correctly. You're lifting anything off, heavy off the ground and while protecting our back.
00:50:45
Speaker
When we look at core exercises, it's protecting our back when we're lifting anything. We want to be able to lift our grandchildren. We want to be able to lift our shopping bags. We want to be able to do ah all of these things. This is what we're putting ourselves in preparation for. Exactly. That's what it's all about. We all want to kind of live a long time, right? Well, most of us do. You want to live a quality life. So if we're retiring at 65, we want to live into our nineties. The only way, well, okay, besides the exceptions, right?
00:51:13
Speaker
You know, the only way you're going to kind of be able to live in good health and enjoy your retirement and your later years is by, again, the quality of food you're eating and resistance training. Cause it's going to keep you strong and you want more muscle, less fat. And that is essential for aging well. And there's, of course, there's ah exceptions. You know, my granny is 88. She definitely never stretched range before, besides lifting up kids and stuff like that.
00:51:36
Speaker
So there's exceptions. But yeah yeah of course, and there's always people who've done everything right and, you know, and not living into their elderly ears. So there's loads of different exceptions, but in general, if we look at the statistics, you know, that we are, we are talking about how important that is. But also I think in relation to resistance training, if you're let's say 53 years old and you're five foot one and you want to lose weight.
00:52:01
Speaker
realistically as you lose weight those calories are going to be quite low if you're that short as you get older you could end up facing the reality of you to get to your healthy weight you could end up down on 1200 calories and i'm really against 1200 calories for any adult but It is the reality, especially, you know, for that last little bit of weight that women want to lose. And this is why I think a lot of people settle for middle age spread as well. It's because they're like, I can't stick with low calories like that too. It's not worth it. yeah But what what people don't realize is the more muscle you have on your frame, the more calories your body burns at rest.
00:52:42
Speaker
I know. I love that. I remember when I, the first time I heard that I was like, wow, it was like, it was like an awakening. It's like, Oh, get me to the gym. It's literally my motivation for training. I'm like, yeah, I want to be able to eat a decent amount of food for the rest of my life. But I feel like that's pretty decent motivation. Like, you know, in my opinion, a hundred percent. And you know what? It's easier. I think then like my husband does like Ironmans and things like that. And I'm just like going to the gym and lifting weights is just.
00:53:10
Speaker
way easier, you know, than yeah doing all that stuff, you know, and you're going to gain more muscle by weight training. And it's a lot easier to do. You can fit in like a really good session in like 20, 30 minutes. I've done it. I think it's a lot more flexible because I would have very much been in the mindset and probably like ah a lot of women as well as I need to go out running. I need to do this. And I found with running and doing those kind of hip classes, it was actually putting like more stress on my body. I was getting, you know, more injuries. I was like aches and pains, all that kind of stuff. I don't get that anymore from weight training. I still obviously have to do cardio. Like I love, you know, going on the stepper or, you know, like 50,000 steps a day, that kind of thing. But if you're doing that for your health.
00:53:53
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. Yes. But it's just way easier to wage, right? It's easier on your body, I feel like, you know? Definitely. And you're going to get that shape that you're looking for. So when when we try and like, I just don't understand why we're always trying to be lighter and lighter and lighter and smaller and smaller
Evolving Perspectives on Fitness
00:54:12
Speaker
and smaller. And it's like the goal shouldn't be lighter and lighter and lighter. It it should, yeah. Yeah, we can be lean. Yeah, we can be strong here. We can have, you know, a nice waist. We can have nice proportions to our body. That's not done by eating less and less and less and moving more and more and more on the hamster wheel. That's not what it it's not. What gets you that it is resistance training. It is balanced. It is consistency. And this message is getting across a lot more and things are changing. And it's so great to see so many women of different ages in the gym. It's amazing.
00:54:40
Speaker
And, you know, contacting me or you or, you know, coaches like us that women that are like, I i want to learn more about this. This is what I want want to do. I know that this is, this is the answer to my health goals. And thank God things are changing. There's so many incredible women in this space now. It's amazing.
00:54:58
Speaker
Okay, last question before we finish up. What does the word health mean to you? What does the word health mean to me? I think it means having, you know, in the past, it would have been, oh, you know, how you kind of looked right, and being a certain size. um But now it's very much about kind of that mind-body connection and probably feeling at peace. That would be, I guess, you know, good health to me. Just feeling a kind of at peace, at ease, feeling happy and purposeful in your day and in your life. I love that. At peace.
00:55:32
Speaker
So, so true. Karen, thank you so much for coming on. This has been such an amazing conversation and it's so lovely to, you know, we've so much in common in our beliefs, in our lifestyles. It's been so lovely to chat. If anyone would like to reach out to you, follow you, see what you're doing, where is the best place to find you? So I'm on Instagram. I'm, you know, need to get better and more consistent with my posting, but I'm at at Karen Murph on Instagram. Perfect.
00:56:00
Speaker
And yeah, go check Karen out. And do you know what? I'm sure you are doing amazing with your consistency. It's not easy trying to balance kids, full-time jobs, coaching, your own health and fitness. hang these women and to be To be harder on ourselves. We tend to be harder on ourselves than we need to be. Yeah. I love chatting to you. Yeah. Again, I think we have so much in common. We're kind of in the same, we love our training and and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, it's great. Good to talk to you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.
00:56:32
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. 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.
00:57:12
Speaker
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 or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, all Kate Hamilton Health. And you will be able to apply for coaching. We can organize to have a chat and see if it's a good fit for you and get you moving towards your goals.