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#79 - Kim Rahir: Reclaiming your power through strength
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In this episode, I chat with Kim Rahir, an online health coach and Olympic weightlifting competitor at the master's level.
Kim shares her remarkable transformation from a journalist battling a debilitating illness to becoming a passionate advocate for strength training, especially for women over 40.
In this episode, we chat about:
- How Kim's journey from journalism to health coaching and weightlifting began, and how she overcame her health challenges
- Why building muscle is crucial for women over 40, and how strength training benefits both physical and mental health
- Kim's tips for starting small, building confidence, and creating positive momentum in fitness
- How Kim balances her passion for weightlifting with life in Madrid, and what strategies she recommends for overcoming resistance and staying motivated
- Why Kims suggest not focusing solely on "eating healthy," and what her thoughts are on calorie counting and specific health goals
This episode is full of insights and stories that will resonate with anyone looking to improve their health and well-being.
Kim's experiences and advice offer a wealth of knowledge and inspiration for anyone interested in strength training and a healthier lifestyle.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends who might benefit. For more health tips and updates, follow me on Instagram and TikTok @katehamiltonhealth.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. So today's episode, I am just feeling so, so super inspired after having this conversation. I interview Kim Raher and Kim is an amazing human being and we have the most amazing conversation. So Kim is a health coach. She's an online coach and she has a passion for weightlifting.
00:00:34
Speaker
for Olympic weightlifting and she competes in the master's level. She competes internationally, but she has the most fascinating personal story that got her from where she was to where she is
Kim's Journey to Health Coaching
00:00:47
Speaker
today. So she now is an online coach and she works with women over 40 in helping get them strong and you know healthy and to help them reach their goals. But she used to be a journalist and then she was diagnosed with a debilitating illness in her 40s. I'm not going to give it away because i want I want you to listen to her story because as she was telling the story to me, I was literally edge of my seat being like, what happens? What was the diagnosis going to be? Well, listen to her story. And after this diagnosis and the rehabilitation that was involved and her discovery,
00:01:26
Speaker
for her love of fitness and strength and how much of a difference this has made in her life is just like, is nothing short of inspiring. Absolutely fascinating story. So in this episode, we talk about the importance of muscle on the body and the importance of building muscle. We talk about a little bit about her weightlifting. Didn't get into it as much as I would have liked.
Mental Health and Nutrition Insights
00:01:51
Speaker
We talk about the importance of taking baby steps when making habit change.
00:01:55
Speaker
We talk about mental health and how do we get from you know suffering with our mental health to this online idea of you know achieving big goals, which seems to be what we're we're hearing a lot of now, you know dream big, reach big goals. But how do we get from being in a really bad place to achieving our goals?
00:02:17
Speaker
or even knowing our goals. so We talk a a lot about that. We talk about confidence and then we have a really good discussion around nutrition as well. and Her catchphrase is, stop trying to eat healthy. so I asked her about this and she explains her principles around nutrition, her thoughts on calorie counting and how maybe that isn't the way we should be going about weight loss. and it's It's a really, really interesting conversation.
00:02:40
Speaker
We talk about a bit about, you know, the importance of planning versus actually being in the moment and dealing with, you know, the situation that's in front of us. Yeah, just absolutely amazing conversation. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I have. And yes, here is Kim right here. Enjoy the episode.
00:03:03
Speaker
Kim, welcome to the podcast. Thanks. Thanks for having me and and thanks for all all the work that you do. I'm so excited for this conversation because you have got some story and your story is very inspirational for other women. And I'm just, I'm really excited to kind of dive into, I suppose, your experiences, your resilience, your mindset, and any advice that you have for other women who might be struggling and who might be trying to find themselves on a path to
00:03:35
Speaker
improve their health and get stronger.
Strength Training and Mental Health
00:03:38
Speaker
And yeah, but I suppose first we'll start right back and tell everyone a little bit about you and your journey, I suppose, if that's okay. Yeah, of course. So I'm 60 years old now. I live in Madrid, but I'm a German and I've been living in Madrid, Spain for 10 years. It's a lovely place. And I'm a health coach now. I work with women from their forties onwards and I,
00:04:01
Speaker
I help them start strength training. And for many women, that's that's a big step because they think they have to go to a gym, things like that. I have three grown kids. I love Olympic weightlifting myself. um I train three to four times a week for that. I compete. I compete internationally, which is really amazing because it's called master sports. So it's older people and you're a master from 35 onwards. So don't get me wrong. It's not.
00:04:29
Speaker
not only for super old and senile people, but like older people, they age differently now. So, you know, we meet for for competitions um to to keep lifting. It's super inspiring. There's some guys there that are like in their late 80s, they still show up, they still travel, make their way in and compete. So that's my big, big passion. And I started that five years ago. So it's not something I've been doing all my life. I used to be a journalist.
00:04:57
Speaker
traveled around the world with my three kids and my husband. And then I had health challenges that were quite traumatizing actually, um hard to overcome. But when I came out the other side, I decided that I didn't want to be a journalist anymore. I wanted to share what happened to me and and how I got out of there and in the hope that will so it will help other women too.
00:05:25
Speaker
That's amazing. And I suppose, will we dive into what those health challenges were so people get a ah really feel of kind of really what you were dealing with and what you've overcome? Because obviously I want to dive into all this weightlifting and master's sport because I think that's super inspiring also. But first of all, let's start with what like you actually had faith had to face.
00:05:45
Speaker
Yes. So I was 45 at the time. My kids were still quite small. I think my oldest was like 10 years old. We lived in Berlin. um I had a full-time job as a journalist, working shift work. Some all thought I had it all, like it a great job, good career, three kids, lovely family. We lived in a wonderful house. And I had been raised to believe that as a woman, you had to decide you either wanted a career or you wanted kids. You know, you couldn't have it all. So I always wanted to prove contrary And there I was at the pinnacle. And then one day I'm picking up my kids from school and I'm seeing double, like literally double. And that is so super scary because, you know, when you have a little bit of back pain, you can ignore your way out of it or deny it and think, oh, it's going to go away. But when you're seeing double, you know, something's wrong with your brain.
00:06:38
Speaker
I went to see the doctors. They sent me to the hospital, and I was to spend six weeks in hospital, them looking for what it was that I had. They were pretty sure that it was autoimmune, but because my symptoms were all over the place. First, I was seeing double, and after three weeks, I was completely paralyzed from the hips downwards. I could not wiggle a toe.
00:07:00
Speaker
and And that was such a dark, scary time. And just imagine, you know, your kids, your oldest child is like 10 and they could come visit you in a hospital. You're in a hospital bed. That still makes me very sad to think what they went through at the time.
00:07:16
Speaker
And they tried all sorts of treatments, all sorts of transfusions. And one of them must have worked because my sensitivity in my legs slowly came back. And I left the hospital just one day before Christmas.
00:07:32
Speaker
in a wheelchair, had to learn to walk again, took me about six months. Then I took treatment for another year. Uh, then I was told, um, this was actually a one-off syndrome that is known. It was autoimmune, but it's what's the thing where the body attacks its own nerve cells, but it comes and it goes and then it's done. So that was like a great day for me. The doc said, okay, we don't, you don't need any treatment anymore. You're just, you know, you can just live your life now.
00:08:02
Speaker
What a gift. I called my husband. I cried on the phone. He cried too. And I was going to, you know, make the most of this second shot that I got. We moved again. We moved to France. And then after, I think like half a year of living living in France, I felt my left hand going numb.
00:08:23
Speaker
And I knew something was wrong. More checkups, doctors again. And they said this time it was autoimmune. Yes, but it was different. It was actually an attack of the immune system on the white matter in the nerves. Apparently the first time it was only like the outer sheath of the nerves that had been attacked, which made them lose their sensitivity and I couldn't walk
Starting Exercise and Building Habits
00:08:46
Speaker
or anything. But um this time it was like the the white matter in the nerves and it was multiple sclerosis and I would need lifelong treatment.
00:08:55
Speaker
Now, after me getting this clean bill of health, this second diagnosis, you know, that was a really low blow. I mean, if there ever was one, that was really low blow.
00:09:09
Speaker
It was, that's so much scarier when you get a diagnosis where you know that you don't know what's going to happen to you. There's so many outcomes. One doctor was tactful enough to tell me that I might go blind. You know might be in a wheelchair. You might have nothing at all. ah You really don't know what's going to happen. And I fought with my doctor because I didn't want the lifelong treatment. I said, this is really necessary.
00:09:39
Speaker
ah was I think it was something also because the hospital experience I think it was it has really really marked me because you have no power at all you lose your power from one day to the next in a hospital. You have no say. Not when you're going to sleep, not when there's light on in your room, not when somebody walks into your room, not when somebody talks inside your room. I even had doctors coming with students gathering around my bed looking at me like ah like an artifact. And I think the idea of a lifelong treatment just
00:10:18
Speaker
told me, oh, you're going to give your power away again. You're going to be dependent you know on someone prescribing um this medication to you, but well the doctor wouldn't give in. and He was not used to someone asking so many questions, by the way. He you know he was patient at the beginning, but then he became quite quite impatient So i had to I had to accept that and I started injecting myself three times a week. The one thing I asked of him and his his answer was not satisfactory. I said, can I exercise? Because I had been a gym goer before and I think I felt this desire to get my power back at least on a physical level. I wanted to become like really strong. And he said something like, okay, but be careful.
00:11:05
Speaker
What does that even mean? yeah Either he has some information and sal tells me, okay, with MS, you can do this, or you can't do that, or this is this is what's going to happen with your body. Or he doesn't, but telling me, be careful. It's like, you know, I'm not responsible. You're on your own. This sounds like something ah dangerous. or what What? I was lucky because I talked to a nurse later, the one who showed me how to inject myself. And she said, oh, exercise is great for MS. It makes your body fatigue resistant.
00:11:37
Speaker
MS always comes with a lot of fatigue. And when you train, you know, your body gets tired and it recovers and it learns how to recover from fatigue. So that was my green light. And to this day, I mean, I know that doctors, they do their best and everything, but I don't think they have the right take on exercise yet. If they could prescribe exercise, I think people's health would be much better.
00:12:00
Speaker
Yeah, ah debt I 100% agree like that we're we're creating more problems with it. This is what's wrong with you. This is your medication and you know now this is your also your identity that you're sick and you have to take this medication and there's no solution and you can't do anything. and I think doctors, like obviously not criticizing doctors, we need doctors, and but if they could get on board yet with the proactive approach as well. you know Even whether it's before or after a diagnosis, just you can manage this with lifestyle. Yes. Maybe lifestyle and medication, but the lifestyle part is often left out.
00:12:38
Speaker
I think many people think, and I mean, we can go into this if you want to you know and talk about Ozimpic because it's the same it's the same pattern. People think, yeah, the medication will somehow sort of release release you from the task of changing your lifestyle.
00:12:56
Speaker
and The lifestyle is always the foundation of anything that you do, any treatment. You need the basics and in place. Otherwise, how's the medication going to help you if you if you if you don't have a foundation, if you don't have ground to stand on?
00:13:12
Speaker
and I went on, started strength training, got myself a cool book that was one of the first, I think that said, women should lift heavy. um Started paying super close attention to form. I wanted to do everything perfectly and I got stronger so quickly and I got so much better. My neurological checkups, they were like two minutes ah because the doctors could see that I was doing just fine.
00:13:41
Speaker
And then we moved again, moved to Spain, where we are now. I found myself a great neurologist who, after seeing me felt like this for two years, he said, you know what? I think you can stop your treatment. And that's, you know, when you have MS and you get into forone beta, this is something unheard of. Because most people don't dare say you can stop this. They're afraid that you might have a relapse.
00:14:03
Speaker
and um you know suffer more damage and stuff. and he i mean He's very up to date. He goes to conventions and and and and conferences all the time. and He said, we are actually not quite sure right now if this treatment is actually effective.
00:14:19
Speaker
And to this day, I love him for saying this because he was able to be open about this, not feeling like he was admitting a mistake or anything because because we i and we evolve. One of my favorite coaches says, just because we changed our minds doesn't mean we were wrong before.
00:14:36
Speaker
And he told me that, and that gave me a lot of courage and said, okay, if we don't even know if it's the medication that kept me well, um then might as well try and and not take it anymore. And that's now like seven years ago and I have had no treatment and no relapses ever since.
00:14:54
Speaker
That is absolutely fascinating. and I have so many questions. I'm like, where do I where do i even start? I suppose I'd love to know, I mean like i would imagine yeah your drive, but your your your thinking patterns here when you're really, you're at your lowest, you're like, but I have been diagnosed with MS. I have to inject myself three times a day.
00:15:19
Speaker
How did, what was your mindset, what was the kind of switch to be like, I'm not going to be a victim of this. I'm not going to be, like when you got the go ahead for the strength training, what was, you know, cause I could imagine yeah it was probably initially quite hard. We were probably tired adjusting to medication, you know, but perhaps in pain. What made you push through? What was your thinking pattern? I think that there were, there were two things. The first thing that was like an overall reaction.
00:15:49
Speaker
With this diagnosis, the future, the big picture is really scary because you you don't know what's going to happen to you. Sometimes my mind would go there and I would think, okay, I need this this this medication. It's expensive. It's hard to get. What's going to happen to me when I'm 70? Where am I going to be living? will and Will I be able to get this medication? And when my mind went there, I told my, come on, you know, it's it's here and now.
00:16:18
Speaker
you know you have this thing, it's working, why would you worry about something that's not real? And because this big picture and looking too far ahead was so scary, I decided to focus really on the present day. um I had been you know away from my kids because I was in hospital and and everything. I wanted to enjoy just every moment I could with my kids and focus on today. And the training part, it was just, I don't even know how to describe this. There was this strong desire to become physically strong. The the treatment had side effects. For example, you feel like like you're getting the flu actually. It's called like pseudo flu symptoms. So you feel heavy and tired and like this, you know, this this sort of achiness in your limbs and and and headaches and
00:17:10
Speaker
i just I just took over-the-counter medicine to to fight that. where I took an ibuprofen and I was better and I could go train. so i In a way, i I didn't want to let this this disease and especially this kind of identity, I didn't want to wear that. as my That was not my hat. I was not going to put that on. and Yes, I was raised to believe that it's not good to take over-the-counter of drugs and stuff. and My choice was very clear in that moment. Do I want to sit at home, miserable, in pain, and think of myself as someone who can't move, or do I want to go out there and train? And so I just i just took those so those pills to be able to train.
Mindset and Consistency in Fitness Goals
00:17:55
Speaker
And then at the end of the day, I could stop the medication, so I don't didn't need any anything anymore. So it was the right trade-off to choose.
00:18:06
Speaker
But this drive of being like in charge of my body, because if you like imagine you're in hospital, you you can't move your legs. So you know you need to call a nurse to wheel you to the toilet. That makes you feel so so helpless, so powerless that i I thought, no, my body needs to be strong. I want to be able to do whatever it takes.
00:18:28
Speaker
whatever it is that life throws at me, at least physically, being in a place where I sort of can trust myself, can trust my body. And I think the trust in the body is also something where an autoimmune disease makes you feel like your body is betraying you because it's attacking itself. What the hell? What is that? Why would you know why would my body a attack itself? that's That's a big trust issue there. And I wanted to you know be really confident that I could handle handle my body and do things. and And that's what drove me. And because you get results so soon, and this is also something that I tell and my clients all the time, when they've never done any strength training, anything, and and they start at the right spot with the right challenge for their status, for their physical ability, they get better so soon. It you know it takes sometimes time as little as two weeks for you just to have a different
00:19:25
Speaker
feeling about your your body and yourself. so I didn't need to push myself very hard because the results were coming in like were noticeable so soon. Yeah. and I suppose you had said ah about you know your power being taken from you when you were in hospital that you couldn't even decide when your lights were put on or who was in your room. so take like In this situation, you're home now, I have the power to yeah like to make my body as strong as i cant like I can. I can focus on this and I can control this and it's a good way to get your power back. But also the building of evidence, you know this this is a huge thing that I work with clients as well is you know I would quite often work with women who have been trying to lose weight for a very long time.
00:20:10
Speaker
and been trying to get their health under control for a very long time. and We're getting failed by this diet culture and every failed diet is another blow to your confidence that you can actually do it. so It really does come back, doesn't it, to that building the evidence, starting slow. Like you said, starting where you're at. and I'd imagine when you stepped into that gym, you started slow and like you you said, you focused on form.
00:20:31
Speaker
and When you start where you are and just do a little bit and start doing it consistently, you start to see results. That builds evidence in your brain, okay? every nothing has Nothing terrible has happened while I did this. Now I can let you do a little bit more. Yeah, exactly. And that's how you build confidence in yourself, in your body.
00:20:49
Speaker
in your mindset. And that's what I love about strength training so much. It's yeah, the the physical benefits are great. And you know, and I do have that drive that I'm like, as I get older, like, similar to yourself, I'm like, I want my body, I can control how strong I am at the minute. And I want that my body to be prepared for whatever life throws at me because we don't know, you know, we can, we can build anyone who thinks that they can live the perfect healthy lifestyle and never be affected, their health never affected by something. You're living in a dream. You don't know.
00:21:17
Speaker
Yes, good luck with that. Yeah, exactly. So, but you can feel good in the moment, prepare for whatever life throws at you. And I mean that in an empowering way, not in a panicky way. That like, that, so that does drive me to be like, you know, and as I get older, that I'm i'm maintaining the muscle that I have. But in the moment, it's very much that, that connection with myself, the me time, that, wow, look what I did that I didn't think I could do.
00:21:43
Speaker
and looking back and like, look at what I've achieved. And it is that, it's that empowerment that really, really I think is the most important thing. I actually think that's probably what got me better because I'm never claiming or pretending that strength training can cure a mess. That would be ludicrous. But I think that the mental health benefits, the confidence, the the positive outlook but that you get from training has knock-on effects you know in all parts of your life. And I think now it's I'm beginning to see that it's because when you strength train, what do you do? You overcome resistance.
00:22:19
Speaker
So the barbell is there on the floor and gravity wants it to stay down. So you have to overcome that resistance and you're going to say, I'm going to lift that bar up. And I think there's, first of all, I think there's even neural circuitry in the brain that gets wired where you your brain knows and remembers that you can overcome resistance.
00:22:42
Speaker
And you know it's in your fibers, you know, because your muscles, they are overcoming the resistance. So when you encounter resistance in other parts of your life, you do have that memory. Okay, there's there's something like a roadblock. There's resistance. I'm encountering. That doesn't mean I have to take it lying down. I can overcome resistance. I haven't overcome resistance before.
00:23:05
Speaker
And I am convinced that this physical action that you do actually trains your brain to react to other types of resistance also with a more active and and a more combative stance. This is something that I don't think we can can overestimate the effect of this. This is what it has on you. 100%.
00:23:27
Speaker
The, like, I do very much believe that like a ah routine really does kind of, it's, it is like a practice run for life in a way, because the discipline that of showing up, the, like just the discipline of showing up to the, to the gym three to four times a week. That, that spills out as well as obviously, you know, talking about the, you know, overcoming resistance, just the discipline and the routine of it. If you can get up and go to the gym when you don't feel like it and you're feeling a little bit sore, a bit tired, whatever, and you go anyway.
00:23:55
Speaker
Regardless of how you feel, obviously not if you're sick or injured, but you know it regardless of how you feel and you do it anyway, that sense of achievement, then you'll be able to do that in other areas of your life when you need to and you won't crumble. Yes, absolutely. Like you say, you build you you give yourself evidence of what you can do. and and To see that evolution also and in in women,
00:24:20
Speaker
yeah ah you know My clients come to me also for weight loss and we do that and and you know it's what you do too, but it's not the main part. It's when you see the you know the the look in their eyes when they get their first pushup or when they lift a certain weight or when they stand somewhere, walk somewhere and and realize that that they are muscular and and and strong, that they have kind of spring in their step. That's that's the big moment when it really pays off that you train and when you feel that this is so much more than you know which size clothes I'm wearing or or how I look, it's about really how I feel. and and I find that incredibly empowering and gratifying.
00:25:00
Speaker
Yeah. And I think any goal, regardless of no matter how physical it may be, it it it really is just in search of a feeling at the end of the day, you know, to feel fully, I suppose, satisfied by your goals. You know, even if it is, if someone does have a goal, I want to fit into this size 10 dress for this wedding that I'm going to.
00:25:19
Speaker
It's not the actual act of fitting into the dress. It's the feeling confident how you feel and proud of yourself. And yeah, that moment when you're when you're at that wedding, feeling amazing is what is what you're looking for, is what what people are looking for. And I think a lot of people don't realize that until they get obviously get stuck into it here with me. And then I kind of will guide them to that realization. But in relation to kind of weightlifting and MS,
00:25:46
Speaker
Is there any science behind this? Is there any kind of you know brain-body connection, thus like anything you've read up on that, even if it is in theory, not 100%? In direct connection to MS, no. There's this evidence that you know when you train, when you are physically active, your body does become fatigue resistant, so you can deal with lots of things better. The the actual condition No, there isn't. Yes, of course, you do exercise and training for patients when they when they have neural damage or or or can't move very well anymore. But the science about what strength training and muscle building does for your overall health and your mental health is is overwhelming. There's absolutely no doubt. The difficult part, and I find that very difficult actually because it's hard to communicate.
Building Strong Habits and Identity
00:26:43
Speaker
so
00:26:45
Speaker
Strength training is one of the best ways to deal with all kinds of mental health symptoms. and Every kind of symptom gets better with training. But I also know that when you are very low, when you're struggling with your mental health and when you are depressed, the last thing you need is someone telling you, hey, but you just have to go out there and and exercise and you'll feel better. because yeah that's And make that step happen from someone who feels so low to trying to start moving, I think that's a big, big challenge that we're facing um because it's not done by saying, oh, you know,
00:27:21
Speaker
You just go out there and move and you're going to feel better because that's it's this going out there and moving that is so hard and is something we have to find ways to to help people get moving ah to benefit from this effect. And what's your solution to that in like in your opinion? What's the solution to that that gap between people who are in a really bad place to actually getting out there moving? What what needs to happen, do you think?
00:27:48
Speaker
We have to make the beginnings as tiny and as small as possible. Yes. i and and that that's what That's what we do in my, that's why my program is called Fabulous in 15 because we start with 15 minutes a day and even less if need be.
00:28:07
Speaker
Sometimes we just start with a five minute action every day and that could be meditation, that could be, I don't know, taking a multivitamin, just beginning with the act of taking care of yourself, taking like even just a few minutes out of your day to look after yourself. And the smaller that action is, ah the more confident you will be that you can do it.
00:28:33
Speaker
And then you could you do it, you feel good about it and you create positive momentum. And once you've done this for a week or two, you think, oh, maybe I could do a few minutes more. Maybe I could do something else. um And you create that snowball effect like this, but where you really have to start very, very small and it's.
00:28:52
Speaker
quite counterintuitive in our in today's world because everybody's telling you to go for the big overhaul and the big ass goals and you know so don't think small, think big, dream big, do all these big things. and If you're in a stark or difficult place,
00:29:10
Speaker
That big is too big. You don't feel like you can handle that at all. We need to start, as you know, like really as small as possible and and it works. That's the thing. It works. It makes you feel more in charge, more accomplished, more confident, and then you keep doing it and you grow from there.
00:29:30
Speaker
Yeah, no, I could not agree more. And I think when it comes to, so yeah I know you're very much talking in relation to exercise, like so when it like when it comes to even getting into resistance training, a lot of people don't know where to start and think that they need to go to the gym. And even if someone is not in a bad place with their mental health, there's a lot of people out there with gym anxiety. There's a lot of people who don't want to step in the gym that feel very self-conscious that i like if I stepped in the gym, I wouldn't even know what to do, where to go.
00:29:57
Speaker
which obviously coaches like myself and yourself help with, but I like i would say probably 70% of my clients train at home because a lot of my clients are, you know, months with kids at home. It's not as easy for them to get out. they and So the difference that can be made with a set of dumbbells, I would argue that you can get yourself strong without ever having to step into a gym.
00:30:21
Speaker
Absolutely. You can get stronger for years. You can get absolutely formidable without stepping into a gym. And there's also a behavioral aspect to this that people often underestimate. Like, you know, new your New Year's resolution, you say, okay, from from January 1st or 2nd, whatever, when your hangover is done, you're going to go to the gym three times a week. So you think, oh, I made this big decision. I'm going to the gym three times a week.
00:30:52
Speaker
What it actually takes to go to the the gym three times a week is not this one big decision. It's 20,000 decisions. You have to pick a gym. You have to pack your bag. You have to choose which clothes to wear. You have to get into the car. You have to drive through traffic. You have to find parking. You have to walk through into the locker room. You have to get change. You have to do all these things. You have to make decision after decision after decision to to to make this happen.
00:31:17
Speaker
which is totally overwhelming. It's huge. It's extremely difficult. ah You think it's one big decision, but you're actually telling yourself to take all these decisions ah on a regular basis that you haven't taken before. It's totally new. And that's why and in my program, we start with 15 minutes at home with something that you can do in your pajamas.
00:31:41
Speaker
So you don't have to take any other decision except that I'm going to do my workout now. That's it. You don't have to worry about what to wear or what equipment to use, whatever. No, just this one, one decision. So you lower the resistance that you encounter and the resistance that you encounter you know could be from your environment, like you have to drive far to a gym and there's traffic and there's a parking problem.
00:32:04
Speaker
It could be a resistance from the people around you saying, what is she going to do? She could want to become a bodybuilder or, you know, people that always talk like that when you may want to make change in your life. And the biggest resistance, the one that you have inside where you think, oh, this is too much. I should rather be looking after the kids' homework. I should rather be doing this. I should, oh, I'm tired today. Maybe I need rest.
00:32:29
Speaker
So when we lower the number of decisions that you have to take, we lower the resistance that you encounter and then you can actually do it. And then start that snowball effect where you feel so good about yourself. Yeah, no, I'm like, I couldn't agree more just this.
00:32:46
Speaker
the like the path of least resistance is, you know and then of and then you can build from that. and it's slowly like I keep coming back to this building evidence, but like it slowly builds your identity because like another huge thing is is that like you know to keep and in mind that our minds will constantly kind of play tricks on us to try and keep us safe. so If you're trying to change, you're like, I i want i want to become somebody who goes to the gym or I want to become someone who runs or whatever it is.
00:33:13
Speaker
And you start and you might, even like the event women that I work with that are, won't tell their family members that they're working on themselves. That it's, it's, they, if they keep it private to themselves for, for quite a, quite a while. And I think it's because they're afraid of that resistance that if someone says something to them, they don't trust themselves to not give up on themselves. And by just being like, I can do this in my pajamas, in my kitchen, and then that can build into, I'm creating a little workout space for myself at home.
00:33:43
Speaker
And ah and you you slowly build that identity where it is, no, I am someone who works out. I'm someone that, I'm like, and don't even get me started on how beneficial it is for your kids to see you oh you working out on the kitchen floor or your sitting room floor. It's like, you actually cannot put a price on how beneficial that is for them to see.
00:34:02
Speaker
and there's ah There's a narrative also where, you know like I said about the 1st of January big decision, like yeah the idea that you have to be a certain person to do certain things, that you have to make this big mindset shift, that you have to decide, I am this person now. and It's a bit like this mind over matter idea. and Yeah, it can work and that's what makes us human, that we can sort of overcome our our ah our instincts and urges and and our mind can overrule stuff. you know like i want to your mom Your brain basically wants you to sit on the sofa and and eat chocolate because that's where it's safe and that's you know nice energy intake, no not spending too much energy. That's what we're programmed to do. We can overcome that.
00:34:51
Speaker
But there's also, there's not only mind over matter, there can also be matter over mind in the way where when you do start doing these little things, small things, you do start training and let it be five minutes a day, then you become that person. Then the fact that you're physically active changes your mind and your mindset. So it's not only top down, it's also down top that it works, the change.
00:35:17
Speaker
Yeah. And to bring that connection, that when you bring that mind-body connection, it doesn't have to be separate. It be like, it it helps you connect with yourself and for it to become one. And it just, yeah, it like, it's, it is life changing. I wanted to to then ask you, you, I, you made, I've read something that you said, which I thought was really interesting that I want to ask you about. You said, stop trying to eat healthy.
00:35:43
Speaker
Yes. and just It's my big mantra. I know it's very controversial. I love us man tell me it. It comes from my conversations with hundreds and hundreds of women. And then I will ask, what's your goal? And then they will answer, I'm just trying to eat healthy. That's not a goal. We're trying to do something. It's not a goal. I'm trying.
00:36:06
Speaker
I'm doing is a goal. I want, you know, if even they said, I want to eat healthy, it would still be ah too vague and I'm going to get to that, but nothing but the, and words matter. If you say my goal is I want to try this. So just imagine you get married and say, you know, are you, do you promise to, I don't know what they ask you and you go, say, um, I try. I'll try. No, you say I do.
00:36:29
Speaker
And why would your commitment to yourself be be less pronounced and less clear than it is to to your lifelong partner? ah No, don't try. Do something. And then eating healthy.
00:36:44
Speaker
is so vague. it's going to It's going to get you nowhere, nowhere at all.
Holistic Health and Continuous Learning
00:36:50
Speaker
What does healthy mean? What does it mean for you? What does it mean for me? It's totally different. What does it mean for someone who has celiac disease? What does it mean for a long distance runner? What does it mean for a weightlifter?
00:37:02
Speaker
It's totally different from every single person to the to the next, what their health needs in terms of fuel. So eating healthy is just a vague term. And especially the women I work with who are in their forties and onwards, you need specificity of you. and In midlife, you you know, like, vague sort of all generic solutions, they will not get you where you want to be. You need specificity. You need to say,
00:37:32
Speaker
what do I want to achieve? And eating for health and eating for weight loss is not even the same. This is what some some women want to believe because um then we start just replacing ah i don't know unhealthy snacks with healthy snacks. So instead of stuffing our face with potato crisps, we stuff our face with almonds. Yeah, they're not probably not as not as harmful as as those processed foods, but if your goal, for example, is weight loss, then that's not going to do. You have to be very clear. If you just want to replace processed foods with whole foods, that's fine. If your goal is to give your body you know more unprocessed foods and
00:38:18
Speaker
You want to feed your body in a way where it can really function? Yes, but for your goals, you need to be extremely specific. And if you want to lose weight, eating healthy will not cut it. You have to eat with weight loss in mind. So you have to choose certain foods, certain food groups. You have to limit the energy intake. You have to make sure that you fuel your workouts because there's also something It's just so easy to say, Oh yeah, I'm just going to go low carb. Um, and I'm just going to, no, you know, you have to, you have to fuel your body. And this only works with specific, specific goals and specific intentions, not by saying something so general that it can encompass just about anything. It will not get you anywhere. Do you believe in counting calories for fat loss?
00:39:12
Speaker
Yes and no. It's very weird.
Episode Conclusion and Contact Information
00:39:15
Speaker
I think that counting calories is totally unreliable. like someone I try to explain it like that. Someone tells me, I'm eating 1200 calories a day and I'm not losing weight. There's something wrong with my metabolism or my body. And I say, you're eating what you think is 1200 calories a day.
00:39:37
Speaker
And it's so impossible to measure precisely. Now, if you can lose weight, achieve your goal with 1200 calories a day, meaning with what you think is 1200 calories a day, and it works for you, that's totally fine. Just you know keep it up. If that's working, you you you control your intake like that.
00:40:05
Speaker
and you're happy and fed, not something where you know you you drag yourself around hungry, then this is a way of calorie counting like that works for someone. So i'm I'm happy for them to do this. But what most women think is they they totally overestimate the the precision of the counting. I mean, even the labels can be off by 50% on the foods.
00:40:31
Speaker
And for most women, it ends in frustration and thinking that there's something wrong with their body and that they don't know what to do anymore and they keep starving themselves more and more and more. So I think it's it's for most people, for most women, it's probably not the way to go. For some, it does work.
00:40:51
Speaker
when you have this nuance in mind that this is not what you're objectively eating, it's just sort of your your you benchmark.
00:41:02
Speaker
when And when you stick with that, when you stick with what you think is X calories, you do reach your goal, then by all means do it. But the other way around where you think, but I am eating 900 calories and I'm still not losing weight,
00:41:17
Speaker
forget it, you know go back to foods, fueling, ah being being satisfied with your meals and asking yourself, what does my body need to function? Not how many calories do I want to eat?
00:41:31
Speaker
yeah and i think i like Personally, like with within my coaching, we kind of use a combination of both. I do think calorie counting can be a great way to structure your eating. If you're somebody that your eating habits have gotten all over the place, you've put yourself last for the past 10 years while you're raising your kids and now suddenly you're like, oh my God, I don't recognize myself. My habits are all over the place. My cravings are all over the place. I think when people start going it alone and they're like, yeah, 1200 calories, because that seems to be like the magic number. I don't know why, yes. And I will always controversially be like, no adult needs to be on 1200 calories. I was like, you can't be fueled properly. And like, I know your point saying, you know, what you think is 1200 calories. And I do think that people don't realize, like you said, the inaccuracy that like calorie counting is an estimation game. Now it's, it's a consistent estimation game, if you do it consistently, and it works.
00:42:26
Speaker
yeah like i I think it works with the support of a coach. I think if if people dive in, try to do it themselves, you can do more damage than good with calorie counting. It can lead you to believe, like you said, that there's things wrong with your body or that yeahre there's something wrong with you because you can't stick to it. or it, you know, this is too hard, it's too frustrating. It's, I do think that, you know, if we're looking at labels, let's say, or, you know, we're searching on my fitness pal and we're seeing how many calories it says in a food, all of these are, you know, their estimations, as is us figuring out.
00:42:57
Speaker
what how many calories we burn. Now, and I think the best way to figure out where your maintenance is, is to start tracking your food where you, ah we like the way you eat every day now, you know, before you start going into calorie deficit. So, you know, if you do enjoy the metrics of of like counting calories, track your calories for a week, for week, two weeks in, without changing anything, just your normal life.
00:43:22
Speaker
and then you'll get a number. And, you know, cause some people do respond very well to numbers, I think, and then just reduce that number by three to 500. then you're going to see results because you'll have, because so that adds up over the week. And, but then I think it's the impatience as well that it's like, I have, you know, three stone I want to lose. So I'm going to like cut my calories right down and just get there quick. If you get there quick, you're not going to be able to keep it. You have to put the habits in place and you have to, it can't be done. Like you can't just lose weight and be healthy by eating
00:43:55
Speaker
like 1600 calories worth of pizza and chips and you know sugary cereals or whatever you know that we need to look at food quality we need to look at protein we need to look at fiber and we need to look at micronutrients as well and Yeah, like I would have a lot of clients that don't track calories you know as well. We you know we'll just look at look at the plate, you know looking at the balance of macronutrients and and you know hand portions and things like that. So it really does depend on the person, but this kind of narrative that all we hear on the internet now, it's just calories in versus calories out. If it was that fucking simple, we'd all just do it.
00:44:32
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the the biggest problem actually in my experience is actually to to somehow control control the eating. And if calorie counting helps some people with it, that's fine. Sometimes what also happens, what happens to clients sometimes is they they count the calories and then at the end of the day, they're are like 1100 and they say, oh, maybe I'm not eating enough. um I'm really worried that, you know, i i'm I'm not eating enough.
00:45:02
Speaker
And I always tell them, listen to your body. If you're not hungry, if you can do your workouts, if you don't feel wobbly during your workouts, if you're feeling fine, then you're eating enough. That's okay. The number is just, as you said, an estimation. I also have this this image of a of ah it's It's like a pie chart or i I call it a trifecta where you have health, weight loss, and pleasure. and These three things are intentions that we can place on our meals. and you know What you say, 1600 calories worth of pizza and chocolate, what have you, wine. you know this
00:45:40
Speaker
ah A friend of mine told me about someone he knew who had lost weight by eating just a pizza and drinking half a bottle of wine every night just once and that was it and they lost weight. So then, yes, if you stick with that, you will have weight loss and you will probably have pleasure in your food because you love pizza, but you won't have the health part. Of these three things, pleasure, health, and weight loss.
00:46:01
Speaker
Your intentions ah can only focus on two of them. One, you have to put in the background. And that doesn't mean but when that when you're eating something healthy that is good for weight loss, too, that you do not enjoy the food. it's What's your intention when you build the meal? If your intention is, I want this meal to be healthy and I want it to be ah weight loss friendly,
00:46:26
Speaker
then you will have to you know just hope that you come up with something more or less tasty, but it will not be your first priority in that meal, the pleasure. If you want to lose weight and you want to just have sort of fun, convenience foods, yeah you know eat pizza and drink wine, lose weight, you have the pleasure part and the weight loss part of these of my trifecta. what You do not have the health part, so you have to be aware That you cannot have everything at once and you want to set your intention. You want to set your intention if you want to have a meal where you want to have pizza with your family.
00:47:04
Speaker
By all means, no do so, just know. My intention is to have fun eating pizza with my family. I'm not going to expect this to improve my health or to help me with my weight loss and that's fine. and I think it's to detach like the shame and the guilt that women put attached to, oh my God, like I fucked it up this weekend. i you know We had a movie night with the kids and I had loads of popcorn and chocolate and then we had pizza. and and then they they've like It causes them so much guilt that then they're like, what's the point? And it yeah becomes this vicious kind of diet cycle. So it I like cannot stress enough how important it is to detach our emotions from our eating. It's okay to have quality time at your kids and have pizza and chocolate every now and again. That's okay. And even if you didn't intend to, and that happens, like how many times is so has anyone listening gone out and for the night being like, oh, I'm literally just going to go have a main course and I'm going to drive home. And then suddenly you've had the best night of your life and it's 2 AM. You know, it happens. you It's like we're human. We're supposed to go out and enjoy ourselves and be in the moment. Obviously, if you have a goal, you want to put your goal to the forefront of your mind most of the time.
00:48:15
Speaker
to help you get there, but like it doesn't make you a bad person. Absolutely not. And this is something that we tend to underestimate. I think also with women who ah carry excess weight, they also carry a lot of guilt and shame because we still have this idea. and There's something that you should be able to do. If you have a weight problem means you have a personality problem, ah you have no self-control and I think i guess especially in our today's world where you know we are genetically programmed to want to eat all the time. That's just a fact because that's how humanity survived. And now we're surrounded by food all the time. Dealing with that, controlling your weight and losing weight is a skill. It's got nothing to do with your value as a person or with your character or whatever. It's a skill that you can learn.
00:49:03
Speaker
and It's totally liberating to detach your self-worth and your emotions you know from that, like you just mentioned. it It makes everything just lighter and easier and and and like ethically, morally heavy. There's nothing wrong with you if you're all overweight. It's just a skill that you need to learn. That's it. Yeah. thats I've never really kind of thought about it that way, a skill. It is a skill.
00:49:32
Speaker
And it's not easy at times. I'll always say like fat loss is simple, but it's not easy. But it's it like the way I often kind of describe it is kind of like a science experiment. It's like you have to.
00:49:48
Speaker
to do the experiment, does this work? Try something. Then you need to see what the results are. Then you need to kind of assess, are these results like helpful? ah You need to come up with a conclusion and then decide what the next step is. so Coming in, again, back to your, I suppose, New Year's resolutions, you can't have your whole year planned out. and I used to do this years ago, like I would want to be you know nine stone on by September 1st or whatever and I'd have the weeks planned out and I'd be like that's fine now with my fitness pal put down to 1200 calories of these two pounds a week and I'll be there but
00:50:20
Speaker
Like you cannot plan that far ahead. You have to just be in the moment. And actually this brings it back to you you talking about when you were, you know, dealing with everything that you were dealing with it, that you have to be in the day that's in it. Now I'm big for getting my clients to plan ahead. Like, you know, you need to, you know, what are you eating tomorrow? What's happening this week? Where are you going to schedule in your workouts? So like maybe scheduling a week in advance, roughly. But then you have to just be in the day and you have to deal with the moment one moment at a time.
00:50:49
Speaker
Yes. and And the planning part is is crucial. But it's that's also like a double-edged sword and it's very nuanced and and not always easy to get our head around. So we have to have a plan. We you know we and want to go to a restaurant next week, so you know let's find out where that is, what we can order. it Let's maybe plan a lighter.
00:51:09
Speaker
uh breakfast the next day whatever it is have an idea and then at the same time be aware that shit is going to happen and your plan is only as good as you know the the day that it that it meets reality and will it work and then not throwing everything under the bus just like i just said when something goes wrong and say Oh, what's the point? I can't do this. Just be aware. And it's with my clients doing weekly check-ins and they remember shit is going to happen. Yes, this is what we want to do this week, but something is going to come up. You know, how are you going to react when, when, when it gets difficult? What, what do you want to do? so And then as you say, be in the moment and do the best that you can at that very point in time.
00:51:57
Speaker
Yeah. That's it. Yeah. And I think it's really useful to ask yourself in every moment, you know, if when you're making a decision about something, is this going to help me reach my goal?
00:52:10
Speaker
And then you've got a yes or no answer. So it so it's like, yes. Sounds like great. Go for it. If it's no, then you need to ask yourself, is it worth it? Because yeah and sometimes moving out with your kids is worth it. Or a dinner out with your friends that you haven't seen in six months is worth it. But this thought, I actually got it from, listening I don't know, was it reading his book? or listening to a podcast with man of book with Matt Fraser. and For anyone who doesn't know who Matt Fraser is, he's he's the goat of CrossFit, so he won ah won i know was a four or five five CrossFit games in a row. and and cross The CrossFit games are like the Olympics of CrossFit, but his mindset is absolutely fascinating. So
00:52:47
Speaker
like when he like When he finished up with CrossFit, he started doing those podcasts and interviews and explaining, like it was very top secret at the time, how is this guy such a machine? How is he so much better than everyone else? and There was a gap huge gap between him being the winner and who was number two. there was just he like at Every year, he just got better and better, but how he did it was actually so simple. When he talked about it afterwards,
00:53:14
Speaker
It was literally like, i was he was like, I was just, my my main goal for the whole year was win the CrossFit Games. So every decision he made was, will this help me win the CrossFit Games? And if it didn't, then he didn't do it. Like he missed friends' weddings and stuff. Like hes this is a very so extreme example, but it's a really useful tool when you think about it. If you're really, really focused on a goal,
00:53:37
Speaker
weighing, just asking yourself that question, will this help me reach my goal? Now, we don't want to people to be losing friends and family over. We want to get that balance. So we want to be able to put in the question, well, is it worth it? Sometimes it's not like, and that's, and it's okay to say no. And I think we need to say no to more things, especially nowadays. I just started fascinating that someone, everyone was like, Oh my God, it's fascinating. This guy, how is he so good?
00:54:02
Speaker
he He just was consistent. He just worked really fucking hard on consistently. And he was so focused that he just asked himself that question in every decision. And I thought, like, isn't it amazing how simple it can be for greatness? like ah Yes, absolutely. I'm also pretty convinced that what most women are struggling with are not like the big events like your friend's wedding or, you know, your anniversary or your vacation. I think it's, it's much more the daily grind, the daily stressors and trying to deal with those, you know, that trip, did that trip us up because we we start the day totally motivated and and and happy to do the right thing. And, and then by the time, you know, 6PM comes around.
00:54:48
Speaker
You're just so tired and and so overwhelmed that you know everything, this big goal. somehow loses its importance and it's your it's your primal brain that one's comfort and relaxation and quiet and some kind of consolation maybe if it was a shit day um that takes over and dealing with those situations and then asking yourself is this you know is this going to help me and then is it worth it? Because the answer is very clear for a friend's wedding.
00:55:19
Speaker
yeah When you're totally knackered at 6pm and you had a really shit day and you want that glass of wine, then the question, is it worth it? Hmm. Yeah, it's a bit trickier. Could be, but probably not. And if you get used to asking yourself that question, I think that's ah that's a great way of of dealing with this every day grind that that gets to us. Yeah. And I think especially as women, we spend all day giving our energy to other people.
00:55:46
Speaker
you know, that wait whether it is proving ourselves in work, you know, you know climbing the ladder in work, whether it's, you know, are then like quite often a lot of women are working and raising kids at the same time, and we're expected to do both perfectly. and and So then you spend the whole day looking after your kids afterwards, or you know, even if when your kids are teenagers,
00:56:06
Speaker
that becomes demanding in a different way. And you're always giving, giving, giving. And suddenly there isn't any time, not whatever whatever a time left for you, it's you're right. It's energy left for you. But I think the trap that a lot of us fall in here is at 6pm when it's like, oh, will I go to the gym or will I go for a walk? And we say, we're I'm too tired. But the thing is, this is where the five minute action comes in. You're not too tired. You need this. In fact, yeah this is going to solve your your tired feeling. It's absolutely unlike im like, unless you're sick or injured, you're not too tired. Get up and do it. You don't need a rest day from walking. Like make it a daily thing. This is me time. Like, and if you're lucky enough that you can put that gap between work and home, that you don't even need to go home. Go straight after work to the gym yeah or to wherever you want to walk and do it then. Or if you have to come home and you have to wait for your partner to come home,
00:57:02
Speaker
when they walk in the door, goodbye. Go, you know or find that time or early in the morning, whatever it is, I know you feel tired, commit to five minutes. If after five minutes you still don't feel good, you you're giving yourself guilt-free guilt freee permission to stop. yes absolutely What happens nine times out of 10?
00:57:22
Speaker
Like you're going to be fine as you keep going. Yeah, absolutely. And the times it doesn't, you know, you've done the five minutes, which is more than nothing. Exactly. Yeah. And you'll like, and I do this myself because quite often, you know, if I've had a really busy day and I'm like, Oh, I've still like looking at my watch of like 2000 steps. It's like, I need to get some sort of walking because I'm stiff as well from sitting. And so I'm like, I need to walk. I'm so tired. I just want to go and lie in my bed and ignore everyone in the house.
00:57:49
Speaker
And I'm like, well, that's not an option. If I stay here, I'm going to have to like tidy up after dinner and I'm going to have to do this. I'm like. Take that time for you. It's not like most mothers are getting to go and relax and sit down and watch the TV. You know, make that time for you. I know you're tired. Get out and walk. Like I said, you can decide it doesn't, again, this all or nothing thinking that I have to get out and I have to get 5k or I have to get out and I have to walk for an hour. I have to go to the gym for an hour. You don't like a 10 minute workout or as you do your 15 minute workout at home or, you know, a five, 10 minute walk outside, walk for as long as you want to walk. And then we're like, I'm done now. I want to come home.
00:58:25
Speaker
It doesn't have to be a certain measure. And I think anything, just you know keeping keep keeping up the habit. Sometimes I have clients telling me, I'm so stressed out at work. I have to get up at six in the morning. I come back at nine at night because it's and they go crazy times. I can't fit anything in. and Then I said, well, at six in the morning, do a one-minute breathing exercise. It doesn't matter. You do this one action for yourself and you stay connected to the process of looking after yourself. And as soon as you have time again, the one-minute breathing exercise will be a 15-minute workout again. But just keep doing something. And the same the situation you're describing
00:59:08
Speaker
go for that walk, even if it's five minutes, but you you're you're building that habit. yeah And habits can become so strong, just like you were described, i that because it's very hot here in Spain. And so in summer, I get up early and I walk at sunrise. I don't know, every other day I wake up i wake up in the morning and I think, I don't want to walk. I want to stay in bed. It's nice and comfy here.
00:59:30
Speaker
And then I get up and I put on my shoes and I walk because the habit is so strong that I would actually have to probably tie myself to the bed to not go out and walk. It's become second nature. So the thought of, Oh, I want to stay in bed. It's just, it's like a car passing by on the road. It's, uh, you know, I, it, it comes, it goes, and it, I, I just don't interact with that thought because the habit is so ironclad that, yeah you know, just just go out and do it. And that's what you can achieve when, uh, You start by doing something small, just, you know, okay, I got out there for a minute or five, but I got out there and then before you know it, it's going to be automatic and second nature. You said something really interesting there about the thoughts, just being a passing thought. I read a book there recently called, I don't know if you've read it, it's called Somebody Should Have Told Us by Jack Pransky.
01:00:19
Speaker
It's a, no it's that sounds interesting. It was actually recommended to be by a high performance psychologist. It's so liberating. It's, you know, we spend our lives constantly trying to, you know, we should have positive thoughts all the time. If we have negative thoughts, we should, we should be replacing them with positive and yeah this is the way work positive psychology seems to go. Whereas this is like, it's okay to have whatever thoughts you have, just have them.
01:00:42
Speaker
their clouds passing, you don't have to believe your thoughts. So the thoughts that become you are only the ones that you give power to. So if you have a feeling like, or a thought, oh, I'm really tired, I don't want to get out of bed.
01:00:56
Speaker
That's only, it's only if you give that power and you're like, oh, fight yeah, if I get in more, if I get more sleep, I'll feel better. If I had to get up now, I'll be, I'll be retired all day. It'll be, you know, this will happen. that You know, and then we give power to it and then we believe it. Whereas, and it as I can go to for extreme thoughts as well, like this liberating feeling that we don't actually have to believe our thoughts. And in fact, most of our thoughts are probably not true, but then also the power, in fact, that we can put power to empowering thoughts, we can choose to believe the empowering thoughts to create the life that we want as well. Yeah, that's amazing. i We cannot control our thoughts, absolutely not. They're going to be keep popping into our brain always, but what we can control is, do we engage with them or don't we? Do we pay attention? Do we believe them? That's what we can control. The thoughts themselves know, and I think this is so
01:01:45
Speaker
a misconception where you think, Oh my God, I'm having this thought. is Does that make me a bad person? Or does that make me a bad mom? Like, you know, when you're raising kids, you do have these thoughts like, Oh my God, I wish I could just close the door and walk away. And then you think, Oh, what am I a bad mother? It's just a thought. yeah It's not you don't engage with it.
01:02:03
Speaker
Yeah, no, iny I couldn't agree more. I suppose the last question, okay, just before we finish up, and you've probably answered this 100 times within this podcast, but I do like to ask as many people as possible, what does the word health mean to you? Health to me means that you are looking after yourself and seeing yourself as a human being that has a body and a mind that has feelings and sensations and to understand that they're all connected and to feel that you know
01:02:41
Speaker
how this whole you thrives and and functions best. And when I say to know, it doesn't mean that you have it all figured out. It's a process, but you want to ah so always be learning about this this entire you and that always should include you know the physical and the mental and the emotional and everything. Just see yourself as this this super complex, super lovable being that you become better and better at um helping to thrive. ah yeah I couldn't agree more and I do think that's kind of what life is all about. but It's a lifelong journey of self-discovery and as you connect and discover yourself more that you give more to the world.
01:03:31
Speaker
And absolutely I do believe that's what it's all about. Kim, thank you so much for coming on. This has been such a great conversation. And I know there'll be loads of people listening that'll be like, wow, this lady is absolutely fascinating. So where is the best place for them to find you if they want to connect you connect with you and see what you're all about?
01:03:48
Speaker
Well, you can go to my website, which is kimrahere.com. There you can find out about what I do. There's also um a free assessment on there where you can check in with your health and strength where you are at now. You know, what we mentioned before, you need to know you know where you are if you want.
01:04:03
Speaker
go from A to B, let's find out what is A actually, and then how do we get to B. So on my website, kimrahear.com, there's an assessment that you can take. And depending on your result, I give you some tips and thoughts on how to start. And then on Facebook and Instagram, also with my name, I share lots of tips and and thoughts and also my weightlifting adventures.
01:04:24
Speaker
Yes, which we didn't have time to get into today, but definitely the best thing to do is go follow Kim. You'll see what she gets up to at weightlifting and it's really, really inspiring. And Kim, thank you so much for coming on today. I really love this conversation. And me too. Thanks for having me. Thank you.
01:04:42
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. This it would be greatly appreciated.
01:05:24
Speaker
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 KateHamiltonHealth 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.