029 - Mom Fitness - Get Back in Shape after Kids - Cait Clark - Health Movement Podcast

[00:00:04] All right, welcome everybody to another episode of the Health Movement Podcast. I am Derek. I am a teacher of over 20 years and a certified personal trainer. Tim cannot join us tonight. He actually began a new job today and has a couple things he has to do. We'll go into more detail next time he's on with us, but he definitely misses being here with you all. We do have an awesome guest tonight that I'll introduce in just a sec, but I just want to make sure everybody knows that we're not doctors.

[00:00:31] We are just giving our opinions and our advice. So follow what you would like, but always check with your physician before you begin any new training programs or change your diet or anything like that. Also, you can either listen to this if you're on Spotify, Apple Podcast, you can hop over to the YouTube channel and watch us on their health movement podcast. And if you're over there, you can hop on Spotify as well, or Apple Podcast is where they're on the same name as well.

[00:01:00] So without any further ado, all right, I got all that stuff out. With us today is Kate Clark, who's a fitness competitor and a band teacher in high school and has gone through a heck of a transformation. So I really wanted to get her on here to hear her story and exactly how she did everything she's done. So Kate, thank you so much for joining us and hopping on. Thank you, Derek, for having me.

[00:01:26] Let's just jump right into it. So you looking over your history and the reels that you have on Instagram, it seems like 2019, somewhere around there is when the transformation started. Can you delve into that a little bit and give us a little background? Yeah, absolutely. So that marks after that year, 2019 is after I had my two girls, Penelope and Zeta.

[00:01:56] Okay. And, you know, I had two kids under two. I had been a varsity athlete growing up, always very active. And I've always gone to the gym. But, you know, motherhood just kind of took over.

[00:02:18] And my kids came first. And, you know, my health sort of unfortunately declined. I think as mothers... Sorry, when you say health declined, in what way, if you don't mind me asking? So I weighed 225 pounds. So someone who's, you know, with my body frame, I'm pretty petite, five foot four.

[00:02:48] My cholesterol was through the roof. My doctors wanted to place me on medication. I have pictures of me just in a heart monitor, a halter, because I was having anxiety issues and like heart palpitation. And I just wasn't really in a good mindset. It was a dark time.

[00:03:15] So it was far more than just a number on a scale. That was the... Yeah, I mean, I... Motherhood is just... It's tough. It's tough. It's late nights. You don't sleep. You don't know what day it is. Like, you're just delirious. Like, so you don't have time to shower. You don't...

[00:03:40] It's just basically whatever food is laying around, you know, but... Yeah, my health mentally was just not there. Depression, anxiety, all of those things. And I look back and I'm like, you know what? I refuse the medication. That's good.

[00:04:05] So I said, I'm going to take care of this on my own. I'm going to see if I can just take care of this through fitness and nutrition. I'm going to do it old school. Yeah. And was that the catalyst when the doctor was like, you need to go on medication? And that was what you needed to hear to get started? That was it. That was part of it. But the other part was just like disappointment in myself. Oh.

[00:04:35] I feel like I... There was some self-abandonment there. And I didn't feel aligned with how active I usually was. And I wanted to be in better shape for my kids. I wanted to set a good example for my girls. I wanted to be that active mom. I love my mom. Like, mom, if you're listening, I love you. Mom better be listening to you.

[00:05:02] I want to be on the ground with my kids. I can, you know, now I can do like backflips and like handstands and stuff with my oldest. She does gymnastics. Wow. And it's the best feeling in the world for like to be able to join your kids in those activities and like still feel young with them. But yeah, I would say 2019, I just took control.

[00:05:30] I took back control. And a lot of people, I think, feel like they have to wait for the perfect time to start. Yes. And there really isn't going to be a perfect time working out, doing home workouts at home with two under two is not for the week. No, no, no, no, I can't.

[00:05:55] You are, you know, you're home working out. One needs a diaper change. That's your break. And then you get right back to it. Or someone's hungry and you get right back to it. You know, so it's. I just, I just used the tools with what I had at the time. So I didn't have access to a gym for a few years. I was at home. I did actually started with Beachbody.

[00:06:22] Nice. I've done a few of Beachbody things actually, too. So my two favorite programs from Beachbody are Lift More and Lift Four. Well, actually flip-flop that. Lift Four. Yeah. Okay. Edit that. Okay. All right. Your two favorite, what were your two favorite things from Beachbody?

[00:06:46] My two favorite programs from Beachbody are Lift Four and Lift More with Joel Freeman. Okay. And I learned a lot about the nutrition piece and the lifting from that program and Autumn Calabrese through Beachbody. And I started out with that. And so those were the tools that I had to use at the time. You just do what you can with what you have.

[00:07:14] And so I was getting up. I was working full time. I had two little ones. And really, I had a lot of commitments being a band teacher outside of school with concerts, night evening rehearsals with extra ensembles. And so really, the only time of day that I had to get my lift in was 5 a.m. I start my workouts at 5 a.m. before anybody else was awake.

[00:07:43] And you know what? Sometimes that didn't happen because someone was awake. That's life. That's life. And you have to adjust for it. That's life. You control the controllables. So, you know what? That's okay. I'm a mom this morning. And that's okay. That's more important. That's more important. Yeah. And so I would just work out at 5 a.m. That was my time. That was my me time. 5 to 6 a.m.

[00:08:12] How long did it take you to get used to that 5 a.m. time? Because that's early for a lot of people is, you know, they don't want to get up and do that. I'm not going to lie to that. It was tough. It was mentally tough. But you know, what was harder for me mentally was getting to the end of the day and realizing, like, I could have gotten my workout in. So what's worse? Yes. The regret or getting up early? Yeah.

[00:08:40] At the end of the day, like, if you get up at 6 as opposed to 5, I never feel more rested at 6 a.m. than I do at 5. You're tired regardless. But if you get up at 5, you've been productive for that hour. Your workout's done. And you started the day off with a win, which I think is huge mentally, too, you know, especially when you said you're, you know, battling depression, anxiety, all these other things that go along when you're not feeling the way you want to feel. So getting those wins in is huge.

[00:09:10] And it honestly, like, when you have a big why and it seemed like the reason why this shift happened for you was an important one. You know, you have your kids. You want to be a good mom. You want to be a good example for them. You know, you don't want to go on the medication. Like, it's this kind of wake-up call. And you're like, all right, that stuff's more important if you wake up and remember that's why you're getting up. But as opposed to, like, you want to see the number on the scale go down, of course.

[00:09:37] But if you wake up and you want to lose 20 pounds, like, that's not going to be enough to sustain it after, you know, six weeks of doing this and you're exhausted and that pizza's looking really good. And the ice cream after and everything. And you can still eat that stuff, you know. I'm not saying you've got to live on price in chicken. No. But, yeah, that's awesome. Was it a few weeks?

[00:10:04] Is it always kind of something that you don't look forward to waking up and doing? Or have you gotten to the point where you kind of, it's your happy place for an hour? Well, I mean, it's like, choose your heart. What's harder? Jim is going to be so mad he's not here. That's one of his lines is, choose your heart, you know. What's worse? What's harder? I didn't mean to cut you off. Tell me what you mean by that. Choose your heart. Yeah.

[00:10:31] I mean, what, which is, sounds harder to you. Waking up at 5 a.m. or, and getting your workout in. Or, you get to the end of the day and you regret not getting your workout in. What would you rather deal with? And that, that keeps happening every day. And then every day turns into a week. And every week turns into a month. And then you just kind of let it go.

[00:10:59] So, you know, I feel like it took me a good solid, like, three weeks. Yeah. At least three weeks. That would have been my guess. Two to three weeks, somewhere in there. Of doing that. And then it really just became, like, routine. I didn't really go through that, oh, here we go again. Yeah. You know, especially, like, daylight savings when it's pitch black outside. Yes.

[00:11:27] And it's dark and cold. You know, but I never regretted once. At the end of a workout, I never was like, oh, wow, I'm really glad that I, or I'm really unhappy that I did that workout. Oh, exactly. And you know, there's kind of a cool feeling, like, as you're finishing your workout and the sun's rising, you're like, all right, the day's started. I'm already done. Yeah. And no one can take it away from you. Nope. You did it. It's a W. It's done. You did it. It's a W.

[00:11:57] That was Beachbody. I've done a few of the Beachbody ones. And when my kids were really young, I did P90X for 90 days, hence the name of it. And that was awesome. You know? It was, I needed a set of dumbbells and I think a set of bands. And that was really it. And it's, if you can't get to the gym or have time for that, there's so much you can do.

[00:12:22] And there's so much out there that it's, I mean, I forget what the Beachbody cost was, but now it's monthly. Back then you could just buy the program, but it was a 30 bucks a month or something, which is the price of a gym. There was like different tiers, I think, but you know what? You just do what you can with what you have. Yeah. And it's actually, I learned a lot in regard to form, like lifting and form and getting that right.

[00:12:50] And it took, I did Beachbody, the home workouts for about two years. Nice. And then, and then I felt comfortable enough to sort of migrate into the gym. And like, in fact, you're going into the gym. Had that not been something you'd done in a while? I think it's a lot better now.

[00:13:18] But like years ago, I'm talking like it's like 20 years ago. It's not. But I mean, even, even that a short amount of time ago, and I think people still like feel this way, it is intimidating. Oh, of course. Like stepping foot into a gym. You know, you don't know, you look at a machine and you're like, oh, well, what is that for? Or like, where is everything? I don't know. Yeah. That's another big thing too. Like the layout.

[00:13:47] I still, when I hit a new gym, I got to like learn the lay of the land. That's still like. It would make sense. Yes, they'd have all the like legs in one spot and then you kind of go through the body parching at the dumbbell, but it doesn't seem to always work that way at gyms. No, it doesn't. It doesn't always work that way. And it's like, you know, that can be intimidating, but, and everybody looks like tough in there because, you know, we're all in there and we're all, we're all lifting the heavy circles

[00:14:16] and we're all going through something. Like, let's face it. We're all in the gym. The hood's up and yeah, you're in the gym. The hood's up. We're in, we're in it. That's why we're there. And I always say the circles lift us, you know? Yeah. It's, I forget who I heard that from, but they, the, it's everyone in there really is though like a big teddy bear. Just for any of you listening. Who? It's, they really, if you ask for help, you will get it.

[00:14:44] If you need a spot, someone will spot you. Everyone generally, I've been to many gyms, all very friendly. No one cares. If you feel self-conscious that someone's looking at you like you don't know what you're doing. I've spent plenty of time, trial and error, making a fool out of myself, trying to figure out a machine or how something works, or I want to try a new exercise. And it's like, no one cares. Just go for it. No, they really don't.

[00:15:14] And it's almost that, and I, I, maybe this is just me, but I don't think it is. But like, I'm almost upset with people if they don't ask and you see them struggling and you're like, people are here to help. And they're, as a guy, the demographic I can approach at the gym is very different than you. Like I, there are certain people that just, I would feel awkward going up to, but it's, people are happy to help.

[00:15:40] You know, they're, they're, they're there to, there's a level of respect seeing somebody do something they don't know how to do and willing to try. And that's with almost anything. Like if you see somebody at a skate park or, you know, new to rock climbing or whatever it happens to be, and they're trying and they're working hard at it. Everybody remembers back to when they first learned something and they were terrible at it. And you got to go through that. So I think that's, that's awesome. Everyone does.

[00:16:10] Everyone does. It's a good bonding experience too. If you, if, if you go up to somebody and you show not to get like all mushy, but if you show in a level of vulnerability, like, listen, I don't know how to do this. Can you help me? Like there's a little bit of kinship there where, where people they'll remember you and they're excited to help you out. And then you come back to the gym and there's a gym friend and you might not know any gym community. Yeah. And you don't know anybody's name half the time.

[00:16:37] You're like, Oh, there's mustache and there's short shorts and whoever it happens to be. But you know, you get to, you get to meet everybody. And it's, it's like your gym family. So it's, it's good. And you're there, you're there at like different times a day. Has this ever happened to you? Where like, you're there not at your normal time, but also the people, like someone you see at your time is also not there at the normal time. Yes. And you're like, wait a second. What's, what time is it? Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[00:17:06] So you did. Um, oh, sorry. What were you going to say? Oh yeah. I was just going to start talking about like my nutrition too. Um, so I, yeah. Yeah. So there was a lot of trial and error and growth and learning truly how to read a nutrition

[00:17:27] label and really learning how to make food work for you and to fuel your goals and still also though maintain a healthy relationship with food. That's key right there too. Yeah. Um, because you can, it is easy for, you know, people to become obsessive with it. And, you know, we don't want to go there, but, um, you know, the key is to really just

[00:17:54] develop a good relationship with nutrition and realize that it can help fuel your goals too, depending on how you use it. And I feel like that's the place where people sort of spin their tires in the gym. If they have like physique goals, we'll say, um, and they want to become leaner or they want to

[00:18:18] recomp or they want to, um, bulk up, you know, that's where nutrition really becomes important. And I really just learned so many things. I thought like eggs, I always hear about eggs. Don't even get me started. How bad for, I'm making quotes. If you're listening, how bad eggs are for you. Well, you hear there's so much like misinformation.

[00:18:45] I, I feel out there like eggs are quote bad for you. Well, okay. It just, let's look at the nutrition facts on an egg. So like the nutrient profile of an egg, the protein and the fat profile are nearly like the same. Yeah.

[00:19:03] But it's like the whole egg, like an egg I would say is a better source of fat than protein, you know, but like whites, the whites of the egg are where the protein is. Right. So like I was eating when I started tracking, I used the app lose it on there and I really like lose it.

[00:19:25] It has like a pie chart and it gives you like a nice color visual of, you know, the macronutrient profile, your fats, your carbs and your proteins and like for each meal. And I was realizing I was going to the gym and I wanted to recomp, but my, I was eating a lot of fat. Like I was consuming a lot of fat in my diet and like hot fats are like calorie dense. And so, um, you know, I wasn't in a deficit.

[00:19:55] I was actually, I was eating in like maintenance. I was just eating in maintenance for a year and it wasn't until I hired a coach that, um, and I had the coach to lean on that. I really, really did learn a lot, a great deal about nutrition. Can you explain what you mean by maintenance in case people listening aren't familiar with that term?

[00:20:16] Yeah. So, you know, if you are looking to lower your body fat percentage and, um, you know, look a little leaner, um, physique wise, you know, there's certain like calorie brackets or macronutrients that you want to stick to and track, um, in order to attain your goals.

[00:20:37] So like in a deficit, if you want to like become leaner, you would eat a lower amount of calories than what your like maintenance calories would be. What your body needs. And then what you're just. Yeah. Yes. Um, and then surplus, if you wanted to build, you would eat over your, your maintenance calories.

[00:21:01] Um, and so I was, I was, I thought that I was eating in a deficit, but the foods that I was eating were not when I started actually tracking what I was eating. And so like foods like peanut butter, I thought peanut butter was a good source of protein. No. Oh, truly not. No. But there are so many people out there though that are like, yeah, I'm eating a lot of protein.

[00:21:29] Like I have peanut butter and like, no, that's fat. Like all those nuts. Like if you're taking a handful of like almonds or any kind of nut and you're just, that's your, you're snacking on that. That's, you know, that's calorie, some calorie dense food. It's not bad for you, but. No. You know. If you know what you're getting with that, that's fine. And you understand. That's fine. We haven't, you're going in, but yeah, no. When you see people like, oh, I got trail mix as a healthy snack and it's covered in salt.

[00:21:57] And it's got dried, like dried pineapple and M&Ms and chocolate chips and peanut and like all this added stuff. That like a small pack of that, you can get a thousand calories and easy. Oh yeah. And I didn't even know what a serving size was. I didn't even know. I don't know what a serving size is. And I feel like that's generational.

[00:22:19] So, you know, growing up as a child, like at my grandmother's house, it was considered rude to leave the table if you didn't finish the food on your plate. Hey shit. Yep. And I grew up with that. And I still to this day, like struggle with like leaving food on the plate, but I truly am full.

[00:22:39] And so like the generational stuff, like I like talk to my daughters about like portion size, you know, like in a kid friendly, like they eat whatever they, they want. You know, I'm not trying to encourage any eating disorders or anything like that. But I mean, I just think back to like if I was a kid and like had that knowledge, you know, how different my life probably could have been.

[00:23:08] I mean, like as an athlete, I look at school athletes like these days, you know, they eat, I don't know, like chips before practice. A lot of them, you know, how is that going to fuel your, your workout, you know? Um, or like if you go to meets or like the food that they offer at the concession stands, I just. Yeah, it's not great. I remember I'd like, like you said, you just don't know.

[00:23:35] And there's not, um, I think I know for a fact it's taught in school. Um, our health teacher does a great job breaking it all down. Oh yeah. But as a 10 or 11 year old in fifth grade, you're not retaining that. And it's not, you need to hear something like that consistently and be exposed to.

[00:23:55] You can't just listen and see a picture of a nutritional, like you have to physically see the food, weigh it out, look at a plate that's broken up the right way so that you can understand. All right, this is what it looks like. And when, and I like how you're saying, like, it's not bad eating a certain food. You just have to understand how your body's going to use it and what your goals are. Like sometimes if you're, if you're having a bad day and you need a cookie or two or three, that's fine. Like eat, eat a couple of cookies.

[00:24:25] You're fine. If that's what you're eating every day, you're going to have a bunch of bad days because the food's going to make you feel like crap. So you just have to understand what it's going to do. And, um, after college, I played for small division three school up in Vermont. I'm actually wearing the sweatshirt. How bad is that? But, um, I remember getting out of college. I'm like, you know what? I like, I didn't understand the fitness piece of it.

[00:24:51] The nutrition piece when I was there and the coaches definitely worked with us, but I was an idiot and I didn't really focus on that. Um, so getting out, I'm like, you know what? I really want to figure this stuff out. I think I'm going to play. Um, there are a bunch of like semi pro teams around here. Um, so I'm like, all right, I'm going to try and bulk up in my, Hey, my solution to bulking up was I was going to have three eggs in the morning for breakfast. And that was kind of like, I'm not getting any weight.

[00:25:19] And I'm like, I can't go in it. Like I was like 190 pounds at six, three. And I knew some of the guys who were two 50 at linebacker. I can't go across the middle and catch a pass. I'm going to get broken in half. And I was kind of injury prone as it was. So I'm like, you know, it's really not worth it. But I mean, now like I, I understand what you'd have to do. Of course I'm 46. So that ship has, has long since sailed, but you're right. It's the knowledge and understanding and learning.

[00:25:49] And it, it takes repetition, but I love that you're talking to your girls about it. Um, and, and yes, where you want to be worried about the relationship with food. Cause it can go the wrong way. If there's such an emphasis on, I feel like the body outcome, if it's more the feeling, the mind, how it fuels you, how you feel. I think that gives a much healthier relationship with food. So absolutely.

[00:26:18] I mean, yeah, I trained to get strong now. I used to think like, Oh, I want to like be skinny or whatever. No, no, no, not anymore. That whole mindset has changed. So like I eat to fuel my goals and my goal is to train, to be strong. And that, like that relationship with food is really important.

[00:26:42] Uh, I've seen the before and after pictures you have, um, you look fantastic and you look strong. Like you can see the muscle there. So it's stopping looking for the scale numbers and focusing on your, your, your gym numbers in your progressive overload in the, in the, the strength lifts that you can get. Like everything's going to come if you're doing it right. And that's where your focus is. It's like, there's no other option.

[00:27:10] If you're hitting your nutrition and you're hitting the weights, you're getting enough sleep, you're drinking enough water. There's no other possible outcome unless you overtrain and injure yourself. But you know, that's. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean that, that right there, I'm glad you mentioned that is that I feel like we live in a society where there's that need for like instant gratification. Yeah.

[00:27:35] You know, it's like you post something and you want that like dopamine hit. You want like all of the likes, you know, you want something now. And this process really is not linear. It's not. No, it's not. It's not going to go like this. You, that's not realistic. I mean, your life happens. It's going to go here, here, here. It's just gradual. Right. And it's, it's something you have to work for and earn.

[00:28:04] And I just see time and time again, people not giving it a true shot. Like, I'm sorry. You're not going to see it in two or three weeks. Two weeks. Two, three weeks. You're not going to see it. Um, and I'm so glad that I took the photos. That's huge. Like, just take the photos. The scale doesn't matter. You can check with a pair of pants that you have that are a little tight and you'll kind of notice that differently.

[00:28:30] But even like, I've, I was playing basketball with a guy and he's like, yeah, I'm down to 17% body fat. And like, I know what that looks like. I didn't have the heart to tell him, like, that's not where you're at right now. Um, but if you look at how you, you know, you look at where you were now, you look at where you're going to be, like, that's the progress you want to see. And you can like the, the body fat percentage doesn't matter how you feel.

[00:28:57] That's, that's what's most important because everybody's different to 15% body fat on one person and another person, you hold weight differently. You feel differently. So like it, it doesn't really matter. It's all about how you feel. It's all about joint pain and, and how much energy you have and just how comfortable you are in your own skin. So that's absolutely.

[00:29:21] And you know what, throughout this whole process, I used to like, try to intentionally make myself small and like many ways. What do you mean by that? You know, like as a woman, I feel like in society, we're sort of conditioned to feel small. Um, you know, maybe to, we might be a little like afraid to say something.

[00:29:50] Or like we might offend someone or we don't really speak our mind as much just because we're afraid to rock the boat. Um, and not actually say how we feel and what we're thinking. And you know, some, like I used to train to want to look smaller. You know, like I wanted smaller, like almost not know. Like a 225 pound woman, you know? Yeah.

[00:30:19] Like I wanted to like look smaller, you know, but that was my initial, like my very beginning mindset. And I felt like very small, like I felt insecure and like, I couldn't voice how I was actually feeling. And I, I feel like I almost hate like that. I feel this way, but I think people treat you differently based on how you look.

[00:30:48] A hundred percent. They do. Yeah. No, I've looked into a lot of studies. People really do. Unfortunately, you know, like I, I did feel that throughout this entire process. I'm still the same person, but I did feel like I got treated differently based on how I looked then than I do now. And people take me more seriously now, but the weight training really has me, has given me a voice.

[00:31:17] It's more than just getting stronger. I feel confident. I feel bigger. Like I have a voice, not just physically. I feel like I have a voice and I, I will speak my mind. Um, there's just so much that weightlifting does for your mental health. It's, it gives you that confidence and it just, it reaches in multiple like facets of your life.

[00:31:46] It really is life changing, like as a whole, how people treat you, your mindset, everything. And I, I think some of how you're treated too, and I'm glad you mentioned this part. You're more confident too. So you're not, not that you're not going to take crap from people, but you can stand up and say what you feel and say what you think. And you're, you're not those other insecurities you might have aren't getting projected onto

[00:32:15] whatever it is that you're saying as well. So yes, people get treated differently, but also I think you're, you're a lot stronger physically, but also mentally, emotionally, everything. So it's, oh yeah, you get so much out of it, which is, I'm glad you said that, that that's a really, really important piece that I think a lot of people miss. So that's awesome. So I'm glad, I'm glad you're at that point now.

[00:32:40] So when, when did this, cause you, you started in 2019 and this is six years later in, obviously it's a, it's a journey and, and people, like you said, instant gratification. It's not happening in a week, a month, a year. You're not gonna, you're not going to get on stage for a show in a year starting from where you were. Um, but the fact that you can't though, you can get there.

[00:33:09] You just have to be willing to put the time and effort in. So when did you notice a time or something where you're like, wow, I feel good. Was this after a couple of years? Was this even after a couple months? Um, yeah, I mean, well, I would say when I first started in 2019, um, I felt more like empowered, like in control. I had something to look forward to.

[00:33:37] I had a goal and I think that that really helped like momentum wise, get things going. But I would say I really started to see like noticeable progress. Whereas I would say like two years, like two years in, I was, I already looked like a completely different person.

[00:34:05] Um, and that's when I really needed to hire a coach and like lean in on, on them. Um, and I worked with, um, Talia DeLuca. Um, she, she has been amazing. I, I started out with Talia as a, um, a lifestyle client because it is a journey, you know? And it's like, you, you have these goals, but then what happens when you get there? Yes, exactly. Exactly. What happens when you get there?

[00:34:34] You, if you don't learn the habits that it took to get you there, if you go and get, what, what is it? We go V or like, you know, these injections. Now people go out and get, or they try to find shortcuts or whatever, you know, what happens when you stop? That's, that's the thing is the goal can't be the number on the scale and it's not, it,

[00:35:00] it, it's, it sounds intimidating to people and like, oh my gosh, you have to do this forever, but it's not a negative. Like you get to do this and you get to enjoy life so much more. You can be, we got a guy playing basketball with us who's 75 years old and there are 20 year olds and he's still like, obviously he's not the fastest guy out there, but he can hit a shot. He fouls like nobody's business, but he still, he did that 20 years ago too.

[00:35:29] So that hasn't really changed. Oh yeah. So that doesn't change. No, he's out there like playing. Like it's, it's awesome to see, but you have to understand it's a lifestyle thing, but it's not a sacrifice. There's no finish line. Like there's no finish line because when you get to the, your goal, you still have to be able to maintain that. What are you going to do? Just stop? No. So you have to, like you said, you, you learned a ton along the way and I'm sure the goal

[00:35:59] changed. Maybe at the beginning of the goals, I need to lose weight or I don't want them. Yes. And that's it. It does. It does change on your journey. It does. I mean, like initially I think that's what it was for me. Like my main concern was getting my cholesterol, you know, at normal, normal levels and, um, you know, getting my, my weight down. Um, but then I started to have physique goals and then I went from there.

[00:36:28] And then, you know, I, after Talia, Talia introduced me to Amanda Macy, who is my current, um, bodybuilding coach, um, for wellness. And, um, you know, now I'm a competitor and now, you know, she, she really has been like my lighthouse, Amanda, just the struggles that you go through and the different like phases of how your goals change.

[00:36:55] Like I went and did the show in November with Amanda and it was my first show. And I really didn't know what to expect, like novice, true novice walking. And, um, at the reverse, I would say the prep was hard. Yeah. Yes. We've had it. At least that sounds miserable. The prep was, the prep was miserable. No one wanted to talk to me. I was on stairs.

[00:37:24] I was, I was the stair master, the stair master. I mean, there was at least an 85% chance I was training legs being a wellness girl. I mean, it was leg day, three days, three days a week, stair master 45 minutes, you know, every day. It's like, yeah, I was miserable. And, but with the prep piece, at least you have that accountability piece in front of you. Like, okay, the show's coming up, you know, and you're hitting your workouts.

[00:37:52] The revert that, that is the challenge. To not just go all in and, yeah. You no longer have that accountability. Like, oh, you have a show. You're reversing out of that.

[00:38:13] So all of that discipline, all of that grit that you developed along the way in prep, now it's got to come all the way through because you've got to control. I mean, you're hungry. Yeah. You're hungry. Yeah. But you don't want to go the complete opposite way because then all your hard work is gone. And then. Right.

[00:38:38] You feel even worse than you did, you know, before you started at all because you just lost everything you worked so hard for. So it's, uh, yeah. So how are you? Because that was November. Are you, did you get out of it okay now? You did the reverse and you're, you're in a good place. Yeah. Yeah. I think I'm in a good place now. Um, we're in what Amanda calls my improvement season. Okay. So. So you're going back and doing more? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:39:07] We're going to map out a show, uh, this summer. Um, I, my new goal is to get a pro card. So for my first show, I, I, I really didn't expect to do like as well as I did. I, I'm 36 and I got my, I got second place overall. Oh, congrats. Which was great. Um, and then first place in, uh, 35 plus in the masters. Oh, wow. Um, so yeah.

[00:39:36] So I was really just like thrilled with how I did for my very first show and I caught the bug and you know, now I want to go for that pro card. That's my new goal. But I guess what I'm saying is my show prep and reversal, the control out of that, I think are very different goals as compared to someone who's in a lifestyle. They have lifestyle goals. Yeah. You know, my, like going to the gym, my goals are very different than yours.

[00:40:06] Like I enjoy playing basketball. I, my son's now at the, he's in the middle of the season. So he, we can't go play now, but I want to be able to play basketball with him. Um, and then of course my mind goes to like, all right, I made it for him. Wonder if when he has kids, I'll still be like the 75 year old playing them 40, 30 years old. You know, I can play with my grandkids or something like that. Um, but I, I want, I want to be more mobile. My flexibility, like that, that stuff.

[00:40:34] I want the strength that I need, but my goal is to, to go play and have fun. That's the stuff that I definitely want to do. But you can't take life too seriously. Oh God, no. We have a new bit that is coming. We're going to start it. I feel like the first day we're going to do it is March 1st, where we're going to start traveling to different places where people are doing different things for fitness to stay active and stay healthy.

[00:41:03] And we're going to participate in these things. So the first one's going to be basketball that I've been going to for like 20, 25 years. That's not bad, but like we've, there's a jujitsu studio in the gym. I go to boxing. You could do cycling. You can do like ballroom dancing and like, just go to these different things and make complete and utter fools out of ourselves. But interview the people there and, and, and just give people different views and perspectives to how you can be healthy.

[00:41:32] And it doesn't have to be going to the gym if that's not what you enjoy, you know, go play pickleball, you know, a couple of times a week or do, there's a ton of things you can do. Um, there's even parkour in a city, like 20 minutes away from me. Like I can't imagine trying to run up the side of a building. I'm going to kill myself, but it's going to be like, it just seems like it would be fun to do. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:41:59] I've, I've had instances like that where it's like, I want to just kind of like see what my body is physically capable of. So my friend, um, my friend Nicole and I, we, we now do this like Sunday fun day. So like on Sundays we meet up and we try to like, we find different like challenges and say like, Hey, you want to try this? You want to try that? And our latest one was a pushup one, but we like to set like fun goals.

[00:42:29] So what are those, the muscle ups? Yeah, that's the pull for people who don't know muscle up. It's a pull up, but then you push yourself up over the bar. So your arms are locked out facing downward in the bars at your waist. Yeah. I want to try to do those. Yeah. That's my new one. That's what I want to do too. That's definitely on there. I'd love to be able to do a, like a walking handstand to something like that. My daughter can do that.

[00:42:57] My daughter who's eight can do that. And she wants me to do that with her. And so I want to start trying that too. Yeah. That's, that's gotta be on there as well. Did you ever think in 2019 at 220 pounds that you'd be on a, on a stage in a fitness competition? No, that would not looking back at that. That is one hell of an accomplishment. Like you should be incredibly, incredibly proud of yourself to not only be able to be

[00:43:25] up there, but to have the confidence to do it too. Cause I can imagine that, that to 2019 Kate is terrifying on many levels. And now you're, Oh yeah. You did it and you're doing it again. Like you're looking forward to doing it again. Like what that's incredible. Incredible. Thank you. Yeah. I couldn't even imagine that years ago. Like no way. Like I'm looking at my suit and I'm like, yeah, right. Like 2019.

[00:43:55] That's like a piece of dental floss. That looks like to me. I'm going to wear that in front of like how many hundreds people? Like this is going to be on film. No, like crazy though. Crazy. And it's a transformation. Six years, which sounds like a long time. And it is a decent amount of time. But even like you said, it was, it was probably two years before you, like you really made the transformation. That's not long in the, in the term of a lifespan.

[00:44:25] It really is. And that's, that's a lot of making mistakes too. That's like a lot of like learning along the way. And we're like, well, we're both teachers. So it's like, you know, we know that we never stop learning. Like it's lifelong. We are lifelong learners. You can't ever stop wanting to learn because you improve. There's always like that next level. You always want to strive, have that growth mindset. So you, like you get it too. A hundred percent.

[00:44:54] And there's this analogy I heard that I really, really like where it's akin to like whatever your goal is just climbing a mountain. But different people start in different places. Like if you are naturally gifted or if somebody was 140 pounds and wanted to get to 125 to get on stage, like they're starting four fifths up the mountain already. So they make that climb, they get to the top, they, they achieve their goal. Great.

[00:45:21] But they didn't need to learn as much. You started at the bottom and you climb that mountain to the top. And like you said, it's not linear. You hit bumps along the way. You have to learn a bunch of stuff, but you climbed a hell of a mountain. So now anytime you have another challenge, anything else you want to do, you can be like, I did that. That was hard as hell and I did it and I accomplished it.

[00:45:49] So what else is like, I don't care if it's hard. I know I can do it. So that's the mindset people get when things are difficult and they accomplish the goals. So I think that constantly learning piece is huge. It's huge. It's huge. And setting goals and not easy goals, like setting challenging ones. So you should set goals that scare you a little bit. Yes. So that bodybuilding show was certainly out of my comfort zone. How did that frustration go?

[00:46:19] Who brought that up initially? So, well, I had been a lifestyle client of Talia's, Talia DeLuca for, for a while. I would say, um, we started together in September of 23 and it was around springtime, like early spring of 24. And Talia's like, you know, you really, I think you would really do well in bodybuilding.

[00:46:48] Like, have you ever thought of that? She was the one that brought it up to me. Was your reaction laughing at her or were you like, and I'm like, you know, well, I always kind of wanted to, but I never thought like that was ever in the cards for me. Yeah. Um, I'm like, okay, like imposter syndrome. Like, yeah, right. Like, look at how ripped these ladies are. Like that. Imagine like the discipline, like to get to that point. I don't know.

[00:47:17] But I, when she brought it up, she's like, you know, like you're, you adhere so well to like, especially the nutrition piece that it wouldn't really be that different than what you're doing right now. And I said, you know what? I think I'm, this is my time. If I'm going to do it. Yeah. There's no perfect time. I'm just going to step out of that comfort zone and I'm just going to do it. What did the girl think?

[00:47:43] See, and didn't, did they go to the show or did they see the pictures afterwards? They did see the pictures afterwards. They didn't end up going to the show. Um, it was a distance, like a little bit of a distance away, but, but I came home with the medals and, um, we showed them pictures and they're like, wow. Like they were. You were all spray tan too, I imagine. So you, you must've looked very different than normal.

[00:48:10] And I, my youngest Zeta, you know, God bless her. She's like, isn't it amazing? Like how you, you have children and you raise them in the same house, but they can be completely different. Like have completely opposite identities. And I came back from the show and like, she saw a picture of me like from 2019, like years ago. Yeah. And then I look drastically different now, like, especially coming off of prep.

[00:48:39] And she goes, you know, she's eating a snack and she goes, mommy, you used to look, and she's six. She's like, mommy, this looks like you, this looks like how you used to look. And I look at it and it's the logo for a little Debbie. Oh, I was like, Oh, Zeta. Yeah.

[00:49:05] The kids will say, you know, kids will say like the darn, and I'm like, that's okay. Yeah. Little Debbie's cute. Yep. You know, like it's, you have that like talk, you know, but like she, it was, it was cool seeing like their reaction, like from the show and the plaque and like, but mommy didn't feel very good when she, when she looked that way, you know, it's far beyond the looks. It was everything else that went along with it. And you teach your kids, you teach your kids that.

[00:49:35] Yeah. But that's, that's all. So this Sunday Funday idea of yours, I, that's intriguing to me. I, I need to hear more as you guys do. Please send me some stuff. Cause I want, I want to see, uh, I like, I like the challenge every now and then. So send those, send those over, uh, when you think. Yeah, we'll keep those coming. We'll keep those coming. I like those.

[00:50:02] We do a weekly newsletter so we could put in Kate's Sunday Funday each week too, or every couple of weeks if you wanted to throw in there. Yeah, absolutely. I think that would be kind of a fun thing to, to have people do. I got to write that down before I forget. I'm old now. So things, things enter the mind and they leave pretty quickly. Oh, I'm, I'm right there with you. If it's not on a post-it note, there's no guarantees. Oh yeah. The amount of times I tell Alexa to remind me of something that, yeah, it's brutal.

[00:50:30] Sunday Funday newsletter. That'll be good. So now that I'm saying this, okay. Yeah. It'll have to be next Sunday. A week from Sunday. So if you have, if you, if you can send me one over, that would be awesome to have. Oh, definitely. Yeah. We, um, we definitely have some in the works, Nicole. All right. Nice. And even something you've done already before. That would be, that would be kind of cool. That would be, that would be cool. Sorry to put you on the spot like that. It just sounded like a good idea. Oh no.

[00:50:59] I love to contribute to the cause. Absolutely. You gotta have fun with it. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. We're actually at the gym now. Uh, and I, I didn't want to interrupt you before, but you had mentioned like how intimidating the gym is there's a guy who he, um, works with herbal life supplements and stuff. I'm not sure if you're familiar with them. Yeah. And he, there's a nutrition shop like in the gym, they put in a counter, they make shakes and like protein waffles and all that stuff. So it's, it's pretty cool to have it in there.

[00:51:29] This is a monster of a man. Clayton, I'm talking about you. If you're listening to this big dude, probably, I don't even know the way two 30, two 40 and just built like an ox tattoos. He's got this sweet mustache going on loud as can be, but I have never met somebody more excited to see everybody else do well. Like he is the first one to cheer you on when you walk in, like, it doesn't matter who you are.

[00:51:57] He's excited to see you and he's excited for you to do well and get better. And they started this transformation challenge this month where, um, you know, you just, you hop on the scale beforehand afterwards, take some pictures. Just, it's just kind of a community thing. But even in like the week setting it up and starting, like the amount of community that's come out of this is awesome. So I think the more people can kind of band together and push people and help each other,

[00:52:27] like it's fun. Like it's something like, I, I always liked going to the gym. Um, I definitely look forward to it even more because of the people there and just how they, you get that family feeling when you walk in and it's, you know, we're all retry, trying to reach a similar goal. Um, you just, sometimes, like you said, you got a coach, you got another coach. Like sometimes you, you need some help to, to help push you along the way. But, um, it's, I don't know, it's, it's fun.

[00:52:56] And we're all, we're all trying to, to, to live as healthy a life as we can, to feel good, to pass that on to our kids. Um, yeah, that's why I sort of, I started that page is, and I'm glad I started it when I did. I mean, it's got years of content. Oh my gosh. I went through the transformation is awesome. Um, you know, and it's there for people. And I continually get messages from folks saying like, please keep going. Like you, when you keep going, it keeps me going.

[00:53:25] And so we kind of just, I have this community in the gym, but also like on Instagram as well. Um, so it's just really cool to cheer everybody on. And now, like, I feel really fortunate to get to a place where I am going to start coaching myself. That's awesome. So, you know, now I'm starting to take on clients and sharing my knowledge, um, with others and helping them get to their goals too. That's great.

[00:53:55] That's great. Um, oh, you're in, I'll put all this stuff in the show notes, but, uh, and I have your Instagram handle, but can you just say it for people listening and hopefully they're not driving and typing this into their phone. So wait for a stoplight before you do, you can hit pause, but what's the handle? Yeah. Handle. So my Instagram handle is at Kate goes fitspo and it's Kate with a C C A I T goes G O E S

[00:54:24] and then fitspo F I T S P O. S P O. Can I ask what fitspo is or am I supposed to, should I? It's like inspo, like inspiration. I get it. I like that. I get that. All right. Kate goes fitspo. All right. So that will definitely be in our show notes. Um, would you like a plug for Talia and Amanda in there as well? Like they've helped you along the way. I'd love to give them a shout out. I'd love to give them a shout out.

[00:54:53] They've just done so much for me on my journey. I really appreciate those two women. It's, but one of the best things too, is you're going to remember you have a bond now with them forever. Like it doesn't matter if you go 30 years without seeing them and then you see them, like it's going to be like no time past at all. So that's, that's all. So Talia and Amanda, um, I can get their handles and stuff and we can throw that in there, in there as well.

[00:55:22] So all that, everything will be in the show notes there. Um, this is, wow. We've talked for like an hour. Um, that's like I could keep going. Honestly. Yeah. I bet that was quick. Is there other, there are other things you want to, you want to cover here? Uh, I don't want to cut you off or anything. I just feel bad stealing your time. No, I mean, absolutely not.

[00:55:47] It's, you just got to trust, trust the process, trust what you're doing and keep going. There have been many, I think more, more times than not, I'm not relying on motivation at all. So, you know, I'm not motivated every single day.

[00:56:09] Like, like a lot of the time I'm not in the mood to go to the gym, but I do it because like what I, when I started, it's like, choose your heart. Yeah. Motivation is complete crap. You're not motivated all the time. And if you only did it when you're motivated, you're, you're going to hit it like 20% of the time. Um, we had, uh, Jess Wilson was a functional nutritionist we had on here and she had a great

[00:56:37] analogy where it was like motivation is not the, the word you're looking for. It's more momentum. So it's, you've got to take those first steps to get that momentum going. And she used the analogy of pushing your car. Like when you try to push a car neutral, it doesn't move. And then you get that little movement, that little more movement. And then it just goes like, you don't have to put much because you're already on the right path. So I like that a lot. That's, that's a, that's excellent. Excellent advice.

[00:57:08] Well, Kate, thank you so much for, for taking the time to hop on with you, hop on with us here. Um, that this, this was very helpful for a lot of people. So we, we thank you. Thank you so much. I hope so. Absolutely. We'll look for the Sunday fun day add ons in the newsletter. Well, I won't bug you too often, but anytime you want to send them to us, we're happy to put them. Oh yeah, for sure. Oh, we have a great time with those. You'll be hearing from us. All right. All right.

[00:57:37] If you get some pictures on there too, we'll throw those in as well. All right. Sounds good. Thank you so much. Uh, and thank you everyone for listening. I always forget to end the show. I'm usually like, okay, bye. And that's it. But, uh, thank you all for listening to the health movement podcast. You can see all, uh, I'll put Kate's information in the show notes as well as Talia and Amanda will give them a shout out in there for all their good work. Um, and I keep working, keep going forward.

[00:58:04] It's not a one day, one week, one month, or even a one year journey. It, it's a lifelong transition to being a healthy, overall happy person. So that's, that's what we're going for. Yeah. Yeah.