15. Building Inner Strength Through Fitness

Unlock the secrets to a healthier, more resilient you with our latest episode of "No Cape Required." Join us as we sit down with Kim Rahir, a 60-year-old health coach and European champion in master weightlifting, who transformed her life after a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in 2013. Discover the profound connection between exercise and longevity, as Kim recounts her journey from a severe MS episode that left her temporarily paralyzed to becoming an inspiring advocate for fitness and resilience. If you're looking to enhance your mental and physical well-being, this episode offers invaluable insights and motivation.

Explore the transformative power of building inner strength through exercise, especially strength training. Kim shares personal anecdotes about how life’s toughest challenges can be met with the resilience and confidence gained from staying active. Learn the importance of being a proactive partner in your healthcare and how self-advocacy can lead to better outcomes. Whether facing a diagnosis, a loss, or any significant life change, discover practical advice on incorporating strength training into your routine without the need for a gym, focusing on achievable steps that can boost both your physical and mental health.

In addition to fitness, we dive into making healthier food choices and the importance of personalized nutrition goals. Kim offers practical strategies for starting with simple bodyweight exercises at home, such as wall push-ups and plank progressions, and underscores the significance of small, manageable changes. We also discuss how to set clear, achievable nutrition goals and make better choices in the moment to foster a resilient and positive mindset. Tune in for an inspiring episode packed with actionable advice to help you embrace a healthier lifestyle, one step at a time.

To learn more about Kim and her work, visit her website at www.kimrahir.com

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Transcript

00:00 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Hi there and welcome to No Cape Required. I'm Dara, and today we're talking about something that can seriously change your life, and that's how to stay active and how it can keep you feeling great, both mentally and physically, for years to come. Now, whether you wanna add some more years to your life or just make the most out of the ones you've got, getting moving is where it's all at. We're gonna dive into how just a little bit of exercise daily can boost your mood, your resilience and really help you live longer and a fuller life. Okay, I know what you're thinking I'm really, really busy and I don't have time to exercise. We know there's this powerful connection between physical activity and longevity and mental health, so, to be honest, we've got to make the time to do it. I'm busy, too, and exercise still is a part of my daily routine. 

00:44
So our guest today is going to focus well, she really focuses on middle-aged women, but don't let that scare you off if you're not middle-aged. What she's going to share really is relevant for all women. Today, we're going to explore how making fitness, this daily habit, can help you live longer, feel better and enjoy all the moments to the fullest. So make sure you share this podcast with someone you know who's struggling to do it all and get an exercise too. Now let's meet our guest, Kim Rahir, and it's R-A-H-I-R, so, Kim, if I mispronounce that, please remind me. I keep trying to practice. 

01:16 - Kim Rahir (Host)
It's perfect. 

01:17 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Great. She has a remarkable story. Let me tell you a little bit about her, and then what I'm going to do is ask her to share some more. So she is a six-year-old mother of three and she was diagnosed with MS back in 2013, 11 years ago. And what she did? She decided to ignore the doctor's advice. Ah right, that sounds scary, but what she did was muscle her way back into a happy life. Last year, she became listen to this a European champion in the master weightlifting in her age and category. So from MS to a master weightlifter. That is incredible. 

01:51
Her journey inspired her to leave her career in journalism in her 50s and become a health coach for middle-aged women, with a big focus really on reactivating and rebuilding muscle. Today, she helps women tap into this abundant source of vitality. It works by reactivating and maintaining muscle mass, and we've been hearing a lot about that in the news and social media at least I have, anyway. So welcome Kim. Thanks for having me. Yeah, great. Well, I'm glad you're here. I introduced you a little bit in our intro, but what I'd like for you to do is share a little bit more about your remarkable journey. 

02:24 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Yeah, I don't know how long have we got, because it sounds like a bit of a saga, but the main part is I'm 60 years old now. I live in Spain, I'm a German and I can actually enjoy my life because a long time ago, I took a sort of courageous decision. But it started with something really scary that happened to me, and it was literally from one day to the next, and this is why your show is so inspiring to me. Also because I was that woman who thought she needed to do it all, needed to have it all, be there for everyone all the time. 

03:00
When this happened to me, I was 45 years old. We were living in Germany, my kids were small, I had three kids and I had just landed a full-time job. So I thought, yes, that's it, I can do it all. I have three kids. I was, by the way, the only woman in that company who was working full-time with kids. All the other mothers had like part-time jobs. Nobody did. I wanted to show that I could do it. I wanted to show that I could do it, and then I was like so cool and so strong. 

03:24 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
You had that cape securely tied around you, didn't you Kim? 

03:27 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Absolutely, and I had, because I had also grown up in a very you know, germany is very conservative on a social level. I was taught that you could either have a career or a family as a woman, and the word career, woman was like an insult. When I was a teenager and I wanted to prove the opposite. I wanted to show that you could do it all and it looked like I had really just gotten there. And then really from one day to the next I was picking up my kids from school, I realized that I was seeing double and that's so scary because you can't ignore your way out of that one. I mean, you get a little niggle in your spine or your knees are creaking and then yeah, that's got to go away. But when you see double, no way you know you have to go see a doctor. I was sent to the hospital. I was to spend six weeks there. After three weeks I was paralyzed from the hips downward. So it started with the eyes and then I got paralysis in my, in my lower body, and the doctors thought it was autoimmune, but they weren't sure exactly what it could be, because usually either you have the eye thing or you have the leg thing. I had both, so they didn't want to sort of settle on some identification. They kept watching me, they kept trying stuff on me and they gave me all kinds of infusions, and one of them must have worked, because my legs slowly came back. 

04:44
I got home for Christmas in a wheelchair and that was my very first lesson. It was Christmas, there was a tree, there were presents, there was food planned for, and I had done none of it because I was in the hospital. I couldn't even go to the loo by myself. And that's when I realized that yeah, you can't you. Not only can't you do it all, you don't have to do it all. So many women think that when they're out of the equation, if they're not showing up today or tomorrow, everything will crash to the ground, nothing will work. It will just not work without them. 

05:22 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
And we know that's simply not the truth, right. 

05:26 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Yes, absolutely. And we know I mean rationally, we all know it, we all know it in our smart brain. But when you have actually experienced it, it's different, it's more powerful and it's liberating. It's so liberating. I became so much cooler after this because I knew, as soon as I learned walking again you know that was a big one I was able to walk. 

05:47
You know kids come home from school with a bad grade. Oh, I don't know, you don't make the perfect dinner, one who cares I can walk. I was so grateful for that. I was also told that this thing was a one-off, so it's called a syndrome Guillain-Barré it comes, it goes, and then you know you're free to go. And when I was told that I was so happy and I think a year or two later we had moved to France I felt my left hand going numb. I knew that wasn't good and more tests. And then they said this time it was MS. So that was a really low blow. Because the first experience, you know the hospital. I think it's deeply traumatizing because you feel so dehumanized. You have no power at all, you can't do anything, can't decide anything, which is even worse when you can't walk. And I thought I had learned my lesson and I was going to just taste it and enjoy life to the fullest and everything. And then they pulled the rug out right under my feet. 

06:49 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
So the first time you had it, they said it's a one-off. Okay, one-off done, you've had this infusion, you're going to get back walking again. Everything's good, you decided. Hey, I'm going to grab life by the horns here, like the bull by the horns, right, and I'm going to really be purposeful, and I know I can't do it all. Everything's good, I've got this great chance. 

07:12 - Kim Rahir (Host)
And then all of a sudden, boom, you're hit with this diagnosis now and they say it's MS. Yeah, wow, yes, wow. Well, I think back to those days. The word that comes to mind is darkness. It felt very, very dark, and there's so much disappointment there too, because, yes, I had learned my lesson and I was not hell bent on achieving a certain lifestyle or job or whatever. But still, you have an idea of what you want your life to look, and then somebody comes and says forget that idea. All I can give you is a big, big question mark. And I remember those days it was hard for me to fall asleep at night. To get through the nights, I had to keep my mind from wandering into the future, asking oh my God, where am I going to be? What's going to happen to me? I had to learn how to focus on the present moment, which is a very useful skill. 

08:03
I started meditation and when I got the diagnosis, I asked the doctor if I could exercise and he said yeah, you want to be careful. That's all he said. He didn't say, oh, ms patients can do this or can't do that. I don't think he had any idea of what he was talking about. He just wanted to scare me a little bit, just to make sure that he was not responsible for anything I did that he didn't know anything about. That's how I see it. 

08:30
I talked to a nurse a bit later who showed me how to inject myself for the lifelong treatment that you have to take for MS. That was the one that really I didn't want this, but you can't. You can't fight, you know they go, they scare you, they tell you you can go blind, you can be in the wheelchair, you can have serious damage. You need this treatment. So she showed me how to inject myself and then she said, when I mentioned exercise, oh that's great. Exercise is good. It makes you fatigue resistant and fatigue is a big problem for a mass patient. 

09:01
And that's what I took as my green light and I started. I went to the gym and I started getting ready to lift heavy. I couldn't lift heavy right away my left hand is numb to this day, but otherwise I was. I could, I was able to walk. I knew how to appreciate that and I decided I was going to get insanely strong. Where this desire came from, I guess it was from being so powerless in the hospital, claiming physical power as a vehicle for more confidence and also being able to rely, to trust my body again, because autoimmune diseases are a bit like a betrayal your body's making mistakes, attacking itself, what? What is that? And I think that's what drove me and I was a journalist at the time so I approached this as I would have approached anything. I got myself a book and I then trained by the book, watched out for proper form, and then I got stronger really very soon and felt better, like mentally, in a very short time. 

10:06 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Okay. So you got the diagnosis and then you said I'm going to start exercising, got a book, started reading, started getting the proper form, so you didn't hurt yourself, injure yourself further. And I just want to. I just want to take a time out here and caution, we're not saying go against doctor's orders. If you have an illness, if you have something, the doctors prescribe medication or therapies. That we're not saying stop that and start exercising, right? I just wanted to put that out there, right, Kim? 

10:32 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Absolutely, and I would never claim that even I cured my MS or something with exercise, because now I've been without treatment for seven years because I got so much better. But I think I consider myself lucky in that respect, so I'm not claiming any of this. I think what's important with doctors is that you be a reasonable and autonomous partner for them. They also need you to give your input and you want to ask all the questions that come to your mind. Don't feel like you know, you just have to accept, talk, talk and ask, and self-advocacy is very important. That's what I was going to say. 

11:08 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Be your own advocate at all times with a physician. So there's something here that you said and I want to bring up. You said darkness was the word, I think that came to you and you know there's. There's all sorts of things that can happen to us that bring up about that cloak of darkness. Right, it could be divorce, it could be the loss of a loved one, it could be a diagnosis. I mean, there are several things that could put you in this deep, deep dark hole and I think, if you know, in talking with you earlier, we were preparing for this, it was. Exercise is one thing that can help get you out of this, because it's not just a physical movement, it also helps mentally as well. Right? 

11:49 - Kim Rahir (Host)
So I got stronger and stronger and I could also feel that my mood, my disposition, got brighter. I felt more confident, I felt that I could rely on my body and I think that this mental health part of my evolution was probably the most important one in the way I got better and better. There were things like reflexes in my knees that had disappeared during my relapses and I had been told they will never come back. And they came back. And my neurological checkups, they became like rubber stamp occasions two minutes, you know. I just walked in and walked out and they saw how well I was doing and I think it was a mix of, yes, looking after my body and making it very strong, but what you mentioned, the mental health effect. 

12:40
It's very, very powerful and I think it's because when you train for strength, you have to overcome resistance. The barbell, it's on the floor and gravity wants to stay there, so it resists you. Gravity wants to stay there, so it resists you, and when you overcome that, you get that experience like in your fiber, literally. That resistance is something that you are able to overcome and there's even neural circuits actually that get built in your brain when you do that and I think that gives you the resilience and the deep knowledge in other parts of your life Something happens. It other parts of your life. Something happens, it doesn't go your way, you encounter resistance and you just feel more able to deal with that and to maybe overcome that resistance. 

13:25 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Gosh, that is super powerful. So what I hear you saying is that lifting weights like this makes you become more resilient, because you keep trying the weights get. You get adapted to the weight. So then maybe use heavier weights and then it takes you a while to build up to that, and then you keep building. So there's this connection and you're connecting your brain to your muscles and you're reactivating and building muscle mass. At the same time, you're building your inner strength right. So your outer strength and your inner strength, that resilience, that is super powerful. 

13:58 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Yes, it's the one thing that I want to shout from the rooftops and carry out there, because we have so many health benefits of being muscular. You know, especially for women and from the thirties onwards actually, it's all well documented and most people know. Yes, you know your joints, your bones, your metabolism, even your cardiovascular health. Everything will be better. But I think this aspect of making you, like, really so confident and giving you that inner mental strength to deal with what life throws at you, that's the one, you know, that should convince every last woman out there to go and become strong, because it will make your life better and it will improve your quality of life, not only in terms of you know aches and pains and energy levels and all these things. That's a given already for me. But you know the mental health aspect and this part where you stand tall and you speak your mind and you know that when something happens, there's always a possibility that you can do something about it. You don't give up so easily. You're not so easy to kill. 

15:01 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Okay, Kim, I and probably most of my listeners and me I'm not going to put on one of those teeny bikinis and get a tan and become go to a competition for weightlifting, right? 

15:12
That's, that's not my goal. 

15:14
I have no, no desire to do that, and I don't think you're saying that we need to start lifting weights so that we can be bodybuilders right, that we've got to start competing in these competitions, that it's more of a mental game, that the benefits are mental, the physical not that it's a side effect, that's a direct effect of it, but mental is one of the biggest benefits here. 

15:35
So if you're listening and you know a woman in your life that is suffering or in a dark hole or in a bad place, share this with them, because Kim's going to talk about some ways that you can get started, and you can get started and not spend hours a day at the gym. I don't have that time, and most people don't have that time to spend hours at a time at the gym daily. So tell us a little bit more about that. I know that there's this overall health, right, as we grow older. You talked about some of the benefits of that, but how do we get started building muscles without hurting ourselves right, particularly as you start to get older. You can't just jump in and pull out the 45 pound weights and start doing the bicep curls and that sort of thing. 

16:17 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Yeah, that's a fantastic question because I think the biggest problem nowadays for most women is not knowing what to do. Basically, we know what we need to do to get better. You know, we want to build some muscle, we want to eat good foods and everything. The main difficulty is actually doing it, and it's doing it because we encounter so many obstacles. It's so hard to get started, and the first obstacle, I think, is the one in our mind when we think that we have to go to a gym to do this, which is not the case. I know many women hate the gym. They don't want to set foot like in a five mile radius of a gym, and I understand it's something for many. It's a very unpleasant experience. So first of all and that's really important to know you can start at home. You don't need barbells, you don't need dumbbells At the beginning. All you need is your own body. You can work with the resistance of your own body. 

17:10 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Wait a minute, I don't have to go to the gym. I don't have to go to the gym. I don't have to buy all this equipment to start. But all this equipment, these barbells and dumbbells and weights and bands and this and that, so you can start with your own body weight. Tell us more about that and what will you do? 

17:24 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Kim, yes, I mean, first of all, what I do with my clients is I assess them, I look exactly where they are at, and that's a very important point. When you're not 20 anymore, you want to know what your status is, your physical status, to know exactly where and how to start. And that's, I think, one where many midlife women sort of get sidetracked because they start something, and there's great programs out there on YouTube, but they're just not right for you at this point in time. 

17:48
So first you want to know where you're at and then, I will give you exercises depending on your strength, your mobility, your skill level, and that could be something as simple as starting with wall push-ups, where you prepare the joints like the wrists and the elbows, you know, to carry a little bit of your weight and you can then take it down progressively. You know you never go on your knees, you just do a straight push-up and you take it down through the angles, can't you know? Your hands come closer and closer to the floor and you get stronger and stronger. You can get stronger just using your body weight for two years. Easy like easy. There's so so much you can do, how you can scale exercises. 

18:28
And then a really big thing for me is that I make it 15 minutes a day, not more, 15 minutes that you can do in your pajamas. 

18:37
So you do not have to take all those decisions because we underestimate this. It's January 1st and we say, oh, I'm going to the gym. We're like three times a week this year and you think that you have taken one big decision. You've actually condemned yourself to taking 20 hard decisions every time you want to do this, like packing the bag and driving, you know, getting in the car, driving, finding parking, getting out, getting into the gym, locker room, getting changed, walking onto the gym floor. There's so many decisions you have to take on a like on a daily basis if you want to make this supposedly one big decision a reality that it's bound to fail. For most people it's just too hard, whereas when you can do 15 minutes at home in your pajamas, you don't even have to get changed, because even that could be an obstacle for some women. They are so busy, so overwhelmed. The idea of getting changed might even be too much. So I try to make the entry as easy as possible, because once you start, you create momentum and then it becomes much easier. 

19:42 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
So wall push-ups if you don't know what those are, you can Google them. They're so easy, right? You're almost vertical against the wall, you have your hands up against the wall and you just let your body weight bring you in and you push back out, right, so that's one that they could get started with. What's another one, Kim, that they could use their own body weight with, and maybe you can do three of those, maybe you can do five of those, maybe you can do 10. When you can do 10, then you would suggest moving their feet out a little further. So there's a more of an angle, right, so there's more body weight pressure. Okay, so we can get started with that. 

20:21 - Kim Rahir (Host)
What is another exercise that we could do in our pajamas? I love this. Yeah, like a plank I don't know if everybody knows what a plank is where you are on your forearms and your feet and you hold your entire body in a straight line. Now that is pretty advanced already. So if you haven't done anything like it and your core is not quite as strong as it should be, that we can scale that back even further. We can do a plank progression where we, you know, you touch the floor with your knees for a few seconds and then bring them back up and then touch the knees down again, so you get a little bit of rest. Or we could do something that is even more scaled back, which is like it's called a bird dog. So you know I'm not going to try and explain what that is You're basically on all fours and you stretch out opposite arms and legs and you get to work. You know very, very important but tiny muscles in your back. That will make your core stronger. 

21:13 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
So, whatever your status is, we find the exercise and you can find the exercise that's right for you, that will give you the right stimulus, so you do get progress, but that doesn't overwhelm you or hurt you or frustrate you and how, what, what a great when you're talking about working on the core in the back, what, what a powerful exercise and muscle to strengthen because, uh, back injuries as you get older you've been over there's back injuries, that sort of thing. It helps with posture and makes us stronger so there's less likely of falls later and that sort of thing, right? So okay, so we've got the wall pushup, we've got the core work, where it could be the bird dog, we're on all fours or we could do planks on our forearms or eventually up on our hands. What is another exercise? So we've already done two. We're probably already 10 minutes in. There's probably already time for one more at this point. 

21:58 - Kim Rahir (Host)
What might be the other one that you would say add on. That would depend on you know how you did your assessment, how your mobility is. I would either give you a body weight squat where you bend your knees, no loading nothing. Just try to get proper form on a bodyweight squat and if that's challenging we could do something isometric. One of my favorite exercises is a wall sit. 

22:21 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Oh yes. 

22:23 - Kim Rahir (Host)
It's quite tough, but you could scale it too. Ideally, you would sit with your back against the wall and your hips, your knees and your ankles are at a 90-degree angle. That's a tough one to hold, so you can start with a little bit of an easier angle you know, not sitting at 90 degrees, but a little bit higher but you will stimulate your legs and this isometric kind of exercise is really great, because it's great for stability. It will give your thigh muscles staying power, and that's so crucial also for knee health. So this is one that you can also just do at home. You don't have to get changed. You can do it in a version that works for you, but you will have results right away and your knees will thank you for that one. 

23:07 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
And what I hear you saying is that it's it's not so much the exercise I mean you start with the right exercises, depending on the fitness level of the individual but it's about getting started. It's about the mindset first, that I'm going to do this for my health, for my mental health, my physical health, my longevity. Right, so that we don't, you know, injure ourselves later. But it's the getting started. And we know that there's so many books written on habits and how to form a habit. Right, you do one wall pushup a day. Tomorrow, you do. You know, one today, Tomorrow you do two, Maybe the next day you do three. Right, it's the starting out. Small, it's the starting. That's the hardest step right out. You got to get out of the gate and start it. Would you agree with that, Kim? 

23:49 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Absolutely, absolutely. That's the whole point, also in my 15 minutes a day concept, because that's how you get your foot in the door. And that's the big, big problem for so many people getting the foot in the door, because our daily schedule, our daily habits, everything that we're doing already is kind of weighing so heavy that it's really hard to open the door if you slide just one foot in and then stay there for a while and over time you make sure that you open it wider, and it's really important to understand that. There's no point in looking for the perfect workout that will like, absolutely perfectly, do everything that you want in the shortest amount of time, get you, you know, to a physical state that you aspire to. The best workout is the one that you actually do I love that. 

24:39 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
The best workout is the one you actually do, because we can prepare and plan and look at the videos and, yeah, write all the exercises we're going to do down, but they don't count until you actually do them right. It's that first, that first push-up, it's that first set-up. 

24:52 - Kim Rahir (Host)
It's that first squat. 

24:53 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
Yeah Well, you know we've talked about exercise, but let's tack on like let's start eating healthy. You know, you see that everywhere Eat healthy, eat healthy, eat healthy. What are your thoughts about that? 

25:15 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Oh, I don't like that at all. I think it's very misleading and it's actually it can turn out to be a trap. Not because I don't want anybody. I mean, eating healthy sounds great, but as a goal in itself it doesn't work, especially not for midlife women, because it's too vague. It's too vague. 

25:22
We need to know first of all, what does that even mean? Healthy? It means one thing for you and means something totally different for me, and these sort of blanket concepts of eating nuts and avocados and vegan lasagna and then you're eating healthy they will not get you to your goal because they are too vague. You need to be specific in your goal, not say I want to eat healthy. Even I want to be healthy is still quite vague. 

25:51
You're going to say something like maybe I want to drop 10 pounds, or maybe you want to say I want to be able to do 10 pushups, and it's linked. You know, if you want to be able to do 10 pushups, you have to eat in a certain way, and so be specific, know what you want and then build your plate according to your needs. What's healthy for you is not necessarily healthy for me. Find out which foods you tolerate, which foods actually work for you, make you feel energized and help you perform during your workouts. I've talked to so many women who went on to eat all kinds of legumes and whole grains and stuff because it's so healthy and they got like miserably sick from that because they didn't tolerate those. There is no blanket healthy food. You have to find the food that works for you and that works for your goals. 

26:41 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
So you have to be very conscious of when you're eating and how it makes your body feel afterwards. For example, if I eat a bread and a pasta, you know, have it just a nice Italian dinner. With all that, all those carbs, I feel very lethargic. I love it while I'm eating it, but it makes me lethargic. I find I'm better if I have protein with that. So if I have pasta but I have the chicken in there, right, it's better for me. So what I hear you saying is really decide how your body deals with the food, right, so you know what you want, and then be specific If you're trying to cut out fats or if you're trying to add more protein, I'm going to at least hit 40 grams of protein a day or whatever the case may be, to be specific and look at it and not think of it as a general. I'm going to eat healthy, right. 

27:23 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Yes, and you can always ask yourself how will I know at the end of the day that I've done what I wanted to do? And then, if the goal was like I wanted to eat healthy, it's very hard to assess, you know, was it healthy? Was that thing healthy, or I don't really know? Whereas when you say I want to eat 100 grams of protein a day, or I want to eat five servings of vegetables a day because I know it makes me feel good or it's good for my digestion, or whatever, you can take that off in the evening, is it? Did I eat my five servings? I did. And then you know you get that positive reinforcement and you can keep doing it. Whereas healthy maybe, maybe not. It's too vague. 

28:04 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
So, just like with the exercise program, I'm going to work out 15 minutes a day, right, that's your goal. And then you do that instead of like I'm going to start this whole exercise program. It's being specific and accomplishing that goal. And did you accomplish it at the end of the day? Same thing with eating, if you wanted to use 100 grams of protein, and we know that the more you start to lift weight and you're going to build muscle, we need protein, right that's. We tend to back off from that as we get older, we're like less protein, but we need more of that to build the weight. So, yeah, so be specific in your goals. Is what I hear you saying. What? So yeah, so be specific in your goals. Is what I hear you saying. What have I not asked you about, Kim, that you would like to share with our listeners today? About a journey from not such a good place to a place where we're in a much better physical and mental and emotional space? 

28:43 - Kim Rahir (Host)
Yeah, I mean we've sort of touched on this, but I think it's very important to say it again that the big picture, when it comes to your health, is not always helpful. Again, the big picture when it comes to your health is not always helpful. It's great to have a big goal and to imagine yourself living into your 90s and rolling around on the floor with your great-grandchildren and stuff, but what's really helpful and effective for your health is always what you can do now, what you can do next, what you can do now, what you can do next. There's only one important meal in your life at any given point in time and that's the next one you're going to eat. And I think, if you can just ask yourself, what can I do now? Right now, you're going to find something and you're not going to scare yourself to death with this. 

29:29
Just imagine if you have to think, oh, I have to eat, like, let's say, I have to eat that much protein every day. And then you think ahead and all the days that are going to come and, oh, my God, how am I going to do this? This is going to be difficult and I know next week I'll be traveling. Now, what can you do now. Where do you get your next serving of protein right now? I think it's liberating, because you don't carry the weight of the future in all your decisions. Right now, you just ask yourself what's the best thing that I can do here and now? And I remember I was brought up in this vibe of when something went wrong, my parents would ask who did this, why did this happen? Which is so useless? And I learned that it's useless. You, you know, something is on, something happened, something went wrong. Or you know, even now in your day, you plan to eat good food and then you find yourself stuck at a gas station, whatever don't long come the doritos and a diet coke. 

30:25
Yeah don't say why did that happen, or why does this always happen to me, or what is who's to blame? No, ask yourself what can I do now? What's the best choice that I can make right now? And it might not be the objectively best choice in the gas station, but maybe you can get a bag of almonds instead of a bag of Doritos, and then that's the best possible choice that you'll make in this moment. 

30:48 - Dr. Dara Rossi (Host)
I love that advice, Kim. What is the best thing I can do now? So we're not beating ourselves up over like, oh, I ate the Doritos and drank the Coke, right, we're not being what's? What's the my next meal, what can I do? Or what can I do while I'm in the moment, what's the best thing I can do right now? Those baby steps that tend to add up, which build our resilience, which help us with our mindset and help us with our goals. I love that. I love that. 

31:13
Yes, this has been great advice today. Thank you so much. We're going to add your information to the show notes for our listeners who want to connect and ask yourself right now, what can I do with my next meal? That's the most important meals, Kim said. What am I going to have at my next meal? And your next step for exercising what is the one thing that you're going to do right and that next time you exercise? That put you on a great path. Thank you so much. I appreciate you, Appreciate you being here in your time, Kim, and thank you listeners. No-transcript.