Speaker 1: 0:03

Hey there, welcome to the Hot Mess Mom Health Podcast. Do you wish you could find a sustainable way to get healthy and not feel overwhelmed in the process? Do you find yourself up late at night scouring Pinterest for meal prep ideas and quick workouts? Do you wake up with big, ambitious goals only to feel stressed out and disappointed when you fall back in your old habits? Drive through the Chick-fil-A drive-through for the second time this week, all while the fresh produce you just bought goes bad? Hey, I'm Rebecca. I too am a working mom of two little and self-proclaimed Hot Mess Mom. All my life I've struggled with trying to maintain a healthy weight and feel good in my skin. I could add yoyo diet or to my resume. After I packed on 50 plus pounds with two pregnancies, I decided to change for good. I wanted to stop obsessing about food, stay consistent and set a good, healthy example for my kids, but I kept telling myself that I didn't have the time, the energy or accountability to stay on track, until I changed my mindset and created one healthy habit at a time. In this podcast, you will find simple, actionable steps that you can create a healthy lifestyle and get relief from the overwhelm. Spray that dry shampoo, grab your iced coffee, turn up the volume and let's get healthy. Hey there, happy Monday and welcome back to another episode of Hot Mess, mom Health. I'm so grateful that you are here with me this week. You are in for a treat.

Speaker 1: 1:27

This week I have an interview with Jen Larmor from the Mom First podcast. She is an amazing working mom of five littles, which I'm just an all by because I can literally barely handle the two humans that I am raising. But she is an amazing podcaster and she has a really cool segment on her podcast called Call to Joy. I was really drawn to it because, if you've listened to my podcast episodes, I had a message this year of just choosing joy more often, especially in situations where I usually see the glass half empty.

Speaker 1: 2:03

In this podcast we dive into being a busy, crazy, working mom and finding joy in little moments, in things that we're doing and ways to keep our self calm. Jen has a really calming sense about her which I'm an all about completely because I know how I am in my life and she on her podcast just brings this really calming nature to you. She leaves really great tactical tips almost every single episode, so I highly recommend on any of your podcast apps tuning in to the Mom First podcast and, without further ado, on to the interview. Hi Jen, welcome to the Hot Mess Mom Health podcast.

Speaker 2: 2:43

Thanks so much for having me. I'm so pumped to be here, yes.

Speaker 1: 2:47

Thank you for taking time out of your day to be here For everyone out there listening. There's a lot of negatives about social media that I will go on about, but there are some positives, and the biggest positive is being connected to people that you would not meet necessarily in regular everyday life, and that's how I was connected through Jen. She has a podcast and immediately when I started listening to it it's called Mom First. It spoke to me and she has a whole segment about choosing joy, and I just love that, because I'm actually the process of getting a tattoo on my wrist.

Speaker 1: 3:18

This is choose joy, because I think it is something that is the missing piece of what, as working, busy moms were missing. We are missing that joy component and I had to bring Jen on because I wanted her to share all of her wisdom and knowledge in that topic with you guys, because it's definitely something I struggle with and I think a lot of women do, and Jen just has this calmness about her and she really speaks to me about that. So I think she's going to help a lot of you listeners out there just find joy in your life. So thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you tell my audience a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 2: 3:49

Well, thank you so much. That was just incredible and so kind. So I'd love to share a little bit about my personal background. So I'm 42 years old, I'm a mom of five, I live in the Midwest and so I definitely as a mom of five and a busy working mom at that I am an attorney by training. I currently work in higher ed and as a life coach as well, and then I do this podcast.

Speaker 2: 4:18

My kids, like I know you have said on the podcast that one of your kiddos does traveling baseball. Is that right? Yeah, so not only are we busy with our own lives, like, and our partner's lives, probably, but also with our kids. So I have five children and three of them are heavily involved in hockey, and I mean traveling baseball. We can totally relate. Hockey is just bonkers. It's like seven, eight months out of the year and it's just all the time, and so we have a lot going on in our life too.

Speaker 2: 4:50

And what I realized back in I've wanted to do a podcast for a really long time, and it was the fall of 2021 when I decided I finally was going to do it, really, because I kind of lost a little bit of my spark. I don't know if it was a pandemic or what, but I really just felt like I lost some of who I was and I couldn't get myself out of this bunk I was in, and so I knew I just needed to start. As busy as I was, I just needed to start really going after the things that felt like they were lighting me up from the inside.

Speaker 2: 5:29

And that's kind of how mom first started.

Speaker 1: 5:32

Nice. Is that what kind of sparked that segment called a joy?

Speaker 2: 5:36

Exactly, yeah. So, and well, to back up a little bit like so, I kind of started on the podcast journey and I realized like how much fun I was having just by doing this and how then I had so much more energy, so much more time for everything else in my life. You know, as busy working moms, we have like a thousand things on our to-do list and then we have like another thousand things like rotating in the back of our mind on our should-do list, right, and so with all those things kind of happening, like it's really hard to get lost in the day-to-day hustle and grind and not make time to have some fun. I noticed, you know, I had, I think, friends that were sort of in two camps during the pandemics those that really like stressed out the entire time during the pandemic and those that took a moment to kind of slow down and look around and figure out what was really important to them. And as we all started to kind of come out of the pandemic and really for my family it really felt like that started to happen last fall like really, with a lot of things opening up and kind of going back to normal, things started to kind of pile on everybody's plates again. And one thing that I noticed with my family, but also with other families and other friends and moms, was that they were starting to kind of pile their plate again with a whole bunch of things and they weren't making time for the things that, like really lit them up. They weren't making that space for joy.

Speaker 2: 7:11

And it doesn't mean that there's something wrong with doing all those things. Like I am a high achiever and I identify as that and I really want to do all the things like every day too, and I really want to have some fun along the way. For me. I kind of wake up every day knowing, like this could be it.

Speaker 2: 7:33

None of us are guaranteed, like even till the end of the day, right, none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. And if this is like what I have to work with, I want to make sure that I show up as the best version of myself, that I can Give myself some grace, of course, but show up as the best that I can and Really make some space for gratitude and joy and fun in my life. Yeah, and that's kind of how I got that idea to do that series and I hope it inspires other moms to Look around and say, hey, you don't need like a hundred thousand dollars in the bank, you know you can have fun and make some space for joy right now. Even if things aren't perfect at work, even if the house is a mess, there's still room for joy every day.

Speaker 1: 8:19

Yeah, and I love the segment even more because it's quick, right, like I can get a good, I feel like I get a win when I listen to it and I feel like it's something tangible, right, you leave a takeaway every week, which I love. What would be like your biggest tip, the, if you have, like you're speaking to that mom who's like burnt out, overwhelmed, stressed out, like we've all been there, right, and what would you say to her? What would be your biggest number one thing she can start with, like a quick takeaway today To give her that sense of calming, to feel a little bit of joy, even if it's not like the pinnacle of joy, but just a little bit like what's the biggest thing you could talk we would tell her right now, yeah, so I think Sure.

Speaker 2: 9:02

So this is a big. This is a big question, right? Because we could go in a lot of different directions with this, and I'll just be honest with you I think the fastest, quickest way to be able to drop into that space of joy is really to drop Physically back into your body. So a lot of moms I know are kind of running all around. They got there like a lot of things in their head, even if they're calm and centered, they have, like they're in their mind and their brain is running at a mile a minute.

Speaker 2: 9:32

That to do this is always ticking, and so what I would suggest is that you take two minutes, find someplace calm and Literally just take some time to drop back into your body. And when I say that, what I mean is like really get centered in your brain and focus on the physical Sensations in your body. And that can be as simple as just taking some big breaths and feeling how those breaths come in and out, how what the temperature feels like when it leaves your breath, like leaves your body versus when it comes in, noticing, like by rubbing your fingertips together, how your fingertips feel. Have you ever felt the ridges on your fingertips I never have now and feel so, just take a moment and kind of feel that, yeah, feel what it's like to like curl your toes and just set a timer, do that for two minutes, where you're really like feeling what's in your body.

Speaker 2: 10:36

What this does is this really Cool like kind of feature where it sort of just brings you back into your body and helps to center you so that you can come at everything in your day from less of a reactive space. What you're actually doing is you're building what I call your mental fitness Muscles and so you're giving your body, like you're giving your brain, that chance to reconnect with your body and make some space. When I work with people and kind of developing this and developing a routine around doing these kinds of things, what I find is that the folks I work with are then able to kind of identify some of the thoughts that are running, you know, on default in their head, so that they can make space to really choose on purpose how they want to react, what they want to do each day and really how they want to show up, and it's just really about kind of making space. I like to do this for about 12 minutes every morning, but you don't have to do it for that long and it's almost just a form of meditation.

Speaker 2: 11:38

Yeah, in a way, and and really like you can see results in doing this in just two minutes a day.

Speaker 2: 11:46

So when I do this work with the folks that I work with, I have like a mental fitness program and there are studies that show like that you can actually see like increases in the Prefrontal cortex areas of the brain in terms of, like, how much they light up on MRIs, through doing this on a regular basis and building these muscles and Especially, I think, if you're a mom who's like showing up at you, know, inpatient, yelling a lot Not like the way that you want to write, like don't beat yourself up for that Just like recognize that you need to develop some of the tools, like one of the things that you're doing right now Is all this like fit at 40, which is incredible, right, so you're building all your physical muscles.

Speaker 2: 12:30

We have to do that same thing with our brains, yeah, and we have to constantly be doing it. If we don't go to the gym for two or three, four, five, six months, right, like our bodies aren't going to stay in that state of health. Yeah, it's the same thing with our brains, and so you can do this, like with these kinds of exercises, just that I just mentioned, or with something like meditation To. There's so many ways to build this kind of muscle so that you can make some room for Join in your life.

Speaker 1: 12:56

I love that and you know something like grounding, meditation, those types of things. You always see them on lists of like the most highly successful people and these are people that are operating Way above anything I'm doing right like they're. They look like they're super all together and they have multiple kids, they have multiple businesses and they do these things like there's a reason, right, like there's a reason. And a lot of us, like busy moms, we're pouring into our kids and we're forgetting about the element of us all the time. And I love that because it speaks to like in order For us to be happy, we have to put ourselves first. Sometimes, and even if it is two minutes or we just take to do a body scan or meditation or a grounding or whatever it is, I mean, I think that's that's what it's about is just taking that time for yourself and recognizing that I'm about to lose it and I need to simmer down.

Speaker 2: 13:46

Yeah, totally, and I, you know, I think that there is so much of value in what you just said because you know you can do these kinds of things when you're in the moment and you can do them to kind of like pregame Right, to like prep yourself for the day ahead. And I do think that you know a lot of People who we would call like highly successful. Right, they have a practice, and what's really important is that you find something that's gonna work for you. So, like not everyone can start out doing like 30 minutes of meditation. I can't do 30 minutes of meditation. Forget about it like I don't have time for that, and Like my brain and body, like we don't sit and do that. So you have to find something that works for you, yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:30

So, speaking to the fitness part, you mentioned mental fitness, but when it comes to Actually like going to the gym or working out and having a routine of that nature, how, how do you or how would you recommend somebody find joy in that, because I think that's a big step back or a reason why people don't go to work out or go to the gym because they don't think it's Fun, you know. So what are some ways you could recommend to someone that's like look, I only want to do this if it's fun, if it's bringing me joy. What would you tell that that mom?

Speaker 2: 15:00

I think the thing to keep in mind is that the best workout is the one that you're actually going to do Dinging.

Speaker 2: 15:06

So, however, you can get it in, whether it's running around with your kids, whether it's taking them to the park, doing a little bit of just sort of intention setting with how you're going to do that.

Speaker 2: 15:20

So, and I think things become less fun when we set goals that are so extreme and high that, like we end up beating ourselves up for it. Yeah, so I I am definitely someone who I identify as a goal setter, right, like I'm always kind of setting that goal, and what I did this year was, I told myself I'm just going to see if I can do 10 minutes of yoga every day, that's great, to build it into my routine and make it kind of fun for me in that way, in a sense of, like this is just 10 minutes I'm going to take, I'm going to try to do it every day, and if I do more, that's great, and I know that I at least have 10 minutes to do that. Right, and I find that if I can like make my bed in the morning, have some space for connection with my kids in the morning and do 10 minutes of yoga. I am feeling just incredible by the time I roll into work.

Speaker 1: 16:19

Yeah, I love that. It's all about starting small too, like even if you started with five minutes and you kept that promise that you made to yourself and then you built from there. I think there's a lot to be said about that. I love that. Yeah, do you like yoga? I?

Speaker 2: 16:32

do. Well, I need to do it. I have a job that I where I sit at a desk a lot or at a computer, and so I need to do it. So I have a couple of videos that I watch on Amazon. I have a favorite place I go to in my hometown for actually taking classes here and there, but I really can only do that once or twice a month, just with everything that we have going on. Yeah, and I've started using the Daily Yoga app and I'm kind of like in that too. Okay.

Speaker 1: 17:01

That's definitely something I want to incorporate more in my life because I need that, like stretching, calming. My therapist tells me all the time I need to do yoga and I'm just like I don't feel like I'm working out if I'm not sweating, and she's like, no, you're not doing the right yoga. Then I'm like okay.

Speaker 2: 17:16

So she's curious. I'm definitely not an expert in yoga and I think that's okay and I know there are so many different kinds. My sister does hot yoga, so if you really want to get like that sweat, I think you can really. You know, obviously they're like really experienced that and that's incredible and really just for me, like I know, like I also know that if I don't do that 10 minutes of yoga, I'll be okay if I miss like maybe one day or two days. But if I miss three days, like I am probably going to have to like really do a lot of stretching to kind of just limber back up, maybe go get a massage, and that's just kind of how my body reacts Like get out the foam roller and have to do a lot more work. So it's almost like it's easier for me to do the 10 minutes of yoga every day than to not do it. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1: 18:03

Yeah, oh for sure, yeah, so switching gears a little bit, on another one of your podcast episodes, you were speaking about how, at the end of the day I think for everyone out there listening all we want is for our kids to be happy, right, like that is literally what we all want, and some days it seems hard, right, hutter than others. But what would? What are some examples that we can set as moms who are, you know, on the verge of losing our minds, and we want to set that example for our kids that we're happy as people, so that they can grow up to be happy and choose joy. You know, because that's something that I get caught up a lot in and that's why I'm getting a tattoo to my wrist, because I need that constant reminder to not only for myself, but to be that example for my kids, because I do want them to be happy and I want to be happy. You know, that's ultimately what we all want, but we struggle so much with it.

Speaker 2: 18:53

Yeah, I think that your experience is very common and I know that I personally can relate to that, and that is part of the thinking behind. Mom first is like not only do we have to make space and have mom be first, you know, because kind of with that idea of like fill your own cup first, but also like mom has to go first in a leadership sense. If you want your kids to grow up to be empowered, happy, confident folks who are going to pursue their goals and dreams, you need to do that too. They learn by example and so if you don't set that example for them, they're not going to know how to do it. And so the best way to make sure that your kids are going to have that opportunity and chance and experience and being around somebody who is confident and happy, it's to be that yourself.

Speaker 2: 19:46

So I think there are lots of ways to kind of implement this in your life. The first is to just own it and tell your kids hey, I'm trying to improve myself in this way, I'm trying to focus more on joy, and our kids are really good at being like focused and in the present moment, and so you can talk to them about that and give them the chance to almost teach you how to do that. Give them permission, if they're older, to like even call you out if you're like on your phone when you're supposed to be like having fun, right, Right. So give them permission and like let them see you fail and let them see you make mistakes and let them see you take accountability for that, because a lot of people don't know how to do that, and so you can already set that example for them.

Speaker 2: 20:37

Another thing that you can do is really actively go after your own goals and dreams, whatever that is. If that's a fitness goal, you can let your kids know hey, I have a goal to run this 10 K by the end of the year, and this is a goal that I have, I've always wanted to do. You could tell them the why behind it and then you can make space for that and hopefully they will see you do that and they'll be like yeah, my mom did that and like made space for that. And then when I have a goal, I know that if I want to achieve it, I have to be on purpose and intentional about it and make space for it too. And if they show you, see you showing up as like, happy and content, not flustered, not anxious about what you're seeing on social media or in the news. They're going to have the chance to like realize that that's a possibility that's available to them too.

Speaker 1: 21:30

Yeah, I love that so much. I never even thought about telling my kids. That's a good tip because, although, like you know, me and my husband just did 75 hard, they knew we were doing it and they knew we had to read our book and we had to work out. They kind of knew, but we never really sat them down and said this is a goal mommy and daddy are working on, this is something we want to do together as a team. We never really sat them down and that was kind of a missed opportunity to include them in the process.

Speaker 2: 21:57

You know, yeah, and you can always talk to them about it. Now, you know, as or as they're getting older and like do those kinds of things, and I think it's really cool when kids see their parents working on something together and see you kind of like also failing too and making you know a space to try again. I mean, that is what you all did, was something that is.

Speaker 2: 22:21

I mean, there's a reason it's called hard right, like that's really hard and intentional and I think it's cool for people to see other people really trying to work on themselves, like that's the people I want to be around. I want to be around the people who are, like, trying to make their day better, who are trying their best to make their community better, who are working hard to improve themselves.

Speaker 1: 22:41

Yeah, no, I agree wholeheartedly. I mean it's. It is funny too, something that you said about kids they do tend to find the joy, right. I feel like if I could just emulate what my kids do all day, I'd be fine, but it's so hard to do when you're a stressed out adult. But if we just sat and watched them, they literally do this all day long. They find the joy and the magic and everything, and, especially like young toddlers, everything is magical to them and it's almost like taking a step back and watching them and reminding yourself that you still have an inner child, right. Like there's still some inner child in there that just needs to come out and find that joy in the day. But the kids do, it's just. It's amazing when you really take that step back and look at how they act and how they interact with the world 100%.

Speaker 2: 23:28

It's so cool and I love that you mentioned younger toddlers, because that is like those people are my jam I love. I love that age like right before preschool like basically, from like once they start toddling around and walking till preschool. It's so fun For the reasons you mentioned, because everything is so magical and we can, we can teach our brains to do that and we have the capacity as humans to kind of choose some of our thoughts on purpose and to do that, and so we can direct our minds and so we can ask ourselves questions like where is the magic here? How could this be more magical? How could I revel in this moment? And I love using words like revel and delight and finding the joy. Yeah, so there are lots of ways in which we can kind of, you know, train our brains to look for those things, and that's a great way to kind of have more of it in our own life.

Speaker 1: 24:26

And if you can't, you just get a tattooed on your wrist. You can't forget, absolutely 100%. You don't have to go as far as me, but that's what I'm doing because I need to be smacked over the head with things to get it in. What is one thing? Obviously, hindsight is 20-20, of course, but what would you tell your younger self about joy and happiness?

Speaker 2: 24:46

Oh, I love this question because this is something I've been working on my whole life. I've always found somebody who's just like, a little bit more serious, like I was the oldest of five kids. I was the kid who got like straight A's all the time, graduated like out or near the top of my class, did well in law school too. And I think if I could look back and when I have looked back at different points in my life, I would tell myself not to take it so seriously. Right, that would be a big part of it for me and I have a coach that just recently kind of characterized it like this is that we're all going to die and none of this matters.

Speaker 2: 25:30

And there is this weird paradox in that statement, because it all matters and it all doesn't matter all at the same time, like this moment matters so much because you're here for a finite time and you have a finite amount of time to have this experience as a human.

Speaker 2: 25:54

And it doesn't matter because at the end of the day, you know we are all going to pass on and come back to where we came from, right? So there is this paradox in that, where it's like it's so freeing because it gives us this idea, gives us time and space to sort of think about what we could do in that moment and also to realize, like the things that are holding us back or the things we're worried about really don't matter. It really does not matter, for example, what my GPA was in college or law school, like that could not matter less and I was really worried about it at the time. And when I think about, you know, being a mom and a working mom, is it really better if I was 10 minutes too late to work yesterday? For some people's jobs maybe, but not for mine. And so is it worth stressing out in the car when I'm dropping my kids off.

Speaker 1: 26:53

No.

Speaker 2: 26:54

No, right, I can instead use that time with them to really connect and to start our days off in the way that I want it to, for them and for me.

Speaker 1: 27:03

Right? No, I think that's that's a great message and that's easier said than done, right when you're in the moment. But if you keep reminding yourself of that, I think it helps. Yeah, no, I mean I love it Is there. I mean, obviously you're like just hearing the fact that you have five kids, right, Like I don't want to say it stresses me out, but like I can barely handle the two that I have. So kudos to you for surviving with five kids. How do you do it? Like spill the beans, because how do you do it with joint happiness in your life? Because I feel like I'm going to poke my eyeballs out with two kids. So please fill all your secrets.

Speaker 2: 27:43

You're so funny and I am sure you're doing an incredible job. I can tell just from the podcast episodes that I've listened to just how much love you have for your children and how incredible of an example you're trying to set for them with all that you're doing. So I think the number one thing is like to give ourselves grace. I 100%, I yell sometimes. I talk about in the podcast how we can never find shoes at our house. Like my children have so many shoes. Like where do they go? Where are the shoes? Like, where are they? Like my toddler, like I can't find shoes, that we regularly lose shoes for her. It's just unreal. And so, and my kids all the time are like oh, I can't get in the car because I can't find my shoes. Oh, my gosh, you know so and I totally.

Speaker 2: 28:32

There are times in the one we're trying to get out the door that I totally yell and I don't want to be that person, right?

Speaker 2: 28:38

So I am doing the best I can every day in there, some days when I'm really good at it and like feel like I have it more together than others, and I would just offer to you that I think my experience is like the norm and very typical, and I think if somebody is trying to sell you something different, then maybe, maybe you shouldn't trust them, because I just don't think that that's like legit, right, like we all are trying to do our best with what we have at that time, we do the best with what we know, and so I really think, kind of giving yourself like grace and knowing that even the person who seems like they have it totally together has days where it's just like a complete mess.

Speaker 2: 29:17

Yeah, right, and so that's like number one. Number two is to really like set that intentionality for who you want to be in the moment, and I think, like one of the things that I'm working on right now is not just thinking of like who I want to be in the future, but like how I'm going to be when my kids, like, for example, won't get in the car, when they're throwing a temper tantrum, like when they are when they can't find their shoes. So I try to think right now about when I, when that happens, how am I going to react to, almost visualizing like what I'm going to do, to try to like practice being who I want to be, and those are kinds of the three things that I'm really working on right now is like giving myself grace, setting that intention and practicing. That's what I got.

Speaker 1: 30:16

I think it's. I think they're great tips. I mean, I think it's like you said, the mental fitness, whether it's lifting weights and getting fit, is the practice and the repetition that probably, like you're probably just further along the line that I am right, like you have practiced it more, you've honed it in a little bit more. But everybody has a moment. They break. Everybody does right. I think I know for me I don't remind myself that I'm human enough. You know that I do need to give myself more grace and I think anyone out there listening If there's a takeaway that I'm getting at that we do have to remind ourselves that we are human and we have to give ourselves more grace, because nothing is some of this stuff's not natural. It's not natural at all.

Speaker 2: 30:53

Right, 100%, and we haven't practiced it and we haven't been around people who are doing this all the time, and so you don't wake up one day just like being able to run a marathon. Right, you practice and train for that, and it's the same thing with all these daily things. And I think it's really incredible when working moms make the time and space just to say, hey, I'm going to try to work on this one thing, whether it's like being able to run a mile, being able to lift a certain amount of weight or being able to, you know, really be present in the moment with their kids.

Speaker 1: 31:27

Yeah, I love that. Is there anything that you're currently working on right now as far as a health around this goal?

Speaker 2: 31:33

I am. So you know I already mentioned my 10 minutes of daily yoga, so that's really my primary goal, but I am working up to for my for my 42nd birthday, like I guess. Actually, so I'm 41 right now, not 42. Okay, but for my 42nd birthday, what I want to do, which is this March, is I want to be able to run a mile without stopping Nice. I want to be able to do a pull up, which I haven't been able to do in my adult life, and I want to be able to do one headstand for 10 seconds. So I am working on all three of those things I have.

Speaker 2: 32:13

There's someone who's been on my podcast. Her name is Talita. She helped me come up with these three like things as a goal for myself for the next year. So that's something that I'm working toward. So I just recently started running again and working with a trainer every Friday morning to really improve my core because, as you can imagine, after having five children, I am lacking a little bit in core strength and I need that core strength to be able to move into a headstand. So I'm hoping to get to a tripod by Thanksgiving and that way, once I can do that like I can then like really have like the core strength and the upper body strength to do a full on headstand by March the end of March.

Speaker 1: 33:00

So that's such a unique goal. I've never heard anybody say that.

Speaker 2: 33:04

No.

Speaker 1: 33:05

I've never heard that. No, I mean, were you like a gymnast or something?

Speaker 2: 33:08

Oh my gosh? No, definitely not. But the person I'm working with on Fridays was a gymnast, so I mean I mean I love challenges, right?

Speaker 1: 33:15

I mean that's you want to challenge yourself and in the process you're having fun. You know I love it. It's something so unique but I never would have even thought of it. But that's a really cool goal.

Speaker 2: 33:24

I love it, oh, thanks. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it, I think in part because it is kind of unique and I wanted it to be something. That was kind of fun. Now that you mentioned that, when I think back to when I set that and it is like definitely a stretch goal for me. Like I told you, like I have never been able to do a pull up in my adult life like ever, you know, when I was like much more fit, when I was like in my twenties like I could never do a pull up. So this is like a really big, like changing my body kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 33:55

Awesome, I love it. Well, it's okay with you. I'm just going to do three rapid fire questions to end the interview, all right, the first one is what is your best quick weeknight dinner that's also kid friendly?

Speaker 2: 34:07

We do a quinoa salad, and so we have the quinoa ready to go, and then we just chop up the veggies that we've already prepped, toss it all together, and they love it, and I love it too.

Speaker 1: 34:18

Okay, awesome, I have not. I've gotten away from quinoa, so I need to give it another try. I haven't had it in a couple of years and I haven't even had my kids try it. So if you're giving it five kid approved, I need to give it a try.

Speaker 2: 34:28

And if we just had it last night, I threw some mozzarella in it and some fresh basil and then just let them. You know, what I did is I let them put on the spices that they wanted, and they really were pretty into that.

Speaker 1: 34:39

Nice. I hope to give it a try. Do you have any mantras?

Speaker 2: 34:45

Yes, so this is one that I developed with the fitness goal that I have, which is that I am a strong, free, bold, joy getter. Oh lovely, yeah. I try to repeat that when I walk through any kind of, when I walk over any threshold. So when I walk through any door, I try to repeat that in my head I am a strong, free, bold, joy getter.

Speaker 1: 35:07

I love that. Super cool, all right, and the last question do you have any song that like pumps you up for the day or pumps you up for a workout or just something when you need a mood boost?

Speaker 2: 35:18

Yeah, so this is kind of silly. But my kids, when I drop them off at school, we listen to music on the car and my five year old likes to listen to Miley Cyrus's wrecking ball, and then when it gets to the part where it came in like a wrecking ball, we all scream it as loud as we can and it's so fun. So whenever I need to just sort of smile in my own like heart and head, I listen to or think about that song and like think about my kids and like how fun that is, and so that is for sure, the song that just sort of like pumps me up and makes me happy.

Speaker 1: 35:55

I love it. That's such a unique song. Most people are like I had a tiger, or like something rough, like I love it, like such a good song, like family friendly, you know Well, thank you so much, jen, for coming on today. I you should shared so many valuable nuggets that I think my audience will get from this episode.

Speaker 1: 36:12

But to wrap it up all in a little bow, I think I would just remind everyone that much like I'm working on, much like it sounds like you even every day work on this isn't something that is going to happen overnight. It's definitely a process. It takes time and we have to remind ourselves that. You know it's it's not going to happen overnight for anybody. And it's like you're, I would say, an expert in this area, at least from what I can tell on your podcast, and you even have moments and it's just reminding ourselves to. We have to give ourselves grace, we have to remember that we're human and it's worth it. It's just going to take a while to get to that point where you are full of joy and happiness and understanding that not every day is rainbows and butterflies For sure. So thank you again, I appreciate you so much and I look forward to chatting.

Speaker 2: 36:58

Yeah, thank you. I really enjoyed our time together. I really appreciate it and thanks so much. Thanks, Jen.

Speaker 1: 37:05

Thank you so much for tuning in and listening to this episode of Hot Mess Mom Health. If you'd love this episode, please leave me an iTunes review. It would mean the world to me and it would help me get the word out about helping other moms reclaim their health. Thank you so much.