EP 140: Reversing Menopausal Weight Gain In 15 Minutes A Day With Midlife Fitness Coach Kim Rahir

Welcome to a powerful conversation with Kim Rahir. Imagine transforming a life-changing diagnosis into a springboard for empowering others. That's exactly what Kim did. Now she's here to share her Fabulous in 15 program, an initiative that throws a lifeline to middle-aged women struggling against menopausal weight gain through strength and muscle building. Her journey, intertwined with a rich multicultural background, breaks language barriers and redefines the essence of resilience, reminding us all that wellness transcends every aspect of our lives.

The weights aren't just for show; they're a gateway to a healthier, more resilient self, especially as women step into the life stage where hormonal tides shift. Our discussion with Kim unpacks how strength training is revolutionizing both the management of autoimmune conditions and our cultural perceptions of femininity. As Kim lifts the veil on stigmas surrounding women and weightlifting, she repositions it as not just a physical regimen but a therapeutic necessity, vital for mental health, stress management, and confronting midlife's unique challenges head-on.

JUMP RIGHT TO IT:

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0:00 Introductions with Kim Rahir

20:32 Importance of Functional Training and Movement

35:02 Women's Fitness and Muscle Building

43:48 Customized Fitness and Nutrition Approach

48:27 Enjoying Food Mindfully and Nutritionally

What tips given are you ready to implement into your daily routine? 

CONNECT WITH KIM:

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-rahir/

https://www.facebook.com/kim.rahir/

https://www.instagram.com/kim.rahir/

Website: https://kimrahir.com/

The best coffee in the UK: https://mancoco.co.uk/ 

Easiest crockpot chicken recipe:

½ cup chicken broth  

2 lbs of chicken thighs

5 table

Wild Interest

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

Hello and welcome back to the Imperfectly Empowered podcast. Diagnosed with, ms, kim Rehear muscled her way through illness to become the European Master's Weightlifting Champion at the age of 60. In addition to inspiring women to overcome their limitations, kim coaches middle-aged women to reverse menopausal weight gain by building muscle and strength through her Fabulous in 15 program. Here to share her expert advice on dropping 15 pounds in just 15 minutes a day. Welcome strength training expert and inspirational health coach, kim Rehear. Kim, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2: 1:02

Thanks for having me. I'm really excited and you know. Thanks for all the great work that you do empowering women.

Speaker 1: 1:09

Oh well, thank you, the feeling is very mutual. I was very inspired reading through your story when I got your email. I also love you mentioned, I think, somewhere you said you're a German living in Spain.

Speaker 2: 1:25

I love that, so you grew up in Germany, absolutely, and I lived there until I was 30 something. Then I got married and then we started moving around the world, had three kids and we ended up in Spain. It was like my husband always had the job. His last assignment before he retired was in Spain. He managed to get like six years he didn't have to go back to headquarters and after six years he retired and said, well, so nice, here, let's stay. And I had no intention of going back to Germany. You get spoiled when you live here because it's just so good.

Speaker 1: 2:01

And this is a really ignorant question, but do you speak Spanish?

Speaker 2: 2:06

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 2:07

Yeah, so how many languages do you speak then?

Speaker 2: 2:13

Well, if you really want to know, it's five, but it's something of a hobby of mine. So I married a French speaking guy, but I was already speaking French because I worked for a French company when I met him. English everybody has to know English, and at some point in my youth I learned Russian because I thought that was cool and I loved it.

Speaker 1: 2:35

I thought, oh, I wish I thought learning Russian was cool, as opposed to all the other things I thought were cool when I was younger. It really is amazing, though I've heard this many times from guests actually on the podcast. It's so fascinating to me because in Europe especially, you know, here in the United States, we have the concept of the states all very close, but we're all within the same like government framework and language expectations, where in Europe it's a little different because, generally speaking, like countries in Europe are like our states, but they all have their own governance, they all have many of them their own language, and so there's just this very different sense of culture because you're so close to so many different cultures. So it's so fascinating to me. It's just this is an uncommon that I hear. It just makes me feel like we are way behind here in the States.

Speaker 2: 3:31

We know.

Speaker 1: 3:31

English, and that's it. It's just different.

Speaker 2: 3:38

And. I can tell how different you are. When we talk about distances, for example, I have clients in the US who tell me, oh, I'm driving to see my dad this weekend and I said how far you have to go, and they're going to say like, oh, it's like only eight, nine hours. Wow, yeah, you know that. Would you know? I would probably take a plane or take three days off or whatever. So everything is sort of you know naturally smaller, what seems long distance for us, for you.

Speaker 1: 4:07

Yes, yes, that is so interesting. I love that perspective. Well, let's dive into your story. There's so many layers to pull back with your story, but you were diagnosed with MS, I believe, 10 years ago. Is that what you said? Tell us a little bit about that. I mean that's yeah, that was diagnosis.

Speaker 2: 4:31

It was very scary, it was. It was like the second act of an autoimmune sort of journey that I had, because my very first experience was when we were living in Berlin and you know, kids were my kids were small, but they always like 10 or something I had a full time job for the first time in a long time. I used to be a freelancer, found something like a real job and I was really happy because I thought, yes, you know, you can have a family and a good career. And you know, finally, I can prove this because I grew up in a conservative you know Germany's conservative, like in a social way. And when I was a teenager, you know somebody was called you would you want to be a career woman? It was like an insult. It was incredible Interesting. I always wanted to show that you know, as a woman, you don't have to choose.

Speaker 2: 5:25

I was stretched a bit thin at the time because I was doing shift work. The kids were small, they, you know we all needed to adapt to a new country and everything. It went okay for a year and then, from one day to the next, I was literally struck down, started by me seeing double went to see the doctors. They said, oh, that's not good, sent me to the hospital, lots of tests and stuff, and I spent six weeks in hospital. Wow, after three weeks my legs were totally paralyzed. I had no sensitivity in my legs at all. It was clear that was an autoimmune thing, but they couldn't really put the finger on it because I had my symptoms were like all over the place. It wasn't. And so sudden, One.

Speaker 2: 6:08

Yes, yeah, that's you know. That's part of the story for me. Now that has taught me the most, because we always think that the world is going to end if we do not make that appointment tomorrow or if we do not fix this thing today and you can actually be out of the equation from one day to the next. And it sounds scary, but it's also good to know because it gives you know, it changes your perspective of what's important and what's not important in life. So that was something at the time. Of course, I was not grateful for the experience. I didn't think it was something I had to learn, it was just scary.

Speaker 2: 6:50

They finally figured out and said it was a syndrome called Guillain Barret, which is a one off. So it comes in and goes, took a while for it to go. I was in a wheelchair when I left the hospital, had to learn, learn walking again on crutches and everything, got some treatment for a year and then I was given a bill of clean health and that is you know. You can just go back to living normally, you don't need any treatment, you're fine. And I was so happy. I called my husband. We both cried on the phone and I thought I was given like a second shot at life, and that's just amazing. Then we moved again.

Speaker 2: 7:29

We moved to France and after a year I felt my left hand going numb and I knew that wasn't good, went to see the doctor and tests again and this time they said this is like an autoimmune attack, but it's an attack on the white matter in your nerves. So if this happens again, then it's what we call MS. And that was even harder because I had to regain my life and was so happy, so grateful. I had learned so much. I was going to make the most of it and I'm bang the next blow. And I was hoping for a year that I wouldn't have a second relapse and that I wouldn't be an MS patient. But I did. It was very, very mild, but it was a relapse just the same. So the doctor told me okay, you're an MS patient, you need lifelong treatment, it's got to be this. And he was writing down the stuff that I was supposed to take and I said, oh, one moment, I wanted to talk about this.

Speaker 1: 8:34

I wanted to ask him some questions.

Speaker 2: 8:36

What do you mean? Lifelong treatment, is it really necessary? My second relapse was so mild. Maybe I'm getting better If I take the treatment. I will never know what's up with my body, and he was not used to that.

Speaker 2: 8:50

He was not used to that at all Somebody asking so many questions but for me I know now that it was like instinctively. I didn't want to give up my power. I didn't want to be dependent on this treatment for the rest of my life. It's really scary and not knowing what is really going on with my body. Is it healing, Is it better, or is it just because I'm using these drugs?

Speaker 2: 9:18

I fought with him for an hour and then I gave in and I started injecting myself three times a week with interferon beta. It made me feel like I had the flu every time I did so. It was not nice to skin react, of course, to all the injections, but it was the thing that you do and that you have to do. And people can also scare you, and they're not wrong. I mean, you never know where MS is going to lead you. You could go blind, you could be paralyzed and of course, nobody wanted to take a risk. Just because I was hesitant and didn't want lifelong treatment, the medical professionals they would not take a risk with me and say, yeah, you go and try that.

Speaker 1: 10:06

And then maybe it's a hard position to be in Speaking as a medical provider. It's hard.

Speaker 2: 10:13

You have to do what you have to do. I did ask the first doctor who diagnosed me if I could exercise and he said, yeah, okay, but be careful. And I didn't really like that statement because it was so non-committal. It was like, okay, I know, it's kind of good to exercise, but I don't really know. You know, what are you going to do? What is it going to do for you? So I'm not going to say no, I'm not going to say yes. I was left with that decision a little bit. But then I talked to a nurse who showed me how to use the injection apparatus and she said exercise is great for MS, Because MS, for example, causes a lot of fatigue If you exercise.

Speaker 2: 10:58

you make your body fatigue resistant, you stress your body with exercise and it comes back stronger and that's very good.

Speaker 2: 11:07

So that gave me the green light and I bought a book at the same time. At that time, when I was just sort of, I had the first treatment that I got with the second relapse was done. I felt sort of weak but I could walk, I could do all sorts of things. My hand is numb to this day. I wanted to become strong again, so I bought this book, one of the first books that said women should lift heavy weights. Then I started lifting and I've never looked back. I got stronger and stronger and better and better.

Speaker 2: 11:46

Reflexes that I had been told would never come back. They came back and my mental health improved dramatically. Because you get this positive, confident outlook. When you feel physically strong, you feel like nothing can happen to me and that's great. That's really. Now, when I look back, I'm not sure was it getting physically stronger and building muscle that made me get better so fast? Or was it the mental health aspect of me just feeling so good about myself and about life that helped me also get better? Because I do think that stress plays a huge role in so many health issues that we have and this made me sort of more stress resistant. I think my brush with it and this made me more stress resistant too, because when the worst has happened to you, it's not even the worst, but something really bad has happened to you and you've been taken to the toilet in a wheelchair. You're not scared of being late for an appointment or your kid getting a bed grade in school.

Speaker 2: 13:01

You know it's not that important actually it's a perspective shift.

Speaker 1: 13:05

It's like, oh okay, well, yeah, that is disappointing, but I remember what this was like, so this just feels like yeah absolutely.

Speaker 2: 13:17

And then we moved again. We moved to Spain that time, and I joined a gym. I never told anybody I had a mess, I was injecting myself, I was taking ibuprofen to deal with the flu like symptoms, because I didn't want to stay at home miserable, I just wanted to live my life. And after three years, in Spain, I told my neurologist my Spanish neurologist that we were going on a camping trip and I didn't want to take my injection thing on a camping trip. You know, we've just. You know it's not hygienic and it's like you have to take it on the plane because we're going to Canada. Okay, the medication needs to be in a fridge. Then you're going to talk to the flight attendants and say, can you put something in the fridge for me? And they say no impossible.

Speaker 1: 14:10

You put this needle full of an unknown substance in your fridge. That'd be great.

Speaker 2: 14:14

Yeah. So I asked him if I could stop, if I could stop for three weeks, just for the time of the vacation, and he said you know what, if you want to stop, like for real or good, I'm happy for you to try. I'm going to support you, mm, hmm, and this is this was so totally against all sort of rules and it was. You know, it was clear that this was something you had to do for life. But he was very up to date. He went to conventions and he was like the MS specialist in Spain and he said we're not quite sure anymore, actually, if this treatment is actually effective. So, even if you have problems again after stopping this, we're not going to go back to this, we're going to try something else. Hmm, and I found this, I found this very courageous of him to, you know, to tell a patient you know we've been treating you with something and now we're having doubts.

Speaker 2: 15:11

You know, this is like like a conversation between grownups and I really appreciated him for that, like, like you know a very a coach of who I like really very much, who thinks out of the box. He said, yes, just because we change, just because we changed our mind doesn't mean that we've been wrong before, and I think this was like what you know? He told me we're not sure, so I stopped. Yeah, that was six and a half years ago and I without treatment and without medication.

Speaker 1: 15:45

Hmm, yeah, it's. It's interesting. My husband has an autoimmune disorder called ankylosing spondylates where his spine slowly fuses his lumbar spine and what's been really fascinating is the most um efficacious treatment, if you will, that we have seen. He has not started meds yet because he has been able to so far prevent significant um decline has been strength training. When he stops lifting weights, it does not take long before he has a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. So it's really really fascinating how um strength training I think needs to literally strength training, not even just cardio. I mean he sees the difference between he'll still be playing basketball in the morning with friends before school before he teaches Um, but if he stops lifting, that's when he sees the difference. So anyway, the bottom line is it is really interesting. It seems like there needs to be a much deeper look at specifically strength training with autoimmune disease, which is definitely not something we're hearing, especially for women.

Speaker 2: 17:38

It's a big, big cultural battle and I'm in this battle every single day because I'm telling women all the time and I work mostly with midlife women.

Speaker 2: 17:48

They have all of these paramanopausal symptoms. They're struggling with all kinds of things and I keep telling them just do some strength training, get stronger, build muscle and most of your problems will I mean they will subside, they might even go away, or, if you have very bad symptoms, they will recede. Everything will get better with that and it's like a one-stop shop. But it's not the way we are brought up as girls, right? I don't know about you You're much younger than me but physical strength was not in the catalog of what a girl should sort of aspire to.

Speaker 2: 18:29

You want to be cute, you want to be pretty, you want to be, maybe, elegant and smart. I was sort of taught that I would need to be smart, and that was educated, that was well taught. But physically strong no, that doesn't even appear there. It's not seen as a virtue or as something that you want to aspire to, which is also weird, because when you see a woman, a mother, with two toddlers in her arms, carrying groceries at the same time, nobody's going to say, oh, this looks very unfeminine, isn't that too?

Speaker 1: 19:05

heavy for you, amen, yes, yeah, we load up. It's like a badge of honor how many grocery bags we can carry in at one time?

Speaker 2: 19:16

I will not go back to the car Only one trip.

Speaker 1: 19:21

I'll drag my kid by the heel if I have to. I will carry all the grocery bags. Yeah, I think what's so fascinating I'm glad that you brought up this point. This is something that I have addressed with clients as a fitness and nutrition coach is the concern is getting bulky, and there is definitely a woman. Bodybuilder is such a specialized art form that, yes, can you get really bulky? Yes, but it takes so much work to get that bulky. I mean, that is like that's a full-time job to even get that kind of bulk.

Speaker 1: 20:03

But I also think people misunderstand the physiological reality of muscle, because muscle is muscle. I mean, if you're going to put on muscle, it is going to be lean by definition. How your body genetically puts it on, you can't really do a whole lot about. So, in terms of bulk, I think one of the pieces that we don't talk about enough is the genetic element. Some women are going to get more muscular, faster and easier, and it's more likely due to their genetics than anything else. But the concept of being bulky they want lean muscle as opposed to bulky muscle. And the bottom line, what I'm trying to tell you all is that muscle is lean by definition, muscle is lean period. How you put it on is probably related to genetics, and a little bit of strategy as well, certainly. But what would you say to that woman as well? I'm sure you hear this too.

Speaker 2: 21:05

It depends on the mood I'm in on that day how I react, because sometimes I will just laugh, because it's Just take a look at all the guys toiling away in the gym, some of them for years. They are wanting to build that muscular look and they just can't get there. And then you woman walk up to me and you think, if you're going to look at a pink dumbbell from two yards away distance, you're going to become like this huge hulk of a woman.

Speaker 1: 21:36

No, way, it's just not possible.

Speaker 2: 21:40

Sometimes it also makes me angry when I'm in a bad mood because I think how can you even imagine this? It's such hard work you would have to and it's also minimizing the hard work that many people are putting in to become muscular. It's there, like you say, it's a full-time job and the women who have get this look genetically. I think they're outliers and there's always going to be people who are outliers and who have a certain reaction to a protocol that most people will not have. I think it's also because we still have these 70s images and narrative of pumping iron on Venice Beach, like in the scantily clad guys sweating away and doing like hundreds of bicep curls and stuff. I think this is still very much present. And I'm doing weightlifting now, olympic weightlifting and some people who follow me and who see my photos and read my posts.

Speaker 2: 22:45

They will say, wow, great what you're doing with your bodybuilding and I think, yeah, come on this is not it, because the important part of building that muscle and this is really what I'm repeating it until the cows come home it's functional. You're not going to go and build a bicep by curling it 5,000 times. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about functional training, training movements. So that you can lift those groceries Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 23:26

Say that one more time. Just repeat what you said one more time for all the women in the back who missed it.

Speaker 2: 23:33

It's about function, it's about rolling on the floor with your grandkids, it's about being able to get down on the floor, get back up from the floor. And I think the connection to what strength training does with illnesses and diseases is that I'm convinced that human bodies are optimized for physical effort, for daily physical effort, and by that I mean it's not that we live our lives and we sit at our computer all day long and then, if we want to be just a bit healthier, we're going to go out for a walk or we're going to go on a lifting session.

Speaker 2: 24:12

I think the baseline is we physically making efforts every single day, sweating and lifting and pushing and pulling stuff every day, and if we don't, our health will degrade, our health will deteriorate. So it's not. We're somewhere and we're trying to get better, but if we don't do this, we're going to get worse. There's no doubt about it, and you can see it all around us People who are in their fifties, who cannot get down on the floor and get back up again. What are they going to do when there's zombie apocalypse?

Speaker 1: 24:47

That's right, you're just going to sit on the floor.

Speaker 2: 24:51

They're going to be the first to be eaten. Yeah, but it's no joke. I think really.

Speaker 1: 24:56

Yes, no, I agree with you. Yeah, and this is the the piece to um that we need to just be able to own this reality that movement is harder than ever. I preach this all the time, like we have to be intentional about movement, now especially. You know, I'm 37. But you know, for my kids, I just think about the majority of their jobs are going to include computers. I will be shocked if any of their jobs don't.

Speaker 1: 25:25

And the fact is we are more sedentary than ever simply because of technology, and survival requires that technology now, unfortunately. So you know, the idea of just being active alone is not enough, because our baseline of activity is um, it's incompetent. It's not enough because our baseline has shifted. Like you just said, once upon a time our baseline activity might have been enough, but for future generations it won't. And so, like you said, the body was optimized to move. But because our baseline activity levels are not moving enough, we have to be intentional about it, which is precisely why Kim is changing the world, one midlife woman at a time. Because you do, you have to be intentional about movement now. So I think you're absolutely right.

Speaker 2: 26:20

And I don't you know, I go even further in this because I think the environment, the way it's built now, it's hostile to our health. It's hostile because of the way also our brain is hardwired, you know, to conserve that energy, to not move, to eat as much as we can whenever there's food available and then to conserve that energy by moving as little as possible, because this is a programming that has helped us survive forever and ever and ever.

Speaker 2: 26:49

This is how humanity evolved, and now our environment makes it so that this hard wiring that we have is killing us. Because if we don't, if we are not intentional, like you say, we're going to be just sitting, the food is going to be brought to our doorstep and we're not going to move any. You know, we're not going to carry things, we're not going to walk anywhere, we're not going to do anything. So I think it's actually gotten to a point where we have to fight for the right to move. It's not given. Nobody is giving this to us. It's not going to happen if we just sit here and do nothing. It's not going to happen. We have to say this is what I need, this is what my body needs, and I'm going to do it. And that could be also scheduling in a workout in your day and making sure that you get that movement done, because nobody is going to come up to you and say, hey, do you want to move a little bit today? It's not happening.

Speaker 1: 27:51

Yes.

Speaker 2: 27:51

You don't make it happen.

Speaker 1: 27:53

Yes, that's exactly right. We have to be more intentional about movement. In a minute we're going to dive into Kim's expert advice on that movement and her fabulous in 15 program on how you lose 15 pounds in 15 minutes a day and her tips on building strength. But before that, we're going to play around of, would you rather with Kim? We're going to learn a little bit more about her. Okay, Would you rather eat German food or Spanish food? Spanish food what is your favorite Spanish dish Like? If I was to come over to Spain and visit you, what would be the dish that you say you've got to try this. This is the best.

Speaker 2: 28:40

I think would be anchovies actually, which is a fatty fish which is, first of all, it's super healthy, but it's not about that. It has a very strong taste. It's a bit salty, it's even a little bit bitter, but it's like it has a full flavor and it's really great. Spanish anchovies they are like a specialty. You can buy anchovies Well, like 200 euros a kilo, which is okay. I have to probably translate that into Imperial right. That would be $100 a pound or something like this. So it's like really.

Speaker 1: 29:18

That's a lot of money for anchovies. Yes, now I'm so intrigued. I'm thinking maybe I don't want to visit Kim because anchovies sound terrible. However, I'm also intrigued to taste them.

Speaker 2: 29:32

Well, we could go for ham if you wanted, because they are really good on ham to the Spanish.

Speaker 1: 29:37

Interesting. Huh, that's really fascinating. I just was not expecting anchovies. That shows my American perspective of what Spanish food is. Okay. Well, I would love to come visit you in Spain. Even if I've to eat anchovies, I'm in. That sounds fantastic.

Speaker 2: 29:54

I can have your part.

Speaker 1: 29:58

Just take mine, perfect. Would you rather drink coffee or tea?

Speaker 2: 30:08

Hmm, that's impossible for me to answer If.

Speaker 1: 30:11

I really have to decide Interesting you don't have a preference, you love both I love both yeah. Wow, that's unusual. I will say that you were the first person ever to say that.

Speaker 2: 30:23

Really, because I start my day with coffee and then at some point in the day I move to tea and I sort of I'm a very ritualistic person, so I love both. If I had to really make a decision, I'd probably go for coffee, because it's easier to make bad tea than it is to make bad coffee.

Speaker 1: 30:44

Oh, this is also so fascinating. I would have said it's easier to make bad coffee than bad tea, but I also think you must have probably much better tea than what I'm drinking.

Speaker 2: 30:58

I come from a region in the north of Germany. I think they have the highest per capita tea consumption in the entire world.

Speaker 1: 31:04

Really, and they are so super ritualistic about the tea.

Speaker 2: 31:10

They would never use tea bags. It has to be loose leaf tea and you have to warm the pot, and then it's crazy stuff. So the thing is and that's a bit how it's brought up is, if I drink tea, I want it to be property. So if I have to choose there, okay, then it's probably going to be coffee.

Speaker 1: 31:29

That is so interesting. I actually grew up in Scotland for the first till I was five, and so my parents became big tea drinkers because of that. So we didn't grow up with coffee in our home. I'm a massive coffee fan, but I'm similar to you I start my day with coffee, but then I end it with tea, with decaf tea. So anyway, well, clearly I need to come visit because I need to taste this tea. I'm so curious now to have delicious German tea, would you? So now I'm going to ask a really controversial question Where's the best coffee or tea, then, that you've ever had? Because you've probably. I feel like just Europe in general is well known just for tea. Coffee, you enjoy it, you sit and it's an experience. We're here in America, we like drive through McDonald's and we're chugging it, you know, by the gallons where, as I understand it, you know, in Europe, it's an experience. You experience your coffee or your tea. So I'm curious your experiences throughout Europe where's the best coffee or tea you've had?

Speaker 2: 32:38

That's going to sound crazy, but I know very well because I just went there two weeks ago. There's a roastery in Manchester in the UK Okay, that's called Mancoco and they roast the coffee there and it's the best coffee I've ever had.

Speaker 1: 32:55

Oh, my goodness, okay, to bente my editor, make sure we include that. I love including links like this for those of you that ever want to travel. So Mancoco, c-o-c-o, that's it, yes, okay. Mancoco in Manchester, england, love that. Best coffee you've ever had Is the best tea from Northern Germany that you've ever had.

Speaker 2: 33:19

No, they have like a mix that they use the tea I like best. Oh, I once had and I can't find it now. I'm not sure it exists anymore. I once had a blend that was called Stronger Tea and that was also a UK tea, and I love that one. I love all kinds of awesome blends that have a little bit of robustness to them.

Speaker 1: 33:46

Yeah, I need to expand my tea drinking. I'm very boring. I drink slippery elm from my throat because I do so much speaking and I'm also a singer, but then I do peppermint tea as well, so those are the only two I drink. I need to expand and try others. There's so much to unpack with what you do and I love the concept and when I was scrolling through your website, what I really love is that you have niched down your expertise to women who are in that midlife, perimenopausal or menopausal stage, because it really is unique.

Speaker 1: 34:34

The hormonal changes that we experience as we get older, as women, really do almost create sort of a sense of isolation almost at times, I think from the health and fitness industry, because I have a friend, jenny Swisher, who says, unfortunately, the fitness industry just tries to make women smaller men, as opposed to tailoring custom programs targeted to the uniqueness that is women. I love that you've done that is what I'm getting at. All the testimonials I saw were women in their 50s and 70s and I think that's such a special thing that you've created for women and you've also kept it very manageable, which I love as well. But let's talk for a second about why building muscle is essential. We have suggested that for functional purposes, certainly to get stronger. But there's other reasons that muscle is essential to living well. Well, speak to that for a second. Why women need to be building muscle intentionally.

Speaker 2: 35:47

It's plain and simple health insurance. We mentioned the functional aspect. It's actually metabolically very important to have enough muscle because you will avoid all kinds of blood sugar shenanigans if you carry enough muscle. Your body stores sugar in the liver and in your muscle mass. If you have enough of that, if you have a big storage capacity for sugar, then you will not have troubles with blood sugar as you get older. So many women in that age group. They come to me and they say I was told I'm insulin resistant, I am pre-diabetic. You can really remedy that by building a decent amount of muscle mass and have that storage capacity. Metabolically you will be so much healthier. That's a big one in that age group.

Speaker 2: 36:45

Muscle mass is also very important for cardiovascular health. It sounds so weird. It's all these things that we've discovered over the years. There's all kinds of chemical stuff going on that I'm not going into, but it could be just because of the contraction that it helps transport the blood through your body. It makes the job easier for your heart. If you have nicely contracting muscles. It's crucial for joint health. That goes into the functional aspect too. But if you have enough muscle your joints will be protected. They will carry the bulk of your weight and will not be pounding your ankles and your knees with your body weight, because you have this elastic, spring-like substance in your body that's going to just take the front of the impact and then bounce back Then.

Speaker 2: 37:42

The one thing that I think this is also what most women notice when they start training, and it's one of the first things they notice is really the mental health aspect.

Speaker 2: 37:55

It's been shown over and over again as tons and tons of human studies that say that strength training will improve mental health symptoms. It will lessen anxiety, low self-esteem, symptoms of depression. It will all get better when you strength train. I find this a little bit hard to say, because I know that people who really suffer from hardcore depression or who are very low in their mental health and feel that they need help, the last thing they probably want to hear is you just go and lift some weights. It sounds a bit callous, but it's not. If you can find a way to make that accessible for someone who doesn't feel like they want to get up right now because they are so low, you can create a way for that to be accessible to them and they can just start by doing something very small, but start and do something, they will benefit. What's also fascinating is, as far as I know, the mechanism that causes this improvement in mental health has not quite been determined or identified.

Speaker 2: 39:08

We don't know how it works, but we know that it works For me. That's all we need to know.

Speaker 1: 39:15

Now, how do you balance this with cardio, with aerobic movement? How do you teach women to balance the two? Because obviously we have seen this shift. At one time it was just you get on the treadmill, you do your little steps, that old-fashioned machine that looked like it could hurt somebody, or the old ski pole machine with the wooden slats that could just fly off and stab someone. How do you balance cardio with strength training?

Speaker 2: 39:53

It all depends on your physical status. If you have never trained, if you're not very strong and if you have high mileage joints, I'm just going to ask you to go for walks and start with strength training first. There's a hierarchy of training in my system. The first thing you want to do is really become strong and strength train For quite some time. Going for walks daily is all the cardio you need, the problem being that if you want to go for runs, for example, I don't know how many women I've spoken to who told me I did a couch to 5K and I hurt my ankle. I took out my knee. Yes, cardio vascular health is important, but you just have to take the first step first and then go to the second step. If you train for myself, what I love to do is I lift three times a week and, if I can, I do an intense cardio session two to three times a week.

Speaker 1: 41:04

Your point is really well made, though I want to make sure women hear this, because I see this a lot as well. Like you said, the couch to the 5K, but if you do not have the strength, like she just said, to support the pounding, then your likelihood of injury is significantly higher. I get this question a lot from runners. I see a lot of runners who get frustrated by their lack of fat loss, for example, where they can still be a runner but still have frustrations with their midsection or still feel like they're somehow retaining that despite the fact that they run all the time. It's precisely this conversation. This is why, because of the metabolic properties of building muscle and running is just not enough, it's not holistic enough, but, on conversely, you've got to build the strength to be able to, especially if you don't have the cardiovascular baseline.

Speaker 2: 42:15

Yeah, and when it comes to fat loss and body composition, just go and look at the finish line of a popular marathon and how people look.

Speaker 2: 42:24

You know you get the specialists. Come in first. They're like tiny, they're built for this, and I think this is something that's a mistake, and it's a mistake I've made too. You see how really good marathon runners look, and then you think if you start training for a marathon, you're going to look like that. But it's the other way around. They run marathons because they are built like that.

Speaker 2: 42:50

It's not by running marathons that you become like that. It's because you are like that, that you're good at marathons and running still has this aura, this status that many women still think this is the one thing that will solve that problem and help them lose the weight. But if you do not have the strength and the joint health to support that, and if you combine that maybe with a caloric deficit, you're going to eat into your muscle and your bone health is not going to be supported enough by running. There's also quite a few studies to that effect. So you want that as like a. You know your second step. You want to be strong first and then, if you enjoy it and you I know that some people they love cardio because it gives you know that endorphin rush and you feel so good after it. So that's going to be your second step. It's not nobody's taking it away from you, but you want to be ready and fit to do it.

Speaker 1: 43:48

That's beautiful. I love that. I love that it's so practical Build the strength first, before you build the cardiovascular endurance. It talked us a little bit more about your fabulous and 15. I love the concept. Tell us how that looks for your clients. You know, if a woman's listening and she just resonates with what you're saying and I'm, you know so she's thinking like I just need something different. What is going to be the process that she experiences? And then touch a little bit on how you approach nutrition as well with your fitness program.

Speaker 2: 44:26

Yeah. So I'm going to start by saying that I, you know, I learned from my mistakes, because when I started out as a coach, as a trainer, I thought, okay, you know, the normal protocol is you do three times 45 minutes, you do, like you know, whole body training and you can have tremendous strength gains and you can get better really fast and everything. And then I realized that you know, I could write the most beautiful and most effective programs, but you know, the women weren't sort of doing them.

Speaker 1: 44:57

And I don't know how it.

Speaker 2: 44:58

Why is that? Because when you're a beginner, there's a lot of resistance to change, there's a lot of fear, there's a lot of anxiety and intimidation and most women I talked to they don't even want to go to a gym. They've tried, you know, with January 1st intentions, and then they found themselves on the gym floor not feeling at home. So I try to build something that creates the least amount of resistance to doing it. That's why I made it into 15 minutes a day, because I mean, maybe not the president of the United States, but most people will find 15 minutes in their day.

Speaker 2: 45:39

So, yes, you know, that sort of that obstacle is sort of out of the way. And then I made it into body weight exercises no equipment, you don't need much room, you just need your body and you can actually even, if you want, to do those exercises in your pajamas. And I really deliberately designed it like this so you can get started. If I tell you, you know, go to the gym three times a week. You have to pack a gym bag, you have to get into your car, you have to go through traffic, you have to find a parking spot, you have to go into the changing room, then you have to walk onto the gym floor.

Speaker 1: 46:20

And then the whole. I'm already exhausted just listening to it.

Speaker 2: 46:23

Absolutely right. Yes, so horrible, yes, but if I tell you, you know you get out of bed, you don't even have to, you know, change into any gym clothes. You just do a few movements that I'm going to show you, then you're going to do it, and then that's how we create momentum and the exercises will be designed according to where you're at. So when we start, we do an assessment. I look at how you move, how your strength is, how your mobility is, how you you know, how you hold yourself, how your body looks.

Speaker 1: 46:54

That's beautiful. It's very customized. It sounds like.

Speaker 2: 46:56

Absolutely which is amazing Because that's the, it's the biggest problem with midlife women because they, you know, they are smart, they can go on YouTube, they find great and there's great stuff on YouTube that you get for free, like that well programmed and and really good things that just not made for midlife women.

Speaker 2: 47:16

And then you know you just start and then you get hurt. So many have tried HIIT, also high intensity interval training, because you can read everywhere that it's the greatest fat burner on earth. So they think, oh my God, this is what I have to do because I want to burn fat, and you get hurt, or you get extremely frustrated because it's so hard, and it has to be hard. Hiit only works if it sucks.

Speaker 1: 47:41

If it doesn't suck, you're not doing it right.

Speaker 2: 47:43

So, it's not a protocol that you use to get in shape.

Speaker 1: 47:47

It's a protocol that you can use.

Speaker 2: 47:49

You are in shape, that's right. Then it's great. So this is why I make it, you know, really customized where you are at, so it must be challenging for you, but you know doable, and then very short. And then you do that every day and in a matter of two weeks most women say, oh my God, I have so much energy. It's amazing, you know, even when they start because they want to lose weight, it's like that's feeling stronger and more energized. That sort of really makes them buy into this.

Speaker 1: 48:22

And how long is your?

Speaker 2: 48:23

program. You can start with three months and see how you know how you get on, and then you can go on for another six months, but that both these three and six months include a nutrition approach. We're going to get to that right away. And then you know you can train. You can train with me forever. I can always find something to challenge you a bit more.

Speaker 1: 48:47

Yeah, yeah. And then tell us a little bit about your nutritional approach, because I know any woman listening to this is like Okay, but what about the diet?

Speaker 2: 48:55

Yeah, so there's no diet. I think this is the way to go.

Speaker 1: 48:59

There's no diet.

Speaker 2: 49:02

I'm not going to tell you to eat donuts all day long, but we're going to. Really, we work on eating habits. So, before we even talk about what to eat, we go into. How do we actually eat? Are we sitting down? Are we taking our time? Are we mindful, are we listening to our body when we know when we've had enough? Because that's such a huge, big, ginormous skill. If you can eat slowly and be in touch with your body and know when you've had enough, it's just you're safe forever. You can control your weight forever because you can go anywhere and even if you have to eat some optimal food, you're never going to overeat because you will take your time and you will know exactly. Okay, this is it for me. So that's a skill I insist a lot, a lot on. And then we move into the protein, because that's what we need for muscle building.

Speaker 1: 50:04

So we talk more about my favorite. Everyone here knows how much I love my protein. The protein is the secret.

Speaker 2: 50:12

Absolutely so. How do you want to eat protein? If you eat enough protein, you know the rest will sort of take care of itself. Of course I want you to eat tons of vegetables because I want all those nutrients to go into your body and that will help you also build muscle. But, like, the approach is what do I need to eat to perform, to feel good, to be that it's not, which is the forbidden food. Sometimes I have a client, that's. So which foods should I cut out? I don't care, I want you to eat this and then whatever's left in, you know, whatever hunger you have left, and you know you want to fill that with a donut once in a while, it doesn't matter at all. If you feed your body properly, it will have no problem dealing, you know, with a fun food once in a while.

Speaker 1: 51:00

Yes, and there is something. Yes, I was just going to say there's a fundamental shift for women. When you change the mindset from deprivation to abundance, when there's this idea that there is no food off limits, it is amazing. It's like we become six year olds again. It's like suddenly, when you're when nothing is off limits, we're like, oh, somehow it becomes less tempting because we can eat it. It's when we have this mindset that we have to eliminate entire food groups from our diet. I've never wanted bread more when I can't have it. Right, it's like as soon as we give ourselves permission that no, there is no like absolutely bad food. The problem is we're overeating all food and not eating enough of the right food. So I love that. I love that concept.

Speaker 2: 51:52

Yeah, and it's. I experienced that myself. You know, when I go to a weightlifting competition, you know you have to make the weight and you have to weigh as little as possible. So I do a little bit of. You know, especially on the day of the weigh in, you don't have breakfast, you only eat after the weigh in. So you're you're hungry and it's it can be a little bit sort of challenging. So I have this rule that after, after a competition, I can eat whatever I want. But you don't know how many times I come home I can eat whatever I want and I have chicken vegetables because it's just I'm so used to it, it's what I love. And you know I'm not going to go looking for some kind of treat food. That's going to be disappointing anyway because it's just going to taste sugary and weird. And that's exactly what happens when you you know. So you stop restricting yourself and you turn it around and ask yourself you know, what will give me energy, what will make my body feel good?

Speaker 1: 52:50

Yes, what will feel me to move optimally the way that we have been designed. This is a very specific question, but do you have a favorite chicken and vegetable recipe? Like you must eat chicken a lot, what is your favorite way to make chicken? Like you're no fail way, I have three kids that don't eat what I make. Oh, okay, give me your best chicken recipe.

Speaker 2: 53:16

Okay, so there's, here's the I. I'm not into fancy cooking or gourmet cooking. And I think some of the woman after my own heart, successful.

Speaker 2: 53:25

Yeah, and you, you know you just want to eat basically the same thing over and over. Yeah, if you can do that, you're going to be successful. So I use a boneless chicken thighs and I whack them into the crock pot and I could. I could do that with broth. Sometimes I do it with coconut milk and then some like really hot white pepper and curry spice. Right, there's also a recipe that I use. It's also just boneless, they can. They can chicken thighs and a lot of mustard and a bit, a little bit of maple syrup. Your kids are going to love that.

Speaker 1: 54:11

Oh, okay, wait, that one sounds what specific measurements, or you just dump it in.

Speaker 2: 54:19

It's like I usually do a kilo chicken and then I would go for let me set me say, like maybe two to three ounces of mustard, but it's like you know you'll probably want to use French mustard Like okay and a table and a table spoon of maple syrup.

Speaker 1: 54:38

So one kilo chicken thighs, and then I'm going to have my editor put this in the notes you guys, one kilogram chicken thighs, and we'll change that to pounds. And then you said how much mustard.

Speaker 2: 54:50

Three ounces I'd say. I use like 75 grams. That's a little bit less than three ounces, but three ounces is going to be okay.

Speaker 1: 54:58

Three ounces yellow mustard, and then how much maple syrup? Just one tablespoon. One tablespoon, so there's not a lot of liquid in it, then, oh yeah you want to?

Speaker 2: 55:10

yeah, that's a good point. You want to put like half a cup of water, maybe a little bit of broth.

Speaker 1: 55:21

Like a chicken broth, yeah, yeah. I am no, chef, but I think I'm. I think I'm right in saying right that the liquid needs to be almost to like the top of the chicken.

Speaker 2: 55:33

Oh, no, no you don't need that much. It does need that much.

Speaker 1: 55:35

Okay, I'm not a chef.

Speaker 2: 55:38

No, no, it's okay, it's all a matter of experience and sometimes, because I'm not into, I'm winging it a lot. But this recipe I've tried many times because you literally it's also good for women who have so little time. You just whack it in there and then you come home and this kitchen smells like somebody else has made dinner for you.

Speaker 1: 55:58

This is awful, exactly. I mean, someone else has. It's not like Kim has made dinner for us tonight, you guys? Okay, chicken thighs, half cup chicken broth, three ounces yellow mustard, one tablespoon maple syrup, and then how long do you put it in for?

Speaker 2: 56:13

In your slow cooker. You can put it like you know. You know that every slow cooker is a little bit different but, I, can cook it for four hours on low in mind. It's going to be fine.

Speaker 1: 56:22

Oh okay, ours typically for those, anyone who like. For us we usually do chicken like low six to eight hours. But to your point, every slow cooker is really really different.

Speaker 2: 56:34

Six hours is going to be fine too, and I'm a hundred percent sure that your kids are going to love that. Remember that the chicken thighs are boneless right, do they don't?

Speaker 1: 56:44

Yes, oh, I have no time for bones in my chicken. Get those out of here. No, yes, and we're going to sit and we're going to eat our dinner together. We're not going to be shoveling food in our mouths, ladies. Right, we're going to make this meal and we're going to sit, which is hard to do in our busy lives.

Speaker 2: 57:04

Yes, it's crazy. I mean, this is maybe very European, or maybe because my husband is French, but the amount of people who eat their dinner in front of the TV or not even sitting down, I find it pretty shocking. Because we love food so much. Right, we love food, so why do we need some distraction while we're having it? Why are we not? Focusing on enjoying that food that we love so much.

Speaker 1: 57:30

Yes, despite being a nutrition coach, this is something that I have to. This is something I have to work on all of the time because, just in the busyness of life, I just eat on the go. But it's to your point. I believe that God designed us to enjoy food, and that means, just like anything else, we need to sit down and just fully enjoy it, not be distracted by other things. So I so many nuggets of wisdom, kim, where can people find you? Learn more about your program, follow you.

Speaker 2: 58:04

You can go to my website, which is kimraherecom, and on there you will find a free assessment so you can find out about your health and your strength and you have an idea of that status quo, that point where you are at, because if you want to change something, you want to know exactly where you're at, and it's like a holistic questionnaire. So I ask about strength, but also about other circumstances in your life, so you get a really good idea of where you could start or what you could do next. When you take that. That's on my website, kimraherecom, and you can follow me on Facebook, kim Rahir, where I share weightlifting stuff, my adventures, what I do, tips and tricks and all sorts of things. I try to make it fun and would love to have you there.

Speaker 1: 58:48

Kimraherecom. Of course we will include all of the links in the show notes. Kim, it has been such an honor. I really pray God's blessing over your heart, your home, your health. Thank you so much for the way that you're inspiring women and really empowering women to live well. But it's been an honor having you, thank you.

Speaker 2: 59:09

Thank you so much. I had so much fun talking to you. It's great to have a kind spirit on the other side of the world.

Speaker 1: 59:16

That's right, I'm coming over. If you see me at your door one day, ola, I'm here, I'll hide the anchovies.