advice column | staying consistent, building glutes, running vs lifting & more

[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to The Fun and Games Podcast. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Brittany Lapton, and let the games begin. [SPEAKER_00]: Hello and welcome back to the Bunning Games podcast. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Brittany Lapton and I am so happy that you're here. [SPEAKER_00]: It just feels so good and so right to be able to chat with you guys every single Wednesday. [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like there are some fun things I want to bring to the podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: But for now, I feel like just staying consistent and uploading every single Wednesday is my main goal. [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm excited to kick in that routine and then we're going to just breeze on by and the podcast is just going to get better and better. [SPEAKER_00]: Today's episode is an advice column, so you asked some questions of run Instagram that I'm going to be answering for you, and this is a reminder that next week is going to be our gym stories episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we are going to welcome back the one and only dairy and left into the podcast, which I know so many of you are excited to hear from him again, so it's going to be a fun episode next week. [SPEAKER_00]: You can go ahead and write your stories to hello at funnygamespodcast.com. [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like emailing them in are probably gonna be the best way because a lot of the stories are longer and typically that's what we have done.

[SPEAKER_00]: And genuinely, I know you guys are excited, but I, I am so excited. [SPEAKER_00]: I love the gym stories episodes. [SPEAKER_00]: Those are some of my all-time favorite, just top tier. [SPEAKER_00]: And I miss you guys, so I'm so excited to hear from you all and everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: Moving on to the funnicking segment of this week, it is unexpected, it is coming from left field, it is running. [SPEAKER_00]: I typically, when I come to like cardio, love sprinting. [SPEAKER_00]: To me, sprinting is top tier. [SPEAKER_00]: That is one of my favorite forms of exercise. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what it is. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if it's nostalgic, because I did it in high school. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, it just releases certain endorphins.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I just feel so strong, so confident, something about sprinting and doing it all out. [SPEAKER_00]: So long distance running. [SPEAKER_00]: Not so much, it's a little bit different, but I have really started to enjoy it. [SPEAKER_00]: Now, you've all heard in the last week's episode, I ran a 10K, we did run some of it, and then we walked some of it. [SPEAKER_00]: So the most I've ran without stopping is for miles, that's it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And to some of you, you're like, wow, four miles, that's a lot. [SPEAKER_00]: And others, if you, you're like, that's like my base short run. [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm getting there. [SPEAKER_00]: but for me I have a half marathon coming up in a couple months and that is what I have been training for and honestly it has been really fulfilling and really exciting to have a goal and to slowly like check off and mark off all of these little [SPEAKER_00]: milestones that I'm doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am using the Runna app, which is fantastic. [SPEAKER_00]: So I put in when my race is, how far it is, like how long the runna is in a bout like an average. [SPEAKER_00]: So if you're looking to get into running or you have a race up, you probably already know about the app, runna. [SPEAKER_00]: That is what I am using and I'm really loving. [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I genuinely recommend this. [SPEAKER_00]: This is in pain or endorsed or anything.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm paying my own money for this app, but it has been so nice because I just put in like, when my race is and it wrote me a plan. [SPEAKER_00]: I think I have like, I don't know, 10, 11, 12 weeks too.

[SPEAKER_00]: prep for this race so it gave me what week one is going to be what week two what week three and it is so nice you can pick how many days you want to set up to run and it creates that workout plan for you which is so nice especially when it comes to running it is so different than lifting like I can write a lifting program like the back of my hand but actually like preparing for a race like

[SPEAKER_00]: These interval runs and then like these slower runs, the long runs, the tempo runs. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very new to this world. [SPEAKER_00]: So it has been really nice and educational being able to learn a little bit about some other form of exercise which has been very fun and rewarding and also just push myself in such a different way. [SPEAKER_00]: I and just [SPEAKER_00]: Seriously, you have such a fire. [SPEAKER_00]: After last year, I'm like, let's get to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to push myself. [SPEAKER_00]: I want to try and things and I love that I have a race on the docket. [SPEAKER_00]: Again, later on in this year. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm seriously looking forward to it and training for it has been really rewarding. [SPEAKER_00]: So my first week is what I'm in right now, and I've done two runs so far. [SPEAKER_00]: I did a short run.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was 2.75 miles on Monday, and then today, Wednesday, I did 3.75 miles, and it's certain intervals. [SPEAKER_00]: It says, okay, speed up to this pace or slow down to this space. [SPEAKER_00]: So it's really nice. [SPEAKER_00]: It kind of gives you the audio cue as you are running, which has been really helpful. [SPEAKER_00]: That I don't have to like, [SPEAKER_00]: Focus on it. [SPEAKER_00]: It just tells me and it can tell what my pace is.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am still like trying to figure out what shoes do I like what do I like deep before I run? [SPEAKER_00]: What do I want to try while you know in the run? [SPEAKER_00]: I know people use like gels or gummies or whatever, so it's gonna be a slow [SPEAKER_00]: learning curve to that, but that's also kind of the fun part when you're starting something new. [SPEAKER_00]: Like, you're starting going to the gym again.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's fun figuring out what pre-work I like, what act of where you like and finding the things that make it personal and exciting and special to you. [SPEAKER_00]: So doing that and running has been fun. [SPEAKER_00]: And I do three runs a week and then I do three gym sessions a week. [SPEAKER_00]: And so far, it's been great. [SPEAKER_00]: I have been loving it. [SPEAKER_00]: So you'll be able to keep [SPEAKER_00]: Some of you are probably pros listening to this.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to hear your to-bit and advice. [SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to running, if you ever want to share. [SPEAKER_00]: And without further ado, let's hop into this advice column. [SPEAKER_00]: Again, thank you all for writing in for the podcast Instagram, as well as my own personal.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to start off with two that I feel like kind of go in the same boat. [SPEAKER_00]: And there's [SPEAKER_00]: more than just two that were asked about this. [SPEAKER_00]: Basically it's staying consistent. [SPEAKER_00]: This one's a staying consistent with the family.

[SPEAKER_00]: What I do with feelings of guilt if I can't juggle everything and another one is what is your advice for maintaining a healthy routine while in grad schools specifically but just in life I feel like staying consistent and maintaining a routine is so hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: like that is I feel like most of us are trying to figure it out very seldom do I feel like oh I've nailed this like I've got this I feel like even if I feel like I'm doing pretty good for a while I will still think I can do better I can do better and I wonder if part of that is [SPEAKER_00]: the fact that we consume social media where it seems like people are on all the time, whereas in reality we are human.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have some great productive times, where maybe we're productive for a couple hours in a day, great, or we're extra productive for a whole week. [SPEAKER_00]: A month like I just feel like there is no grace, or there is less grace nowadays because there's so much comparison.

[SPEAKER_00]: and part of me thinks when we're scrolling through our feed, whatever it is, on whichever platform you're deciding to scroll on, you see maybe 15 seconds to a minute of one person's life, and then you scroll to the next and see another 15 seconds to one minute of another person's life, and you keep going and going and going and it looks like [SPEAKER_00]: All these people have it all together all the time, but in reality, like nobody has it all together all the time.

[SPEAKER_00]: It isn't possible. [SPEAKER_00]: We are human. [SPEAKER_00]: We have needs. [SPEAKER_00]: We have priorities. [SPEAKER_00]: There is a thing called balance. [SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes that balance varies week to week. [SPEAKER_00]: For example, sometimes I'll have a super heavy couple days of work where it's like three, four days. [SPEAKER_00]: My head is down. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm grinding. [SPEAKER_00]: And you want to know what's not getting done is cleaning my house.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like my laundry. [SPEAKER_00]: Like mundane housework is not getting done because most of my focus is going to be on work whenever like venues in school And then I'll need to take a day where okay, most of that day is then focused on catching up on all the things I need to like on a Saturday or a Sunday And I feel like to me in a week if I look at it bigger than just one day a week that works for balance for me

[SPEAKER_00]: So let's work on not comparing what our lives look like even though it's really hard to do and it's honestly something we do subconsciously is thinking that oh we're never doing enough somebody's always doing more. [SPEAKER_00]: So give yourself some grace. [SPEAKER_00]: Don't compare as much, especially to others live, especially on social media, but that's so hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like it's easier said than done because I feel like a lot of it's subconscious because we are constantly consuming overconsuming [SPEAKER_00]: seeing fragments of a hundred different people's lives, so it feels like everybody's doing that, but in reality, it's not, and it's only snippets, so it just really warps our perception of reality, so I feel like that can bog our mind down a little bit, but when it comes to just trying to

[SPEAKER_00]: have some kind of consistency that wider perspective has really helped me in the past and that is what I'm really aiming for now as I'm going back into a you know a big fitness journey after having taken a quite extensive break. [SPEAKER_00]: So let's say you hit four workouts in a week. [SPEAKER_00]: And you want it to hit five, and then the next week you hit five workouts in that week.

[SPEAKER_00]: The week after that you hit six, and then the week after that you hit three, maybe four. [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like as a whole, that looks pretty consistent to me. [SPEAKER_00]: That is trying to show up, trying to put your best effort in, and trying to gain a rhythm of routine, because you're going to get a routine by action. [SPEAKER_00]: So you have to put in some of that effort and I feel like when you first start the actions are going to be smaller and it's hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: But instead of that first week, you only hit four workouts instead of the five that you wanted, what did you do? [SPEAKER_00]: Did you give up? [SPEAKER_00]: No, the next week you came back at it and you hit five days and then the week after that, let's say you came back like I said, you then hit six days a week and you're like, oh yeah, this is awesome. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, I can do this. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm trying to stay consistent.

[SPEAKER_00]: But then the week after that, you know, you hit three or four again. [SPEAKER_00]: And so it dipped back down, but overall, if you look at it as a month, it equals out to be the same number of days you would work out if you were trying to hit those four, five days a week. [SPEAKER_00]: So I feel like opening up our perspective and our mind that fitness doesn't have to be so black and white, it is not have to be all or nothing.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that can be kind of in the back of [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so sick of it, right? [SPEAKER_00]: We get to the point where like I'm so sick of this. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so sick of looking this way. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so sick of feeling this way I'm angry at myself. [SPEAKER_00]: I want to change and so we have all of that motivation. [SPEAKER_00]: We start out with some good momentum We make it one, two, three days. [SPEAKER_00]: We feel like oh, you know what pattern my back?

[SPEAKER_00]: I've done good. [SPEAKER_00]: I've already done the hard things. [SPEAKER_00]: I got this [SPEAKER_00]: Then we start to ease up a little bit, you know, you have a little bit of a lighter easier day where maybe you decide you're going to skip the gym, oh, I'm too sore, I already did three days this week. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm good, you need a little bit extra or whatever, you know, you're not following whatever your nutrition goals or plans are.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then pretty soon you realize, oh, I am not in this routine anymore. [SPEAKER_00]: and then you get really down on yourself and you're like, oh, I'm not consistent. [SPEAKER_00]: And instead of just picking up where you left off, you completely fall off the bandwagon you say, I give up. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not doing this anymore. [SPEAKER_00]: Until you get so sick of yourself again, that you restart that cycle over and over again.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as a personal trainer, I have seen that. [SPEAKER_00]: It's so hard to break that cycle and I want you to know that you are not the only one. [SPEAKER_00]: If you do struggle with that, there is so many variables when it comes to your health and fitness journey. [SPEAKER_00]: And it is so personal to everybody and everybody has different experiences and different backgrounds of how they grew up that really just play into these key behavioral factors.

[SPEAKER_00]: So to sum all of this up into like two or three bullet points, it's one for consistency. [SPEAKER_00]: Find a way to measure it. [SPEAKER_00]: as you keep showing up and have like a bigger perspective when it comes to that. [SPEAKER_00]: In two set goals, just say, you know what, whatever that thing is that you want to be more consistent on, try it for a day, try it for a week. [SPEAKER_00]: Once you have accomplished that, then move on to more, add more days on, add more weeks on.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the third thing is to not give up and to remember that this is not all or nothing. [SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna have tough days, you're gonna have bad days. [SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna have days where you're not able to make it to the gym. [SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna have days where there's a family emergency and there are days where work has to take more of your time. [SPEAKER_00]: Like priorities and balance shifts.

[SPEAKER_00]: So frequently I want you to understand that and to try to be consistent as much as you can, showing up in little ways and maybe your workouts change. [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe instead of okay, you wanted to hit the gym, but maybe I can go on a 10-minute walk. [SPEAKER_00]: or a 20 minute run, or something is better than nothing if you're really trying to hit these goals.

[SPEAKER_00]: And at the end of the day, the way that you build your own routine is by showing up and following through with the actions that you have set. [SPEAKER_00]: You've set whatever those goals are. [SPEAKER_00]: You've set your intention. [SPEAKER_00]: You know what you want to do. [SPEAKER_00]: Your routine is built on your actions. [SPEAKER_00]: It comes down to doing it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even on the hard days, even on the days when you feel like you don't have enough time, getting it done anyways, and just knowing you're stronger than your excuses, and you'll be so proud of yourself for showing up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Question number two, this person wants to know how to balance running and lifting, and I feel like this is a good time for me to actually talk on this because I am training more hybrid, and I feel like [SPEAKER_00]: First and foremost, if you just want to run for fun, I feel like this can look a lot different. [SPEAKER_00]: If you're training for a race, I feel like it's also going to look a little different. [SPEAKER_00]: So I'll talk on training for a race.

[SPEAKER_00]: The priority is the race. [SPEAKER_00]: A sub-priority is still strength training. [SPEAKER_00]: Like I have to be in the gym, I love the gym, and you should be doing cross training even when you're training four half marathon's marathon's, et cetera. [SPEAKER_00]: For me, I picked that I want to run three days a week. [SPEAKER_00]: if you want to run three days a week, have that, assign those days out. [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to run four days a week, assign that out.

[SPEAKER_00]: Five days I feel like one or two of those runs should be shorter interval and not as heavy so that you could still potentially do some type of lifting or some type of workout class still, but on the days that I'm not running, I'm working out five to six days a week.

[SPEAKER_00]: So two or three gym sessions every single week is [SPEAKER_00]: As my body is starting to get more comfortable, I might be able to add an extra upper body day or a workout class on one of my shorter runs, but for now my body is definitely feeling it because it has not had this much strain for a while, so I need to ease into it, but you can totally balance running and lifting. [SPEAKER_00]: And honestly, you should, like even when you're main priority is on lifting.

[SPEAKER_00]: You should still be incorporating some kind of cardio, whether that's sprints, or you know, mild runs, whatever it is, it's so good. [SPEAKER_00]: Both are, you know, there's aerobic and anaerobic exercises. [SPEAKER_00]: It's so good to have both, so I strongly encourage that regardless if you're training for a race or not.

[SPEAKER_00]: This next question and advice is a little bit more lifestyle-based instead of health and fitness, but I was interested because I got quite a few of these.

[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of you it seems that you're going to be moving to a different city country, you're moving across the country, and I'll give myself my own badge of honor of [SPEAKER_00]: Miss moving clean because I grew up in army brat and then daring and I have moved nine times I believe in ten years of marriage So I am not new to moving. [SPEAKER_00]: It is hard. [SPEAKER_00]: There is good about every single place that I have lived for me I feel like most of my moves have been

[SPEAKER_00]: Pretty easy in a sense of I'm always up for adventure and also with the army I don't really have control over that but with Darian and I we have made decisions of moving a lot based on his work and where he wants to work where he's going to grad school etc We've moved a ton and for us like how did we feel confident in that decision because that's what one of the questions asks [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, I think my perspective is different, but maybe this will help you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing is permanent, so even if you move and you don't like it, you can always move again. [SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of times we can get caught up in the headspace that we can be stuck, and that once you make a decision you're stuck there, but you're not. [SPEAKER_00]: you can always make a new decision, you can always leave, and also, the flip side of that, you might never know how great things could be if you don't take that leap of faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: If both of you feel strong about it, daring and eye are religious, so like this is something that we normally personally like to pray about, and then if we feel good about it, we like to move forward with the opportunities. [SPEAKER_00]: And that for us helps us feel confident in those decisions. [SPEAKER_00]: Like when we decided to move to Florida, we both had to very personal experiences where we knew, okay, this is right.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is where we want to be and even helping like pick our house. [SPEAKER_00]: We just had certain feelings that we knew we were picking the right place. [SPEAKER_00]: If you're not as religious, [SPEAKER_00]: You know, you can always still give that a shot and pray about it, but I think just talking things through and also there's a balance of taking that leap of faith because sometimes you need to move for a job or you want to move and it can be really scary.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is hard every single time for it's own reasons, but it's also really great. [SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like it... [SPEAKER_00]: helps you grow and be strong in so many different ways. [SPEAKER_00]: And if you look at it positively, I think that's something that my mom really helps teach. [SPEAKER_00]: All of us kids is, hello, let's have some fun. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's find our new routine. [SPEAKER_00]: Like, let this is exciting. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go find our new grocery store.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go find the new post office. [SPEAKER_00]: Like, everything has its own sense of newness. [SPEAKER_00]: And also, nobody knows you. [SPEAKER_00]: So if there are, like, [SPEAKER_00]: personality traits that you want to leave behind or like past that you want to leave behind. [SPEAKER_00]: It's so great to start fresh and to start new and new beginnings can be so incredibly beautiful. [SPEAKER_00]: So there are some good pluses to taking out leaf of faith and moving.

[SPEAKER_00]: jumping back into another fitness question and advice on growing glutes. [SPEAKER_00]: There were a couple on these and let me say yes, I feel like it has been so long since I've talked about muscle building and tips and tricks and everything so it's actually really fun and exciting to talk about this again. [SPEAKER_00]: I know when I was in my glute growth phase, I typically was doing two workouts a week. [SPEAKER_00]: And for my growth phase, I moved it to three days a week.

[SPEAKER_00]: I went into progressive overload and I wanted to increase that volume. [SPEAKER_00]: So I broke up my leg and glute days into three days a week. [SPEAKER_00]: I would do squats as like a heavy compound one week with some accessories. [SPEAKER_00]: And then the second day would be deadlifts.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then I would of course do like accessories with that for the glutes in hands and then the third I would do hip thrusts and I would do some extra accessories for glutes in hands. [SPEAKER_00]: The day I did squats I normally would do more emphasis on quads for that workout, but even just upping the [SPEAKER_00]: volume and my training frequency. [SPEAKER_00]: That's two good ways to help with progressive overload.

[SPEAKER_00]: Since you're trying to grow muscle, so I would suggest that if you're an in-intermediate gym gore, like you've been going to the gym and you really want to focus on glutes, that's what I would suggest and I do have some good YouTube videos to give you good workouts. [SPEAKER_00]: For that, specifically, like a lot of hip-hinging movements, glutes, RDLs, step-ups, Bulgarian split squats, all of those, [SPEAKER_00]: fantastic.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're a little bit more of a newbie, I would say have one or two dedicated leg and glute days in your week. [SPEAKER_00]: Again, focusing on those hip-hinging movements, the ones I previously said.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to add these next two in together, a couple of asked how to gain confidence, and the summer asking how to get a spark back. [SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like this is something that obviously last year, I feel like I lost a little bit of my confidence as well as my spark. [SPEAKER_00]: And things I'm doing now to try and get that back are mostly taking action.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is even if I don't feel like it and even if I am trying, like coming up with excuses, I'm trying to do the things that I said I want to do and actually make those changes and take that action because for me, I feel so much more confident when I say I'm going to do something and I do it. [SPEAKER_00]: It builds trust with myself, it builds rapport with myself, it builds myself confidence, because I know I'm somebody I can rely on. [SPEAKER_00]: and that makes me feel good.

[SPEAKER_00]: If I say I'm gonna go to the gym today, I'm gonna go to the gym. [SPEAKER_00]: I am going to do that. [SPEAKER_00]: And that builds that trust in myself. [SPEAKER_00]: I personally felt like my work and my hobby of working out in the gym was gone. [SPEAKER_00]: It forced me to pivot and to find some more hobbies to take up my time. [SPEAKER_00]: And finding new hobbies that I enjoy gave me such a full purpose.

[SPEAKER_00]: and gave me such a feeling of purpose again and happiness and joy. [SPEAKER_00]: And I would highly recommend if you're struggling with this spark. [SPEAKER_00]: For example, I'll just have the gym be an example. [SPEAKER_00]: If you're struggling trying to get your passion and spark back for the gym for you know, eating healthy for all of this.

[SPEAKER_00]: One, give yourself grace because maybe you've been in this like me for seven eight years and sometimes you get a little bored. [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you get, you're like, wow, again, the same thing again. [SPEAKER_00]: Like, honestly, the last year, it was almost like a huge recharge because I'm like, oh, I can finally go again. [SPEAKER_00]: And now I'm like, all amped up. [SPEAKER_00]: I've all this pent-up energy. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, whoa, let's go again.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so fun. [SPEAKER_00]: It's so exciting again. [SPEAKER_00]: Whereas, like, that break. [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe, you know, there were some good things that came out of it, even though, obviously, I would prefer things to be differently. [SPEAKER_00]: Trying to look at the positives there. [SPEAKER_00]: But to get the spark back, [SPEAKER_00]: For the thing that you maybe feel like you've lost, trying other things can also help ignite a spark.

[SPEAKER_00]: So for me, that was reading. [SPEAKER_00]: Holy cow, that has changed so much about me. [SPEAKER_00]: and just my imagination, my creativity, even just like my happiness, I just feel so happy, I love reading. [SPEAKER_00]: And that has made me feel so excited. [SPEAKER_00]: And so, because I've been able to kind of get my spark back and excitement and just enjoy in simple things again, getting my spark back at the gym has also helped.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, sometimes taking a break, it can be good to help you realize, I hope I really love that, I really missed that. [SPEAKER_00]: And secondly, sometimes adding in something new that's totally different from what you feel like you've lost your spark for can get you excited that way when you go back to the other thing or you just start enjoying life a little bit more. [SPEAKER_00]: I hope that makes sense, but it did in my brain.

[SPEAKER_00]: This one says how has journaling helped your outlook when life gets hard. [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, journaling for me is a way to just kind of put my thoughts and ideas. [SPEAKER_00]: down on a page. [SPEAKER_00]: It helps kind of clear my mind and my anxiety. [SPEAKER_00]: And I think it helps just articulate what I'm feeling. [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes I'm feeling a lot and I'm overwhelmed and then that causes a little bit of anxiety and I'm like, what am I feeling?

[SPEAKER_00]: What's the root cause of this? [SPEAKER_00]: And taking the time to actually just sit and unplug, like seriously, think to yourself, when is the last time you put your phone down and like sat in silence? [SPEAKER_00]: I like I swear, even that is so rare these days and like no TV on, no music on, like you just kind of sit with your own thoughts. [SPEAKER_00]: Think about that. [SPEAKER_00]: You should give yourself at least five minutes in the day to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whether that's journaling or meditating whatever it is, like... [SPEAKER_00]: come on. [SPEAKER_00]: There's so much time in the day, give yourself some time to think things through, to think and to feel and to just be and exist. [SPEAKER_00]: So for me, journaling has always been a huge, huge help from when I was a teenager to now. [SPEAKER_00]: I do highly recommend journaling. [SPEAKER_00]: It helps just process everything and give yourself some time to just think and feel.

[SPEAKER_00]: There were quite a few of asking for advice of how to start working now again at Postpartum, dealing with Postpartum, and all of that, and you know what's crazy is. [SPEAKER_00]: It's been like six years now, and I'm like trying to think back in the archives of my mind. [SPEAKER_00]: What did I do? [SPEAKER_00]: I remember it being extremely difficult for the first nine months to a year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once a year, I think our gym had a kid's own that Vinnie could go to when he was a year old, so then I was able to go to the gym and kind of get a sense of a routine of myself again. [SPEAKER_00]: But that first year, I think it was actually COVID, so I think I was just working out at home during nap times or going out for runs.

[SPEAKER_00]: I remember doing that a lot, gyms were closed down, so there really wasn't anything else to be doing in the first place, but I just tried to make time and do what I could. [SPEAKER_00]: I also know, like, I'm gonna be honest, the first six to nine months, I wasn't worried or focusing on trying to get really back into shape. [SPEAKER_00]: I was breastfeeding, I was in survival mode, and I told myself, hey, it took me nine, 10 months to grow.

[SPEAKER_00]: A baby, I'm going to get myself nine ten months to feel like a normal human again, before I start really trying to get back into the gym and health and fitness. [SPEAKER_00]: So again, at about that nine month mark to that one year mark, that's really when things started for me, one year to two year. [SPEAKER_00]: And I could tell, I'm like, oh, I start feeling a little better after two years. [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, oh, I feel really good three years.

[SPEAKER_00]: feeling good like you know it just got better and better and easier and easier so just take care of yourself and if you're super new to postpartum like please just take a breath sit in those feelings um i know part of you you're mourning uh your your past self and that's very normal that's very okay [SPEAKER_00]: So it's, it's very easy for us to be like, oh, I want to, you know, get back to the gym.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is nice to have you time to have just an hour in the day to focus on you. [SPEAKER_00]: But on the flip side, just think of it as, you know, at about a year, things get a lot easier. [SPEAKER_00]: So fingers crossed, you're hanging in there, all my mom is, and squeeze your little lens extra tight for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: The last one I'm going to do for today is, what is the biggest mistake beginners can make? [SPEAKER_00]: I thought this was interesting because I feel like my answer has changed over the years and I have made quite a few videos of like fitness mistakes I made and like what beginners should know, etc. [SPEAKER_00]: and I think for me and my brain like the first thing that comes to my mind is like giving up and thinking fitness is all or nothing.

[SPEAKER_00]: So like the first time you attempt to hurt all like the first day you may be wake up late and you realize you can't go to the gym before [SPEAKER_00]: or you're so tired, you got off work late and you can't hit the gym after or you're dealing with a sick kid and you can't go to the gym. [SPEAKER_00]: Like the first day that something happens so many people throw in the towel and they're like, that's it. [SPEAKER_00]: Like I can't do it and they just like sit and let that be.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for me I feel like that is such a mistake because [SPEAKER_00]: each day is a fresh start. [SPEAKER_00]: And I love this saying because even if yesterday was not good, even if this morning was not good, the evening is a new start. [SPEAKER_00]: Like life is full of so many different opportunities in each day. [SPEAKER_00]: You get another chance to try again, and it doesn't have to be all or nothing, especially in health and fitness.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because you must have forgotten the purpose, [SPEAKER_00]: is to have a nice, long and pain-free life. [SPEAKER_00]: Play with your grandkids. [SPEAKER_00]: Just enjoy your life, go do adventures and just not have any extra pain or just be able to feel confident in healthy and know you're taking care of yourself. [SPEAKER_00]: That is why we do all of this. [SPEAKER_00]: So if one day is better or worse than the other, that's life. [SPEAKER_00]: This is all just part of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And having a long-term perspective really helps. [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope you guys can remember that and have the best week coming up. [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you all so much for listening to today's podcast episode. [SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait for next week. [SPEAKER_00]: So remember, it is Jim's stories with the one and only Dairy in Laptons. [SPEAKER_00]: So please write your stories in at hello at fundingainspodcast.com. [SPEAKER_00]: We can't wait to read it on over.

[SPEAKER_00]: next week and have some good laughs together. [SPEAKER_00]: It has been a long time coming, so with that being said, thank you all so much, and I'll talk to you all next week for some more Bunning Gains. [SPEAKER_00]: Bye! [SPEAKER_00]: You are listening to the Bunning Gains podcast with your host, Brittany Laptain. [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to another episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review this podcast, and we'll see you all next time for some more Bunning Gains. [SPEAKER_00]: Bye! [SPEAKER_00]: Bye!