Heart to Heart with Hads
Welcome to Heart to Heart with Hads, the podcast where we dive deep into living a healthy, badass lifestyle that challenges the norm. Join me, Hads, as I share stories that have shaped my journey toward becoming the best version of myself, defying expectations and embracing big goals—including my pursuit of bodybuilding. As a young person navigating a world filled with stereotypes and expectations, I'm here to inspire others to break free from the typical 20-year-old narrative and forge their own path. Throughout this podcast journey, I'll bring on guests who have played pivotal roles in my life, sharing their wisdom, experiences, and perspectives. Get ready for candid conversations, valuable insights, and a whole lot of inspiration to live authentically and fearlessly. It's time to open our hearts, challenge the status quo, and embrace the journey of self-discovery together. Welcome to Heart to Heart with Hads, where we dare to be different, pursue our passions, and live life on our own terms.
Heart to Heart with Hads
Ep. 30 | Tapping Into Your MILF Era: Haley Wienke - Prenatal & Postpartum Coach
Join us on Heart to Heart with Hads as we sit down with Haley, an inspiring fitness coach who has dedicated her career to revolutionizing prenatal and postpartum fitness. Discover how her unique blend of exercise physiology and physical therapy expertise is empowering mothers to reclaim their strength and confidence after pregnancy. Through our engaging conversation, Haley debunks myths like the taboo of pregnant women lifting weights, showing how tailored exercises can actually prepare the body for the challenges of labor and delivery. Her personal journey from athlete to mother adds depth to her professional insights, making her advocacy for maternal health both relatable and transformative.
As we explore the path to postpartum fitness, Haley introduces the "five, five, five rule" for a gradual recovery process, highlighting the importance of rest and reconnection with core and pelvic floor strength before diving into more intense workouts. We also tackle the emotional hurdles of motherhood, including the notorious mom guilt, and emphasize the importance of self-care for long-term well-being. For working moms, Haley offers insightful advice on balancing personal and family needs through effective communication and decisive action. Plus, she shares a delicious gnocchi with Italian sausage and veggies recipe to help busy moms stay nourished and energized. Get ready for practical tips and heartfelt insights that will inspire you to embrace a balanced and fulfilling fitness journey.
If you're interested in learning more about what Haley and how she helps moms, you can follow her on Instagram: @halwink_fit
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Okay, hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Heart to Heart with Hads. Today I have Haley with me and this is actually our first time meeting, like virtually. So I'm really excited to have you on the podcast and just kind of talk about you, what you do, and just kind of ask some questions. But just before diving in, I want to hear just a little bit about you and what inspired you to get into the fitness space.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, like I said, I'm Haley. I have always been an athlete. So I started soccer when I was four years old, moved into soccer and cross country at the same time, then volleyball and track at the same time, going from a D like going from an athlete to then college right, like you kind of stop everything, right, right.
Speaker 2:But I also had seen all of the health issues that my family had gone through and I knew, like being active and all that, like when you live with your parents, like you don't get a say in what you get to eat, like it's what right, that's what you get right, yes, but seeing my family on both sides like deal with so many health issues, medications that had to be taken like my grandpa had a box of medications that he had to take and I was like I need to do whatever I can in my power not to have to be on medications, not to have to rely on something to live right and then moving out on your own, going to college like I went to college out of state.
Speaker 2:I didn't have anybody to like, help me, structure or guide things. So my background is in exercise physiology with a focus of physical therapy. But I saw a huge gap for moms since I started coaching nine years ago and seeing how moms just kind of get lost, even like you know athletes that go from like having everything structured for them to then getting pregnant and seeing their bodies change and the way that we just don't expect our bodies to go through and the mindset shifts that come with it. Um, it's just a huge hole in women's health that yeah, I was like I totally agree.
Speaker 2:This needs to be a focus for somebody, like somebody needs to help educate these women. I mean, you get all these prenatal checkup appointments and you get one postpartum one. That's it. Like what about after that? What about after the first six weeks? Like how do I get back in the training, how do I become an athlete again postpartum and not have all of these other issues with it? So yeah, I think that's super important too.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, I love that. What led you to focus on prenatal and postpartum fitness and nutrition specifically?
Speaker 2:The biggest things is moms forget about themselves. Like moms forget about the fact that you are the backbone to your family and if can't function, your family won't function at its highest capacity. Um, seeing you know moms be anxious and I don't say mean, but like they're just burnt out and they snap and they, you know, don intentionally do it, but it's because they forget about themselves. Um, yeah, so not my whole mantra is like getting into your milf era and, and yes, like I love that Every mom wants to feel confident. They want to feel comfortable in their skin postpartum. But it's more, like the way I kind of gear it towards, is like being a mother who's invested in their own personal life and fulfillment of that life, because if you aren't fulfilled in who you are, like your kids are going to remember that your kids are going to remember being anxious and short tempered and not be able to play with them and not be able to keep up with them.
Speaker 2:That's what they're going to remember. And then you're going to be the grandparent that can't do that with your kids. Kids right, like yeah, it's just a huge hole for moms. We get forgotten about once we become a mom, like while you're pregnant, how are you, how are you, how are you? And then, once you have the baby, it it's like how's the baby, how's the baby, how's the baby? It's like I'm right here, like yeah, How's mine?
Speaker 1:Yeah Right, and you're a mom, right, correct.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I have a 16 month old. She just turned 16 months, so she's in that time where it's exciting and she's chaos as well right lots of changes yes, a lot of rapid changes too right, yeah, cool.
Speaker 1:Well, I love that. Um, just some questions that I have that I wrote down are what are the biggest misconceptions about fitness during pregnancy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the biggest misconception I think a lot of moms have is that they're fragile and they need to be super protective. But that's the complete opposite, like when you are training especially if you were training prior to pregnancy you can keep lifting. You can keep lifting heavy, I think the biggest one that you've got a toddler maybe, and they're over 25 pounds. My 16 month old is over 25 pounds. So it's like you lift things daily. You can still function, you can still lift, you're still mobile, you're still able to do things, but you're just kind of like growing life simultaneously.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I've heard that a lot too. It's just like and I don't know if it's like a Western medicine type of thing I'm just like, oh, we need to be like so careful during pregnancy, which is like, yeah, I get that because your hormones are like very important, but at the same time, like if you were already, you know, lifting and doing these things leading up to getting pregnant, why should you just immediately stop them?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, and even that, though, is like the training during your pregnancy can look very different for everybody, so I've had a few clients come in that have never stepped foot in a gym. They've never worked out, but they started with me when they were pregnant. Um, and a lot of it is like how do you train for labor and delivery?
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, go a little bit and go in depth on that. I want to know, like, how, like typical lifting can vary from you know, preparing for pregnancy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's phase two, I would say, of like, my coaching, my programming. So the first phase is getting people in before they're pregnant to build healthy, sustainable habits, make sure the hormones are functioning properly, to then get into. How do you continue those things during your pregnancy? How do we set your body up for success to have potentially and I always say potentially, because things can happen within pregnancy. But the more you train, the more you move, the more you exercise, the easier your delivery is going to be, cause we get into.
Speaker 2:How do we help move the baby down throughout your pelvic girdle? How do we get you to breathe properly during your labor and delivery process to prevent tearing, because that's always a lot of mom's fears is different grades of tears that they go through or that can happen. So moving throughout pregnancy is super important because you're going to have a much easier time when you do deliver. Potentially right, because I think of like for me, I literally exercised and worked out and trained until the day of that I like went into labor. Yeah, the next like 12 hours, my, my delivery process was or labor and delivery was 11 pm until 9 am, so less than 12 hours, 10 hours long, and it helps. It can help like shorten your labor and delivery because baby can move a little bit faster.
Speaker 2:Muscles know like what to do. You can open your pelvic layer by layer, so there's three different layers. So with anything with me like doing prep birth, like it's not just like, oh, get on your like stability ball and like do some hip circles, it's like what trainings can we do? How can we get your glutes involved? How can we get your diaphragm and your abdominal wall to help you with your like transverse abdominis, your deep core muscle tissues? How can we get those to work with your contraction to help like push baby out a little bit more too?
Speaker 2:so there's a lot that gets into the training side more than just like, oh let me be active and let me like move, and that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we throughout pregnancy, your, your movements are going to change a little bit because you've got different hormones, like you said, that are your estrogen, your progesterone are just skyrocketing, but then also have a hormone hormone called relaxin that literally relaxes a lot of, like, your joints and ligaments in your body. So how do we train when those that hormone starts to increase and things feel a little bit off? Or you don't feel as stable or, for me, I had really bad back pain to the point where lifting 20 pounds was even painful for me yeah and that's way lighter than like what I was used to pre-pregnancy.
Speaker 2:But how do we change things up in your programming? So you're still cause. You know, training is a huge mindset shift too, like we get a little crabby and a little grouchy after like two, three days.
Speaker 1:Right yeah, so how to?
Speaker 2:continue that during your pregnancy with what you're capable and still able to do. I think those are some of the biggest points. That comes with training during pregnancy is you're training for a marathon like not physically running it, but your body is going through it every single day of your pregnancy. It's the most stress your body is ever going to have on it through a duration of time. And then you still have to push this human being out of a hole that should not have a human go through it the size ratio does not match.
Speaker 1:Exactly. No, yeah, that's definitely. That's definitely very interesting as far as, like, just the type of ways that you can like train you know to be able to prepare, which is pretty freaking cool. I like that, um, but yeah, how do you feel like it has or like, how do you feel like it can help with recovery postpartum?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So again, the biggest mistake moms make postpartum recovery is not priming their body beforehand, beforehand. So it's like if you have somebody that wants to lose a bunch of weight but they don't know how to build out a plate. They don't know what nutrition or nutrition looks like, they don't really know where to start. So training pre pregnancy helps your postpartum recovery because your body has your body has a homeostasis level right Like it knows where it feels happy and content at. So if you go into it postpartum and thinking that you can bounce back to your pre-pregnancy body, it's not going to happen because your body is not used to your pre-pregnancy postpartum right, like your body is a whole lot.
Speaker 2:So training before, during and postpartum helps that recovery because your body needs movement, right Like when you break an ankle and you rest it, you recover. You typically got that six to eight week mark that you're faster, a little bit immobile. Same thing kind of applies to your postpartum. Your six to eight week mark is when your uterus goes back down relatively to its original size. It's like a balloon. You'll never go back to that original size because once it expands it can't physically go back to starting position before kids. But that 68 week time frame you're really focusing on your rest and your recovery, mobility, that kind of stuff to then be able to move back into the gym a little. It's a little bit at a slower pace.
Speaker 2:It's almost like you go up a ladder right, like your first trimester, second, third, when you go back into the gym, you're starting with where you ended your third trimester. So then you can start building your strength back up and then get into your second trimester strength and then back to your first trimester and then back to pre-pregnancy. So if you just go into the gym postpartum thinking that you're fully healed and recover, that's where we see a lot of moms have incontinence issues, leakage issues, pain like in their pelvic floor, pain with sex. Your core not only helps your delivery but then it also helps your healing postpartum to then like. So when you have, when you're pregnant, you're going to get diastasis recti, which is where your abs literally have to separate to make space.
Speaker 2:You don't train you during pregnancy for that postpartum. You're going to have a much longer duration of time where you have those abs separated and it's going to take a lot longer to heal, and that goes with your entire body. So for me, because I did focus on so much like pelvic floor and core work during my pregnancy, I never had any issues with my abs separating and not going back to where they originally started, so I didn't have to deal with any of that. I did have like incontinence issues and stuff like that that I had to deal with, but that stems from the other parts of the pelvic floor that people forget about, which is like your glutes, diaphragm, those kinds of things, your hip discrepancies, your hip discrepancies. But again, all of those things can be fixed, if you will, nine out of 10 times, by training and just getting in tune with your body as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's. That's another question I was going to ask too. Just going back on the like recovery aspect, how, like what does that look like whenever, like, you hit that six to eight week mark? You mentioned like not going all the way back into training how you were before, but what does that look like? Is it like going to the gym like maybe once a week, or like twice a week, and like what type of exercises would even be, you know, allowed to do?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So the first I think the biggest thing is looking at how do you get back into the gym. Looks at where you start immediately postpartum, because somebody, like, if we look at Tia Clooney, right, like she's a high level CrossFitter athlete, like world's strongest woman, she's 1415 months postpartum. I believe she's winning CrossFit games again, right? So it all really stems from how do you focus on your recovery immediately postpartum. Excuse me, do you actually take the time to rest, recover? Do you focus on allowing that immense amount of trauma that just happened on your pelvic floor? Do you allow yourself to take that time, to not jump back into things? Because if you're immediately postpartum, thinking that you can go back into the gym, like two, three days postpartum, like your body has not healed at all, right. So getting into the gym postpartum starts with. Did you allow your first? So there's a five, five, five rule. The first five days postpartum you are in the bed like you're resting, you're, you're sitting down, you're laying down, you're sleeping, allowing your body to internally and even externally start to recover. Then the next five days you are around the bed so you're doing like light walking. You're maybe like getting up, going, doing light stuff around the house making bottles, getting food prepped Like your minute, your movement is very minimal. Food prep like your minute, your movement is very minimal. And then the last five days is or excuse me in the bed, on the bed and around the bed. Um, the last five days is when you're like okay, now we can start going out for like walks, we can start carrying the baby around the house a little bit more, but really focusing on that initial recovery, because then we can start working on mobility. Work because you're going to be sitting a lot or laying down a lot. Your body's going to get stiff, right.
Speaker 2:So, working on mobility, working on stretching, working on core and pelvic floor reconnection, then getting into body weight stuff, then getting into band and then getting into when you get cleared, all right, let's go back into the gym, but let's still focus on the body weight, the band, and then maybe more like machine based stuff, so like leg extension, hamstring curl, things that can lessen the strain or the load on the body, versus like heavy squats or dumbbells or bench, you know, compound lifts. Those are typically where, movement pattern wise, you start with your third trimester like where did you end? It's gonna be real hard with how much the belly grows to be able to get like heavy barbell squats, the depth for it, you're done, you're dead. Lifts like don't get me wrong, a lot of people can. I was doing barbell and that until the day I gave birth.
Speaker 2:But yeah, a lot of that load and stress that was just on your pelvic floor throughout delivery, especially if you have a vaginal delivery. But C-section takes a lot of time. It takes a little bit more time to recover because you just had huge abdominal surgery and cut through seven layers of skin tissue, fat, muscle layers and layers Right. So it's really kind of like I said, stepping up from that ladder to then step back down, because it's the same way I always explain it, kind of like a like from an athlete perspective.
Speaker 2:If you go jump back into your sport six weeks after you get cleared from a fracture or an ACL tear, right like you're not going to perform at your best. You're going to be slow, you're going to have you're not going to have the mobility and the agility that you need for it. So the same thing kind of applies here If you jump back into the gym postpartum, you're going to be weak, you're going to be a lot slower. You're going to have potential issues of injuring yourself again, right? So we don't want to do that postpartum. We don't want to do that ever in life. So it's easier to start. It's easier on her body to start slow and build that back up. Some moms can go a little bit faster than others, based on their pre-pregnancy training.
Speaker 1:So it all just kind of sims back to like okay, you just need to like really keep active throughout your entire pregnancy if you want to be able to yeah, get back, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's the same thing like if you are, the more active you are, the quicker you're going to be able to heal and recover, because that's what your body knows yeah, for sure it is a very complex yet simple system all in one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I definitely get that. What would be your biggest piece of advice to moms who struggle with, like that, mom guilt whenever they prioritize their health?
Speaker 2:Yes, the biggest advice for mom guilt is do it anyway.
Speaker 2:You're always going to have that mom guilt, whether your child is a few months old or 15 years old.
Speaker 2:But again, reminding yourself like if you don't prioritize you, nobody else is If you don't spend a little bit of time for you. The best way I can explain it, or like the outlook I give moms, is you may feel guilty for that one hour that you're in the gym taking away from you feel like you're taking time away from them. You're not spending that time, especially as they're growing. But that extra, that hour that you're in the gym, or 45 minutes, is additional years that you get to spend with them, is additional years that you get to spend with them. When you look at your overall health, your function, you know you've got to think longevity when it comes to it. You can't just think in the now, because if you think now, you're going to tell yourself, oh well, we've got this, or I need to do this, or I've got to make lunch, or you know, feed them or pump, or you know whatever else it might be. So the mom guilt is always going to be there, just accepting it like stress.
Speaker 1:You're never going to not be stressed out.
Speaker 2:You're always going to have something that's going to stress you out, yeah, but taking that 45 minutes to an hour for you three, four days out of the week is such a small percentage of your week, of your time, that's going to allow you to have years onto your life, that you get to see them grow more, that you don't have to be reliant on medications or whatever else braces you know to help keep you alive and keep you functioning when you're 60, 70 years old.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that, just like building the foundations now. And two like if you're able to, you know, pour into yourself. I'm not a mom so I can't speak, but like just from someone who does prioritize my health, like if you're able to pour into yourself, then it reflects so much on every other aspect of your life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, totally. I mean, I know for me, if I don't go to the gym for three or four days, like I get really tense, I get really like small things start to stress me out more, and then I will snap at my husband, which will then like stress him out, which will then stress both of us out which then makes it harder to parent together. Like it all, it really does have a snowball effect to it yeah, for sure, I, yeah, I could see that.
Speaker 1:And then like, for moms who feel like they'll never get their body back, what encouragement or advice do you give for?
Speaker 2:that the bounce back mentality. Right, like everyone wants to bounce back as fast as they can, but you literally just grew an entire human being for the last nine to 10 months. Your body should not go back to its original state Like bones move, your hips move, like it's like when you're getting out of college and you're into your twenties and your thirties trying to expect to look like you did when you were in high school. You were in high school. You are not who you are now, like you should forever be evolving. If we're trying to be the person we were a year ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, then you're not growing as a human, as an and as an individual like. I think the bounce back mentality and trying to get to your pre-pregnancy body as fast as possible is a lot of stress that we put on ourselves as women.
Speaker 1:Like right, Just setting these unrealistic expectations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Like, like no one says like that you have to look like you did pre-pregnancy, after pregnancy, like that's something us women tell ourselves that we have to do because that's what society has been putting on us. And it's like we're starting to realize and know and accept that we are just like we are society, like we are the ones that are making up these rules for ourselves that we have to do, and I think, honestly, with the social media people posting a lot of like oh, this is how I bounced back, like it's supposed to be empowering, but it also. We have such a comparative nature. Nature can be very discouraging to people.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, and and even as, like athletes too, like you're always trying to be a highest like achiever or you know, growing and growing, growing. But it's like we have this love of where we were at before, that we want to stay there because that's where we felt our best, but knowing that you can feel even better, like I have more confidence and I what I like to think a better physique and strength postpartum than I did pre-pregnancy like if I were to try and go back, it would be a step backwards for me. So why why you know the mindset shift of like, why do you want to go backwards? Like what's what was better in the past that couldn't be better in the future?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I definitely relay that too. Just with, like the people that I coach is just like. I mean like, yeah, like you maybe looked good then, but like you, you have the potential to even be better now or in the future. So it's like, like you said too, we're always growing and evolving, and so just looking back and like trying to be a past version of yourself that's just no longer, there, is just not setting yourself up for success, and that goes with anything in life, just like always being futuristic is something that you can never really take away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:For sure, you're not growing, you're not evolving. No, that's so true. Okay, I just I have a couple of questions I just have. I just wrote a bunch of random ones down. But what are some easy habits moms can start building before and during pregnancy to set themselves up for success? Because I know we kind of talked about that, but just like, even like little simple habits.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the biggest habit I could say to focus on pre pregnancy, to set yourself up for success postpartum, would be gosh, they're number one. Maintaining movement like it doesn't have to be structured exercise, but get out for walks, just focus on moving your body and don't be as sedentary as we are as a human population right focus on steps.
Speaker 2:Prioritize your your sleep as much as possible because, as women, there's new studies that are showing like women need eight to ten hours of sleep for proper hormone function. Yes, I've seen that. And especially if you're prenatal and you know pre-pregnancy, we want to make sure our hormones are as optimal as possible to be able to get pregnant and then, of course, like you know, immediately postpartum it's hard. But prioritize sleep as much as you can, because the more like sleep hygiene you have and sleep hygiene comes from like, are you watching TV before you go to bed, are you on your phone, are you scrolling, are you going to bed at random times? So, like, think of of your kids, like your kids have a bedtime routine, keep one, make one and keep one for yourself as well. So, focusing on sleep hygiene, um, biggest thing, nutrition. Right, like we need to.
Speaker 2:I think we over complicate things as women too and habits of. Just even if you're not tracking your macros or tracking your calories, you know what a protein source is, you know what a carb source is, you know what fats are, you know what fruit and vegetables are, you know how to build a plate out. So, starting with literally the basics, I always tell people think of, if you make your toddler a plate, how does that look? You don't try and overcomplicate these things with a bunch of new recipes and ingredients and all that. You keep it very, very simple Nutrition, drink your damn water. Be an adult, y'all Drink. Drink your water. It doesn't need to be complicated. I literally tell clients like set a timer for an hour on your phone and at the top of that hour, like just chug water, take 10 sips for the next, however seconds it takes for you to do that.
Speaker 2:But the biggest thing is like it doesn't have to be complicated, but we over complicate it yeah, that's just like society for us, yeah yeah so I mean sleep, hunger, rest, energy digestion, like all of those things are super important to your biofeedback, or what your body's telling you, what's going on like habit wise, you need to make sure you-wise, you need to make sure you're eating because you need to make sure you're having proper bowel movement. You know all of that stuff. It's one of those like eat, move, get some sleep and drink your water. Like it doesn't have to be super complex.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. That is fantastic advice. Everyone needs to take it. Okay, next question what are your top three tips for busy moms to fit fitness and healthy eating into their day?
Speaker 2:That's a good one. Top three tips for moms who are busy to be healthy overall. Number one, I would say, is schedule. If you, as a mom, are trying to hold your schedule in your head, you are going to feel so overwhelmed and so run down that you're not going to be able to accomplish anything. And this can look like using a Google calendar where you've got notifications being sent to you, to.
Speaker 2:I think there's a new planner app.
Speaker 2:You know something?
Speaker 2:I think it's like starlight, which gives the kids an opportunity to like look and see what toys they have and like breaking it down, but somewhere, shape or form, where you have a structure or timeline kind of written out for you, and it doesn't have to be every hour of every day, but knowing what you have when like we used to have a whiteboard on our door to the garage of like who had what that day and at what time, and then have like that knowledge of seeing it very quickly.
Speaker 2:So I think schedule is the biggest thing. Second thing I would say is communication with your partner, because if you don't have that communication with them, you aren't going to feel like you have the support to be able to prioritize and focus on yourself and I think too, especially for moms, like the saying of it takes a village, like it really does take a village you need to have, especially if you have one or even two kids, like there's two of you against one. Like there, you both should be able to take time for yourself and the other person watch the kid. Or if there's two and two, you know you have to communicate with your partner and tell them what you need in order for them to be able to support you and help you with that as well. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:The third one I would say is quick and dirty. You got to just take action on it. You can't wait for it to be the perfect time, you can't wait for it to be the perfect circumstances and you're going to. It's going to be sloppy the first few times you start because you're going to have to figure out what works, what doesn't work, what your schedule looks like and all of it kind of has to play into each other, what your schedule looks like and all of it kind of has to play into each other. But if you don't start, you're never going to start seeing progress, to see those changes. The saying of there's two good times to plant a tree and that was 10 years ago and today, like there's never going to be the perfect time. So doing it quick and doing it messy, quick and dirty.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, those are all really great tips. How do you approach the mental and emotional side of fitness with your clients that you have?
Speaker 2:In? I think they're in. Like what capacity, though? Because it's one of those where a lot of moms you talked about like the mom guilt, like that's a huge mental block, or is it always like how do I start, you know? So I think it stems from the mindset side of things changing it from I have to do this to and I get to mindset of you, get to have the capability and the ability to move, to do things, to prioritize your body, to prioritize your health, without it being super complicated, Like it doesn't have to be you investing in a coach and spending hundreds of dollars a month. It can literally be you getting a $10 membership at Planet Fitness and going and just picking a body group to start moving, and then, if you get more comfortable, you can get a little bit more structured and it's like you have that time away where you can just like totally focus on you.
Speaker 1:Yes, definitely beneficial.
Speaker 2:Yeah I mean we take I guess I kind of think about it too is like working moms. Right, we take the time to work for somebody else for seven, eight hours a day. Why is it so hard for us to prioritize ourselves for 45 minutes to an hour three to four times a week?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no for sure.
Speaker 2:I think that's that's gotta be the biggest thing for moms is like I think that's that's gotta be the biggest thing for moms. Is like mindset wise if you don't focus on you, like who is, nobody else can do it for you. Nobody else can do the workouts, the nutrition, the scheduling like you have to do that for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what are your thoughts on? Like balance between being a mom and still having like your own identity? Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:to find this like harmony in it of, yes, like you have this identity, you have this title of being mom, but who are you to your core? And if you don't know who that is, then that's something we definitely have to continue to work on and work through those mental barriers. But the harmony of being a mom and you, I think about it for me, right. So, like I am a mom, but I'm Haley, like I am somebody who's like very passionate and energetic and prioritizes my health for me, because without me there wouldn't be my daughter.
Speaker 2:Mom, yeah, or your daughter, right, there wouldn't be the mom title of to my daughter. So I think the biggest thing is, like as a mom, you have to know who you are first. It's kind of like when you get into a relationship, or before you get into a relationship you have to love you first before you can be in love with somebody else. You have to love you first before you can be in love with somebody else. Cause that was something I really struggled with immediately postpartum.
Speaker 2:So I had not only postpartum depression but also postpartum anxiety, because I was focused so much on my daughter and making sure that I was being the perfect mom and that I was doing all of these things correctly and reading all of the books and making sure everything was done at a hundred percent. When she's not going to remember that, as long as you know they are eating, they are sleeping, they're getting their diapers changed and they have clothes on their back especially the first year Like there's not much more that has to really be done. You know they're, they're a sponge, they're growing, they're developing, but if you don't take that time for you as a mom to prioritize who you are, then you're just going to fall down that rabbit hole and you're going to struggle with those postpartum depression and anxiety phases for even longer yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that. Okay, just a couple like more like, not as serious questions. But what is like your go-to snack or meal whenever things get busy?
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, go-to meal lately has been. I actually found this on a toddler's recipe like website. Yes, uh, it is gnocchi with italian sausage, butternut squash, zucchini and red onions. That sounds so good so good. And my daughter, like, will eat more than I will. Granted, she eats, like you know, a 12 year old child already. But it's super simple, right, like? You've got your protein, you've got your carbs. It doesn't have to be over overly complicated, and then you just throw rosemary on top of it and it is so good.
Speaker 1:That sounds so good, especially cause it's like getting cooler. Where are you located at?
Speaker 2:uh, I'm in louisville, kentucky, okay, so it's like probably like 40, 50, yeah it's cold, like it's gloomy we don't get sun in december through, yeah but yeah, it's cool. It takes like 10 minutes to prep and that's. It's like 40 minutes to cook in the oven, but that's when you get to do something else, like don't have to think about it right, no, I love that.
Speaker 1:That sounds super good. Gonna have to add that to something that I try.
Speaker 2:Okay, one thing that you wish you could tell my pre-mom self is it's all going to work out Like at the end of the day? She's adding to our lives, not taking away from our lives. I think the biggest thing is is having children teaching us to slow down and getting us to stop and smell the roses and be grateful for what we do have around us, instead of letting it all consume us.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah, I love that. I think that's awesome Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. I think that's awesome. Okay, last question Favorite workout or exercise for moms at any stage oh God, um, not necessarily a favorite to breathe, to engage your core, to be able to make you more powerful and more stronger in all of your current and future lifts.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm interested in hearing what that is.
Speaker 2:Yes, so TVA contractions or breath work is so when you're just constantly like naturally breathing, like your belly kind of like rises and falls right, right. When we get into TVA work it's working the abdominal, the deep tissue of the abdominal wall to contract, think of like a corset, like when you're tightening a cors corset, everything around your abdominal wall tightens. So when we breathe in we actually want to fill our belly and expand it outward. So then when we exhale and push all of our air out, we're drawing the belly button in towards our spine and then up, like if you're like tightening a pair or zipping a pair of pants that are too tight, okay, different than like I'm like trying to stand up and like show I'm trying to do it as you're talking about it.
Speaker 1:I'm like, okay, I'm squeezing in yeah, so it's.
Speaker 2:It's really hard to initially like get, but once you do get it like oh, this makes a ton of sense Because, as an athlete right, if you're lifting super heavy, you have a belt on, so you're trying to push against the belt. It's the opposite You're drawing in and pulling up, because what that's going to do is help take the muscles from the base of the pelvic floor and get those to contract. Oddly enough, a lot of athletes don't necessarily need to do they need to do the core work, but they need to relax the pelvic floor. So a lot of athletes are a it's a one through five scale in how like tight your pelvic floor is. Most female athletes are a five plus, so they're like the A plus, right, we're always high level achievers, right. But it causes us to go from like a five to a two or a one on the scale. So our pelvic floor gets really weak postpartum, which then we have to repair.
Speaker 2:But the TVA like work and the breath work behind it and I have a ton of posts on my Instagram about this of like blowing up a balloon, right. So when you blow the balloon out, your belly draws in to be able to keep all of that nice and tight, like if someone's going to punch you in the gut, like you're going to bear down right, like you're going to keep everything tight to protect your, your abdominal wall, to protect your organs. Um, cat cow too, you know that would be one that would be really easy to kind of explain it. Like when you're in the cow position, like everything's relaxing and stretching, belly's getting big, but when you go into the cow you're drawing the belly into the spine as you're rounding yes yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:It's not the most fun, but it is the most important, I would say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's. That's awesome. I definitely would encourage I would. I want to look into it, but anybody that's listening definitely look into that as well. But yeah, those are all the questions that I have. You gave some really good insight and information for any like prenatal or postpartum ladies out there, but is there anything else you kind of wanted to touch on?
Speaker 2:Biggest thing I'll say is like girls, women that are trying to get pregnant or currently pregnant, like just don't be afraid, don't be afraid to continue to move. Like don't be afraid to ask questions and if you're not sure what questions to ask, like there's a ton of, we have a ton of resources. We have uh trimester guides for each one, and the last one to two pages are like questions to ask your OB, because you are your own advocate.
Speaker 2:Like, if you don't ask, if you don't step up, no one's going to tell you. They're just going to assume that you know so be your own advocate.
Speaker 1:For sure I love that. And how can people that are listening find you? What's your Instagram, what's your like website and all of which I'm sure you'll? I'll have you send it to me so that I can put it in the the like show notes yeah, so Instagram is hail wink h-a-l-w-i-n-k.
Speaker 2:Underscore fit. Um, that is my like personal page, but everything I put on personal page goes to revive W M N, revive women, uh, which is the business page, and in there is the, the hyperlink to our our business page as well, like website. Um, yeah, mostly on Instagram.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. Well, everything that you said was cool. I definitely learned a lot, because I'm not really well-versed in, like you know, pre and postpartum and things like that. So definitely good learning. Hopefully, I do have quite a few people that always, you know, like reach out to me, like you have a lot of experience in this and it's like no, I really don't. So it's nice to have someone come on here that does, and like I can send them your way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's nice to have someone come on here that does, and, like I can send them your way. Yeah, I can talk forever about prenatal postpartum.
Speaker 1:I love that. Well, I appreciate you coming on here and I yeah, we will be talking soon. Yes, thanks for having me. It was fun. Yeah, well, everybody, thanks for tuning in and I'll see you in the next episode.