Protein, Patience & Motherhood with Kayla Bishop

This week on Praise, Prayer & Protein, I’m sitting down with my sweet friend Kayla Bishop to chat all about movement, motherhood, protein, hormones, and why so many moms are running on empty.

We’re talking honestly about:
 ✨ trying to workout with little kids at home
 ✨ why I thought gyms were my only option
 ✨ my journey from YouTube workouts to Lean Summer
 ✨ why my pants kept getting tighter even though I was eating LESS
 ✨ cortisol, stress, under-eating, and mom rage
 ✨ how movement can actually support your mental health
 ✨ simple ways busy moms can start taking care of themselves again

Kayla also shares practical encouragement for moms who feel overwhelmed, exhausted, stuck in survival mode, or unsure where to even begin.

And yes… we absolutely talk about cheese strings. 😂

If you’ve ever skipped meals, survived on your kids’ leftovers, or felt frustrated that “healthy habits” weren’t working for your body anymore — this episode is for you.

✨ Connect with Kayla:
 Kayla Bishop on Instagram

✨ Join Lean Summer 2026

✨ Connect with me on Instagram and Facebook 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, here we go, you ready? Praise, prayer, and protein to carry you through.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

It's praise, prayer, and protein that carry me through.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hey, I'm Kate, mom of seven, coffee lover, and believer in finding joy in every season of motherhood. This is Praise, Prayer and Protein, where we talk faith, family, frugal living, and the real-life mom hacks that make it all work. Let's dive in. Hey friends, and welcome back to Praise, Prayer and Protein. I am so excited for today's episode because one of my sweet friends, Kayla, is joining me today.

unknown 0:36

Woo!

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Now, if you follow me on Instagram, you have definitely seen me post about her because I like to tell people she is my personal trainer. She is a mom of three, and honestly, she is one of the most encouraging women when it comes to helping moms move their bodies and to see results. And today we really wanted to sit down and talk about what it's like to exercise with littles. Because honestly, for years as I had littles, I never even thought about working out. And she is helping so many moms who have littles, who have uh elementary school and teens to be able to work out. So I love that about Kayla. If you think that you can't physically leave your house and go to the gym, I have also been there. And today Kayla is gonna help us to be able to get past that mindset and to be able to work out at home. You don't need any matching outfits, anything like that. You can work out in your pajamas. She is so amazing, and I'm so happy to welcome her to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yay! We're just gonna pretend like we're two buddies. We are two buddies. We're not pretending. We are two buddies having a conversation. But before we jump into that conversation, tell everybody a little bit about yourself, your family, and what you actually do.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

So my name is Kayla, as Katie said. I am I've been married for about eight years. Um, mom of three littles, five and under. And I love to help women not only look good, but really feel good. So I like to help them get the results they're looking for, but I get more excited about when they feel amazing, are able to thrive and show up in their life well. Um, I've created a workout app where that's where Katie does her workouts, and that is sort of my main uh job right now, aside from being a mom. That's so awesome. How did you start like with the workout program? So I started with the workouts. I used to be a teacher. I was working full-time as a kindergarten teacher, and then I had my first son Isaac, and I realized I did not want to go back to work full time. So I took some time off and then I did a little bit of supply teaching. I've always been a personal trainer on the side of teaching, and I really realized there was a need for mom and baby connection. So I thought I would do a mom and baby workout class. So I started that in my basement with like eight women, and then women who were not moms with babies started to want to work out. So you came to one of my first workout classes in my basement, and then more people kept wanting to work out, and now I had two kids and I had less time. I couldn't keep having people to classes. So I thought I would do like some online sort of PDF style workouts, and that took off way more than I had ever expected. So, which has now turned into our own custom app where women come and we try and remove all barriers so they're just able to get in workouts whatever season of life they're in. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

I love that. I loved that little season of working out in your basement.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

That was where we first started. My daughter's bedroom's down there now. So not even a possibility.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Not even. So before I actually even started working out, I don't even know what year that would have been. Probably three years ago. Was that three years ago?

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Yeah, the first lean summer, I think. Yeah, maybe only like two and a half years ago.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

No, three years ago, yeah. Because this is our third lean swan. So I had never really thought about working out um with somebody or leaving the house prior to that. I never really worked out with any of my kids uh at all. I would, you know, take them for walks or go to the playground or things like that. But I never did exercise classes or anything like that until 2020 hit. Of course, we were all shut in, you know. So then people started walking more. So I started like walking to the store and then I would walk a little bit further, but I'd always have to do that, you know, during supper time, like right after supper or when Mike and the kids were doing dishes. I would like go out for a walk or whatever, because I didn't really have any babysitters. And then I think right after I had Malachi, or I guess he was one at the time, I decided I was gonna learn to run 5K. All my friends were running, so I was like, okay, I can do this. I have time to get out. I think Evan was able to babysit at the time, so I could go after school sort of thing. So then I did that coach to 5K. Okay. Yeah, it was so good. And I actually really liked to run, like it was hard on my body, of course. There was a lot of bass and Epsom salts and all that kind of stuff. But that coach to 5K was really great. So, whatever program it takes you through, I think in five weeks you can run 5K or something like that. Like it was three times a week, and I followed this app. That was pretty much the only thing I did.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Did you do the 5K?

SPEAKER_00 5:10

I didn't, yeah. I used to run 5K all the time. So one summer I like wanted to run maybe like, I don't know, I did 25Ks or something like that in one summer or something before I started like actually working out. But then when everyone was back to school, that was super hard because I still had Malachi, I couldn't really go to the gym, you know, and then winter hits here and it's so cold. So I didn't know what to do. So that's when I signed up for these walk at home lessons with this lady Leslie or something. I think shout out to Leslie. Shout out to walk at home for getting this stay-at-home mom, you know, walking or whatever. So I signed up for those and I would just find them on YouTube and do random ones all the time. And then I ended up buying like a subscription to her thing, and I would do them. They must have been on YouTube or something with Malachi home and through the winter, whatever. And literally, it's a lot of like marching on the spot, high knees running in place on the spot. Then they would like walk up, walk back, and they would do some stretching. And so I did that for a long time. And then I just like was not able to maintain the weight I had maintained before. I was like, why are my pants feeling tighter? What is going on? Like, I never really worked out prior to all this, and now I feel like I'm like getting bigger doing all this exercise. So then I just started doing random YouTube videos, and I'd be like, because you know, when you're a stay-at-home mom, really, it's just sort of like this is my option. Like, I wasn't gonna take people to the gym. I wasn't gonna, you know, take Malachi to the gym daycare or anything like that. So I was like, this must be it. So then I started finding little workouts like online to do. So then when you offered that class, I was like, okay, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna do something. It was what, six weeks? Yeah, maybe that we did. And that was super fun to work out with people. And then you decided to launch Lean Summer.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

That year. And we made the funniest reel to advertise. Coordinated, yeah. And we did this funny like workout reel. We found a workout challenge, and you and I did it, and we're like, join us. And it was a PDF workout. Yeah, it was a PDF. Just connected to YouTube. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, and then you were on there doing your thing. So why do you think um, do you think my story is a normal story? Or now do you think moms are more once they have babies, they sort of want to get right back into working out?

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Yeah, I think your story is super common because something that maybe we did in our 20s that used to work for us, like just running a little bit or um doing a YouTube video would get us results that we wanted. Like when we were in my 30s. When we're in our 20s, all we care about is like really what we look like. Like that's why we're working out essentially. Um, so then you're in your 30s plus, you've had babies, your hormones are changing, and all of a sudden these things aren't working for you anymore. Uh, so what really is happening is what women need to do is they need to have muscle on their body. So that is what's gonna boost your metabolism, which essentially is going to help you lose weight, give you more energy, all kinds of things. But when you're doing these random workouts that aren't planned properly, you're not actually implementing a fancy word called progressive overload, which is the only way that you're gonna put muscle onto your body. So, like as you've seen, just doing three workouts a week, 30 minutes or less, you're actually getting better results than when you were working out more or like doing more cardio, doing more running, all these things. So the main foundation really needs to be that strength work, and then you're gonna get the results that you want. You're gonna have way more energy because you're doing less, you're feeling better. You're not gonna be frustrated that you're doing all these things and not seeing results. And I would say that is how the majority of women come to me, feeling frustrated, like they're just down, they're eating less food, they're doing more workouts, but they're not getting results they want. And they're moms, so like they don't have the energy or the time, so they normally just end up doing nothing. If you don't think you can finish or go to a gym, yeah, you're just like this is a waste of time because I can't even do this. I'm doing this much already, so the only way to get results would be to add more, is like what our mindset is, right? So they're like, I can't do more.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

So you like they really need to play together. Because walking is good for you.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Walking's good for you, cardio's good for you, but most people aren't doing the progressive overload strength training, which we really need, especially like not even thinking about how you look, but as you age after 30, 35, we're actively losing muscle. So if you're not doing anything to put it on or maintain it, your body is losing it. So your metabolism is going down and like longevity, like hip fractures, wrist fractures, all of those things are gonna be way worse if you don't have muscle. Like I have clients who can't even bend over to wash their face because their back hurts so bad and they're only in their 60s.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

And do you think um stretching also would help that too? Like, do you recommend kind of a stretching program to be able to bend over and wash my face? I A, don't wash my face, but I need a skin skin. I need a skincare person. I have great skin. You do have great skin.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Probably why you don't wash your face. This is something also about people who have never had to lose weight in their life, whereas naturally just always tiny, right? And then they get to like 40 and they're like, wow, I have no clue what to do because I've never had to do this. Great analogy with your skincare. Stretching mobility, very important. Yes. Um, if I'm being brutally honest, in this season of my life, I don't prioritize it nearly as much as I should, but helping your body move is very functional.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Yeah. I want to be able to bend over and do all kinds of things.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

I'm thinking about getting a mobility person to do a program in my app. So maybe this is the sign to do it.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Because I would like to be able, sometimes I still will find um, like I was really sore. You know, we've talked a lot through like all my um troubles I have with working out. You're like a therapist for me too. You're all the things. Um, talking to you about how sore I I was feeling. And so sometimes before or after your workout, I will go onto YouTube and find like a cool down or a stretch because I was really bad at warming up.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yeah, you are really bad at warming up, but everybody is really bad at warming up. If we did a poll, the majority of people would not warm up. People complained when I put a warm-up into my app, even though you can skip it. But the funny thing is, me and my like ex-athlete workout friends are con like my friend messaged me this morning. She's like, I can hardly walk. I'm so pumped. That was an amazing leg workout.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Where you would be like, I'm so sorry, I hate this. Where we see it as like a point of accomplishment, like amazing, we did it.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

I try to feel that way, but when you just can't go on with life and bend over and pick anything up or go to the bathroom, we're cutting this out.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

It's just not a good promo.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

It it hits a point. I still do it every week. I don't give up on legs. You're doing amazing. I definitely feel sore, but maybe I need to change my mindset. Um or maybe eat a little more protein. Okay, so when I started working out with you, um we got through the workout stuff. And then when was it that you maybe started taking personal clients on, like to do more of the accelerator stuff and started talking more about macros? I don't feel that was in the first lean summer that we started talking about that one.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

I thought that came like the next January, March, because now everybody wanted like nutrition. And I was like, oh, I guess I'll do nutrition too. So then I did my first eight-week nutrition program.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yeah. And where did you um like get the information for that? Or did you take some classes or schooling?

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Like so, in the past, I had worked for other companies that were like weight loss companies. Looking back now, it's like totally cringy what I was teaching people to do. But I worked out of a pharmacy in the Jean Catu in St. John and a few different programs. And then I had taken some nutrition courses each year to be a personal trainer. You have to like keep up with so many points or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Uh, but when I decided to do this course, I took another run my own course. I took another specific course just for training for that. And yeah, then I launched into that. So that is like above and beyond the workouts. Yeah. If you want to sign up, I run that about two or three times a year.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Yeah, and it's amazing because women see lots of results. And thankfully, we're like buddy buddy. And so you help me with that part. And the most interesting thing as of late that we've been talking about is about um moms not really feeding themselves correctly or properly. And part of naming the podcast like Prairie's Prayer and Protein is me knowing that, you know, as a dietitian myself, knowing that protein can really save a lot of temper tantrums. Like I teach that about kids, you know, and I joke about a tru a cheese string can save the day sometimes, especially after school when everybody is just like hangry or feeling low in energy, like to give them a good protein snack is helpful. And for us moms too, but I never really like thought about it as like maybe I'm not eating enough food, and that's where sometimes some of my um issues are coming from.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yes, totally. And most women are severely under eating, not even just protein, just under-eating in general. Like this course, I started a course last week, and some of the women are eating like under a thousand calories a day and terrified to eat more because they're not getting results, right? So it's like, how could I possibly add more food?

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Because we've been taught calories in, calories out.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

That's right, which is science, and they're like that is not completely inaccurate. But um, if you've stayed in a low calorie state for a long time, your metabolism is adjusting there and it's thinking that it's in starvation mode and it's gonna hold on to fat because it needs fat. Also, you're not feeding your body enough for your body to work. So for your blood to pump through your body, for your brain to function, so you're extremely irritable. You are like, you're just miserable, really. And most women don't even realize how miserable they are because it's just been their normal for so long. So then when they start eating more, they're like, wow, like almost all of the intake forms I do at the end of my course, women are like, You should ask my husband. Like, he's so happy. I'm not irritable anymore. Like, he'll be proof, like he'll tell you, like, he's so much more happy to be around me because I'm happier. And I'm sure you can think of it yourself. Like, if you days you haven't eaten lunch or you've skipped breakfast, and the way you respond to your kids is not the way you would choose to, but you almost like can't even control it. It's just like I know I don't want to be this way, but I can't control it. And a little bit of food can make a big difference.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

I find that's very common for us moms. You know, we get up, we get everyone else up, we get breakfast, we get everyone out the door, we get doing stuff, and then all of a sudden we look and it could be, you know, 10, 11, 12, and you're like, all I've drank or all I've had today is a few cups of coffee, which can also make you very irritable. Then you might grab something quick for lunch, and then the kids are home again and you're not eating again till supper, or you're just, you know, if you have littles at home, you're just eating their scraps, which I never did because I don't eat after my kids. It's absolutely disgusting. But if you do, if you are a mom that eats after your kids, I have lots of grace and love you. But you might not be sick as much if you didn't eat after your kids.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

I'm hardly ever sick and I eat after my kids.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

You do, yeah. I have friends that actually make fun of me and eat after my kids just to gross me. Just to do it. Yeah. Anyway, they're all older now, but you know, when they're little and they're just like snotting in their food and it's gross. Yeah, I don't do that. But moms don't take care of themselves.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

We're so busy.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

We're so busy taking care of everyone else that we forget to take a boat, take care of ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Yeah. So what I find helpful is like setting up some systems so that like I eat the same breakfast every single morning and might be boring, but I'm feeding myself and it's like all I can manage in this season. Even for your workouts, like if you have to change a baby's diaper in between your workout, it doesn't mean your workout is ruined. Like your body has no idea. It's just focusing on building muscle. So a little bit back on the workouts, that's something I love about the workouts. You can do them from home. I change diapers, I get snacks, I put kids to naps, all in between. So just because you don't have an hour straight to yourself doesn't mean you can't get in the workout. And having systems in place to set up so that you're feeding yourself and somewhat nutritious food, even if it means you're eating similar things or it seems a little boring, you're gonna be so much better off because of it.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

So when I pause the workout or leave it running, yeah, I never pause it.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Sometimes it's like 15-hour workout.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Oh, you're just like, whoopsies, it's still working.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah. So the goal, the main goal during your strength workout is to build muscle. So this is what we're going for. If you can build muscle, everything else is gonna be so much easier. You're gonna get the weight loss results, you're going to feel amazing. And so the way to build muscle is just to take your muscle to near failure. So if I do one set and then I'm doing bicep curls over here, my biceps are really tired, and then my baby needs a bum change. This is literally, I've tried to retrain my brain to think, okay, I'm taking a longer rest than I would have before to change Ezra's bum. And that means I'm just gonna maybe be able to lift a little heavier when I go back. So I'm gonna be building more muscle. So this is actually advantageous to me. Right. So I've really worked on my mindset around it as well. But also, it is advantageous to you because you're lifting more, you're building muscle.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Right. You just take pauses, you take a pause. That's why I don't honestly. I learned this, I didn't know this existed. But if you like just don't like one of the exercises, you can just there's also alternate exercises.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Like, how many people don't work out because they don't have equipment?

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Like, yeah, and the bands, like when you were doing like a whole series on the door bands, we don't really have any door frames here. We have the all the barn doors. So, like to put a elastic is not gonna work. So I just did the alternative one, and I really don't have a ton of weights. There are those nice weights that you can um, you know, change. There, they're like multiple ones in one. Those are great. I'm I'm have them on Amazon just looking for a sale whenever they come on. But literally uh the highest weights I have are 12 pounds. I have fives, eights, tens, and twelves. And then you've worked up to that.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

You weren't starting at that, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Yeah, I started at five, you know, fives, and then I bought tens or eights right away or something like that. And then I work out and like the legs we were talking about. I was like, well, I didn't lift very heavy this week because I hadn't done legs in a few weeks because I had a leg injury.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

So this week Lying is a doozy.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Yeah, it was a doozy, but I didn't feel sore. So now I'm like, well, did I even do it right? I don't know. But I definitely didn't lift much weight with it because that's the thing, too. You're doing three sets, so I'm like, I don't want to be so sore I can't move. I just need a good, you know, beginner get back into this leg workout to recover from my legs.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

They're like, oh, I don't want to be sore, so I won't show up.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Or like and a great thing about this program too, and having the app on your phone is the amount of people that work out in whatever they're wearing. Yeah, you don't need to change your clothes. Some people, a lot of people do it in their pajamas, myself included.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

I have not put on workout clothes. I'm wearing them right now to come to this podcast. This is my dress-up clothes, but I haven't put on workout clothes probably for like six weeks to do a workout.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

The other day when you record, she records and she looks nice in her recordings, don't we? But I've been tired.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

I've had tooth surgery, my son's had surgery, I've had sick kids. I've just been tired, you know, and I haven't felt like putting on my workout clothes, but I've still done the workouts in my pajamas. And lots of people do them in their scrubs, lots of people do them in their workout clothes. You can do them in your living room with one set of dumbbells, and then if you want to progress, we have progressions. But if not, and a mat. No bars to entry. Yeah, you don't even need a mat. I don't use a mat really. You do? A chair?

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Sometimes you need a chair to do step-ups. If you have a house, you can do thumbs up Hungarian legs. Yeah. That was weak. Those are brute. Those are brute. Get those glutes. Anyway, she makes it so easy for mums to work out because I've worked out with Malachi at home. I work out with sick kids at home. It's not like I have to miss a workout because um like kids are home. It's not like I like I can't go out to get this workout in or I can't go for a walk or anything like that. It's like I can just do it.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

You used to have to do it when your husband came home. Micah came home. And like that's the saddest thing to me because it's like that's like the only time you get with your family, right? For me, I like to protect those times. So, or nap time, like I would never want to do a a workout during nap time. Right. Every mom, they're like, when I tell them that, they're like, this is revolutionary. Now I have an hour with no kids. Where I don't have to do this workout. Yeah, that's me time. Yeah. It's amazing. I would never waste a nap time for workout.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

I'd probably skip it instead.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

I I am one of those people that likes to work out in workout clothes. Yeah. Yeah. I've just like got my every morning when I wake up, I put my leg on, but I don't usually take videos of me working out right now. But you're living the life. Just live the life. I uh every morning it's part of my morning routine to get up. I put my leggings on right away. I bought nice like tank top tops that I like to wear. I put that on, I put a hoodie on, and then get the kids out the door, do the bus, get my breakfast workout. That's sort of the jam I try to do. And the other day I had an appointment at 9:30 yesterday morning, and I was able, you know, I was all done that stuff at like eight, and I was like, oh, I I can work out till 8 30, like really fast. And so I did the chest workout. Right. Super quick. You can actually get it in. I got it in and probably less than 30 minutes because I didn't really take tons of breaks, but I did like do a few dishes in between. I love it. For the ones that run back, you know that's what also is good about doing it. Throw laundry in, go back to like finish out the sets or whatever. So I do find it does make working out at home um really good. Uh, one of the parts I really like about the lean summer when we started was the community aspect. I really liked the Facebook group. I liked how so many of our friends had signed up. Like, because Kayla and I do go to the same church together. We have a lot of like friends in the church together. And so it was just like super fun to be there and be like texting our friends like, did you do that Bulgarian split squats yesterday? I even had a few people message me yes last night about your leg workout this week. And just some other friends that are like, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna message you every time I work out so I'm accountable to somebody. So that that's really fun too, to be able to all be in an app together, even though we're not working out together. We sort of are working out together.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yeah, and that's one of my favorite things, also least favorite things about having an online fitness platform is I love community so much. And I really miss being able to talk to the women and hear like how their workouts are going or like what's going on in their life, right? Because like you guys are texting each other, but then I'm not seeing that, right? Right. So I do feel sad, but I love that other women are making community, and that's something I would love to make even better, but I'm sure there's only so much you can do with an online platform. Yeah. But do you know what I'm thinking? Maybe once my youngest is one, I'm gonna start wearing workout clothes again. Yeah, you don't have to probably just a season.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

It's just a season, and that's the great thing. You don't have to where work goes because you're really not seeing anybody, so it doesn't really matter. Right. If you rocked up to the gym in your 90. Yeah, that's probably there might be some questions asked. There might be some questions asked. That's really funny. Uh, another thing I wanted to chat about uh in the food thing, we're kind of going back and forth here, is um a few episodes ago I shared about mom rage, and then it wasn't very long after that you were doing an experiment for something, right? You were doing an experiment online. You can share about this once I finish recapping what I'm talking about. Um, and then you texted me instantly and you were sort of like, I don't know if you actually have mom rage or you just aren't eating enough, which I'm trying to like get better at like actually like really eating because I don't feel hungry, so then I don't really want to eat, and then it's like, oh, I don't feel like I've actually eaten a lot today for like the amount of exercise or whatever I've done. Um, but anyway, you were you were connecting the dots with like, hey, maybe you're just feel irritable, like you were kind of saying earlier, or that kind of stuff. And it's not necessarily all the anger and rage and emotion, it could just be you're hangry or you haven't really eaten enough and you feel very overstimulated. So do you want to share about your experience with that?

SPEAKER_01 25:58

Yeah. So the experiment Katie was talking about is I did like four weeks where I did no cardio and just ate in a calorie deficit, which means you're eating less than your body needs to try and lose weight. And I just want to say cardio is super important. I just didn't do it for this four weeks to sort of like prove a point. And so I was in a deficit, which still meant eating 2,000 calories. So, like, I guarantee that's probably more than most of you listening are eating. So that was a deficit. And I noticed that I was working out one morning and my daughter's always with me with my workouts. We have so much fun, and she was just like talking to me, just normal, like mommy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was so irritated. I was like, I want you to stop talking to me. And I felt like I was going to be so rude to her. And I was like, oh my goodness, like, I have not felt like this in weeks or months. And I'm like, it's because I'm not eating as much food. And which happens to women like all the time. And also your blood sugar can impact that. So what you're eating. So if you're having carbs by themselves or something sugary, so this is like most of our breakfast. Yeah, a lot of people, if they have coffee first thing in the morning without food, um, it negatively impacts them. So your blood sugar will spike, which causes your cortisol to spike. And then when it has this big spike, it then has a big crash, which leaves you feeling irritable, but also craving more of those high sugar, high carb foods to get more energy. So it's kind of like you're on this roller coaster all day long. So if you can smooth out that roller coaster, which adding protein to your food is one of the great ways to do that to each of your meals, then you're gonna have much more steady energy. But yeah, I would just challenge you to really check in with your body. So in the health and fitness world, it'd be called biofeedback. And that is just what your body is telling you. So I often encourage my clients to set a timer like for every hour, every two hours, and just check in and see how you're feeling. If you're feeling irritable, think about like what did I eat before? If you're thinking of like if you're snapping at your husband or even if you just feel tired at 3 p.m., that's not normal. Like if you're breastfeeding postpartum mom, yes, you're just gonna be tired all the time. But if you are sleeping, you shouldn't be exhausted at 3 p.m. So, like to look back on your day and actually take some feedback on what happened, you can probably change that.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

I need to think about that because oftentimes after I pick the kids up from the bus and I get home, I'm like, I just need 15 minutes. I just need 15 minutes to lay here for a second and be quiet. But you also have seven kids, so you're I feel like it's I know, but it's like I shouldn't be tired. I'm eating healthy, I'm doing all these things that you're telling me to do. Are you going to bed on time? No, Kayla. Well, that's not in the script. Kayla also loves to go to bed early, and she um doesn't use her cell phone a lot. So you're incredible.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

I probably use my cell phone more than I should, but but you're on a fast right now. Yeah, I'm not on social media right now. 14 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

So when this comes out, y'all are gonna have to really promote it because Kayla's not gonna be on her own page to promote it. You have to get your assistant to do to share it. I'll have to get her to to do it for you. Now that uh I don't have any little ones at home and I am entering a new stage at the parametopause. Do you like to deal with women my age? Or do you deal with do you like postpartum? What's your favorite? Do you have a favorite people that you deal with? Or do you just think you have a formula that fits every woman, or do you think we need to be different at different stages?

SPEAKER_01 29:28

I think I have a formula that would fit all stages. Maybe if you are in your 20s and have endless amounts of time, um, maybe not for you, but I still think that you need to be working on strength training because you need to have that strength built up by the time you're in perimetopause, because one of the best things you can do for all your perimetopause symptoms is to have muscle on your body. So if you can have muscle before you start losing it, you're gonna be in a way better place. So I think that this next generation, with all the information we have now, is actually at an advantage because they know what they can do to set themselves up for success.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

So, ladies in your 30s, get on the weights. This is your time. Ladies in the parry, work on your technology skills. Oh that's a good one. Ladies over 40, work on your app skills, technology skills. My first hire was tech support because the majority of the women in my program are probably who have now stopped being able to lose weight on the internet. Yeah. I was gonna ask you another question. What was I gonna say? Ladies in your 30s start working out in their 40s. I forget. See? Perry brain. Perry metopause.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

How funny was it when we were talking at your brunch? And someone was like, Who is Perry?

SPEAKER_00 30:58

Like, is that her other son? Oh yeah, somebody asked that. I said, then Perry showed up and they were like, Who's Perry? Is that one of our kids? No, it's just parry metopauses. Yeah, so many kids you can't keep track of them all. Yeah, fair, fair enough. Um so leaving like some advice, like let's leave some mothering or parenting advice. What kind of advice would you have for women? Like, what are some small things they can start doing to maybe feel better? Because, like you said, it's not always about losing the weight. You know, that is a bonus for some women because some women do want to get back to a weight that maybe they feel more comfortable in or their clothes feel better in. Like, that's for me. I've I have not weighed myself since I started this program. Like, I don't step step on the scale. I had leg surgery and I had to weigh myself, and that was just like I don't want to do that. And it was fine. I just did it, didn't remember the number whatsoever. And that was just like in October, I just left it. But for me, it's like I want my clothes to fit nice, like and not feel snug and not have the lumpy bra look. I don't like that look.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

The first thing you said to me when you came to my in-person class, how can I get rid of the ball bra bulge?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Yeah, I don't want that. So I want it to not be there. That could be vain of me. Maybe it is, maybe I need to accept it. I don't know, but I just don't like it. How do I get rid of it? But it's for me, it's about feeling good in my body and in my clothes. So if a mom is listening and they were like me and never did anything through that whole time of having babies, what are some little pieces of advice that you would have for them?

SPEAKER_01 32:42

Yeah, and I think that's so true that most women come to a program because they want to lose weight or they're looking for an aesthetic, but then they stick around because they realize there's actually so much more. And yeah, there's nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight, even though maybe the internet will tell you that you shouldn't, but there's nothing wrong with that. And normally if there's like issues on the outside, it's just a signal of something maybe going on on your inside as well. Uh, so some practical things that moms could start doing. First of all, I would say prioritizing yourself is not selfish. So taking some time to make sure that you're having breakfast and it's gonna help you show up better for everybody else in your life, whether you're a mom, whether you're going to work, whatever it is, you're gonna show up better if you've just spent a little bit of time prioritizing yourself and fueling yourself. So make sure you're eating well. Number two, I would say, is you probably need to work on your mindset more than you think. I have a whole mindset section in my eight-week nutrition course. And if I advertise that, it would not sell at all. But that is the section that women say they come back to year after year and they just binge watch it and rewatch it because that's the thing that finally switched it for them. Like we don't think we have a bad mindset, but we really do just because we do it, grew up in like a terrible diet culture. So if you could work on your mindset a little, it'd probably help you out. And number three would be try and prioritize strength training. Even if it's just one workout a week, you're gonna start building muscle. So start where you can, do that one workout. Once that feels easy, add in a second workout. The problem is when you try and do these plans, does it ever feel easy? Feel easy, feel easy fitting it in, feel easy fitting it in. It's always gonna be challenging. Um, you want it to be challenging. Yeah. Uh, people try and do like a six-day week plan straight from day one. You know what I mean? And they're not eating sugar that week, they're drinking all the water, they're getting 10,000 steps. Come Wednesday, they realize, gosh, I've already failed, and then they quit. The quickest way to not see results is to quit. So if you're gonna overwhelm yourself, you're just gonna keep quitting and be in this cycle for the rest of your life of misery. So take small achievable steps and just add to it. Once that first step feels easy, add something else.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Yeah, totally agree. I would say the same the the same. And I like that your program is only three. Like you just have these three main ones to actually like get in, and then you add cardio in there, like go do whatever you like to do for fun, go for a walk, you know, go play pickleball, go to spin. I like to go to spin once a week for me. Um yeah, I only go once a week for me, and but getting those three, um, those three main workouts in is super helpful. I still get up early in the morning and will just have a coffee until I get the kids off to school and then I'll eat breakfast. And it just brings me joy. I just I know I probably should eat when I do that, but I don't want to eat at 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

I feel like I This is where the biofeedback comes in. Yeah, it's like if you're feeling fine, well, some mornings are bright, especially with mittens and snowsuits.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Like, thankfully, we're sort of out of that season. We are out of that season now. Um yeah, it could get a little edgy around here, but definitely. I've heard like some people say you could put some protein powder in your coffee. No, but one of my like if I was to give advice like here, I would have purse cheese. I always have like a cheese drink in my purse. A purse cheese. And I think it's all warm and sweaty. Yeah, well, I don't think it was sweaty, but the baby bell, when it gets warm, it's yummy. It's okay if it's been in there. I'm not into cheese. No, a purse cheese, I do like that. And an iced coffee. I do love my protein iced coffee in the afternoon. I only drink one caffeine uh coffee a day because I thought that was making me more irritable. Then probably just not eating makes me irritable. So I just only have one caffeinated coffee a day. And then I'll do these protein coffees um in the afternoon if I will. Switching to decaf in the afternoon. Um, not too. I don't have it every afternoon, but definitely Wednesdays. If we're doing like all the running, like piano and all the sport things on Wednesdays, I'll definitely make a protein coffee so that I know I'm getting, you know, rather than going and getting one that's fit.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

You thought you were irritable with the caffeine.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Yeah, but I'm still irritable. Like even though but I'm less shaky. Like, you know, like with more caffeine, you kind of get this like the jitters or whatever. Yeah, so I only do one and then I don't have any in the afternoon. And I like that protein thing. So I like to always have like a cheese string on hand or a baby bell or whatever. And then I do, and if like the cheese string company wanted to, you know, sponsor me. If you're listening and work for a cheese string company, a purse snack is a great tip though.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Like I always have something in my purse.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

What are like some quick snacks that you would have on hand? Because I don't want to be eating goldfish. Like I refuse.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

This is what I always take with me. And last week I was so unprepared. And like you were saying, I was snacking after my kids, or like I took them to get a happy meal and I was picking at their fries, which just doesn't leave you feeling amazing. Um, so I love to have snacks. Or if I know I'm gonna be out over lunch and taking my kids somewhere, I'll bring like a protein smoothie with me if I don't want to be eating it. RX bars, I know I got everybody on to RX bars. I love to have those in my bag. I'll also make like yogurts with berries and nuts and put them in my bag with a spoon.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

Um pretty much my sweaty cheese. You have warm yogurt.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Okay, when you take the yogurt and you put the frozen berries and then they melt and it gets like juicy and it's a real treat.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yeah, a real appropriate. Yeah, I tried to buy those like containers online, like the four containers, or I bought a bunch of ones that are like a circle and then the rectangle, so it fits like a baby bell and maybe some crackers or something like that. Or I do, you know, trail mix. I do need to get some of those RX bars for the summer, but I'm a fair life girl. I like the chocolate fair life and then the vanilla I use to make the protein coffees with or smoothie or anything like that. I'd like to have those, but I need ice, like I take a cup of ice and then just bring my fair life to dump in.

SPEAKER_01 38:58

Like if I'm doing library duty at school or yeah, when I'm out with the kids, I really feel like I need that snack because you go out in the morning and then you're going home. So even if you're going home, by the time you get there, everyone's grumpy, ready for naps, you're getting them out of the car, you're trying to feed them lunch. Right. If I didn't have that snack, I'm likely just like grabbing everything or stopping at the drive-thru on the way home.

SPEAKER_00 39:22

Stopping at the drive-thru. I know. Uh uh mine's the two dollars and ninety-seven cents slice of pizza at Costco after groceries.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

Oh when I was pregnant, I used to always get a diet Pepsi at Costco after groceries because you feel like you need a treat, like you did it.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

You you're like, I did it. I spent so many hugs.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

But Costco, you changed to Coke from Pepsi. Oh. I hope this podcast reaches Costco's ears.

SPEAKER_00 39:51

Okay, let's thank you so much for coming. It's so good. Honestly, I think this is something that moms need to be reminded that movement can be simple, it can be manageable within our lives. Your app has a great pause, a great pause feature, which is great to come back and forth to it. It's quick and easy. Our food can always be um, that food is important, protein matters, and taking care of ourselves is not selfish, which I actually really, really love. So thank you so much for coming and sharing with us today. I really appreciate it. I'll try to save my tech questions for later. I love supporting you with tech. Ranny does. Uh, thank you so much for having me, and I love working out with you. Oh, you're welcome. If you liked this episode, do me a favor and go give it a follow and even leave a review. Your reviews are super helpful. And I only have a few more episodes left until we break for summer and then hit up season two, which is gonna be fun. I think I'll come back. Season one already. Season one, good job. Coming to a wrap. And also, if you want to check out lean summer, like Kayla and I were talking about, we just finished week one. I have one more workout in to get in this week because this was just week one. If that's something you are interested in, I do have a link. So you can click the link and sign up and see if you like the app. I'm pretty sure you get a week free. That's right. You get a trial week for free. You get a trial week for free. So you can be hopping in week two of Lean Summer in that trial week. Yeah. Um, and then if you like it, you can just sign up and join our community. It's really um a really supportive, great community. So please click that link. Um, that does me a favor. We'd love to work out with you. Yeah, and we would love to work out with you. Uh, so thank you so much. Head on over to Instagram. You can see our fun stories of Kayla, our very first reel we did together.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

And you should share it with this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

I will. And uh, so go check that out. And that's where you'll find us over there on Instagram. You can check out Kayla at Kayla Bishop, KBFit or Kayla Bishop. K Bishop Fitness. Yeah, and on Instagram. Yeah, I'll I'll tag her down there. Go check her out. She has a ton of freebies on her Instagram. Uh, she does meal stuff. You have some resources in your Instagram bio that are just great for moms. So she is a main part of the protein on this podcast, and we're thankful for that.

SPEAKER_01 42:17

So I should have told them I listened to your podcast while I work out.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

Note added. Note added that is not getting edited. Kayla listens to this podcast while she works out. So I hope uh yeah, good combo. Good combo. So I hope you're having a good workout, Kayla, as you're listening to your podcast carrying me through.