FIT2FAT2FIT EXPERIENCE PODCAST EPISODE 13
With Sadie Sabin
Intro:
Drew: Aloha and welcome to the Fit2Fat2Fit Experience Podcast. We are coming to you straight from the big island of Hawaii, Kona. It’s a pleasure to be here. I am your host, Drew Manning.
Lynn: And I am your co-host, Lynn Manning.
Drew: Today’s episode is going to be a great one, with Simply Sadie Jane. That is her social media name. Sadie Sabin.
Lynn: Sadie, how do you pronounce your last name?
Drew: I think it’s ‘Say-ben’? But it’s funny, because when you know someone on Instagram, you go by their Instagram. ‘Oh, you are Fit2Fat2Fit’, no actually my name is Drew Manning. But anything is fine, same thing with Simply Sadie Jane. She’s awesome, she’s a self made entrepreneur. She started out with a blog, just a family blog that has turned into a fitness blog. It’s turned into a full time thing. She quit her full time job as a labor and delivery nurse to be a stay at home mom and to pursue this fitness blog thing and it’s been very successful.
Lynn: She has a lot of great health and fitness tips. She has lost 80 pounds herself. She talks about making health and wellness more affordable and how to balance having kids and working and making yourself a priority. We talk a lot about self love and motivation in this episode. It’s a good one, you don’t want to miss it.
Drew: Yeah. Stick around to the end, it does get a little bit emotional. I don’t cry though, in case you’re wondering.
Lynn: He was just sweating with his eyeballs.
Drew: *laughing* I don’t cry. I work out. *laughing* But we do talk about positive affirmation, which doesn’t sound very manly. But it is something I am a promoter of and a proponent of. Stay tuned to the end of it and the lightning round is always funny, as always.
Drew: Alright, Sadie, thank you so much for joining us today on the Fit2Fat2Fit Experience Podcast. How are you doing?
Sadie: So good! Thanks so much for having me. I am so excited.
Lynn: We are so excited to have Sadie today. I actually started following her a while back. People started tagging me in some of her content. She is just so fun. She is down to earth. She is so cute. She is a mom of two and is into health and wellness. We thought it would be so great to have her on the show and really help. There are so many moms out there that listen to our Podcast that are in the same place as us. In our later 20’s or 30’s, even 40’s, having kids and trying to balance health and wellness, along with being a mom and wife. Why don’t you start out, Sadie, by telling us a little bit about yourself. How you got into health and wellness and started your blog, kind of your background.
Sadie: Definitely, I would love to and just starting off, I love you guys. I remember seeing Drew, I think on ABC or something, when you guys very first started your experience. Then I just love following you on SnapChat too. I just feel like we are brothers from other mothers. *laughing*
Lynn and Drew: *laughing*
Sadie: Or sisters, ok?
Drew: I appreciate that. *laughing*
Sadie: Yeah, a little bit about me. I am originally from Idaho, moved to Utah about a year ago for my husbands job. I am actually a labor and delivery nurse. I quit about a year and a half ago to stay at home with my kids. Through that journey, I started my blog. I started feeling I wanted to share my journey as a nurse. I got so inspired by the women I would take care of as a nurse and seeing how powerful and beautiful and strong they were. It was really incredible to me and it really inspired me. I would just start writing my experiences down in a journal. Then I started doing more things like tutorials for my little girls hair and we did a lot of stuff on our home when we first bought it. Fitness has always been a big thing in my life, but I have never been very ‘quote-unquote’ fit. I kind of was always on the heavier side. I did athletics, but I was more …. I don’t know, I guess I was always just ok with my body, so I never really felt like I needed to excel or even do better. I also worked nights, so I gained lots of weight as a nurse. Then I had my babies and I worked nights while I was pregnant with them. I went back to work then. I just kept Taco Bell in business and sometimes just ate whatever I wanted. I gained over 200 pounds with both my babies.
Drew: Wait, wait ….
Lynn: No, she got over 200 pounds.
Drew: Ok, I was going to say …. you gained over 200 pounds? Wow!
Sadie: Sorry! No, I got over 200 pounds with both my babies.
Lynn: Drew is like, ‘This is even more than I did!’ *laughing*
Sadie: Can you edit that out?! *laughing*
Lynn: *laughing* No, no, it’s perfect.
Sadie: But yeah, I was over 200 pounds with both my babies, I should clarify. Anyways, it was pretty daunting. I just remember wanting to share my journey on my blog, more so than I had before. I’ve done CrossFit for years, but it was more just a hobby to stay fit and nothing I really shared with my readers. After my little boy, Baylor, who is 3 1/2 now, I just literally the day after I got home from the hospital, I started taking pictures. I wanted to show moms out there that they literally could change their bodies, even with little money, little time, little kids and that’s what started this fitness journey into my blog. I have not looked back since and it has really now become the main focal point of my blog.
Lynn: I love that. I don’t know a whole lot about your history, because I haven’t followed you for that long. I love that you kind of do a hodgepodge of anything from fashion to foods to fitness. I remember seeing you with a belt, so you had this belt from high school. I can’t remember if you snapped it or if it was on Instagram, but I remember you were showing this belt and it was from high school and it’s huge on you now. I remember thinking to myself, high school is normally where we are all kind of in the best shape, a lot of that is just because we are younger. Our hormones are somewhat more balanced than they are post kids. And we are athletic, people are athletic. So, kind of crazy that after two kids and a decade later, you are in better shape than you were in high school. What do you think the biggest difference was to get you to this point?
Sadie: I wish the answer was just as simple as everything is different, because really I feel like I look at life so much differently now. When I was …. back then, when I was showing …. she’s talking about the belt that I used to wear when I did rodeo in high school. That was my belt buckle and it was so much bigger. I remember, I don’t remember ever feeling that big, but I never remember feeling fit and healthy. I think things changed for me when I had kids. I felt like I wanted to be the healthiest for them and for me. I felt like I was spending so much time being a mom that I was losing a lot of me. I felt like the fitness …. and if I could focus more on being healthy and what I really could have …. I’m over what I put in my body and what I do to my body. That was able to give me a little bit more freedom on what I did. That being said, the biggest thing I changed, other than thinking that way, was nutrition. I have never, up until that point, really looked at nutrition as fuel for my body. I was just like, ‘I will eat this here or this here’, or just normal nutrition. It’s completely different now and I actually was on a strict Paleo diet for three months after my son was born. That’s what got it and now I am more of a ‘quote-unquote’ clean eater. Yeah, I love Paleo. In fact, I do a lot of that now. I mean, I bring in a little bit of dairy here and there and a little bit of whole grains, because I think that is super important. But I felt like I wanted to try something extreme, because I felt like I had never done anything and I needed that. And looking back now, I’m like how did I even do that? Because I now …. I don’t feel like I could do that. *laughing* But it worked for me, it totally worked for me. I did it long enough that I could tell myself, ok, I have done that and I will probably never do that again. Then I just incorporated the healthy habits. It really motivated me and changed the way I thought about food.
Drew: Yeah, that’s really good. I think that’s a good approach for you to take on a new lifestyle change. Because with any kind of diet, it’s to experiment with it and see if it works for you. If you haven’t done anything kind of extreme before, then why not try it? If nothing has worked for you in the past, why not try something new. So, I am totally for that. I can actually relate to you. So, a lot of people don’t know this, but I worked in the medical field, not as a labor and delivery nurse. I would never want to do that.
Lynn: *laughing* What are you saying? What are you saying?
Drew: No, I am saying it’s not for me! I just don’t know ….
Lynn: I was going to give you a lot of crap, but oh well ….
Drew: I can’t do those kind of things. But anyways, I did something called neuromonitoring. It was interesting because you are working in the medical field. You work with doctors and nurses and to be honest, those are some of the most unhealthy people. They give so much to other people, taking care of others, that they just neglect taking care of themselves. Every time I was in a break room at a hospital, it was full of soda, chips, cookies and crackers. Quick energy, the doctor would just go stuff his face in between surgeries, same thing with the nurses. It was just the lifestyle of extreme unhealthy habits, while they are trying to promote healthy living in a way. Trying to tell people how to be healthier. *laughing* So, I thought it was kind of ironic, but I could totally relate to that. Was that your experience as well? It wasn’t just you, but in general, were a lot of nurses and doctors pretty unhealthy?
Sadie: Absolutely. It’s not all of them. I am still best friends with a lot nurses I worked with. Being a new mom and dedicating myself now completely to this new precious baby and then going away from her and working 12 hours and dedicating my life to other humans. Bringing life into the world, I really felt so lost and felt like I wasn’t doing anything for myself. I could see myself just dwindling. I could see my energy going down and my self esteem going down. Mentally, I was just drained. It didn’t help that every time I would go to the hospital, there is a grill there and you would get cheeseburgers and then you would order a tuna sandwich for 2 a.m. Then you would have some onion rings. And as a nurse working in an area, I mean I didn’t really see a break room. I was in a very fast paced intensive care area. We were going back for stat C-sections and I was delivering babies on my own, with patients coming in and already pushing. I would find things quickly. Then after I had Baylor, I had to tell myself that it wasn’t worth it. It was very interesting seeing …. I almost felt like I was missing out. It was hard for me because my other nursing friends would bring chips and salsa or pizza for everyone. Because that is what you do, when you do sit down for 2 seconds, you share. ‘Oh my gosh, have you eaten? Here is some of my candy.’ I had to tell myself no, that’s not what I want. It was interesting a little bit, the waterfall effect that it had. Easily some of the most unhealthy people, it’s crazy. Which is so sad, because they are probably some of the most loving people I have ever met. They are just so used to not taking time for themselves and I wanted to change that for myself.
Lynn: It’s so crucial for yourself. That’s what it’s all about. No one is going to make a healthy lifestyle change and stick to their goals and stay motivated and stay consistent if they don’t focus on self love. That’s why every single person that comes on the Podcast, I always ask them, and I am always especially interested in what women have to say, because women …. it’s reported that the number one barrier to fitness for women, is time. It’s them making that time for self care. So for you, you used to work in the medical field and had this crazy busy schedule, but you still have a crazy busy schedule. You are still running a blog and still taking care of your children, you’re a wife and you are still helping around the house, all those things. How do you now make time for yourself, for self care and to reach those fitness goals? What do you do to balance it all?
Sadie: Well first I take balance kind of out of the picture, because I feel like there is no balance. I know that you can feel me on that.
Lynn: Oh yeah.
Sadie: Where is this golden person we are looking at, ‘Oh, she’s what we are supposed to have, balance.’ You know what I am saying? I really think it’s important to find the balance within you and your husband or significant other and your family. I have to take the world out of it and see what works for me and my husband. I remember when I first started on this journey and when I started becoming more busy with my blog. I really wanted to push through it as a business. We had to sit down and I had to say, ‘Ok, so this is what is going to work for us. So, if we are both working and I’m a stay at home mom and I get to be home and I am so grateful for that, then you are probably going to have to help out with the dishes!’ And by the way, he is phenomenal. He is very good at helping out with stuff. I have to say that there is no particular balance, other than a balance for me. We really had to communicate with that. I had to take a two second break every morning and say, ‘What am I going to get done?’ And then if I don’t get it done, I have to let it go, because if I am going to stress out over things that I don’t get done, then I am not going to have balance and I am not going to feel like I am doing things. I feel like you can tell yourself whether you are balanced or not and convince yourself. How many things have you done as a mom? Ok, so maybe you didn’t make a homemade meal that night, but look at how you folded all your laundry. You have got to weigh the pros and cons and tell yourself that you are doing a great job internally. Otherwise you are going to break yourself up everywhere and it’s just going to come crumbling down, in my opinion.
Lynn: Do you feel like there are certain things that you are always consistent in and put first though? Because of course there is that to do list, that never ending to do list, like you are never going to get it done. I never get everything done on my list, I don’t even get half of it done on my list. But like you said, there comes a point where you realize that for you and your family, what you just prioritize. It’s not about having the time, it’s about making time. Are there certain things that you always make time for each day, no matter what?
Sadie: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I think it’s super personal too. But I think you also have to be able to kind of step back and say what’s really important. For me, for example, making my little girls lunch for school is important for me. So, I make sure I carve out that. Fitness for me is so important. Do I work out every day? No. But do I do something every day that is dedicated to bettering myself? Absolutely. I will always find time for that, even if it’s laying in my bed for an extra five minutes and meditating about how wonderful my life is. I am all about hippy self love, you know? I think we need that. I think you are going to make time now, no matter where you are. You are busy no matter what. Some of the least busy people, are the busiest people. You know, you feel me.
Lynn: Oh yea.
Sadie: You can make time for a two minute workout or an hour workout, in my opinion. And I know because things are busy. Fitness for sure and a couple things as a mother that I just won’t give up. So, yeah, that’s mine for sure.
Drew: That’s cool. So, what led you into CrossFit?
Sadie: Actually, it’s so funny, because I was in college and I was just going to the normal college gym there. Then my brother in law is like this crazy fitness fanatic and he was in …. I think he had exercise science as his background. He had to train a couple of people. This was back in like …. I want to say 2009, when it was just starting to get really …. it wasn’t even a fad then. It was just starting. It was still in like the owners backyard, like the games were. It was still …. *laughing*
Drew: *laughing*
Sadie: So, he was like, ‘There is this thing called CrossFit and it’s amazing and you need to do it and I am going to train you.’ So, I remember spending hours, hours trying to figure out a clean. A clean is an Olympic lift that I love. It’s my favorite lift. It took me almost a year …. because I had never lifted a barbell before. But it was incredible because all of a sudden I was doing these anaerobic and aerobic exercises together and I fell in love. I fell in love. I didn’t start doing a CrossFit membership into a gym until a couple of years later, after that. In Idaho you have to travel at least 30 minutes to 45 minutes to find a gym even close to you. Then when I started into a gym, I was like, ‘This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.’ Every single time, I wanted to cry, but I saw significant changes. I just felt like, oh my gosh, look at what my body can do! That’s when I really was like, wow. Between that and being a labor nurse, I was like, our bodies are incredible! If we believe it, we can do anything. So, that’s kind of when I started and then my husband finally jumped on the bandwagon. I had to convince him for awhile. He was like, ‘I’m just going to do P90X in our basement. It will be fine.’
Drew: *laughing*
Sadie: Which really is great too. That’s great. But I was like, ‘You should try it.’ Anyway, then a couple of years later, we decided to just build one in our garage to save some money. We read the CrossFit manual a few times and really educated ourselves and we loved it.
Drew: That is so cool.
Lynn: Yeah, and I love that you did that to save money. You kind of built your own thing. I have seen before, you guys do workouts and post workouts and the equipment that you guys have set up for yourself to have your own home gym when you need it. I think that’s really crucial to share with people, not everyone is in the same circumstance. Not everyone can afford to go to a CrossFit gym. But you can afford to get used equipment here and there and make your own set up. I know a lot of my followers ask about ways to save money, in order to make healthy living more affordable. What tips do you share with people in regards to that, making healthy living more affordable.
Sadie: Yeah, I love that. I think I share that same passion as you, Lynn. I just feel that any kind of movement is good movement. I think so many moms are so lost, as to what even they can do in their home. There are just so many options. When Jeff and I started, my husband is a construction major and he loves building things, so we have tutorials on our blog on our to build your own Plyo box, that is good for males and females, it has different levels. Like a pipe that you use for plumbing, that in conjunction with wood for a pull up bar, and a squat rack, things that are very crucial if you are wanting to do CrossFit at home. But it’s super easy with his plans. A couple of other things I share on my blog, Craigslist is a great place to find exercise equipment, also the DI. Like you go to DI and you can find like the best stuff. We found the most amazing vintage Airdyne machine for $10 and it still works!
Lynn and Drew: Oh my gosh!
Lynn: That is so cool!
Sadie: It’s like my golden throne. We love it. We love it.
Lynn: That is so cool. And weights are like usually 50% on Craigslist. Like at least half of what you would pay.
Sadie: Yeah, we didn’t buy anything for full price. We found …. actually maybe we bought a 35 pound bar for me, now that I think of it, from Rogue. But we found all this Rouge equipment on Craigslist, like the bumper weights and everything for super cheap. And then we found a random kettle bell and a random rope that we tied to the top of our garage. You could just …. if you can search and find it. We even actually made a medicine ball draining like the air out of a basketball and just putting sand in it. I mean you can use anything for a medicine ball really. Children or flour or whatever.
Drew: Yeah. *laughing*
Lynn: That’s awesome. We will definitely make sure at the end of this episode to ask Sadie where you can find her and where her blog is and then we will make sure to put all of that in the show notes, so that you guys can search and you can find out what she’s talking about, as far as the specifics, as far as the home gym on her blog.
Drew: Yeah and I think that is actually really powerful, because a lot of people, especially women I think, going into CrossFit seems intimidating, I think. If they are not in shape, or they are not really into fitness, they go in and there are these dudes with their shirts off and girls in their sports bras, they are doing butterfly pull ups and cleans and overhead squats and snatches. I can see how some people would think, you know, it’s just not for me. It’s intimidating. But for you, someone who like started it in your gym, you have these tutorials on how to build a box to do box jumps on, things like that. Where people can do similar movements at home, without having to go to the gym or paying the $100 plus membership. I think that’s actually a really great tip and advice to show people, do the best you can with what you have. That’s what we tell people all the time. You don’t have to buy the expensive Reebok gear to do CrossFit, you know? You don’t have to only buy the Rogue equipment, you know? I think a lot of people can learn from that, to just do the best they can with what they have, given the situation. You have obviously done that and you and your husband have done a great job of that.
Sadie: Yeah, thank you. We try anyway.
Lynn: Yeah, and just to clarify for people, we are not suggesting you should start CrossFit on your own without any coaching or tutorials. Especially not anything like a powerlift, like Sadie was saying, she had someone helping her and coaching her. But, an alternative is if you do set up something in your house, and I will be the first to admit, I definitely am that person that is way too intimidated to go to CrossFit. Every time I go there, I mostly just stare at people. I just go over to the women that are doing crazy stuff, and I just sit there and stare and am like, wow. What is good for me, is a lot of times if you go to those gyms, they will talk about a beginners course, where you can just go with beginners and they will show you just specifically the moves and the form. You can also then google and watch a lot of good clips on YouTube of people practicing form. So, if you do have something in your house and in your own privacy, you can practice based on maybe being coached one on one at the CrossFit gym doing a beginners course and also watching YouTube videos. So, don’t necessarily go out and do it all crazy on your own, but that’s just a great way to avoid the fear of going to the gym and saving a lot of money on a gym membership.
Sadie: Yeah. There are a lot of places you can find groupons for cheaper memberships. I wouldn’t have ever done this CrossFit gym at home, if I hadn’t already done it for years before that. I have this at home CrossFit workout plan for moms, that specifically have never done CrossFit, and it’s only …. it’s not even really CrossFit inspired. I technically can’t even call it that, because I am not supposed to use the CrossFit name, but it uses movements without the olympic lift. It uses PVC pipes and broomsticks, you know, stuff like that isn’t going to hurt you. Because obviously, I definitely don’t think that is a good idea. But, on the other side of that, as far as gyms …. CrossFit gyms can be intimidating, I think any gym can be intimidating. I like to show my pictures when I was overweight, of me doing Olympic lifts in the CrossFit gym. Because I just look back and I think, wow. I was so brave to go there. I look back and I remember thinking …. not even remembering that. Not even thinking that I had to be brave. But, I think it was because I was in such a tunnel vision of not caring what people thought and wanting to just lose the weight, that I just didn’t care. I think you just have to do that. You have to focus on you and out everybody else. What I have learned too, now that I am a part of a bigger gym and living in Salt Lake, everybody is there to congratulate you. I’ve never met anybody that’s been negative. It’s beautiful and I think it can be so …. I mean there are so many different experiences at home and at the gym.
Drew: I was going to ask you, since now you are in Utah, you guys go to a box now in Salt Lake?
Sadie: Yeah, we go to Excel Fitness in Holiday.
Drew: Oh yeah.
Sadie: It’s an exceptional gym. You guys are going to have to come hit it up when you come back from Hawaii. Your luxurious vacation.
Drew: If we come back.
Lynn: If we come back. *laughing*
Sadie: Ok, well then, I will just come move in with you.
Lynn: Ok, ok.
Sadie: It’s incredible because it has a daycare area and it’s actually a regular gym. But, it has a CrossFit area that you can do with just a gym membership. Then it has a box connected to it so you can go in and have structured classes. Then there is Yoga, Pilates and spinning, so I’ve loved that. I still do a lot of at home stuff, just because of the convenience. I love still sharing things, but I love being close to a gym
Lynn: Awesome.
Drew: No, that’s cool. So, you guys workout at a CrossFit gym, or at a box in Utah, so you don’t do the gym in your garage anymore.
Sadie: We do. So, what’s crazy about Salt Lake is not a lot of …. well, we live pretty much right in Salt Lake. The houses are a lot smaller and not a lot of them have connected garages. So, they are like small. They kind of look like a picture out of a murder scene. Like a murder movie, they are old school and like rickety and like scary. So, there is definitely no nailing a contraption of like a pull up bar out there. My husband would rip down the whole garage. So, we still do things like Saturday WODs out there, we will put out the bars and pull out the Airdyne, but yeah, I mean we still definitely like to WOD it out at home, it’s just a little more difficult while we are renting right now.
Drew: Gotcha.
Lynn: I’ve seen Sadie do like at the park workouts and in her living room workouts with her kids. And that’s what I love, because I do pretty much all at home workouts. And I always have, I did it to lose the baby weight and to get in shape. There have only been a hand full of times here and there that I have gone and worked out somewhere. And I mostly did it for the social aspect. I love that you show women, like we talked about, that you can workout anywhere, under any circumstances. You can use your kids as weight, and include them and have fun and make them a part of that. We always really like to ask people, especially people like you, that has really shared your story on social media and on your blog and helped to motivate people. I know the biggest thing we get asked is about motivation. Like how do you maintain your motivation throughout your health goals? A lot of people will get a little bit of motivation, they will work really hard, they will reach a goal and then they always slip back. They show us a horrendous over 70% statistics of people that lose weight and then they gain it all back. If you could give three tips to our followers and your followers on how to maintain motivation and stay consistent, what would that be?
Sadie: Yeah, absolutely. That’s definitely one of the number one …. that and what proteins have I used. *laughing* But that is one of the number one questions I get asked, is the motivation. I just think that is so …. it’s just so interesting that it is one of the hardest ones, because I definitely feel like it is. I feel like if you are thinking of your fitness journey in the wrong way, it can be intimidating. I understand why people go back in their ways. My first one is to stop saying that you are starting over. I actually shared this on my periscope a few days ago. I think it is just so damaging to tell yourself, oh I am going to start over again! Because it makes you look back at your journey and feel like all of it was a waste. If I have a crappy weekend, I always say that weekends are dark times because I eat crappy. But, I am all about rewarding yourself and balance. So, like I said, I eat clean, but I give myself treats for sure, because I love food. The thing is, is I don’t ever tell myself I am starting over because I feel like that is just so negative. I think if you can just think positively about yourself, it is going to help you. So, I always say, I am going to be doing better. That is how I keep myself motivated, by not thinking of it so complicated. I think that people think it is so complicated. If I am going to start over, all I am eating is kale and egg whites! It doesn’t have to be that complicated, you know?
Lynn: Eww! Eww!
Sadie: I know!
Lynn: Whoever is eating kale and egg whites and especially together, eww!
Drew: Hey, hey now! *laughing*
Sadie: My second one is taking one day at a time. I know that a lot of people are a big fan of long term goals, which I definitely think that if you are on a fitness journey, you have one. Ok, my long term goal is I want to lose fifty pounds. I mean, I think that is wonderful. I mean, I lost eighty pounds and that was definitely my ultimate goal, but I could not …. for me personally, I couldn’t look out there because it looked so far away. So, I literally took one day at a time. I told myself, this is a long journey and I might not lose weight this week, and that is ok. I am going to do this, I am going to wake up and just focus on today. Because if I could focus on eating healthy one day at a time, I could do it. And that would keep me from being discouraged, so that was helpful, focusing on just every day. My last one is to not compare. And it seems pretty simple, but if I was looking at someone else’s journey, it would discourage me. Or how somebody else was losing weight or what they were doing, I look at it for inspiration and I looked for people, and I would encourage people on their journey’s. But for me, personally, I had to find that within myself. And I am a huge …. like I have said this kind of like throughout this whole thing, but you have to love yourself and you have to motivate yourself before anybody else can. I remember a long time ago, my brother in law, who started me on CrossFit, actually gave me probably some of the best advice that I have ever gotten in my life. He told me …. and it was so uncomfortable. He told me to go home after the gym, before I went to bed every night and look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that I loved myself, that I was beautiful and that I was strong and that I could accomplish anything that I wanted to. That literally changed my life. I was able …. it’s pretty emotional. I actually challenge you guys to do it. It seems super uncomfortable to do it by yourself, but it is so powerful. It is probably the most powerful feeling that you can have. Feeling that you actually believe it and that you are beautiful within yourself. Because you are the only one that is going to lift up that weight for you. You’re the only one that is going to wake up in the morning and decide and dedicate yourself to lose weight. So, if you can find that love within yourself …. I’m not going to get emotional! But, if you can …. this is a safe place. I still struggle with self love, especially in the industry we are in. It’s hard to ever feel good enough and if I close out the outside world and really look at myself and see what a beautiful human I am and how much I have grown and what I have accomplished, it seems pretty prideful when you are talking about it to someone else. But, you can not change your life, if you don’t believe in it yourself. That’s for sure my number one, you’ve got to love yourself and you have got to be willing to do better and better yourself.
Drew: Amen!
Lynn: We need to break off the falsehood that believing in and loving yourself is prideful. You know? Or conceited or self centered, the fact is, when did that happen? We go from being a child and thinking we are wonderful and great and feeling all this love and courage and fulfillment to being put down and then starting to put ourselves down. Then we go into this self hate and we go into these eating disorders and we go into this depression and anxiety over not feeling good enough. We need to go back to when we were five years old and we felt on top of the world and someone told us we were pretty. We would be like, thank you, I know! It’s not conceited to think you are a great person and really I completely agree with you, it all starts from self love and self worth. In my fitness classes, I would always end it with positive affirmation and I remember my clients thought they were so dumb. I would make them say the same things. Well, mine were, I am beautiful. I love my body and I will make healthy choices. I encourage you to do what Sadie says, take the challenge and do this and see how your life can change. I know a lot of my clients won’t even look in the mirror. Like, literally will get ready and won’t even look in a mirror. If looking in a mirror is too hard, start by just saying it. Lay on the ground, close your eyes and say it. Say it, think it, feel it. Then progressively move up until you can look yourself in the face and really say and acknowledge that you are a beautiful wonderful person, because you are.
Sadie: Yeah. It’s amazing how much your love for others will change, because all of a sudden you are not jealous and that’s where it comes from too. I look at my daughter who is five and her ignorance is beautiful. Her ignorance is the beauty of self love. She thinks everyone is beautiful and I think there is something so pure about that. If we look in ourselves and get that demon outside of us, really love ourselves, then we would want the best for everybody as well.
Lynn: Hmm, umm. Yeah.
Drew: Yeah. So, I just wanted to say something, because you know, I am outnumbered here.
Lynn: *laughing*
Sadie: *laughing*
Drew: I am trying to get in a couple words, but to all you guys out there that are listening, positive affirmations are not just for women. Like, honestly, I do it too and I used to think it was really weird. I thought, this is stupid, this isn’t going to change anything, but honestly, it makes a big difference. I do the positive affirmations to myself every single day. It is just a good reminder, whether I believe it or not, some days it doesn’t matter. Words have power, you know? A lot of guys think this isn’t for men to do, this is just for women who struggle with self esteem. Guys struggle with it too. And if you can love yourself, you can better love others. You are a better you when you are healthier and happier, you know? So, you are a better dad, you are a better brother, you are a better spouse, you’re a better employee, when you are healthier and happier. That starts with loving yourself first. So, for all you guys listening, this is for you as well. So, I think that is a great challenge.
Lynn: Yeah, and you could do one of Drew’s “Drewisms”, one of Drew’s sayings, ‘Look good, feel good, oughta be in Hollywood!’
Drew: I didn’t make that up! I learned that from a navy seal!
Lynn and Sadie: *laughing*
Lynn: Wow, a navy seal! “What?? I don’t flex in the mirror and say that!” *Lynn speaking in a deep voice* *laughing* ‘What?? I don’t know what you are talking about?!’
Drew: No! *laughing* I learned that from a navy seal! Honestly! But, it’s just a mental game, a lot of this is about the mental and emotional game. It’s not just about the physical. I think that’s great, because you can get some of the best meal plans and the best workouts and the best trainer in the world, and none of that matters if people don’t understand their mental and emotional challenges and how to overcome them. That’s how you make it a lifestyle change honestly, is by overcoming those mental and emotional challenges. We all know we need to exercise and eat healthy, for the most part. Most people know that, but what we struggle with is those mental and emotional challenges, like self love for example.
Lynn: No, I love that. That is like such a positive way to end the serious part of our interview. We are going into now my favorite part of every interview.
Drew: Yeah, no more crying. We are all done crying, right?
Lynn and Sadie: *laughing*
Lynn: Which is as many people know, the lightning round. Dun-dum-dun! So, for those that don’t know, the lightning round, this is where we ask Sadie random questions that we want to know. She has no idea what they are. She gets no time to prepare. The rules are pretty much, you need to answer them as quickly and concisely as possible and the first thing that comes to mind. So, no being strategic about this!
Sadie: Ok. And I will try not to swear.
Lynn: Ok, well …. it happens on this show.
Drew: *laughing* We can always bleep it out.
Lynn: Ok, what’s your most embarrassing moment?
Sadie: Oh my gosh! My most embarrassing moment? Probably like …. this is so dumb! Like in sixth grade, I was jump roping and my top came unbuttoned and my sports bra, that I didn’t even need to be wearing, because I didn’t even have any boobies! It showed everything, we were all laughing, but that is the first one that came to mind!
Lynn and Drew: *laughing*
Lynn: Ok, your secret man crush? We won’t tell your husband.
Drew: We won’t tell. It’s ok, he won’t hear this.
Lynn: What have we got?
Sadie: Ummm …. none other but Channing Tatum and he knows, you guys!
Drew: My eyes just rolled!
Sadie: It’s not a secret. I don’t keep my man crushes a secret. I’m like, ‘Jeff, if I ever meet him, you are going to be in trouble! You better just let me lick his abs, ok?’
Lynn: *laughing* I’m just laughing because when Natalie Hodson, when she did this, I asked her who was her secret man crush, same answer!
Drew: It’s everyone’s! Girls!
Lynn: He is everyone’s. It’s his dancing from Magic Mike.
Drew: Wait, it’s because of Magic Mike or is it because of …. what is it?
Lynn: Step up.
Drew: What is it? Step up 2 or 9?
Sadie: Yeah, Step Up showed his moves, I mean Magic Mike definitely helped!
Drew: Of course. Gotcha. Still haven’t seen that movie, by the way!
Lynn: Ok, next question. Your most epic mom fail and by mom fail, I mean one time I accidentally left my daughter at a store.
Sadie: Oh my gosh! Oh, my most epic mom fail?
Lynn: Yeah, no judgement here. A moment where you are, wow, I can’t believe I just did that. Mom fail!
Sadie: I feel like there are so many.
Lynn: I know.
Sadie: Ok, this is just one thing that my kid …. my kids are so mischievous, I think most kids are. But, one thing that really comes to mind, I was showering and I can’t ever shower when my kids are awake, even now. They are such …. I almost just called them a naughty word and I won’t use that word! Oh my gosh! But I really love them! Anyway, I was showering and it was quiet, you know that’s always bad.
Lynn: Oh yeah. Bad sign.
Sadie: I almost feel like this isn’t a mom fail, but it kind of is because I left them alone. So I’m like ok, this is a mom fail. We are living in a different house now, so things are all put differently. This was when we first moved into our new house that we are renting right now. They were downstairs and I’m like, oh my gosh. They are finally playing peacefully, I’m going to get ready. I got ready the whole time and I could hear them, I’m like oh wow, you guys are ok, you are alive. Finally, I’m like something is going on. I walk downstairs, we probably had over 200 cans of canned food. They had peeled off every single label. Every single label you guys. It was a sea of paper.
Lynn and Drew: *laughing*
Sadie: Jeff and I were like, what the ‘f’ are we going to do with all these cans? So, we looked up the label one night and we had to write in permanent marker what it is. We still don’t know some of them, they are mysterious. Like, what are we having for dinner? Oh we are going to have cream of mushroom!
Lynn: We are not sure, let’s open it! It’s a surprise!
Sadie: Yeah, my answers are sucky. I can’t even think of them!
Lynn: These aren’t sucky. See, this is the best part. Ok, next question and then Drew get’s the last one. You know how on SnapChat you can send yourself to either stories or people, we have all accidentally sent a private snap to our public story. What is the worst ones you have ever done?
Sadie: Oh my gosh! Ok, I know exactly what this one is. So, I don’t even want to tell you the site it was on, because I don’t think they should get any publicity because it is so evil. But there is this website that is out there that is really evil and it talks about people on social media and how …. it just is really bad, like evil bullying. They all say negative things about people and I was featured on there recently. Well, not recently, like a couple of months ago, but people are on there all the time. Anyways, so I saw that.
Lynn: Wait, somebody put you on this bullying site?
Sadie: Yes.
Lynn: Ohhhhh …..no!
Sadie: It’s absolutely awful. It’s absolutely awful. It’s crazy the things that are out there. Anyways, someone had told me about it, because I don’t go on this site because I don’t think they deserve any page views. But someone told me I was on there, so naturally I was curious and I saw it. Then I was talking to my friend about it on SnapChat …. I’m going to swear, so be prepared for it!
Lynn: Ok, I am prepared.
Drew: I think our editors can deal with it.
Sadie: So I was snapping her and I was like, ‘I can’t believe them! Those bastards!” I took it and put it to my story! Ok? Not to my friend and I had within minutes, like at least 10-15 personal snaps of , “Who was that?’ And then someone was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Sadie, how inappropriate!’
Lynn: Oh no! Oh my gosh! See, this show’s the type of quality person I am, because I was still waiting for the swear word and then I realized afterwards, oh she meant bastard was the swear word!
Sadie: I know!
Lynn: Me and Drew are looking at each other like …..
Drew: Oh wow. *laughing*
Sadie: Anyhow, it was pretty embarrassing.Thankfully, I have had no …. nipple slips on my stories.
Lynn: Yeah, yeah. That’s happened! That’s happened to people. We are not even going to talk about who that has happened to.
Sadie: *laughing*
Drew: It happens to me all the time. But no one seems to care? *laughing*
Lynn: No, I can’t …. I’ve done that a couple of different times and I always get either texts or snaps back like, ‘Don’t think you meant to send that to everybody!’ Especially like they are the really embarrassing ones where I am snapping one of my friends with like the view of my nostrils because I think it’s just funny to see either a double chin or nostrils! Then I send it to my story and people are like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think you meant to do that.’ I’m like, oh, whatever. I hate you SnapChat, I hate you.
Drew: That’s funny. Luckily, I don’t have anything embarrassing to share that I might have snapped.
Lynn: Right.
Drew: Ok, last one, Sadie. I know you have been pregnant twice and you’ve gained 80 pounds, not 200, but 80. *laughing* Would you ever do a Fit2Fat2Fit journey on purpose? If so, why? And if not, why not?
Sadie: Oh. My. Gosh! You are crazy!!!
Lynn and Drew: *laughing*
Sadie: I can’t believe you asked me this?
Drew: I am just curious. I ask every single person that comes on the show if they would ever seriously do it and if so, why would they do it? Would they be willing to do it? And if not, why wouldn’t you? Just curious, just throwing it out there.
Sadie: This is my on the ball answer … like the first thought that came to my mind.
Drew: Ok.
Sadie: For my fitness journey, no. Because I feel like I have already kind of done one of those? Because I have, not just in pregnancy, but I have been overweight in my life. I feel like I would know that. Now, at the fittest I have ever been now, going to now gaining a lot of weight and then going back, oh my gosh! How scary! I don’t think I would. I really don’t think I would, just because I feel like I have experienced that and I have …. I really feel like I have a unique story where I can share an extreme weight loss and a weight gain with people. I know the feelings and struggles and emotional ties that go with that.
Drew: Yeah, no, I know. I kind of agree with that. Because people ask me if I would do it again, and I honestly say no. Because for me, I feel like I have learned what I needed to learn through my first experience. But, I will admit there are times where I forget, I forget what it’s like to be overweight. I have been in shape now for so long, I’m like, you know what, I could see the benefits of doing it again, because I need to be reminded. I need to be humbled in a way. But, at the same time, no, it’s too crazy. I just don’t know if I could do it again. But, I like to ask other people’s opinions and perspectives on it. So, you feel like you definitely have some empathy, having been overweight in the past? And growing up overweight, it sounds like and having two big pregnancies, you can definitely gain or have some empathy for people who do struggle.
Sadie: Absolutely. I think, like I said, being the fittest I have ever been in my life, and I am 27. I’ve struggled being the heavy one of my friends, or the heavy cheerleader in eighth grade. Or like the bigger one, like the third baseman on my softball team, you know? I feel like I’ve been there, and I know and I understand and it’s scary and crappy and sucky. I remember that, for sure. It’s interesting how you say, like you forget. It’s so funny, how it can still happen, even when you are fit. I think …. I don’t know, maybe it is more with women? I don’t know, because obviously I’m not a man. But it’s like when I walk into the gym and you see people that are more fit ….
Lynn: Oh yeah.
Sadie: So, it’s that comparison. But I have to say, wow, while we are on here, Drew. I think it’s just incredible what you did. It’s just so funny, because I am like, well if anybody can understand more what it’s like to have a baby and then have to get that weight off, it’s Drew!
Drew: *laughing*
Lynn: It’s Drew! Yeah! *laughing* He reminded me of a pregnant woman when he did it.
Drew: Yeah. Lynn’s like, ‘You sound like you are pregnant. Your hormones are off. You are always complaining.’
Lynn: He had a food baby.
Sadie: So cool.
Lynn: Plus, he was like emotional and he would always ask me if he looked fat. I’m like, ‘What are you? Like pregnant?’ *laughing*
Drew: *laughing*
Sadie: Oh I love it. You guys, this story is incredible and I just love you guys. I think it is so cool.
Lynn: Well, we loved having you on. Tell everybody how they can find you. Your social media handles, your website, tell everybody how they can find you.
Sadie: Yeah. My website is simplysadiejane.com. Then I am just the same on all my handles. On Instagram, I am very active on there, and on SnapChat, simplysadiejane. I am on Periscope there too. I mean SimplySadieJane is my handle for everything, really. Find me, follow along on my fitness journey. I still call it my fitness journey, because I think every day is a fitness journey, even though I am fit. The thing with me is, I know I will have to work at it every single day. Because it just doesn’t come natural to me and I don’t think it comes natural to 95% of the people in the world. *laughing*
Lynn: Well, it’s just like a healthy lifestyle, it’s your life.
Drew: Yeah, it’s a never ending journey. You know? We are all on this journey forever. Some people start later than others, and you know, you just have to remind yourself that it’s this journey of trying to be fit. It is never ending because it can all go away in six months, for example. *laughing*
Lynn: Yeah. And we are going to have all of her information, her website and her handles in the show notes everybody. So, check out those show notes to make sure you are going to the right place.
Drew: Alright, thanks again, Sadie. We appreciate you coming on.
Sadie: Thank you guys so much! It was a blast.
Outro:
Drew: Alright, we hope you guys enjoyed today’s episode. Please leave us a review on ITunes, of what you thought of today’s episode. Please subscribe to our Podcast, if you are enjoying it. Please share it with your friends. We love hearing from you guys. Please stay in touch with us on social media. All of my social media handles are @Fit2Fat2Fit and my website is Fit2Fat2Fit.com. Sign up for my newsletter to receive my weekly newsletter and to stay in the know of things as they are going on.
Lynn: Yeah, and my social media handles on all the outlets are @2fitathome and my website is 2fitathome.com and I have a newsletter. Sign up there as well.
Drew: Yep and we really, really appreciate you guys supporting us here on the Podcast. None of this would be possible without you, so keep listening. Keep sharing with your friends and we will bring you great content each and every week. Guaranteed.
Lynn: See you guys next week.
Resources:
Fit2Fat2Fit.com
2Fitathome.com
SimplySadieJane.com
Social Media
Drew Manning
Instagram: @FIT2FAT2FIT
Twitter: FIT2FAT2FIT
Facebook: FIT2FAT2FIT
Lynn Manning
Instagram: @2fitathome
Twitter: @2fitathome
Facebook: 2fitathome
Sadie Sabin
Instagram: @simplysadiejane
Twitter: @simplysadiejane
Facebook: Simply Sadie Jane
Website: simplysadiejane.com
SnapChat: Simply Sadie Jane
“Episode Recap”
We are joined today by Simply Sadie Jane. She joins us to share her story and journey of health, fitness and self love. She has lost over 80 pounds and completely changed her lifestyle. But more importantly, she has learned to love herself and discovered the importance of positive affirmation. Stay with us today to hear how you can begin to heal and make changes mentally, emotionally and physically to create a lasting healthy lifestyle.
“What We Learned”
– Sadie started a blog while working as a Labor and Delivery nurse to share inspiring stories about the women she cared for. After ending up weighing over 200 pounds following her pregnancies, she began to incorporate nutrition into her blog. She wanted to motivate women to get healthy along with her.
– Trying Paleo helped motivate Sadie to get healthy and change the way she thought about food. After stopping Paleo, she just began to incorporate healthy habits and foods into her daily life.
– Making time for things you love and are important to you are crucial. You may not be able to complete your to do list everyday, but if you focus on the things that are most important to you and let the rest go, it will create a lot more peace in your life and a lot less stress.
– After falling in love with CrossFit, Sadie convinced her husband to start it with her. They then began to build their own gym in their garage. They found items at a very low price on Craigslist and at thrift stores, such as the DI.
– You don’t have to belong to a gym to exercise and get fit and active. You can workout at home. You can workout at the park. You can use your children as weights and include them in your workout.
– Believe in yourself and love yourself. You are the only one that is going to wake up every morning and dedicate yourself to eat right, lose weight and exercise. But you cannot change your life if you don’t believe in yourself.
“How To Take Action”
– Start where you are at and do the best with what you have. Some movement is better than no movement.
– Look on Craigslist online or at local thrift stores for used exercise equipment and weights.
– Stop telling yourself you are ‘starting over’. It can be so damaging to tell yourself this because it makes you look back at your journey and feel like it was all a waste. Thinking positively about yourself is going to help you. Just tell yourself you are going to do better.
– Take one day at a time. Sometimes if you have a lot of weight to lose, it can be discouraging. Tell yourself you are going to wake up and just focus on today.
– Do not compare yourself to others. You cannot change your life if you don’t believe in yourself. You have got to love yourself to be willing to better yourself.
– Start and end your day with positive affirmations. Challenge yourself to look in the mirror each day and say, I am beautiful. I love my body. I will make healthy choices, because I am worth it.
