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In this episode, I go over some questions that were frequently brought up by listeners - "how do I handle stress-eating?", "do you ever have mom guilt?", "I feel like I do everything and nothing works...". If any of this sounds familiar, join in on an honest and candid solo episode where I address these common hurdles.
To try a free week of my signature Fit for Hiking program to get you fit from the trails (gym AND at-home options) start HERE.
To try a free week of my signature Fit for Hiking program to get you fit from the trails (gym AND at-home options) start HERE.
For next level fat loss strategies, hormone/gut health help, serious performance goals and unparalleled support, apply for Mountain Metabolic coaching. Learn more HERE.
For more free wellness resources, hiking/travel guides, and other blog posts, check out my website HERE.
What is Fit for Hiking?
Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!
Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a longtime fitness professional in Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for hiking podcast. 1s Hello, hello, welcome back to the fit for hiking podcast. What is up you guys? It's so good to be back with you all for another episode. Man. Life lately has just been like this mix of busyness and also kind of just some boringness, I guess, like just kind of settling in to a nice groove post move. Um, I recently went on a girls trip to Miami, which was so fun. I got to get together with some friends from college that I just don't see very often, especially now that a couple of us have babies. And it was just so nice to have a few days off of mom duty, off of, you know, focusing on work, focusing on all the things that we have to do on a day to day basis and just to like, laugh and dance and have a blast with my girlfriends, man. Like. Having that break as a mom. So helpful, but I feel like it's really hard to do sometimes, even mentally. Like the hurdle to get to that point where you say, like, I deserve a few days off is so hard. I don't know how many of you guys listening are moms, but that's actually something we're going to talk about a little bit today. One of the questions. Um, yeah. So today we're going to be doing a Q&A style episode. So I have some general questions that I've gotten that I wanted to just kind of answer one by one. So we're going to bounce around a little bit as far as our topics today. So let's go ahead and dive into it. So our first question is regarding dealing with stress and emotional eating. So this is a big one. Definitely something that I have struggled with and continue to struggle with. I see this a lot with my Mountain Metabolic clients. So, you know, if this is something that you deal with on a day to day basis, just know that it is unfortunately very common. You're not alone. And one thing that I want to start by saying is that it's good to acknowledge that this is actually a really normal coping mechanism. Using food as comfort is okay. It's a normal thing. Food is allowed to be comforting to us, I think, like we're in this age of social media, right? Where everyone's like, food is fuel, food is fuel. Like, it's almost like you have to view every single thing you put in your mouth as like the means to fueling your body. And that's the only goal that you have for eating. And while that's super important, obviously big advocate for eating nutrient dense foods and fueling your body appropriately most of the time. There's also moments of indulgence and comfort that food can bring us and celebration, and it can be fun. And more than just like this means to an end to give your body all the proper nutrients that it needs. So first of all, just acknowledging that this is a normal coping mechanism. Food is and should be comforting at times, but when this can become negative is when it leads to like binging tendencies, negative relationship with food, or it's used to fill a void, right? Like similarly to alcohol or drugs or any other vice that we might have that we turn to, to kind of like numb out food can be used for this too. So obviously we don't want to slip into a pattern of. Using food as a way to like nom, fill a void, or like sidestep some emotions that were experiencing or some stress. So next up we want to do is to look closely at the emotions or thoughts that are leading to any sort of stress or emotional eating. What's actually triggering this pattern for you? And honestly, like this is going to be different for every single person listening. So you really have to be introspective here because I can't tell you exactly what that's going to look like for you. I know for myself, I used to struggle with this when I was dealing with some like relationship troubles and just constantly feeling sad and lonely and some of these things, I would turn to food as a way to escape those feelings. I would find myself like eating ice cream in bed, like when I was sad or feeling out of control with my emotions. And it really was just like a vicious cycle. And it made me feel very out of control with food. So we really have to kind of learn what's triggering these things. And then the next step, which is not a very fun one, is to learn to sit with these crappy emotions and thoughts that we are trying to numb, because if we just constantly try to look for ways to avoid feeling them, or always going to be chasing that numbing feeling through things like food, alcohol, you know, overworking, escaping through maybe watching Netflix or even drugs, like all of these ways that we tend to want to, like, escape our reality. So really, the only thing we can do here to get past this and move through it is to face those emotions, thoughts and feelings head on. Which obviously is not a fun thing to do, but it is necessary. So once you've kind of learned to sit with these crappy feelings, you can also find like ways to move through them. So journaling, going for a walk, talking to someone, feeling the feels like just stop trying to avoid everything. We're going to have bad days. We're going to have bad feelings towards ourselves or towards others. We're going to feel hurt and sad and stressed in life, and we cannot always look to just sidestep it. Sometimes we really just got to move through it. And then looking for other ways to provide soothing other than just comforting yourself with food all the time. So things like natural dopamine sources, laughing, sunshine on your face, activities outside, exercise. Reading a book, taking a bath, listening to music or, you know, doing a calming activity, having a self-care night. Call a friend. All of these things can be so helpful to like, kind of get us out of that negative headspace. Another step in this equation, too, I would do want to mention, is not having an off limits type of food mentality and having a healthy relationship with the like, fun foods that you tend to crave when you are emotional. Because sometimes what we can do is we can say, oh gosh, like if I have Oreos in the house, or if I have like chips in the house, I know that when I'm stressed or sad, I'm going to like binge them, have the whole thing. So then we say like, well, I can't have them around. Like they're totally off limits because I can't control myself. But what this does is this, like kind of makes us crave those things. And we think about them, we fixate on them because we're not letting ourselves have them. So sometimes just having them around, knowing like I'm allowed to have like 1 or 2 of these if I'm having a bad day or maybe more, but like, I'm not going to let them have that power over me. I'm not going to have this all or nothing relationship with these foods. I can have power over these foods rather than the other way around. And you have to like, do that by having them available. And this is going to take some practice, because there might be times when then you do like tend to go overboard because they are accessible. But having that ability to moderate these things is going to be a lifelong skill that's going to really serve you well. 2s Also one nervous system tip that is a little bit weird. Okay, so just bear with me here. But it is scientifically. Scientifically backed is one way to regulate your nervous system. If you're in a moment of like feeling super out of control, you feel like you're about to go like binge, just eat all the things and you know that it's not because you're actually hungry. You know that it's because you're stressed or you're sad or whatever it might be. Whatever the trigger is, having a cold plunge for your face. Okay, I know it sounds crazy, but this has been shown to regulate the nervous system. When you feel yourself going towards that out of control headspace with food, or like having some sort of anxiety spiral, all of these things. So basically you just have a bucket of ice water and you lower your face into it. Face dunk. So specifically like your eyelids and your nose getting all of that into the water submerged for, you know, five to 10s take a break. Do it again a couple of times. This is supposed to really help regulate the nervous system. Cold water has been proven to do wonders for this, but you don't necessarily have to do like a full body, you know, dunk underwater or a cold shower in order to achieve this. So this is a nice tool. If you're in your kitchen, you're struggling in the moment and you just need to like snap out of it. Okay, so hopefully we covered that one pretty thoroughly. Next question is how to handle a mom guilt slash constantly feeling like you're doing a half assed job with everything. Oh man. I could like, literally talk about this for ever because it's such a prevalent qualm that I've faced in my own everyday life. Um, you know, and I really don't have it figured out yet, but I do think it's important to just talk through and know that, like, so many moms feel this. So first, let's talk about mom guilt. I definitely experienced this. Any time I do something that is maybe like nontraditional mom behavior or like, you know, going on my girls trip to Miami. Um, it's crazy how much it's, like, expected that moms be in the trenches with their kids 24 over seven never getting a break, even though it's pretty normalized that dads get to go, like, do these things go on work trips, go have like buddies weekends, go hunting, go fishing. Like do all the things like these activities where they're spending hours away. That's super normal. But if you're a mom who does those things, it's like, oh, well, who's watching the baby? Who's watching the kids? Um, and it's like, dads get super praised for doing things that moms do all the time. And I'm not trying to, like, spit hate towards dads like Shane. My husband is an amazing dad and he like, so stepped up to the plate. You know, watch juniper for those four days that I was gone, which I know is hard. Like I've done it when he's had guys trips and things like that. So I totally get that. It's like hard. But what frustrates me a little bit is and you notice this when you become a mom. You see a very real double standard here, because if a dad were to go on a guy's trip or whatever, whatever type of trip, they're gone. Moms don't really get any extra props. No one's like, oh my gosh, you're doing so amazing. Watching the kid by yourself, watching the kids by yourself. It's like expected. It's kind of just like, oh, well, yeah, that's just how it goes. But if the mom goes somewhere, it's like, oh my gosh, how did the dad survive like you did? You're super dad. You know, like they get all these compliments. Which is a little bit frustrating because there is just still such a clear double standard that when the mom does these things day in and day out, it's expected. When the dad does these things, even for a few days, it's like super praised. They're put up on a pedestal. Wow, look at this, dad. So that can definitely mess with your head as a mom and make you feel guilty because you're like, well, I shouldn't be going on these. You know, I can't do this. And I've been experiencing that a little bit because I just did a girls trip, and in a few days here, I'm going to be leaving for a work trip where I'm doing a retreat with the fit for hiking team. We've actually never met in person, so it's going to be amazing. And it's just like a three day weekend. We're going to be going to Zion National Park. Super stoked for it. But because these trips are sort of close together and I don't normally spend much time away, it's messing with my head. I started thinking like, well, what are other people going to think? They're going to think I'm a negligent mom. They're going to think I am not there for my family. And it sucks that we have to go there and be so worried about how other people are going to perceive us for having a few weekends a year where we're away, and the mom guilt hard. I've talked to my friends about this. I've experienced it like there's going to be people in our lives who maybe don't understand or need to take some time to fill our own cup and, like, go away for a few days because maybe they didn't grow up doing that. That wasn't really like normal, you know, a couple years ago, a couple decades ago. So truly, like, who you're around is really going to kind of make or break, like how you perceive your ability to do these things as a mom, even as much as, like taking a girls night or even just one night away and. So if you're always around people who make you feel bad about that, who looked down on you as a mom because you are taking time to go on a work trip, to focus on work, to focus on your other relationships every once in a while. Then yeah, you're probably going to struggle with this big time. So I definitely think that being around other women who normalize this and don't make you feel like crap for needing to do these things is so important. And let me just say, like being a mom full time is so tough. It's a lot of work. It's really overstimulating. You're exhausted, you're constantly required to be selfless, and you're pulled in a million directions all the time. So having a few days, every few months or whatever, you know, interval you need to do that is essential. It's not something that you need to feel bad about, because you need time to fill your own cup, because you are constantly giving, giving, giving, and depleting yourself. 24 seven and there really are no breaks. I mean, I think about my days with juniper and it's like, you know, I'm up with her by, you know, about 7 a.m.. She doesn't go to bed sometimes till like nine. I mean, she struggles with bedtime. And then there are nights where she's still up at ten. So you're literally on in like service mode, parent mode for all day, you know, 14 hours. And then throughout the night, too, you're still having to, you know, be constantly ready to tend to your child. And obviously that's what you sign up for. I'm not at all trying to complain, but just to provide some perspective. It's exhausting job. And so, you know, and then a lot of women are working on top of it. You know, I know for myself, I'm pulled in a lot of directions, which we'll talk about next. So having a few days to just read on a beach or go to a hotel by yourself and not be overstimulated and not have someone needing you constantly, whatever that break looks like for you is so helpful to refill your cup. So I hate that mom guilt is still such a big thing that you're, like, made to feel guilty for how you have to get through motherhood. But unfortunately it is. And I just want to say you're not alone in experiencing that. And hopefully this can just provide that perspective, that it's absolutely a necessary thing to take breaks for yourself. So now I want to talk about kind of the latter half of that question, which was constantly feeling like you're doing a half assed job with everything. And this is also very tough because, you know, being a mom is by itself a full time job. It really is. It bothers me to no end when people say that being a mom isn't a full time job because you think about being a nanny. That's a full time job. That is a job where you can make a lot of money because someone's got to watch the kids. So either you're paying someone a full time salary or you're doing it yourself. So what we've kind of worked out within our household is that we have childcare two days per week. We're probably going to need to be increasing that at some point because as juniper is entering toddlerhood, she is barely napping. She's crazy. She has so much energy. I'm just constantly chasing her around. So it's actually getting harder as she gets older to balance both than it was when she was a newborn baby. So the three days that I don't have childcare, I'm basically trying to work in the cracks of my day where she is entertained, whether that's napping or I put on Miss Rachel for a little bit, which is like, you know, kids learning YouTube series. I literally could not make it through the day without Ms.. Rachel, or my husband is able to step in and cover while I have calls because he does work from home. So that's kind of how we make it work. That's how we balance it, simply because childcare where we live is really hard to come by. We don't have any family, so, you know, it's expensive, it's hard to find. So this is what has worked for us since. I do have the flexibility of my own business and working from home. However, I constantly feel this tug because I have my attention so divided, right? Like I'm looking at my email, I'm looking at client messages, I'm looking at my team messages, I'm looking at my to do list for the day, which feels never ending as a business owner. But I'm also constantly being pulled towards my daughter, and rightfully so. She deserves my attention and she needs my attention to get through the day. And so it's tough because sometimes I feel like I am. Being a half assed mom, but I also feel like I'm being a half assed business owner, and it feels like an impossible tug of war where I want to excel at both. And it's hard when before you have kids, you can just fully focus on, you know, your career, your hobbies, your relationships. And now, like all of those things take a backseat, especially as a mom, as if you're the, you know, especially if you're a mom who is the primary caregiver default parent, you know, that whole thing. So it becomes a massive game of tug of war on a daily basis to decide, how do I distribute my energy and my attention to it still, like, give this little human everything that he or she needs while also caring about the other parts of my life that fill me up and and are important to me that I've invested in. And so feeling like you're doing a half assed job is unfortunately, something I haven't really figured out yet. But one thing that does help me is remembering that no one was designed to be able to do all of this, right? Like we can't work full time mom full time, maintain relationships, keep a nice home, stay healthy, and balance our hobbies while giving 100% to every single category. It's just literally not possible. So certain areas may only get like 10% some weeks. And that's okay. Like there might be weeks where I'm not crushing all my workouts like my daughter is sick and she requires more of my attention. Or maybe I'm not doing anything social because I'm just doing everything I can to meet work deadlines and, you know, get our family through the week. Or maybe my house is a mess some weeks. So, you know, we really have to just accept that it's not going to look perfect every single week. And likely it will never look perfect, like it's just going to be this constant give and take, ebb and flow. And also remember that what we see on social media or portrayed from the outside, is not the whole picture. You have no idea how much help someone's getting or how much they're struggling. Like, you know, people that you might see on Instagram who have tons of kids, but they're also like crushing it with business. Or, you know, they work full time and they seem to like, have all their healthy habits in place. And their home is like a dream. You know, all these things. You don't know what their house looks like 99% of the time. They're probably curating a moment for social media, and you don't know if they have like an au pair or a nanny full time, or maybe both of their parents live locally and they're able to jump in and help. Or maybe they're like drowning behind the scenes. They're really struggling. I know personally, like some people are like, oh my gosh, how do you, you know, still work out and do all these things? And I just like kind of want to laugh because I know behind the scenes that I struggle on a daily basis to feel like I am sucking in so many departments, just trying to get through the day. I feel like I'm a hot mess. I never feel like I have it all together. Um, but of course, like what? What's out on social media? I'm not like posting the moments where, like, my daughter has a blowout in the middle of a hike or, um, you know, the struggle of, like, trying to get her to childcare while still doing all the things that I need to do, or just not having childcare. And she's screaming and I'm supposed to go on a call two minutes later. It's just not what it seems. Okay, so remembering that no one has it all together, everyone is struggling in some way or another with motherhood. It's just hard. And you throw in all these other variables like work and health and things like that, and it just makes it harder. So. While I definitely don't have this all figured out, I think it does help to open up the conversation around the fact that so many other moms are feeling this way, and maybe we weren't meant to do it all. Maybe there's a reason why we feel this overwhelm constantly. So if you're a mom and you're feeling that, just know you're definitely not alone. Always here to chat. You can always DM me if you want to kind of open up this conversation more. So okay, enough with that one. If you're not a mom, sorry about that. You can. Hopefully you skipped right over. Okay, the next one is I feel like I'm constantly doing more and more exercise while slowly gaining weight and not really seeing positive results. Any idea why this is happening? So okay, a lot of thoughts on this. And this is something I see with many of my new clients, particularly regarding like the cardio bit of just feeling like you constantly have to add, add, add because the results just aren't coming right. So more is not always going to be better when it comes to exercise. The issue with doing this for months and years on end is that it can cause some metabolic adaptation, aka your body adapts to what you're doing. And so if we're constantly just cranking out like hours of cardio every week, you're no longer going to be burning as many calories as you think you are already to start with. We don't burn as many calories as exercise as we think we do, which is why oftentimes, you know, we think like, oh, I can eat back all of this, all these calories, but really these calorie estimators are super off. And then this is kind of twofold because then as we continue doing this all the time, your body adapts to try to preserve energy. So now you're definitely no longer burning as many calories even as you did maybe a few years ago when you were going for a run a couple of days a week. Um. So this is why relying on exercise for fat loss is actually just a really bad approach. Excessive exercise also tends to drive up your hunger and gives us that idea of like, wow, I can eat this back. I worked so hard, I worked up an appetite, all of these things. So then we tend to overeat. We end up overcompensating for the activity that we did, which really just leaves us in this like hamster wheel, right? This is the recipe for staying stuck. So it's important to know that workouts should not be done to burn calories manually. Okay, so manually would be like hopping on an elliptical or on a treadmill and like trying to see how many calories you can burn in an hour or whatever, but rather you want to use your exercise to improve your basal metabolic rate through increased muscle mass. So this is where people often get it wrong, is we're so focused on the calorie burn when that's really the wrong place to look. When it comes to fat loss and our in our role for exercise. So we really want to focus on increasing our muscle mass because that's going to improve your basal metabolic rate. So just your metabolism at rest is going to be higher. Cardio does things in the moment right. Like you're burning calories manually right then and there. It's not going to increase your basal metabolic rate though long term. And if anything it lowers it like we talked about through metabolic adaptation. Obviously this doesn't happen overnight. It happens through years and years of excessive cardio. So if you're doing cardio a couple of times a week, don't worry about it. You're not going to like slow your metabolism down by doing that. But what I'm talking about is a person who is like chronically, always feeling like they have to do cardio. So like 4 or 5 days a week, you're doing 45 minutes plus. And that's like mostly what you do for your exercise. So rather what we want to do here, if fat loss is the goal, is we want to rely on our nutrition and our Neat, which is non exercise activity thermogenesis to lose fat through a modest but consistent energy deficit, and let the workouts play the role of strength shaping the body, mental health, overall health and a higher metabolism at rest. So burning calories manually is just a really frustrating approach. Like I said, you feel like you're a hamster on a wheel and you're just like, never really making progress. And I did this for years, you guys, so I definitely understand the frustration. It wasn't until I really focused on building my muscle mass, not being afraid to have muscle on my frame, but realizing that that is a tool for long term leanness and focusing on my nutrition instead of just like doing tons of exercise, eating like an idiot, and hoping I would get results and then, you know, doing a ton of walking, doing a ton of a low intensity, not even something that you would consider exercise, but just moving a lot. Because what meat does is it's going to increase your energy expenditure without increasing your hunger, without increasing your stress inflammation. It doesn't trigger that thing in your mind where you're like, I got to eat more because I went for a walk, right? You don't go for a walk and think like, oh, I worked up an appetite. So that is where meat is so helpful. When you couple that with a modest calorie deficit and actually just being aware of your consumption around calories, that is going to be the sweet spot. And use your workouts to try to preserve and maintain as much muscle mass as you can while you are in a fat loss phase. Because muscle mass is going to be essential for overall health. Bone density, strength, functionality as we get older, but also a strong metabolism, oftentimes we think like, oh, our metabolisms are just going to slow down as we get older. Like this is inevitable. Well, this is because people are losing muscle mass every single year because a lot of people aren't doing proper weight bearing activities to maintain muscle. So if we can really focus on gaining and maintaining muscle as we age, that is going to actively slow down our metabolism dropping, right? We really want to counteract that through muscle mass. Muscle mass is huge for this. Okay. So ladies, please don't be afraid to put muscle on your frame. Do everything you can to keep muscle, especially as we start to get older. This like cannot be overstated. 1s Okay, moving on to our final question is how to stay active and healthy during gloomy season. So we're kind of entering fall slash winter right now. You know, it's getting dark earlier. It's starting to get chilly. And this is just going to, you know, keep going into the next few months. So like I love this question because it's really good to start thinking now about what you can do to set yourself up for success heading into this gloomy season, especially if you know you're someone who's affected by the colder weather, you know, shorter days, the dark mornings, all that stuff. And I definitely struggle with this in the winter because I'm a summer girlie through and through. I love long days, I love sunshine, I love warm activities. I'm not a huge winter girl. So let's talk about this. So first off, I want you to think about giving yourself some parameters around healthy habits, especially around your morning, because morning is your time to set yourself up for success for the rest of the day. So winning the morning, especially when it's dark and gloomy outside, really sets up your whole day. So it kind of sets the trajectory for you, right? So showing yourself that you're capable of stepping up to the plate and creating that integrity within yourself, that you can keep promises to yourself by not snoozing the alarm first thing, and not canceling the plans that you made to yourself to get up and work out and like, start your day on the right foot. And this is really hard for me, especially with the inconsistent sleep of being a newer mom. So I get it. It's really tough. Something that we're actually doing right now with our clients is a no snooze challenge. No snooze. November is what we're calling it, and the goal of this is to do exactly this, solidify the really good morning habits as we head into the winter, the holidays, the time when most people become super inconsistent and start to just kind of like break that integrity within ourselves of showing up and starting our day well. So I really do believe that so much of this, especially in the winter, starts in the morning. So putting some parameters around how you want your mornings to look, what does a successful morning feel like for you? What does this look like. And then really nailing down those habits and start like now. Don't wait until it's like dark until 8 a.m.. Like go ahead and start it now so you can have that in place and prep yourself because the habits are honestly going to be what will carry you through the dark mornings and cold weather when you're less motivated. 1s So the next thing I would say is to find activities that you like that you can do in the winter, both outdoor and indoor. So, you know, I'm not a big skier. I know it's like blasphemy in Colorado to not be a massive skier, but it's just never really been my thing. However, I have found that I do like to go snowshoeing, so that is something that gets me outside. It's kind of like a hike, but you're in the snow. You have to get bundled up, you know, but you're getting outside into nature, you're getting your body moving. It's actually kind of tough because, you know, snow is a little harder to move through than just, you know, a regular hike. So finding what those activities are for you, maybe you do love to ski and snowboard. Awesome. Like that's an amazing way to get your body moving throughout the winter. Um, finding outdoor activities that you like is going to be huge. It's going to help you give give you something to look forward to on the weekends especially. And just kind of break up the monotony of like sitting on the couch and doing the typical winter laziness. Also, indoor activities like finding, you know, maybe a local rec center where you can go play games or you can go lift, or you can go to dance classes, you know, finding activities like that or even, you know, getting on YouTube and finding some dance workouts or just regular workouts, having some accountability within your activity throughout the winter as well, like signing up for things. You know, maybe you join Mountain Metabolic coaching and you have your coach checking in with you, making sure that you're actually doing the things that you set out to do this winter, having some form of accountability, whether it's a workout buddy or a coach or signing up for something, is going to be really helpful. Because yes, when you're at home and you're looking outside and it's dark and it's snowy, you're not going to feel super motivated. We know this, right? So set yourself up for success by having some form of accountability and actually finding activities that you enjoy. Because if you like doing something, you are like a thousand times more likely to do it when you don't feel like it. If you don't feel like doing something and you hate it, are you really going to do that thing? Probably not. Okay, so find those things that keep you active that you at least somewhat enjoy most of the time. Another thing I want to mention here is accepting the ebbs and flows of the seasons. So I'm not necessarily giving you a whole pass to just like sit on the couch all winter. So please don't misinterpret this. However you know we are. Seasonal, cyclical themes. We are not meant to go at the exact same pace 365 days a year, every single season. There's a reason why God created seasons, and it's actually such a beautiful rhythm. So leaning into that and accepting that maybe winter might be a really good time of rest and recovery for you. I know for myself, like during the summer and fall, I'm usually pretty go go go because I want to take advantage of the nice weather. I want to go on all the hikes. We usually travel a little bit more. It's just a more active time for us. We're going for walks every single day. So during the winter, I actually really like to take some time to be more of a hermit, to rest, recharge, do some more reading on the couch, cook at home. You know, all these things that I didn't do as much of during the warmer seasons. So accepting that there might be a little bit of an ebb and flow, and you might not be quite as active as you were in the summer. And that's okay, especially if you are super active through summer and fall. Give yourself some permission to rest a little bit more in the winter. Um, so my natural rhythm here and this is just what works for me, so I thought I'd share, is I like to do a bit of a natural bulk in the winter. So when someone who's bulk, they think like, oh crap. Like that's the opposite of what I want to do. However, let me kind of dive into this. So it's really beneficial for metabolic flexibility purposes to have times in the year, seasons in the year where you're not in an energy deficit, when you are maybe in a little bit of a surplus, you're eating a bit more, you're probably not as active and you might even gain a few pounds. But what this does is it sharpens your metabolic sensitivity to a potential future deficit. If we are always, always, always in like. You know, trying to lose weight. I'm always in a deficit. I'm constantly cutting calories and staying as active as I can. Your body stops being as responsive to that because like we talked about earlier, our bodies are very adaptive. So having these seasons is so beneficial. So what I usually tend to do is in the winter, I know I'm not going to be hiking as much. I'm not going for as many walks. I'm probably going to be eating more like comforting foods. And obviously I keep this, you know, in a moderate sense, like I'm not just going nuts, but I usually do gain a few pounds, like maybe up to £5 throughout the winter. I'm not sweating it. I'm, you know, doing my lifts. I'm still eating healthy most of the time, but I'm eating a little bit more and I'm not as active, just kind of is a natural rhythm for me. And then heading into the spring and summer, then I end up naturally in more of an energy deficit. I'm eating more of like the summer fresh foods, salads. I'm not sitting around as much. I'm way more active. And so naturally I end up in more of a deficit in the summer season. Um. So then I usually shed those pounds, and maybe even then some, like, you know, this summer and last summer, I've been, like, the leanest that I've ever been. And I didn't really try that hard to get there because my metabolism is working in my favor by kind of following this cycle. So this is just what works for me. Obviously, you have to do what works best for you, but I really like doing this because it makes me feel less restricted. I'm going with my own natural ebbs and flows of the seasons. I'm leaning into the cozy season of, you know, eating more comfort foods, enjoying the holidays, not freaking out if I gain a few pounds because I know this is my body's natural rhythm and it actually really works well for my metabolism as well as just my physique. Overall, I'm very happy with this pattern, so finding what works for you and leaning into the seasonal ebbs and flows. Okay, so that wraps up our questions for today. If you guys think of other questions in the future and you guys like this style of episode, send me a DM at the Fat Underscore for Hiking Instagram page. I really love to hear your guys's feedback. This is a newer show, and so it really helps me out to know what the heck to talk to you guys about. What are you interested in learning about or just kind of chatting about on here? So please do let me know. Um, also, we are heading into a really busy season for fitness. You know, end of year is always traditionally a really big time for people to get serious about their fitness goals. So if you have been on the fence about Mountain metabolic coaching, seriously, now is the time to apply because we are going to probably be quite overloaded based on how things went last year. So definitely apply now. Start sooner than later. Don't be that person that waits until after January 1st and then we're totally full, so definitely jump on it. You can find the application link in the show notes. As always, that is the first place you will fill that out. I will reach out, schedule a call with you and we'll just see if it sounds like a good fit. So definitely take advantage of that before we get super crazy busy with the holiday season. All right you guys, thanks so much for joining me today. This is a fun episode and I will see you all in the next one. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this, be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at ponytail on a trail. Happy and healthy trails.