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Far 2 Fabulous
Join Catherine & Julie, your feisty hosts at Far 2 Fabulous, as they lead you on a wellness revolution to embrace your fabulousness.
Julie, a Registered Nutritional Therapist with over 20 years of expertise, and Catherine, a former nurse turned Pilates Instructor and Vitality Coach, blend wisdom and laughter seamlessly.
Off the air, catch them harmonising in their local choir and dancing to 80's hits in superhero attire. Catherine braves the sea for year-round swims, while Julie flips and tumbles in ongoing gymnastics escapades.
With a shared passion for women's health and well-being, they bring you an engaging exploration of health, life, and laughter. Join us on this adventure toward a more fabulous and empowered you!
Far 2 Fabulous
Staying Fit and Sane During School Holidays
Episode 28
Can summer holidays really be a time for both relaxation and maintaining your wellness routine? In this episode of Far Too Fabulous, Julie and Catherine share their personal experiences and strategies for navigating the joys and challenges of summer with the whole family at home. From morning pilates and meditation sessions to creating precious moments of alone time amidst the noise, we discuss the importance of maintaining your well-being even when routines are disrupted. Listen in as we share relatable anecdotes about balancing personal wellness with the demands of family life, uncovering both the frustrations and the uplifting moments that make summer holidays special.
Managing meal planning and exercise routines during school holidays can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. We'll explore practical tips for planning all meals to avoid frequent supermarket trips and unnecessary expenses, and emphasize the importance of teaching children to prepare their meals. Discover how to keep your fitness routines on track by integrating exercise into family activities and leveraging online fitness classes. We'll also discuss how seasonal changes influence our eating habits and the power of maintaining core routines to achieve long-term wellness. Join us for an insightful conversation packed with strategies to help you establish and maintain healthy summer routines.
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We look forward to you joining us on the next episode.
Welcome to Far Too Fabulous hosted by Julie and Catherine.
Speaker 2:Join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some feistiness, inspiration, candy chats and humour as we journey together towards empowered well-being. Let's dive in.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Far Too Fabulous podcast. Now the summer holidays are around the corner. The kids are about to break up from school, so we thought we'd have a little bit of a chat about what happens to our health and well-being routines when the summer holidays hit us?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And it's all of us, isn't it? It's not just us mums, it's the kids, it's everybody. The routine just gets thrown up in the air, even if you're not impacted by the summer holidays, you lucky devils I'm. I used to. I used to really look forward to some holidays. I am literally dreading it this time.
Speaker 1:Oh you, I really like the school holidays. I like that element of not having the routine to start with yeah and then after a couple of weeks I start to get a bit kind of itchy about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I don't I actually do like my routine yes, yeah, as much as I'd like to kick against that, I actually, yeah, thrive on the routines. Yeah, so I'm, I'm looking forward to not having to get up bang on like quarter to seven every single morning and drag, physically drag teenagers out of bed then try and force feed them some sort of food and water before they run out the door.
Speaker 2:But other than that so what I was saying when we were talking about this, what I am looking forward to because we are going to try and give you some positives as well yeah, it's not all bad what I am looking forward to is that that hour I'm going to continue to get up at roughly the same time.
Speaker 2:It's quite, it's almost, it's quite nice, because it feels like it's a choice then, rather than that you have to and you feel like you're taking your power back. I'm going to get up about the same time and I'm going to spend that first hour of the morning doing things that I want to do. So I'm going to do some pilates in the sun hopefully that would be really nice out on the decking, I will do my meditation, I will get into my ice pod that's not so icy at the moment, but it's still I've got. I've got a new cover all the way around it, so it's it protects it from the sun, so it's still a little bit cooler and just set myself up for the day how I want to, and I love, I mean, I do.
Speaker 1:I love the summer so I think it's nice to give yourself that time in the morning before everyone gets up, because one of the things that I not struggle with but I suppose I can resent a little bit sometimes is the fact that I need to have some alone time. Yeah, and then in the summer holidays, everyone's just around all the time, well, except my husband, because you know he's a DJ, so he's not here half the time. He's in the garden. Most of the time, though, except my husband, because you know he's a dj, so he's not here half the time, he's in the garden. Most of the time, though, he's either in the garden or he's djing, you know, at people's weddings, so he's gone all day for hours. So, yeah, he's not around, but everybody else is so, and then I'm like single. I feel like a single mum sometimes during the summer holidays yeah, yeah, I'm sure he disappears out all all days.
Speaker 2:I I so know what you mean about that time on your own I have. So mondays are always my day. Anya's at college, the other two are at school, mark goes off fishing, and so mondays are my day at home, and so anya's not a college anymore, and so whenever she's in and she's awake, there's music playing somewhere in the house there's always noise, isn't there?
Speaker 2:always noise and I can't. I don't know about you, but as I've got, I can't, I can't function, I can't work and have noise on all the time. So I've often, actually I stick my um, I stick my headphones on and I listen to binaural beats for concentration yeah, I do that too.
Speaker 2:It's really good, isn't it? And it's the only way that I can function. My whole office has been completely taken over. Now I was. I came running out last night. I went mark, we've been infiltrated because anya has um, she's just learned to be a lash technician, so she now has the couch set up in the office as well. In the office, yeah. And then Mikey came and just laid on the couch I don't know what he was doing. The dog is always on the spare bed in the office and I was trying to work and I'm thinking what's going on. This used to be my sanctuary in here, and so I went running out. But yeah, so I completely know what you mean about that space and time. So that's, yeah, that's going to be good in the morning. However, I mean to be honest, I could do that at 11 o'clock in the morning and I still wouldn't be affected by any of the children, because they'll probably still be in bed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, the the fun of having teenagers. One of the other things I notice with the teenagers is well, not so much with my son, but my daughter will often have ear pods in and be talking to her friends, but she has to be really loud when she's got her ear pods in. Do your kids do that as well?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, yeah, and you are, you'll be. Or you'll walk into a room and suddenly realize that you're still. You're attached to another household somewhere else and there'll be a yeah, there'll be a video call and someone else will be sat on the windowsill yeah, totally different to when I was younger. Yeah, completely, completely. Oh my goodness, yeah, and so I guess other things that change through the summer holidays are we would. We were talking earlier on about having to shop for lunchtime now because people are in the house yeah.
Speaker 1:So preparing ahead is so key here. Planning in advance this is where your, your meal planning will really help you out. As much as it is a chore to do, it will really help you out, because the thing that you'll get sick of hearing is what can I eat? Yeah, what's for lunch, what's for dinner? Mom? Mom, you get it constantly, don't you? So, yeah, you've got to account for the fact that when the the little people, or the not so little people now are around, yeah, they're all bigger than me.
Speaker 1:They eat everything. Anything that's left out, anything in the cupboard their their favorite cupboard. You know that cupboard um will be gone in a day. Yes, so you have to make allowance for it in the in the food shop, otherwise you end up keep going to the supermarket and then not only do you spend a fortune, but you end up buying stuff that you didn't necessarily want to be buying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and that's I am gonna have to remember to put lunch on the meal plan, because I don't normally do it. I will plan the dinners and then I will make sure that there are wraps or jacket potatoes or or salad stuff for mark and I through through the day. But I don't tend to specifically plan for that but and I think part of my planning, like you've said, they're good, they're constantly at you for stuff. I want to be able to plan things that either they can make because they are more than capable of it, or literally things I can, just we could perhaps prepare it en masse and that they can just grab out of the fridge, probably.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and then it's just a reminder. I have to remind my kids about this all the time. When you're at school, they have a packed lunch because the school meals are so dire. I just cannot put them in that position. But they have a packed lunch and during the day when they're at school school they eat the contents of that packed lunch. Sometimes they don't eat it. All right, they leave it. Yeah, because they're. They were. The one that I get often is well, I was off doing such and such at lunchtime with my mates, so I forgot to eat. You know that one do, you get that one as well. So so sometimes they bring their packed lunch home and it hasn't all been eaten, and then eat it when they get home, because then they realize that they're hungry.
Speaker 1:But when they're at home, for some reason, they feel like they need to eat all the time constantly yeah so sometimes I will get them because, again, like yours, they are old enough to sort themselves out I will actually get them to pack their lunch as if they were going to school in their yum box. So they've got their, their packed lunch box that's got all the different compartments in it that makes them think about all my protein and my fruit and my vegetables, and pack that up and then that's what you eat. So if, if you've eaten it by 11 o'clock that morning, then the next meal you're going to get is dinner. Yeah, I think I'm quite hard on why it sounds mean.
Speaker 2:No, I think that otherwise they just have got the head in the fridge constantly. Or they're calling out for you to make something for them or, like you've said, they've emptied that. Emptied that snack drawer or cupboard that normally for us is like that is only for pat lunches. Yeah, you're not to touch it through the week for anything else, and now, because there's no pat lunches, they just think it's free for all yeah yeah, I get the same as well.
Speaker 1:That happens. It's so frustrating, isn't it? It really is. But yeah, just having that, that awareness again, explaining to them, having the conversation, making allowance for it in your weekly shop, that they are going to be around at lunchtime so they are going to be eating at home, I think it does help to plan ahead for sure.
Speaker 2:Well, it would be nice if they made their own lunch and they made us some as well. Yeah, I think that might be one step too far. Okay, should we just calm down.
Speaker 1:Don't ask them to wash the lunchbox up, no, because that would just be on the side. You know when you just do the sweep before you go to bed, like just be on the side. You know when you just do the sweep before you go to bed, like those damn packed lunch boxes are there and they, we need them in the morning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, with something, something soggy sitting in the corner exactly something that got left.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, oh dear.
Speaker 2:Another thing that changes is often that people's exercise classes stop through the summer.
Speaker 1:I could never understand this. This used to infuriate me, yeah, that my exercise class would stop because it's the school holidays, because I still want to go and do the exercise class. Luckily, your classes don't stop during the summer and even if you do go away, you've got all the lovely recordings, so there's really no excuse.
Speaker 2:There's no excuse at all. I do see attendance drop off. So I guess from people that the the ladies that have children, maybe they're off on on holidays and things like that, but I have lots of ladies that are not affected by the school holidays and I can't afford to go away on holiday in the school holidays because it's so blooming expensive. So they're there all of the time. It's just their yeah, just their normal week, but it does, I do. I do see a different again, a different pattern from everybody, but and that's I I think you probably need it more, don't you? I don't know about you, but I think that probably the parents need to be ploxing and boxing even more through the summer holidays than they did before.
Speaker 1:Got to deal with those fight and flight hormones right, somehow it's going to flush them out somehow?
Speaker 2:yeah, definitely, but if so, if you're classes or what, what you do regularly through a term time have stopped and you're not a member of vitality rooms, which you could be, come and join us. We carry on all the way through the summer. You can use the I was going to say the lovely weather, and I've just looked out the window the, the supposed lovely weather to get out and do things and with the kids that are that are activity based, so you don't have to go and do a traditional exercise class. You could have your movement and your and your fitness and your strength within the activities that you're doing through some holidays and hopefully you could wear the kids out as well and get them off their screens.
Speaker 2:Imagine that this is that's mainly what I'm dreading, I think, yeah, getting them, trying to get them out of bed and then peeling them off their screens yeah, screens are a bit of an issue, aren't they I?
Speaker 1:I like the idea of doing movement that involves the family, but sometimes that can be a bit stressful.
Speaker 2:Trying to get everyone on board with that, can't it, especially when you're the only one that's enthusiastic about it yeah, this is true come on, kids, let's go and do this, let's get on, let's go on a bike ride, groan, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:I do like to go places where there's a fair walk. Yeah, you know, when you take a picnic with you and you can kind of entice the kids in in that way, we're going to go and have a picnic somewhere, fabulous. But what they don't know is that there's a two-hour walk to get to the fabulous spot for the picnic and then you've got to walk the two hours back, absolutely yeah, that's, I used to like that about howlitz, that the the park of the coffee shop, perfect.
Speaker 2:Yes, right at the other end.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly yeah, and the same with like leeds castle. Yes, you gotta walk all the way to the end there to get to the play area.
Speaker 2:Absolutely bribe them with ice cream. It's totally allowed. We were talking, well, we were talking about things for me, things like ice cream chips.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna say it prosecco or a nice crisp glass of white wine are really synonymous for me with the summer. It's almost like a knee-jerk reaction, isn't it? Sun's out, let's go and grab an ice cream. And or, especially when we were saying, because we're by the, by the beach, to go down onto the beach, watch the sunset, grab a packet of chips, have a glass of wine. It's so tempting. And we could do that a lot, couldn't?
Speaker 1:we could do that every day if the sun came out I mean, actually at the moment it's um it's definitely not not assisting us. I mean, I went out the other friday night I was telling you katherine to dreamland to see um a concert and it was so cold that people were drinking tea and coffee on a friday night, whereas under normal circumstances you see people having that'd be a, g and t yeah, yeah it would have been.
Speaker 1:But no, we even asked for hot chocolate at one point, but they said they didn't have any. But that's, it felt that cold that you needed hot chocolate. But yeah, we had our hands around our cup of tea. So, yeah, the weather does play a role. I think there's definitely a connection with oh, the weather's nice, get the, the prosecco or the wine out. Yeah, definitely is.
Speaker 2:Was there anything in your um nutrition training about that? Because I I find that it's much easier to eat salad in is this? I mean? Am I programmed this way socially or is this within me? Like with the weather, like this now, I feel like I kind of want to go and have a stew rather than a salad yeah, and that's natural because that's your body's way of helping itself.
Speaker 1:So in the winter, when it is cold, we are looking for warming foods to help our core body temperature. And then we've got to think about the seasonal foods. So potatoes in the winter, yeah, you know you'd have those stews and things and carrots, and if you think about those foods that are available at that time of year, that leads towards those recipes, whereas in the summer we've got an abundance of salad things and things. Yeah, and I think it's it's it's just normal to want those colder things when it's hot outside.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and vice versa, yeah, absolutely so it makes sense yeah, exactly and one of the things I was saying to you before we come on the podcast that I will often get my clients or my groups to think about before the school holidays hit, so this is the perfect time to think about it. For you listening is that because routines go out the window and it is like a six, seven week period that this happens over is you've got to almost have a think about. You know, where do I want to be in six to seven weeks time with my health, my fitness, my weight, whatever it is? Where am I now? Do I want to maintain that? Am I happy to let that go a bit? Or, you know, what is it that you actually want?
Speaker 1:Do you want to get towards the end of the summer holidays and go? Oh, my goodness me, what have I done? I've just let everything go and now haven't done any exercises, I've eaten too much. I've now got to go on a crash diet. I better sign up for the gym because, again, september is a bit like January, isn't it?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, yeah, I, that's I. That question is absolute gold. It's brilliant because it gives you, it empowers you. You make that decision and hopefully by the end of September, if you have decided that, that you're just going to really relax on what you're eating and drinking and moving, hopefully you're not going to get to the end there and beat yourself up. You're going to be empowered by that decision and then, when term starts, you're going to get back into your normal routine. But I love that. Making a decision of where you want to be in six weeks, I think that's really, really powerful yeah good, I'm glad you like that question.
Speaker 1:And then the other thing that's tied into this is the fact that where you are today, in this moment, is a result of the habits that you've formed over the previous months. Therefore, those, some of those habits are going to be doing you a lot of good if you then spend the next six to seven weeks, which is long enough to form a new neural pathway. Yeah right, do you want to spend those weeks forming a bad habit and letting go of a good one that you've built up and you've made really strong, because you could undo it in that time as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, absolutely that. Yeah, making sure you're aware of what you're creating is really really important, definitely.
Speaker 1:I love the idea that everything you have in your life, right this moment, is based on the habits that you've formed, because it means that you're in charge of that. Yeah, so you could do it the other way around and be like I'm not happy where I am, but where do I want to be and what habits do I need to have in place in order to get there, and then just know that if you then do those habits, you will get what you want. Yeah, because you've worked it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah no, absolutely not so much fun in this society when uh, when uh, we want things right now that instant gratification. It is a bit of a longer game, definitely, but, yeah, really, really powerful to be aware of what we are creating in these next six weeks. And if, again, even if it doesn't pan out like you've planned and you get to the 1st of September, let's not treat it like our 1st of January and go all in yeah, and if you want to know why, go back and listen to one of our first podcasts, because we talked about why it doesn't work to go all in.
Speaker 2:Just go back to those habits that are serving you, because your brain doesn't know if a habit is a good habit or a bad habit. It just knows that you've done this for long enough. Well, basically, you've done this for long enough and you haven't died, so there must be a benefit, so it must be a bit of programming.
Speaker 1:So we gotta keep going yeah, and it's really.
Speaker 2:It really is as simple as that, so don't beat yourself up. If you have gone and programmed, you know the minute it turns midday somewhere in the world, you can crack open a beer for the next six weeks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, you know we did that episode about non-negotiables, yeah, non-negotiables, yeah. That's another thing that I like to do before the kids kind of stop school and my routine's going to change, is remind myself of my non-negotiables, yeah, and then keep them in place because those are kind of be anchoring my own core values and that is important to me. So, for example, one of the things that, even before I had the dog, I would always do is go for a walk in the morning and a walk later on in that day. It was tied into the school run, yeah, but I knew that it was important because I'm someone that works for myself, by myself at home. I don't need to go anywhere. I could just walk from my bedroom in my pyjamas and then switch the computer on.
Speaker 2:But tell me you do that sometimes. Switch the computer on, but tell me you do that sometimes.
Speaker 1:Julie, go on, tell me you do it sometimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course that's. I'm really pleased I did that yesterday yeah, sometimes you do, don't you?
Speaker 1:but for me, the like I love walking. Yeah, I'm never gonna be a runner, I don't like running, so I'll leave that up to you. But I love walking and I notice if I don't do it my body doesn't like it, my mind doesn't like it. So my walking is important. So before dog because you know now I've got a reason to go walking but before dog, my walk to school, the school run, was really important part of my well-being. So when the kids weren't at school, I would still do the school run.
Speaker 2:Yeah so Did you actually walk up to school?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what I would do is I would walk, because I used to do this particular circuit and you'll know because you live down the road. But from my house to the school, drop them off and then cross over the road, go down the alleyway onto the beach by the golf course and do that circuit round. That used to be my walk.
Speaker 2:And then, on the way, when I went to pick them up, I do it in reverse then scoop them up and then head home. Yeah, because the moans to then tell them they had to go and walk after school weren't even worth it. Well, no, there's no point.
Speaker 1:And plus, this was something I wanted to do for myself, but now I've got the dog, but just again because that was a habit for me. Why would it stop? I mean, not every single day, yeah, but it would still like if, if we were having a family day out to somewhere like leeds castle, then I wouldn't get up and do my school run walk on a non-school day.
Speaker 1:I'd be like, well, I'm gonna do that when we go to leeds you do plenty walking there, yeah, but now I've got the dog, so I have to get up and do that and go to leeds castle.
Speaker 2:Yeah and drop him off to me and that's. I love that. I love keeping those, those, uh, those routines and your non-negotiables exactly the same for me it they might change the time of day sometimes depending on what you're doing if your routine's just been thrown up in the air. But the fact that you that, yeah, that I will still move, I will still meditate, I will still throw myself in cold water at some point through the day. I mean, hopefully it will be involving the sea a lot of the time, which is good in the summer. But you get to like, if you, if you're, if you normally go on the school run and you don't want to go out twice a day for a walk, maybe do it once a day. You could use that time that you would normally be on school run and walking and go and do. We could do a recorded class in vitality rooms, for instance, for instance, they, they could do that. But you get to yeah, you get to choose what you put in those places yeah, but just keep doing it.
Speaker 1:What you put in those places, yeah, but just keep doing it. Exactly. I just you know getting to the end of the school holidays and then thinking, oh my goodness me, I've now got to. I mean, when I run the reset in the september time it's pretty busy not as busy as january, because that is the big one, but it is still very busy. I think people do have that. I've got to undo what I've just done in the summer holidays. But if you think about it ahead of time and you plan and you think about those habits, then there's no reason why you should get to that stage anyway, I think also people are craving that routine again and I think your reset is really good at resetting.
Speaker 2:It's a good name actually, julie. Really well done at resetting. It's a good name actually, julie, really well done At resetting. And just yeah, starting again, kick-starting all those better habits I was going to say good habits.
Speaker 1:Yeah or even reminding yourself of them because you've let them go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, those neural pathways won't have been totally wiped out. Well, I guess it depends what you do in six weeks, but hopefully they won't be been totally wiped out. And well, I guess it depends what you do six weeks, but hopefully they won't be completely gone no, hopefully not.
Speaker 1:So. I think that's kind of our tips for the for the school holidays or the summer holidays, whatever works for you yeah, absolutely, and I mean that does.
Speaker 2:It does work for anything. It does work for like with or without kids. If you're like, if you're actually going abroad on holiday, your, your routines will still change. However, I often said this people will come back from summer holidays or from from holidays any holidays and say, oh, I need another. I need another week to recover because you haven't been moving, because you haven't been eating very well, you've probably been drinking lots, you've been doing all of these, quite, quite frankly, terrible things for your body in in the name of holidaying and and relaxing. And so when you come back again, yeah, you need a week to to pick that energy back up, to be able to move, to be able able to fill you back up with nutrients and water again.
Speaker 1:It's so true, isn't it? You go on holiday and then come back and say I need another holiday to recover from that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm knackered because I haven't done all the good things that are actually, I know, you know, fill me with energy and joy. Yeah, exactly yeah. So really just be mindful.
Speaker 1:yeah, exactly yeah so really, just be, just be mindful. We are definitely not saying don't lounge around, don't don't relax, don't have fun. It's not about that, is it?
Speaker 2:no, just yeah, just don't undo all your good work yeah, and remember what actually kind of fuels your body and makes you feel alive and good. It isn't all about laying on a sun lounger or it's about eating chips on the beach. I'm not, I'm not discarding that one at all but, yeah, keep doing. Keep doing the things that your, your body, really needs you to do, absolutely yeah good luck thank you for keeping us company today. If you enjoyed the podcast, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review.
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