cover of episode Keltie O'connor | Being a college athlete, finding balance in fitness, facing injuries

Keltie O'connor | Being a college athlete, finding balance in fitness, facing injuries

Publish Date: 2021/11/12
logo of podcast One Thing About Us

One Thing About Us

Chapters

Shownotes Transcript

Do you have that one piece of clothing you keep going back to no matter how full your closet is? Having a versatile high quality favorite feels great, but having a whole closet of them feels even better. American Giant puts the quality, durability, and comfort they're famous for into everything from t-shirts and jeans

to sweatshirts and jackets. And of course, their legendary best hoodie ever. So you can fill your wardrobe with the pieces that will get you through your spring days, like the lightweight joggers and pullovers in the French Terry collection or the rich and polished premium Slub Crew tee. Whether you're dressing for work, the gym, or happy hour, American Giant makes something that's sure to be your next closet go-to. And it's all made in America and designed to last a lifetime.

Find a closet staple for every part of your day at American-Giant.com and get 20% off your first order when you use Staple 20 at checkout. That's 20% off your first order at American-Giant.com. Promo code STAPLE20. What's up guys, it's Sam and Taylor. And we want you to put your shoes on. Pop open that energy drink. And go.

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode. And guess what? We are in LA. Yes, sir. We are currently laying on an air mattress. Oh yeah. Our sleep schedule has been off so much. I came to realize it's daylight savings and time zone difference. So like we are thrown off. We've been, luckily this morning we woke up at 7.30, but the other two mornings was 5.30. Or no, not even. One morning. One morning was 5.30. We had to force ourselves to stay awake until like 10, 10.30. Yeah.

To wake up at a reasonable hour because when we woke up at 5.30, we fell asleep at 8.00.

Yeah. No, it's really bad. And we want to go out tonight. So like we knew if we woke up at 530 this morning, there was no way you'd be able to go out. Yeah. It literally hits three and I'm like, oh, is it bedtime? Is it dinner? Like, are we going home? Yeah. Because to anyone that lives on like the West Coast, I don't know how you do it, but it literally gets dark at like 430 in the afternoon. Whereas at least in Texas, like our daylight saving is like 545. So it's not that bad. Yeah.

Yeah, it's kind of brutal. Like, honestly, I'm super exhausted, but I think this night of sleep, like, we did it. It's only 8 a.m. right now. Like, we just woke up. We're literally sitting. All right, guys, picture this. We're sitting. You'll see our YouTube videos, but we're sitting in the very corner of a very big room on a very mini air mattress, and me and Taylor are spooning every night. I asked her, I go, do you want to be the big or the little spoon? She goes, little. Little.

At least we have two separate blankets, so, like, we have, like, they hooked us up with the blankets. Yeah. But Bradley Martin, by a bed. Not even, like, he could easily just, like, reach out to a company and be like, hey, I need this. And he would probably get it for free. Like, what is he doing? Literally. But...

Yeah, so that's our current situation. And we've just been literally sitting in zoo culture all day, every day. We really, I feel like I've just been like fucking slumming it. Like, don't shower all day. I'm like so nasty. Like, it's so gross. The food has been good.

Yeah, we went to Irwan and we got veggie grill last night. Oh, both amazing. Yeah, that may be like some of my favorite. Like, because it was like quick too. It wasn't like sitting. Yeah, we did. We were really on our shit. I feel like I was like good. Like I really hit my food. Like I like being able to go to like places and getting food and like still feel like good after it. Like Chipotle, sometimes not. I'm like, I'm gassy. I'm like. And the amount of sodium, like I'm a balloon. Yeah.

I think Chipotle is like four times your sodium intake of the day. Oh, 100%. So, yeah, we did eat good yesterday. I'm proud of us for that. The day before, no. I was a little disappointed in myself. I told myself, I knew I was going to live off of caffeine this week, but I had two yesterday.

And I hope I don't have to do that today, but I feel like I might have to if we're going out, but we'll see. I have half of the drink I got yesterday, which is honestly, like, less than 100 milligrams of caffeine, like, the half of it. But I feel like at night, if I drink that, it might give me a mental, like,

But we drank a bang yesterday. You can't drink a bang at night. I had a Celsius, the second one. Yeah, no, I'm going to drink probably, like, another, like, bucked up or a bang before my workout. Oh, and, ooh, actually, interesting stuff. Claire Stone is actually meeting us at Zoo today. So we're excited. We're going to get a nice leg day in on this fine Thursday. Yeah, really fun. That's going to be a really good time. I'm really excited. And today we actually might, thank God, our last day meet other, like,

people we've been wanting to meet and like see people so that's really fun I mean

people here are good too shout out isaiah like noelle like fun with them we did a um what was it yeah never have it ever so if you guys want to see us like on someone else's channel isaiah's youtube channel he'll probably put that up in like the next few days yeah that guy uploads a lot yeah so it's really funny it's like if you guys want to get to know us on like a different level it was really funny yeah i would say that was a good video like if you want to know more about like

Non-fitness stuff, definitely watch it. Yeah, you guys should watch it. It was pretty funny, I have to admit. It was pretty funny. Should we tell them to comment if they watched it from the F Word podcast? Because I'm curious to see if Isaiah will notice. Because I don't know how many comments and stuff he gets. I mean, I guess if you want. You can say you were freaking podcast gang. Yeah, no. Or you can just say I'm here for Sam and Taylor. Yeah, hype us up. Yes, please.

But we're doing, I think today also we're doing a raw gear shoot. Yeah, at four. We're doing it at four because it gets dark at four. Yeah, literally it'll be pitch black. So, I mean, use our code for whatever hoodies we're wearing. Yeah, literally. I don't even know what it is. I don't know if it's for Black Friday or the new drop. Couldn't tell you. Yeah, no one knows. But that should be fun. We are pushing off our morning. So we're podcasting in the morning, going to workouts.

all the things. We're trying to eat enough. That's another thing, our bulk. Oh my god, it's been so hard to eat enough. Yeah, you would be surprised even with eating out. I definitely feel like I'm under eating a little bit, but

Yesterday, I felt good. Yeah. Like, it's more or less the snacks. Like, we have snacks, but sometimes... They're small. Like, we're pushing our... Because our mornings are slower. Like, we usually, when we're home, start eating at, like, 8. But our mornings are pushed back a little bit. And then, like, our workouts are pushed back. And then our, like, snacks are pushed back. I don't know. It's just... Yeah. I mean, I know when I'm home, if I just have a protein bar as a snack, my carbs are fucked. Yeah.

Like I'm so low on carbs and I've done that like twice already. So I already know I'm probably low on carbs. But regardless of us being a little low on food, we are just PRing. Oh my God. Oh my God. We're so strong. This bulk, guys, I like will say over and over again, if you're debating it, please bulk. I hit 135 on bench.

Sam's out here dumbbell rowing 70s. Yeah. Fitness guys on literal social media the same day were dumbbell rowing 70s. I was literally going through my Snapchat story. Well, not Snapchat stories. That's a huge call out. But I was like...

And I was like, damn, I was just doing that weight. Yeah, I saw it too. And I was like, Sam, look. And I mean, subtle brag, my last set, I did do 65s. Could I do it a full three, four sets? Probably not. But I did on my last set.

Yeah, no, but it's been pretty nice. I'm kind of nervous for leg day though. Cause like leg day, we need way more food. Like today's leg day. I think just breakfast is going to be like, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to carb up on breakfast and a snack before probably. Oh, I have rice crispy treats, vegan ones. They're really good.

You brought Rice Krispie Treats? Yeah, they're vegan. Oh, and I have the... Tartar chips? Yeah. Guys, my bench PR, I failed twice, okay? Failed twice, but I knew I was going to get it because the fails were so close.

I chugged the rest of my energy drink, ate three sour strips. It flew up. Flew. Flew up. I don't know what happened. It was either a mental block or also she needed the fucking sour strips. It was literally the sour strips. Like the carbs went immediately to my muscles. Yeah. Not like dead ass. I don't know what it was. It was crazy. And I was like, this video, like that video I have of me failing and failing. Yeah. If you edit me eating a sour strip, could literally be an ass.

Yeah. Guys, I'm honestly surprised like Taylor's alive right now because I then ended up dropping the barbell on her neck because she wouldn't stop with the protein farts. It smells like asshole in this friggin' small room. It literally doesn't, okay? First, she's making it up.

No, I'm not. Yes, you are. So we're filming these TikToks crying in tears on the... If you've seen pictures at Zoo Culture, the turf is just smack in the middle of the whole gym, laying on the turf in tears, crying, crying.

We started making TikToks about it, and then we see some people, and they're like, Sam, what's wrong with your eyes? Yeah, they thought I was stoned. I was like, nah, I was just crying, like, so much. They were like, why are your eyes so wet? And we're like, because we were crying, and they were like, oh, shit, what happened? And we're like, oh, no, laughing. I shouldn't have said it like that. I was like, no, I was just bawling my eyes out. He was like, oh, oh. And we're like, no, no, no, in, like, a good way. It was funny. No, laughing my ass off. But then I showed them the video, and they didn't laugh, and I was like, oh.

I was like, okay, maybe we're not that funny. No, it was funny. It's the voice. It is the voice. It's the scream voice. Yeah, if you haven't watched the TikTok and you're like, what the hell are you talking about, Sam? Please go to my TikTok and you'll see the one of us like setting up 135 on the bench and she's about to bench it. It's really funny. It was actually hilarious. Like, we were also just delusional, you know, when you've been awake for hours and then just nothing makes sense. That's basically how it was for sure. 100%.

Are we going to go make oatmeal right after this? Yeah, we're making oatmeal right after this. Yes, I'm so excited.

Anyways, this episode you're about to listen to is a really good one. Such a good one. Such a good one. I enjoyed it so much. We recorded this one probably like what, three weeks ago? Yeah. And I'm not even kidding. When we finished, I was like, I want this up right now. I was like, I want this up right now. I cannot wait three weeks. Yeah. I mean, luckily time has been flying and it's finally here, but I'm so excited for you guys to listen. I'm so excited for you guys to listen.

I have been a fan of Kelty's content for a while, but I know a lot of you may not know who she is. I really recommend watching her if you just need, I don't know, another balance, just a great fitness advice and person to watch. Please watch her content. Please. And listen to this full thing.

Yeah, especially, we shouldn't even get into it because we literally go into the episode. No, yeah, just listen. It was so amazing. We're so grateful that she said yes to having us interview her and she'll make a great second guest for our two episodes a week. Exactly. And they just, I'm not going to say they keep getting better. That's wrong because it's not like they're better than her, but they keep staying good. Yeah, they keep staying amazing. Yeah.

Okay, let's get into this interview. Okay. Hey, Kelty. Hello. Hello. How's it going? Good. So we're so happy to have you. And I think you guys are going to really like this episode. So just really quick, or I guess, I mean, not quick, totally go in detail. Just introduce yourself, what you do, how you got to, you know, doing what you do on the internet, I guess. Okay.

Classic. The intro can be like five second elevator speech or it can literally be like five hours. So I'll try and condense it. But my name is Kelsey O'Connor. I guess I would classify as a YouTuber now and in the fitness niche. I come from a sports background. I played volleyball, basketball, competitive swimming growing up. And then eventually I had to go play post-secondary basketball in college in Canada. Ended up blowing out my knee.

And through that, found weightlifting because I had to rehab it. And then at that time, I was getting into YouTube and Instagram just from like the pure love of making movies and watching Casey Neistat and all that. And because I was kind of getting into fitness, that's what my lifestyle was around. So before you knew it, I was doing fitness in my videos. And slowly over many trial and errors and moving across the country, I think like six times now, I somehow found my niche. And I guess...

I have no idea what my niche is. Like if you see my content, you understand it's kind of all over the place. But I think it primarily is around just challenging my body. Like if there's something I want to do, I'll go do it and making entertaining blogs around the way. So that's why I condensed yet long intro.

I love that. Like the whole like challenging your body. I don't think we've had anyone say that yet. That's why I wanted you on the podcast because kind of like you said, you don't know what your niche is. I feel like you are your own separate like kind of fitness influencer. I was like telling Sam when I was just like, I don't know, telling her about how like I'm watching stuff. Oh my God, thank you. When I got in.

when I got into like fitness, you were the first person whose videos I came across when I was doing my deep dive into fitness influencers. Like you ate like real bread and like tried new things. And I was like, who is this girl? Like,

girl thank you it's like it's funny like that's like real bread and she is like doing different things like huh like she's not just like doing an ab circuit on the floor and like saying she like doesn't eat all day like what is this I was like who is this girl and it was just like mind-blowing to me

Thank you. Well, that, that makes me feel good. Cause I feel that's like exactly what I want my channel to be, but I don't always know if it's like how it seemed from the other side. And like, I don't know, I've gone through many of ups and downs, my fitness journey. And now I'm at that phase of like, no, I just want to like lack of cheesiness, but like live the best possible life I could. And like,

Yeah. And I think fitness allows you to do that. And I think there's one way to look at fitness as it being like super restrictive and it's very one way, or you can look at it as fitness allows you to do like anything you could possibly want to do. And so I think it's just, I have that view.

I love that. Yeah, I really like that a lot. And I like that you said, like, the ups and downs. Was there anything specific that you were like, that period of my life was just toxic? Like, I fell into, like, the clickbait and the diets. Oh, my God. Like, and I think...

I've been on YouTube for so long as a consumer and, like, a creator. And, like, way before... Like, I think I've just started getting traction the last few years. But I have so many ebbs and flows of, like, bad patterns I got into getting out. Like, my mental health journey has been... And maybe that's why sometimes it looks like I have my shit together. It's just because I've actually hit rock bottom, like, on numerous occasions. So I get a... That's what I love about my channel. I can hopefully tell a story. But I think...

my most bad places. The first is right after my career ended in basketball and I blew it out my knee and it was a complete identity crisis. And if you guys, if anyone doesn't know, cause I opened up about that on my channel recently, but yeah, I just lost everything I knew I was an athlete and suddenly I wasn't. And I remember right after that coming, I,

fitness and nutrition became really weird because I remember suddenly I went from working out four hours a day to no activity and just genuinely like, not even, I wouldn't even label it as toxic. Just, I just sat there and was like, Oh,

how do I eat? And suddenly my appetite was really low. And because I was like, I'm not burning as much as I normally would. I don't, I'm not working out. I'm sidelined. So I just remember losing weight actually, because I was just under eating. Cause I didn't know. I was like, Oh, I don't need to eat as much and just like lost weight. And so I did have like, I wouldn't even label that as toxic because it was just like a lack of knowledge. Um,

And then I, but I was dealing with other mental health issues, like without to get too dark right in the middle of your video, but I did have a suicide attempt during that. So it was more of like, that was where the toxic side, but through that brought me in an amazing journey. And I was,

found fitness through all that and overcoming it. And then I think I was actually in a very good place. Like I feel very blessed. My mom taught me a really balanced way to look at food and never demonize food. But then I found in my mid twenties when I was getting into weightlifting, that was when fitness YouTube first came out.

And I think a lot of really negative things were promoted. I don't think we've all, whether it be excessive calorie counting, excessive care about protein and those, you know, they're scientifically proven things, but I think I just definitely was like, oh, this is how it's supposed to be. And I, I got into that and got into the clickbait that was kind of when like the 10,000 calorie challenges went out. So I just remember being super strict. Like I have to wait list every day and I have to get this much protein in. And that was,

kind of the way and then I think a couple years ago I was like this doesn't seem like who I am as a person and I was like I want to experience more in life and I kind of broke free of it but that's why there's many ups and downs and I think that's what your 20s really are though is like that

as much as there was toxic things. I really try and look back at them being like, no, they're just lessons along the way. Yeah. I feel like you can definitely relate on that. I played field hockey and lacrosse in college. So like the whole lowest point of my life too, I feel like was when I literally, my career came to an end and I had no idea how to step up

my foot into the fitness aspect of like going to the gym. And it's just, it's trial and error trying to figure out like what works for you, what to even do because you are not as educated. And my question for you is when you were in school playing sports, do you feel like you were not educated enough on nutrition while playing a sport? Yeah.

Fully. And like I, that was many years ago. So I'm hopefully it's changed, but even it was so not important and so not,

There's so many things that college athletes aren't told about while they're in their career and post-career. Like you just even said, identity issues are so much more prominent than it's talked about. And now it's actually labeled like post-career syndrome, which makes sense that I've seen it in relationships. I've seen it with friends. I've seen it with family. And it's just your end of the career. And you're like, okay, go have fun. Everything you know about your life is gone. Right.

And then like on the flip side as well, like college, I think it really depends on unfortunately money. I think I'm sure some of the bigger colleges and that with big budgets, like their nutrition is dialed in like professional athlete, but I feel most people aren't that privileged. Most people are just in average programs. Females obviously don't get as much money as the male programs dependent on the sport, but yeah,

I think like, yeah, I was taught nothing. It was just like getting your carbs, make sure you're eating enough. There was kind of some idea of fruits and vegetables, but also as much as they teach you, I'm sure you can relate. You're on the road and some days it was just McDonald's. So you just had McDonald's. It was just amount of getting in food and posts. So you just, as much as you kind of know via sports, you'd be shocked. I thought I was really educated on it. Even I was taking sciences in school and learning bio and

bio and nutrition, I've still came out of it like so not educated on nutrition. Yeah, even I know this episode will be really good for a lot of girls because even still I'm getting constant questions and worries about girls that actually are coming in their fall season right now with their season ending. And I'm constantly getting asked like, what do I do? I'm so nervous about like ending and stepping foot into the fitness side of like

going into the gym rather than being an athlete. And it just, it makes me so sad because of how little support they get making that transition. Yeah.

Yeah, it's so heartbreaking. And even if you prepare for it or not, like my situation may be a little different because there's injuries. I didn't know it was coming and I was in it. And then some people, I never got to experience that where like that impending doom where you're like, I've got one year left and now what? And I think that can also be a negative cycle. And looking back, I have so many things I wish I could say to my younger self and realizing, but it is scary. Just you're like,

it's almost like what's the point of working out once you're an athlete and that sounds really bad but you're like you spent your whole life training for a specific performance goal and when that performance goal is gone you're like what what what do I do do I just show up and you're like you have so such a intensity and so driven what do you do when there's no goal to work towards and it's a scary place to be in and like I feel for anyone in it right now but also I I

think the narrative has to be flipped of it's actually like you get to do so much more and I wish I could tell myself that but like if you're an athlete or just a high academic anyone I think this also goes towards any musicians you're so dedicated you're so hardworking you are able to tunnel vision on a goal they got you there and whatever those traits you are are going to transition into your next thing and it's very much try and approach it anyone listening as a sense of creativity and curiosity and

And I wish I had gone into it being like, no, this is the first chance in my life that I can do whatever I want. I can reinvent myself. That little hobby that I thought was kind of cool, whether it be drawing or singing or who knows what it was, like you finally get the time because you don't have practice or season. And I hope we start to paint it a bit more like that and start giving resources to athletes or anyone getting out of college being like, what are some like fun hobbies that you can just experiment with?

And I think that's like the best foundation anyone listening. I hope they, if you are listening in that situation, just realize this is a amazing time and just be curious with it and don't have a pressure on yourself that when it ends, you have to be like, Hey, I'm a bodybuilder when it ends or, Hey, I'm going to go move to LA. It is like, it's okay. It's more of just like a couple of years of experimentation. And I felt very lucky. I got a few of those. And I think that's why I'm here today.

I really love that. Yeah, no, I think that'll help a lot of people, especially like you said, you get a lot of questions about the athlete stuff. I am very not into sports. So that is not my realm of expertise. Yeah, no, I really loved everything you had to say though. I guarantee so many girls are going to

that. So that was good. Yeah. And I think it's also people stress like, oh my God, now like not knowing how to eat, not knowing how to work out. If you came out of a lot of movement and now you're not doing it, but it's like, if you're used to that movement, you're going to crave it and get it back. Even though it's going to take a little bit to get into a routine, you're not just going to like lay on the couch all day. Like you will, it's just going to be a little weird at first, but you're going to get back into it. Yeah.

Oh yeah. Fully. Like you'd be shocked how much you can replicate the feeling of like, that was what always scared me is like the one thing you think you never get back is like a crowd, like performing in front of a crowd or something. And I always was like, like,

Like I'll never get that sense of competition and you don't, but then you find that endorphin high in so many other ways. And like you said, if you really want to be in front of a crowd, there's a hundred other jobs you can do that gets you that same feeling. So it's definitely possible, but it's, it's a scary, like you said, just figuring out what is next and like to get that same level of excitement.

Yeah. I mean, I guess we're kind of, I mean, you kind of perform in front of a crowd now, like kind of, like we're kind of, we're kind of talking to a crowd right now. So, so bad for even forgetting that you're just so used to like, Oh, in front of your camera,

camera and you don't, you don't really think about it. I was like, Oh no, this is a way bigger crowd than any of my basketball games ever were. Yeah. Oh wow. Yeah. You're right. That's so crazy. But that's, um, that's just such an interesting part of like your journey and everything you post. And I think that's really helped. Like I could tell that dedication in that athlete in you with the challenges you post, like you are hardworking and so dedicated.

Thank you. Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you. You are. I don't think a lot of people understand how to have the discipline to do something like you do, like doing a certain gymnastics training every single day for however many months, training like a certain person every single day for a month. That's I don't think I could do it personally, but it's obviously people won't do it at that big of a scale. But I feel like that just discipline, like, I don't know, how do you do that?

I think there's so many ways I could go about talking about discipline like that. It's one thing is like, it gets easier and it,

over time. If anyone wants to learn about discipline, I recommend the book Grit. It definitely is kind of like the analogy of like the kid with the marshmallow. If you've ever heard that experiment, like they give a classroom of kids marshmallows. If you eat the one marshmallow right now, you have the one marshmallow. If you wait an hour, you get a second marshmallow and then you have two marshmallows. And what percent of kids eat one right away? What percent eat two? And like, that's kind of how the book's based on just like all the science behind it. But the moral of the story is

That's a muscle willpower. And the more you do it, the easier it gets. And so if someone is not sticking, okay, how do I express me sticking to a 30 day gymnastics routine isn't that challenging for me.

For someone starting out, that's super challenging for them. So they should actually give them more credit if they stick to even just stretching every day, whether not even like a full workout, just something little drinking water, like the willpower is a muscle. And the more you do it, the stronger you get. And the more you just get the foundation of your habits and routines, and you can easily swap it in and out. So now for me,

these challenges are simple in the sense that they are hard. I won't lie, but it's just like, it's just part of my life. Like I take this one challenge out and then the next month I'm putting in the next, like that habit is built and that takes time and it's not overnight. But I think, yeah, it's just starting small and building. And I think like whether it just knowing it's a muscle, so you start drinking water every single day and that's your habit you're going to build. And then you'll, you gain confidence because you,

I feel confidence is very much just like committing to yourself and holding yourself accountable. So you're like, I said, I'm going to do sign, you stuck to it. And I think that's how you build confidence. Cause you know, if you say something you're going to do, you do it and you show up just for yourself. And that just builds. And every time you do it, you get a little stronger, you get a little bit more confident and then you can just kind of keep going.

And that's where the discipline comes in. And that's how it's been many years building. And sports was a nice foundation. And then starting on YouTube and just consistently doing it, it's just become a way of life. And I find a lot of pleasure in it. Like, I find it's very satisfying. And we're talking about former athlete, any high level, anyone who's ever had goals, like you just love that satisfaction and you realize there's such satisfaction in completing something.

So that's kind of how I get my outlet now that I no longer have from sports. And it's now been whatever crazy challenge I decide I want to do this month. God, you are a badass. That just motivated me so much. But it's true. I say the same thing about confidence because I heard it on another podcast another time. I think it was Ed Milet, like the motivational speaker. Yeah. Is that where you got that from? I listen to him. So I probably just quoted him.

But that's where I've heard that from how confidence is trusting yourself. I say that to people all the time. If you break your own promises, you're not going to be confident in yourself. Just how if your friend broke all their promises, you wouldn't be confident in them. Like it's the same exact thing. I think about that all the time. I'm just happy you said that because I'm like, yeah, I fully relate.

It's so true that I feel like it, what else could confidence be than just like trusting your own self and like, and just knowing it, it starts small and you can just build on that. And then before you know it, anything you say, anything pops in your mind that you're like, Oh, that'd be kind of cool. You just have faith in yourself. You're like, I don't know how I'll get there, but I'll get there. Yeah.

Yeah, no, that's awesome. And I think with the amount of discipline that it's like, it's crazy the amount of discipline you have, but you also are so like, it's not all or nothing in the slightest. Yeah.

like you are like queen I feel like of balance on the internet oh thank you like I find that such a funny website I just want to always project that balance is different on everyone and like I do definitely try and show up but that's kind of where I like my uh my channel to be and I thought I was contradiction because everyone's like you kind of have to niche down and I was like hey I'll just focus on challenges or just focus on vlogs but I was like but that's also my ethos like that's

I think who I am as a person that I think life is very much like you should be goal driven. You should say you want to do something. You should work fully. You should be tunnel vision. You should be,

But along the way, you need to stop and just like enjoy life. Because if you do either or, you're going to burn out. If you just focus on goals, you never take seasons off. Like you'll be 80 and be like, oh, wow, I never had a cup of coffee with my wife. And I never saw my kids run. And I never got to go on that trip because I was too hyper-focused. On the flip side, if you just enjoy life a little too much every day, there's no – like you only appreciate –

warmth when it was cold. Like you don't really appreciate a warm sweater unless it's chilly outside. Like, I think you kind of need to have a bit of both. And that's where I, I found my balance. And I realized I always felt very, I was very hard on myself because I wasn't balanced in the traditional way on social media. Like I think balance was like every day you eat the exact same way and you only have, it was moderation. Like balance was

shown as moderation and even though it is it's very much different for every single person like I think drinking is the best example of moderation some people can't have it at all and that's totally fine that is someone's balance like I just have to have it away from my life some people it's a glass of wine every night some people just go out for drinks once a week and then someone like me who's like I next to never drink and then I go rage in Vegas about every few weeks and like that's where like balance looks different and I think we can't like

we should be better understanding that's different on every single person. And that's where I'm happiest. I think my happiest is like being really hard, really focused and then taking the time to just let loose. I'm very extroverted. So that's also, I need to rest and recover, but for the most part, I need to go exert energy. So like for me, letting loose is going out with my friends and like some people that's staying at home and it's just really figuring yourself out. And I, it's taken me many years, but I,

I think I haven't. And I just always want to preach that on my channel, like have goals, but enjoy life along the way and find what balances you like balance for some people's vegans and people. It's not some people it's weightlifting, some people it's yoga. And it's just really a experiment for yourself of what is sustainable long-term. And I think by myself right now I can do till,

ever. And I think that's all that matters. Like you just know a lifestyle isn't sustainable when you're like seeing pending doom. You're like, Oh, this is going to burn me. It's like, I can't do this next week. I can't do this next week. As long as you find what you can do forever, you know, you've hit your balance. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. I feel like I can definitely relate on that. That was good. Yeah. Cause I feel like people may tell us cause like

let's say, well, I'm, I guess more you because you're 23, I'm only 20, but like, like you may talk about like going out isn't really like your form of balance. Like your form of balance is like,

let's get ice cream and stay home. You know what I'm saying? That's more the different, but it's like, it's the mindset. Like either way, it's the same mindset. Yeah, exactly. It's like finding what that going out is for you. And like you said, is it going to have an ice cream? Is it going on a trip? Is it buying yourself a bag? Is it having a drink? Like they're all just like those pleasures in life, whatever they are and

I think there's nothing wrong with any of them. It's just figuring out, like, for example, drinking is a classic example. It's not for some people. And some people are like, okay, this isn't for me. I'd just rather not have a hangover. I go out with people. They're people I don't want to be around. And sometimes you go on ebbs and seas. Like, I've had seasons in my life where I have no desire to go out. Like, it's doing me more harm than good. So I'm just going to focus on other areas to let loose. And I think, like,

And not saying like, oh, you're in a phase in your life. But I think like that's a really important thing to also realize. Like going out isn't for me right now. Like I just rather go have ice cream at the end of the day. And you're like, oh, that's the cherry on top to my week. And like, I think that's like,

perfect place to find yourself to be in yeah yeah I like that yeah exactly and exactly it's just the mindset it doesn't matter what the accident is you can have the same mindset because people might see us and like right now we work a lot and we work out a lot because we're kind of in the we still have to grind we still have to hustle like we just have we we have work to do and so exactly like oh my god but we're like obsessive and it's like no like we're fine yeah like we're good like we do the things that make us happy like this might not seem like it'd make you happy but like yeah

Makes us healthy. Yeah, like going to the gym, waking up early six days a week makes me, brings me joy. Like, like I...

And that's like the perfect example. Like all I could, like if you're waking up early and feeling good and you're like, that's the highlight of my day, I'm excited to get out. Why would you stay out late and like sacrifice that beautiful, like morning rhythm you found yourself in? And like you said, you're very, you're in that season and be like, Hey, we've got this goal. We're grinding. I'm in this routine. This is what's bringing me joy. And like, that's such like a fun place to be in. Even though at first you're like, wait, you're working all the time and just working and all this. Like, no, when you find your like little groove and routine, that's just like, there's such like a bliss to it.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I feel like I've definitely...

We just moved down here for reference. I moved down here in Austin in May. She moved here, what, August? August. So yeah, it's been like one of those things like trying to find a balance between like also finding friends out here. And we feel like we have to like go out to find friends. But I feel like we finally have found like that understanding of like we don't... And we make friends in the gym. Yeah, we make friends in the gym. Making friends in the gym is fun. Yeah. Like going out now isn't more of like a thing where we like force ourselves to. It's like if...

Like last weekend, we didn't go out. If we don't want to go out, we won't go out. But if we do want to go out and we're comfortable going out, we'll go out.

Yeah, exactly. Just look at yourself. But I think just in terms of balance, regardless of the social things, in terms of just food, I know you said people think balance might, they might think of like perfect moderation, but that's not how I see it at all. I see it as like everything fits into your diet if you want it. We have giant donuts that are on the menu this week. She had her. I'm having mine today. It's right over there. Oh my God. Yay.

I love it. I love it. Things like, I think it's that type of balance. Cause I think we're the same way. I mean, we can, to be late, to be honest, we just, we'd rather not spend money on eating out. So we cook a lot of our meals at home. That's just, we would rather not spend money out, but we have no problem going to get donuts. And like, it's not like a structured, Oh, every single night we have like our little treat and like no more than that. And that's bad. It's like, I mean,

whatever, like one day we're going to go out or travel and be a mess kind of, and be off our schedule and then we'll come back and so on. So I agree with you on that for sure. Yeah. That's such a perfect, exactly. Like at the end of the day, you can, you're just in a good cycle with it every day. You're like excited what you want to eat and it's not putting you in financial ruin. And it's also like working towards your goals, but you're like, Oh my God, I want to donut. And like, that's, yeah, it's just a great place to be in. And it's not said as like

I don't think moderation and balance is this perfection. Cause sometimes balance is like so perfectly. Like, I think a bit of like, I did a video on that the other day, like the, that girl trend, but it's like, I think it's like, it's so perfectly balanced. I was like, that seems exhausting. So every day I have to have like the perfect meal and this has, and there is times for that, but like, I'm like,

no, the balance is like enjoying the moment while working towards your, like your long-term goals and like having them both be balanced. Not like every single thing is like 50, 50. And I'm like, for some people it is, but for me, I'd be like,

two days into that, I'd be like, I'm over this. Yeah. Agreed. And I think, I think a lot of people with the, that girl thing, it's funny you brought that up. They say it's like balanced. Then some of the girls it's like, Oh, I'm having a treat, but the treat is like organic and gluten free and dairy free. And it's still like health food. And it's like, so what balance are we talking? Are we getting like real donuts or are we getting like sugar-free donuts? Yeah. Yeah.

it's such like a funny trend in the sense that like, it is better than like a lot of other fitness trends. That's why I was like, I'm actually for it. And it's, it's something beautiful, but romanticize your life. But like anything, as soon as anything gets popular, it just gets blown out of proportion and then it becomes toxic. And I think it's just at that stage now that it's like, Oh, if what you're eating isn't perfectly beautiful and it's,

yummy yet nutritious and all this then it's not worth doing I'm like okay life's not like that like sometimes you're just on a road trip and all you have to eat is gas station food and like that's what it is and so that's why I'm like okay life isn't always aesthetic like yeah you can romanticize saying without it being aesthetic for a tiktok

Exactly. Yeah, the aesthetic. That's how I feel about my content because sometimes I'm like, I wish I like put together more aesthetically pleasing things. But at the same time, I kind of don't want my content to be like that because that's just not good.

that's just not me and I've wanted to look a little bit more realistic like not all my meals are beautifully photographed on like a white table with like this because that's just not how I eat them like and and I feel like I'd rather have people realize like oh so you can like be healthy but not look straight out of like a magazine 24 and that and like that's such a nice thing that like there's like influencers or whatever you want a tiktoker whatever the term is like uh just anyone creating content online like

It's just nice seeing that because that's what resonates with me because I see something real. I'm like, oh, I can actually go do that. So when I see like your meal, I'm like, okay, that's, and sometimes I love to just look at beautiful things. But then I think some people are like that, like that's their artists and everything has to be, and that fills them. But like, then there's many people like us as well that were like, oh no, this is just who I am. And people are going to relate more to that. And that's the nice thing about social media as well. As much as there's a hundred different things, that's people can find their people.

And, like, you're not going to appeal to everyone. And that kind of sucks, like, to be here. But at the same time, as soon as you realize, like, you know, I'll find my people and that's all that matters. Yeah. Yeah. That's how we've been, like, slowly dealing with that. Yeah. Like, learning that, like, you'll find your people and not everyone's going to like you. I mean, on social media and in real life. Yeah. Like...

But I mean, especially I think in the workout scene, because everyone has a lot of opinions. I mean, there's just a lot of opinions. So you just kind of have to narrow in and trust that like you're helping some people. So it's like, as long as you always come from like a good place, I feel you'll find your people and that those people you resonate with. And like, as soon as you start focusing on the people that,

don't agree with you then you start trying to appeal to them instead of just focusing on the people that you'll naturally want to like that will naturally want to listen to you and I feel that's with anything in life like don't try and force a friendship or a relationship just like be around the people that it just feels natural and easy and that's just like a nice place to be in in life exactly

I feel like even too, like with the whole social media aspect too, like there's just so many different types of like creators out there with like what they post in terms of like, um, like workout content. And I just feel like sometimes like me and her came together very organically, but like our followers like tagged each other in our content and they were like, you guys are very similar. Whereas like, I feel like sometimes a lot of other people,

people try to push us on to other creators where it's not as organic and I just don't mesh as much with their content if that makes sense so yeah I think in the fitness aspect like it's very important to like mesh with somebody else's like content and like wanting to like meet up hang out get a workout in and stuff like that because I've noticed it's been hard for us to like find like

friends in the fitness industry I guess I think it's also because you have to really align with the messages they're sending because you are also putting the messages to their audience like we could have big time following we could try to get I'm not saying we could we could try to get big time following like millions of views millions of subscribers fitness influencers on here that may be their contact like we don't really like think is like the most healthy yeah like

And it's one of those things where it's like, okay, well, what do you do? Because it's like they, and you just got to kind of like stay true to like your like integrity, which is, I mean, which is why I also like wanted you on because I'm like, you just like have a very healthy viewpoint. Well, thank you. Thank you. But just be like, I feel that just like not being like,

oh, we're better than the other fitness community. I think it's just more of like, we know our niche and we know the people we want to be with. And we'd rather just have like organic relationships and actually like talk about what we want to talk about versus I think both of us could all,

The classic I'll use is like a detox tea. We constantly talk about detox tea and know it blow up or just like be drama filled and like go after those. But you're like, do I really want to spend my emotional time like talking about that and just like promoting something, even if it's just a bash it.

I've learned that sometimes I would do things just to prove, oh, that's bad. Honestly, that sounds kind of exhausting. Then you become one of those drama channels. The fitness world is never quite in the drama you do, but you can always kind of tap into it if you want. Then at what point are you

just feeding that machine more versus like, Hey, we'll stay in our own lane and we'll be around people we want and build our own niche. And I think that's way more of a enjoyable place to be. Exactly. Yeah. And I think it's hard to be vulnerable on the internet as someone in fitness and show like

Any weaknesses or like physical or mental or like, hey, I'm not the best at this, but like, look, I'm trying and working on it. And people just want to like critique you. I know you recently like like you got out of weightlifting, got back into weightlifting and you kind of had to like.

like start kind of from the beginning, like when I was watching some of your videos and like, I think to like have the courage to be like, Hey, you know, maybe not as like strong as I was like a few years ago or before quarantine, like that could help so many people. Cause I mean, I get DMs like, well, how do I go about not feeling judged if like, I'm using like lighter weight in the gym? And I'm like, no one cares. Oh, no, no.

No one does. And it's so funny. I was talking because right now I'm doing a 30 day CrossFit challenge and it is so humbling. And it's funny. We have this exact same conversation with my coach because I do come from a weightlifting background, a sports background. So not being like, oh, I was this awesome, but I was very much like a classic gym bro. Like I could squat twice my body weight and deadlift and my form wasn't always perfect, but actually took a break because my form wasn't perfect.

And I like rebuilt myself. And that's why I was like, I have so many injuries. My mobility isn't correct. My movement patterns aren't correct. I could keep pushing weights and I'm going to be injured and not walk by the time I hit 30. And so I was like, Hey, you're going to step away. You're going to work on mobility. Um,

And then COVID happened. And then I just didn't even have access to it. So it's like so humbling, even for myself, especially putting on the internet. Cause I've had things, people come out and be like, Oh, you're, she's not even strong. Like how does she have a fitness channel? And I'm like, well, last time I checked like fitness isn't just how much you lift. And at the same time, I was like, I'm, I'm trying to show that it's ebbs and flows. You have injuries, you come back. Like,

And it's okay. Cause I I'm excited to document me getting back into it as well. Just showing it as like a beginner, but also with the knowledge of everything I screwed up with the first time I attempted, you know, it was kind of in this cycle and yeah, it's humbling. Cause I'll have people like, Oh, her form isn't great. I'm like, yeah. Cause I haven't been under a barbell in two years. Like no one's forms great. And no, as much as you try to every day show up with best form and you

not put negative things out there, like not promoting dangerous things at the same time. Like humans go through seasons and there's going to be times where you're like on it. And then sometimes you got to take breaks. Life happens. Injuries happen. And it's humbling right now. I won't lie. Like there's been like things posted and that's always hard to hurt because you want to like come back and be like, no, I know what I'm doing, but I'm also trying to be vulnerable. But then I feel for the most part, people get that. Like people come and understand like, no, if you took two years off,

like squatting with a barbell, you're not going to be strong. And like, for the most part, I was like, and I try to concentrate and make videos more for them versus the people who are going to, I could have perfect form squatting 300 pounds and they'd be like, Oh, she, she shouldn't be showing her squatting that much. Like, you know what I mean? Like they're never happy. No. The amount of times I see on social media, whether it's my page, her page, anybody's page, a guy saying she's not strong. Why does she have a fitness page? I see.

see it so much and it aggravates me so badly because like you said, like strength is not a factor, whether you should be working out, having a fitness page, whatever it is. And that's why so many girls get so like intimidated to even step foot in the gym. Cause they feel like they're taking up space with a barbell, even if there's just tens on both sides. Yeah. It's just, it's crazy how like intimidating what guys can say can be for girls in the gym.

Oh, it's like, I almost just ripped this one guy to shred on TikTok. I was like, you know, I'm not even like, I'm not even going to get into it because like, I don't want to give him like knowledge or space. I was like, but it was kind of the idea is like girls don't even try hard. It was like, well, I think it went viral, but he was going, Oh yes. Yeah. And I was like, you fucking asshole. I was like, I realized like, you're the reason girls don't want to go out there. And like, it girls are,

for the most part, I don't want to leave stereotypes. I think there's probably men that feel this too, but you go in and you're like, okay, I'm so scared to like make noise and push myself and like look like I'm actually trying and not knowing. And so they're so timid. And because you're timid, you look weaker and then you can't perform well. And it's just like such an awful, and then you don't even want to go because you're so scared. And,

and of like men like that attacking you or like ridiculing you. So, and then it's like, if you ridicule people like us who are actually relatively like in the top percent, everyone else below, not below, but just less experienced than us. They're like, okay, if she's getting ripped apart, how the hell am I going to get in there? Like someone who's never been under there. And it's just such like a, like, how is that? They always act like, oh, that's helping them. And this is, how is that going to help anybody at all? And like, I,

and I don't know the answer to fix that, but I just hope like girls like you and I try and put this message out there. It's like, you just got to start and you got to ignore those. Cause at the end of the day, as much as there's those vocal assholes on the internet, most people in the gym are so understanding. And I've definitely, for the most part,

for the most part, people who actually know about fitness and know things are so happy to see someone in the gym. Like the CrossFit would be the best example. I went there and it is a very like high performance gym. Everyone in there knows their stuff. They're technically trained and it's the most welcoming atmosphere. If someone came in there for the first time, never lifting weights, maybe felt a little uncomfortable,

overweight, they had no mobility, they would feel so welcome because everyone in that gym would be so proud of them for showing up when it's not like, and that's how I feel most gyms are. And it just sucks that like there's guys on the internet that just leave nasty comments like that. And so it scares someone away from even starting when I find most gyms for the most part are unbelievably welcoming. And if you are in a gym that isn't welcoming, like luckily there's others and just like get out of there if you don't feel welcome. Yeah.

And like, and it's so nice seeing more girls get in there because it's nice. Now I go in the gym a lot of time and I look around, I'm like, there's a lot of bad-ass girls lifting weights and they're actually like lifting. It's not just like in the girls section. And so it's nice seeing that because I think that's going to be more welcoming and we're slowly getting there and it's taking time and we'll

We'll try to drown out the noise of all the assholes out there. Yeah, it's definitely happening. You'll notice this too. I went, I traveled home back to Boston and went to my home gym and I was home for a few days last week and I noticed the difference in females in the gym. It was like, it skyrocketed. I was like, where did this come from? I was like, no way. Like, I love this.

So I hope, hopefully, like you said, it continues to take off. Yeah. And I think I find it funny how we keep saying it's the people on the internet, the people on the internet, like on their couch are giving you crap. The people in the gym are,

are happy. I was on live deadlifting and, um, cause I've been going live in the gym. It's kind of fun. And then, um, people were just, I got back to, and my comments were just like tearing me apart from my form. Mind you, where we deadlift, there's no mirror. So I was like, okay, Sam, I actually trust your opinion. I can't see myself. So I was like,

was it that horrendous? And then my followers were like, it really wasn't like bad. Like they're literally just like, like, like, I don't know what they're talking about. Like they were ripping me apart. And I was like, okay, if it was like actually bad, can you give me constructive criticism? I can't see myself. I was like, but why are you just being just assholes? And then someone literally commented, they were like, well, all these people are at home on your live and you're in the gym. So like, I don't think you should worry about what they're saying. And I'm like, that,

That's a great point. I like that. That's a perfect way to look at it. Oh my God. I love it. It's just such a funny, like people don't realize that form every rep, even if you have great form and you know how to do quote unquote perfect form and there isn't because everybody's built different. Every rep isn't going to be perfect. Even like Olympic lifters, they screw up. Like you look at pro athletes, like I've shot how many basketballs in my life and every time it's going to look slightly different until you become like super

Steve Nash, Steph Curry, like the top of the top. And that's why they're at the top. So like this thing, someone's sitting on the couch tear, like acting like you're deadlift is a horrendous. Cause maybe like could the tiniest thing I was like, no, no, no. Like that's just, but that's the internet. That's the internet. Yep. Yeah. And we talk about that all the time. How like we've seen videos of people who lift like, I mean,

textbook perfect form. But I'm like, that's probably too light for you. Like you look like you're breezing through that with no struggle. Like I'd rather see you kind of like,

like look like struggling a little bit like you look textbook perfect I'm like I don't look textbook perfect when I'm like pushing failure or like like I said trying something new exactly and I've posted that a million times trying a new exercise that maybe I just started programming then people are giving me like all these form things and I'm like first of all I never said this was a tutorial on how to do it perfect I said this is something I'm in the gym trying to get better at

That's all I said. Like, this is something I'm doing to work on. If you like, not like a step-by-step instruction.

And that's such like, and I'm so happy people are doing that more and showing themselves at the start, because I think for a long time, it was like, if your form isn't perfect, you're not absolutely expert. Like don't show yourself. I was like, but then that's not encouraging to most people. Most people like it, that resonates a lot more with someone being like, oh, she's trying to say new for the first time. I can go try that new for the first time. And I think most people are like, okay, I'm not going to copy her form. That's her first time. I'm going to, okay, but that's that. And then you go from there. And I think that's

so nice when people start documenting that and like I hope more people realize and be like okay this is my first few times I'm not posting it there unless I genuinely say I'm not posting it there so you can rip it apart I'm more just be like hey I'm trying this out here's the beginning and hopefully I have a nice after in a couple of months like

Yeah, exactly. And I think, I mean, I just, we, I know we have a good community of people listening to this that are like hyping each other up in the gym. Like I just feel like the community of girls we're trying to build, it's just so nice bringing like people like you on to like continue to like hype up and bring more people together. Like, you know, like people that listen to us will go like, look at your stuff and like just like build the community of girls that feel like, yeah.

Good enough to like go lift and like ignore the stupid boys and like try something new and like eat bread and like go on trips to Vegas. Like it's just the dream. But we want every single girl out there to like,

truly get out of this really. It's like, be vulnerable, start something new, but like give yourself like a little bit of a break. Yeah. You don't have to be perfect at the start. Like you just kind of have to try and then you just keep trying, keep showing up. And then like six months down the road, you'll look at yourself and you're like, whoa, like that was, that was pretty badass. I just did like, it just kind of like, and that's how it is with anything in life. Yeah. And it might not even be at the start. You might not be perfect. Like,

In the middle. Like you might have to like start over like.

Like, yeah, like a year into like quarantine, like I know so many people, obviously you said like your break because of quarantine. So many people were gymless. Oh, yeah. I'm sure a lot of people started over because I mean, there's no choice. Exactly. You're like, well, this is the cards I'm dealt. So I'm going to do this for a few months, like which is kind of it almost gave everyone a reset. And you can look at it as a bad thing. You can look at it as lost time or you're like clean slate. What do I want to change? What do I want to go from here?

Yeah. I mean, that's when we both started. Yeah. Started doing this. Yeah. It's a blessing and a curse. And, and I'm sure a lot of your video, like, I mean, it was a good thing for YouTubers and influencers because people were watching it on their phones. Oh, that's such a funny thing to look back like March, 2020. Oh. And like, even like, it was so funny though, like two weeks before that I had announced a travel series.

On my channel. And I was like, I'm pivoting the entire channel. We're going this way. And then I was like, two weeks later, I'm reviewing at-home workouts. I feel really lucky I got that. I definitely got some traction during that time. But it's funny to look back. Never mind. We're doing Chloe Ting. Yeah. Literally. Never mind.

At first I was like, Hey, we're going to go to Italy. We're going to go to New York. We're going to eat all these foods. We're all being rushed to the next month. And I was like, I'm just kidding. I'm going to review Kevlar Reef. I was like, Oh, but that's life. That's life. That's so funny. We, um, this has been so good. I have like a few things to just like tie it up, like little ending things. Is there anything you have that you think is like a totally just like unpopular, like fitness opinion? Yeah.

Like, Oh, sorry. Unpopular. It kind of, I think I have so many. So I'm trying to think of like a really juicy one. I think one that was like,

the balance looks different on everyone. Yeah. And that was a good one. That was a lot of balance shaming as funny as that sounds like as soon as someone like says they drank and they're either the best balance or the worst or whatever that is. And I think it's just not respecting people. Like everything looks different on every single person, whether that be someone genuinely is the healthiest version of themselves at keto. Heaven forbid, I never will be, but some like me, I don't,

I was like, and I tried that. And then like, I was like, I tried it and I was like, this is not for me and I can eat a lot of bread and that works for me. And it's just like figuring, letting people figure out

for themselves and not like judging other people for what they work with. Yes. I love that. We basically have an episode on that. Yeah. We have an episode. We track our macros. Some people tracking macros is the devil. They hate it. They can't do it. It ruins their life for us. It really helps our lifestyle. We really like eating that way. Like it really just, it really kind of healed my relationship, both of ours. Like it really healed our relationship with food and,

And we had an episode like, just because maybe that's disordered for you. And like that really took a toll on your like relationship with food for us. It did the opposite because it taught us how much to eat and it taught us that like carbs were our friend and like it, it taught us all of that. So we, yeah, we literally have a whole kind of episode on that topic of like, you can't judge someone for choosing their way of like being healthy. Exactly.

And that's the perfect example. Just tracking calories is the best. For some people, it's to teach them that you don't just have to eat quote-unquote healthy foods. And also, it's just like nutrition, understanding how to fuel yourself as an athlete. You do need carbs, fats, proteins. But like you said, other people take it like if they track calories.

Then it becomes disorder in itself. And it's all about healthy looks different on everyone. And that's not just even like a body size. That's like a mental health. That's just like how you mentally look at it. That's how you eat everything. Like it's really about just fair and not,

guilting people when they screw up like if you try say like you guys count and in a couple months you're like oh we don't want to track our macros anymore and then it's like how dare you change your like opinion you're like no allow people to evolve and or stay the same like whatever it is like allow people just to go on their own journey exactly exactly I mean I don't think either of us like we don't plan on doing this our whole life oh hell no like at all like definitely not

And I think people that used to do something and then don't like it if you shame people that. Oh, God. Yeah. That's also like just like a huge problem in itself. But last thing that I wanted to ask, too, was like just if you have just like one real piece of advice for someone that wants to change their life, like get out of that toxicity, like what would that be for them?

The easiest for me and just like having someone who's like hit at a rock bottom and has many of times is change your environment. I think that's the easiest way. You'd be shocked how often just when you're in a toxic environment,

or a bad mental health place. And not to simplify mental health, because we all know it's, I think it goes without saying, it's very complicated. But you'd be shocked just getting the change of scenery, how much that changes everything. I feel very blessed that I got to move across the country so many times. And it did unbelievable things for my mental health and confidence. It got me out of unhealthy living situations. It let me see more of the world. It made me a more

understanding different cultures, different people, different ways of life. And travel is a great

as soon as you travel the world, I think it's so hard to get caught up in just the minuscule details of your life, especially in fitness and health. Once you travel and see, you see a mom in Italy making homemade pasta, you will never look at a carb as a bad thing. Once you've seen it like that, like I think those are the best examples I can give. And once you're able to realize like fitness isn't just a specific weight or goal, it means like if someone tells you to hike a mountain, you can hike it. Like it's,

And travel is a luxury. We're not all, especially in this last year, we're not all capable. My advice is if you have the opportunity to travel, travel. If you have the opportunity to move somewhere you always want to move, move. If you don't have those opportunities, change your route to the gym, change your gym, just change something. Like that's as simple as it could be. And suddenly for me, after my suicide attempt, I started working in a bar.

And that seems very simple. I was like, I just need someone. And I met new girls and ended up meeting my best friend. We both end up falling in fitness, fitness and love with each other. Like we both fell in love at the same time with fitness. And that led me to one thing, which led me to that. And so if you're in just a tough place, just, just change your location and see what happens. We did that. Exactly. Yeah.

It's perfect. We moved across the country together. It's a chart. It works. It's magical. And then it works. It works so well. Like the first day we met, she said, you should come to Texas with me. And I was like, I got nothing to lose. Yeah. I'll figure it out. And a month later, here we are. Oh my God. Me and a friend are planning to come down to Texas in the next little bit. So we have to be, I think we're,

I'll tell you after because it's okay. Okay. I'll tell you after. Okay. Yes. Let us know. Cause that would be awesome. And plug yourself. Where can people find you on everything?

So my, it's honestly, if you just search my name, Kelty O'Connor, I'm mainly on YouTube. I actually have a second YouTube channel, which is my biggest passion project. So it's Kelty 2.0. That's where I have all my workout music. So if you want some good workout music to align with workouts, because most girls get copyrighted, I'm like, Hey, I'll be the one that allows like copyrighted music. And so you can go there and then yeah,

my name on Instagram and I'm trying the TikTok thing. I'm very inconsistent, but I guess I'm on there too. Oh, because you DJ, right? Yeah. So that's like, I've been, that's been my little passion project in COVID. And so I was like, I,

I felt like even we're talking about creating community of girls and I was like, how can I unite us all? And I was like, Oh, I think a cool way would just be like, we're all doing different workouts. We're all in different phases, but we all listen to some bad-ass music together. That's so cool. Yeah. I was going to say you like a lot of remixes and stuff. That's what she works out to. Perfect. I got you. I got you. Yeah.

Well, I love this episode a lot. I think it's so valuable and so relatable to so many people. And I'm so glad we had you on the podcast. Thank you for having us. Fun. Like it just blew by. I was like, yeah, that's why I was like, Oh, it's already been 50 minutes. You are an amazing like public speaker. I know it's just like kind of just the three of us, but like,

you flow very well. So I loved it. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate that. Yes. Well, thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you liked it. All of Kelsey's stuff would be linked down below as, as well. Sorry. As well as ours as usual. And are we going to do, um,

they can comment on your picture. Yes. So basically whatever, when this goes up, which is going to be a few weeks from now, we're actually recording this kind of early. If you have a post that goes up that day or just your recent post, our people are going to go over and comment that they're here from the podcast. Okay. Let's make it fun. Uh, let's do a hundred dollar

I'll pay out of pocket Gymshark like gift card. I think that would be the most perfect. I'll do like $100 maybe or buy like, well, yeah, $100 Gymshark. Any of your people to come and comment. Oh my God, that's so sweet. Let's do that. That is so sweet. That's so sweet. It just makes it fun.

makes it fun makes it fun that makes it so fun normally we just like to see like you know have our people go social love yeah go like show some social love it's also cool to see like the comments of like oh look how many people actually listen to that and we just like to see but I mean yeah that'll be sweet so we'll we will repost all of that on the story on um the Friday that this comes out so if you're listening just go check the story the post that it's on will be reposted

And you guys will see it. So yeah. Yeah, that's it. Bye.