Empowering Women’s Health and Strength

Kim Rahir
[00:00:00] Ed Watters: To overcome, you must educate. Educate not only yourself, but educate anyone seeking to learn. We are all Dead America, we can all learn something. To learn, we must challenge what we already understand. The way we do that is through conversation. Sometimes we have conversations with others, however, some of the best conversations happen with ourselves. Reach out and challenge yourself; let’s dive in and learn something new right now.
[00:00:55] Today we are speaking with Kim Rahir, she is the creator of the Fabulous in 15 program. Kim, could you please introduce yourself? Let people know just a little more about you, please?
[00:01:09] Kim Rahir: Yeah. So I’m a sixty year old German lady, mom of three, I live in Spain, um, and I used to be a journalist for the longest time until I fell very ill with autoimmune diseases. And I had sort of two bouts with that, um, was supposed to be taking lifelong treatment for quite some time. I’m off that now and I think that’s in part because I decided to go my own way and become physically strong, develop muscle mass, become really like insanely strong. Um, and when I was taking off my medication, I felt that I was onto something. So I started learning, uh, taking online certifications, personal trainer certifications to be able to help women around the world, um, get better, feel better, empowered, happier, healthier also with the same system where it’s really just about building physical strength and then have so many things, including your mental health, will fall in place as a side effect.
[00:02:14] Ed Watters: I find that Fabulous. So let’s talk a little bit about your program. What is it and why do women need it?
[00:02:26] Kim Rahir: It’s a very, very, um, simple sort of baseline approach. And I think that’s what women need because they’ve been overfed so much information, so much conflicting stuff. So, so many things they need to keep in mind, or do, or eat, or not eat. And my approach helps you become strong, mobile, um, uh, boost your energy levels in, you know, incredible ways by just training fifteen minutes [00:03:00] a day.
[00:03:00] It really doesn’t take more than that. And it’s an important part of getting in shape because knowing what to do is only part of the problem, the other part is actually doing it. Um, and I’m solving that problem by giving you something that you can do in fifteen minutes in the comfort of your home. That way we lower the resistance, uh, we remove most obstacles that get in the way when you want to change.
[00:03:27] So many women, they want to change, they want to live healthier, they want to move, but they have such a tightly packed schedule and they have some inner resistance too, because change is scary. So this fifteen minutes a day approach takes all those sort of obstacles, most of those obstacles, out of the way and make it easy to start.
[00:03:48] And then I will start you after an assessment, so you will start exactly where you are at. I’m not going to prescribe just any old program, uh, we’re going to really look what your situation is. And that is also very powerful because when we reach middle age and we do those awesome workouts from YouTube, and they are great, we tend to get hurt or very frustrated.
[00:04:11] Ed Watters: Yeah. I know as we age, things do get harder. You know, it’s not easy aging. But if we can age with grace, that is really the big thing. It was counterintuitive when we actually came across what you say is the pitfalls of healthy eating. What do you mean by that?
[00:04:37] Kim Rahir: The problem with healthy eating, the concept of healthy eating is that it’s, it’s actually far too vague. When you are not twenty anymore, let me put it this way, you have to be very specific and very intentional, uh, with what you do and what you want to achieve. And healthy eating is, it could mean anything. It means one thing for someone who’s a diabetic, it means another thing for someone who is an endurance athlete.
[00:05:10] It means a totally different thing for someone who has food intolerances. So healthy eating in general is not helpful as a concept. And then so many women are really keen on losing weight, dropping some, some of that weight that they’re carrying. And healthy eating is not specific for that. You have to eat for weight loss because even that is different.
[00:05:37] Now, you don’t want to stuff yourself with unhealthy junk foods or processed protein bars just to lose weight. But still, the approach to losing weight and the approach to just being healthy is a little bit different. And it has to be that specific because as we age, our bodies, you know, react more [00:06:00] slowly or differently. And we really have to find out, What is my exact specific goal and how am I going to eat for that?
[00:06:09] Ed Watters: I like that a lot. That explains that in a good fashion, very palatable. So now, I know getting older is hard for both men and women, but women, they tend to be smaller in stature than men with their muscle mass and all of this, so could you talk to us a little bit about why it’s so important to maintain that muscle mass.
[00:06:44] Kim Rahir: Yes, absolutely. It’s, it’s health insurance and it’s life insurance. And it’s all explainable by our evolution, how we evolved as humans. We have always lived and thrived in environments in where we were physically challenged. We, our bodies optimized for being in movement every day, our bodies optimized for being, you know, pushing stuff, pulling stuff, uh, lifting things from the floor, uh, getting things down from up overhead. Um, and it’s not something where, you know, we have this idea now because our world has changed so much that we just, you know, sit all day, uh, we drive to work, um, even our entertainment streams into our home. And then we want to be healthier,
[00:07:35] we want to do something, so we start moving a little bit. Actually, from a health perspective, the default situation, the optimized, the situation is the one where we move as much as we can every single day. And, and because we evolved this way, muscle is like the tissue of longevity. Um, it will improve your cardiovascular health, your metabolic health, your bone health, your joint health.
[00:08:04] And we now know that, you know, training for muscle, moving for muscle mass, even, um, really improves your mental health in a big, big way. Um, I think the problem with women is, um, a cultural one, actually, because we are not raised with this, with this, um, ideal of becoming physically strong. We’re taught to be pretty and cute and elegant.
[00:08:29] And when we have like nice parents, they’re going to tell us to get an education. Um, but basically the idea of being physically strong is not in our virtue catalog. Which is, um, also doesn’t make a lot of sense because you would never, say, Oh, carrying around toddlers and groceries is not feminine, you know? Women go to the gym,
[00:08:51] sometimes they pick up dumbbells that weigh a pound and at home they carried pounds and pounds of groceries or toddlers that, that weigh [00:09:00] a lot. So it’s actually quite natural for women also to, to be strong physically. But our culture has evolved in a way where, um, it’s, it’s, it’s not like our first intuitive choice when we start feeling age, when we start
[00:09:15] getting those health problems, when the weight creeps up and we feel creaky and achy and, uh, and low on energy. Um, this is not the first idea that, not the first thought, thought that we turn to, um, but it’s actually, I call it the one stop shop solution, but, because it gives you so many benefits and will take care of a lot of things with just one intervention.
[00:09:38] Ed Watters: That’s nice. Uh, now one thing that really makes me curious is your bone structure. My wife, she has osteopenia, and it’s kind of like osteoporosis, I guess. Now, this, women tend to have issues with is that bone density. What, what can you do to help that and maintain muscle mass along with your bone density?
[00:10:12] Kim Rahir: Yeah. It’s a one stop shop actually too, because when you train for strength, when you load your body, your limbs, your, with weight, um, you improve your bone density. Bone is, is very adaptive and the body is ruthless, so it will only sort of support and it’s all about allocation of resources actually in the body.
[00:10:36] It’s the, it’s the same in the, in the society and it’s the same in the human body. It’s about allocation of resources. And the body will only allocate resources when it’s getting signals that they are needed. So if we do not load our bones, uh, the body will not only not reinforce them and, and, and keep rebuilding them, but it will actually withdraw substance from them.
[00:10:59] So what, what we want to do is load the bones, weight bearing exercises and walking. And, uh, running will not cut it, you need to do something more. You need to do some kind of lifting or at least body weight exercises where you really challenge and stress your muscles and your bones and then the body will respond with that allocation of resources and make them stronger.
[00:11:28] Ed Watters: And, and also pushing and pulling is a good category to be in on that. You know, pulling a wagon around the garden, uh, things like that, that’s always a good thing. So tell me, Kim, what got you from being a journalist into a coach like this?
[00:11:49] Kim Rahir: Well, I had like a traumatic, um, incident, something really unpleasant happening to me. I was forty-five, I was a journalist in Berlin. My [00:12:00] kids were small and I was struck down literally from one day to the next by what turned out to be a syndrome, Guillain Barre, at the time. Which is a, one of autoimmune, um, attack. So my body started attacking its own nerves. Um, I noticed this because I picked up my kids from school and I was seeing double.
[00:12:23] So the muscles and nerves that were controlling my eyes, uh, had already been attacked. And then I was hospitalized. They were looking at what was going on and what they might do for quite some time, they weren’t sure. Um, and after three weeks in hospital, I was paralyzed from the hip downwards. I couldn’t wiggle a toe.
[00:12:43] And they still didn’t really know what was going on. So that was, that was super scary. Um, and you end up wishing for a diagnosis. You know, you tell them, Come on, tell me what it is. This uncertainty is, is, is what really eats you. But I learned an important lesson. I mean, at the time, I didn’t see it that way.
[00:13:10] Today, I’m grateful for that experience because what I learned the hard way is, you can be out of this in, you know, one day from one minute to the next. When you’re a mom, I had three kids, you always think, Oh, if I’m not there, nothing’s going to work. Everything’s going to collapse. I have to do everything,
[00:13:31] I have to be there for everyone and for everything. Um, and I, I was not there from one day to the next. I came home from the hospital for Christmas and there was a Christmas tree and there were presents and, uh, you know, and I hadn’t done any of it. So it had worked, and I find that experience quite liberating actually. And it’s something, you know, I, I wish I could sort of transmit that message to women who still think that if they won’t be around, then nothing is going to, like the world will come to an end.
[00:14:02] It won’t. Um, and I think that can take some of the pressure off your, off your life, because you know that you do not have to do everything. So finally they decided it was Guillain Barré which is a one of, it comes and it goes. And I was even lucky because it stopped at my hips. Sometimes it can be ascending paralysis and then you have to be ventilated.
[00:14:27] Um, it didn’t get that far for me. I got some treatment after this. Um, and then after a year, I think I was given a clean bill of health and I was so grateful. I, I was, I already, I was much more grateful for everything because you know, when one day you complain about having to do the dishes and the next day you’re paralyzed in the hospital and all you dream about is being able to do the dishes. And, um, I had learned that lesson.
[00:14:58] And [00:15:00] with this clean bill of health, I thought, Yeah, I’m going to, I’m getting a new shot at life, and I’m going to make the most of it. And I think, I think I became a cooler mom, and I took everything, you know, with a lot of, uh, detachment. Um, my quality of life improved, my, like, my mental health improved because I, you know, I was able to, um, sort of deal with situations, um, much more easily because you realize it’s all, at the end of the day not that important.
[00:15:32] As long as, you know, as long as you’re able to walk, oh my God, you don’t know, don’t, don’t complain about anything else. Then another year went by and I felt my left hand going numb and I knew this wasn’t good. And, um, I went to the doctor again, you know, you must know, this is all in different places. The first one was in Berlin, this one, the hand going numb, that was in Paris.
[00:15:53] Um, and I was told after examinations that this was, um, a different animal, that this was an attack of the immune system on the white matter inside the nerves, and that this was MS. And I thought that was a really low blow because I had been through this first thing, which was really traumatic, you know, being helpless in hospital. To feel totally dehumanized and, and you have absolutely no power.
[00:16:22] And I thought I had gone, you know, behind this. I had, that I was over this, that I could live my life now and enjoy. And then I got this diagnosis, which is even scarier because you have no idea where you’re going. You have no idea what’s going to happen to you. And, um, the, the one thing, the only thing that I, that I knew how to do after, after that diagnosis, was not look into the future.
[00:16:52] I did not allow myself to look into the future because it was too scary. I focused on the moment, on the day. I wanted to spend the day as, as well as possible, spend it with my kids, make the most of it. And, and I think that got me through those dark times. And I also decided that I wanted to become physically strong.
[00:17:16] And I think that goes back a little bit to the hospital experience and the powerlessness. Um, I decided that I was going to become muscular. Do strength training. Armed myself with a book, one of the first books that said women should lift heavy too. And I got stronger and I got better. And my mental health improved so much,
[00:17:40] I became so confident. And I think it was also the desire to be able to rely on my body again. Because when you have autoimmune issues, like your body attacking itself, it’s a bit like a betrayal. Like your body’s betraying you. And, and I think that was what drove me and I got better and better and better.
[00:17:58] We moved again. I [00:18:00] had a Spanish neurologist, um, who, and I was taking treatment for the MS, of course, you know, you get that diagnosis you’re in for lifelong treatment. And after three years of watching me, you know, sort of breezing through the checkups, he said, Would you like to stop your treatment?
[00:18:18] And I said, Hell yes, please. Um, that was now seven years ago, I’ve been without treatment for seven years and without relapses for seven years. A second, second lease on life. Um, I, I’m even more grateful every single day. And that was also the moment when I thought maybe, maybe I’m on to something here with what I did. And while I don’t claim that you can cure MS with strength training, the overall beneficial effects, and we talked about this before, um, I felt this urge to carry this message out there and, and tell as many women as possible and help as many women as possible to, to use this one stop shop, um, and to, to become happier and healthier. You know, with this just very simple, simple intervention.
[00:19:10] Ed Watters: I think it’s important also that you touched on, you know, don’t worry about it. Stress kills the body. And I, I suffer from fibromyalgia and that, that just comes, I basically see it coming more when I’m under a lot of stress. So stress can really affect the body in huge ways. Your mental, your physical, your overall being is really about being at peace with yourself in many ways. So if we can find that, that, that’s just truly a gift in itself. Kim, you used to be a journalist, now you’re out here podcasting. You do this very well. Is there plans to incorporate a podcast into your overall journey?
[00:20:12] Kim Rahir: It’s interesting because I got asked this question like three times over the last two weeks. Um, and I’m thinking about this. I, I, I think it’s something that I enjoy, connecting with people, talking with people, like meeting you today. And, um, and I think it’s a good way also to share my message, but I know that it’s a big project. Um, and I’m going to look at that when I feel ready because there’s so many very frightening statistics about podcasts that die after episode three or something like this and I wouldn’t want to be one of those.
[00:20:50] Ed Watters: Well Kim, I can tell you just from discussing here today things with you, you’re good at this and [00:21:00] you have this desire to inform people and that’s truly what podcasting is about. You would have no trouble at all staying engaged and I can see that pretty clear. Uh, podcasters, they get this thing, they think they’re not worthy of holding the position. It’s, it’s an inferiority complex. And, you know, I don’t think you suffer from that at all. You know what you’re doing and you can engage and articulate very well what you mean and it can really help people. So I’m always pushing people towards a podcast and you’re, you’re one of those that I really don’t feel that you would have a, a hard time doing it. So I encourage you to look deeper into it. And you know, we’re out here helping. So, you know, the more we discover who we are and what we can do, it’s truly a good thing.
[00:22:10] Kim Rahir: I totally agree.
[00:22:13] Ed Watters: Uh, Kim, do you have a call to action for our listeners today?
[00:22:18] Kim Rahir: Yes. I, well, they can look at my website, um, kimrahir.com and go on there to find a health assessment to find out where they are at. So if you want to know how your strength and your health is right now, I think that can be very helpful because, um, oftentimes we’re not really very clear on where we stand. And we could be much stronger than we think or much weaker than we think.
[00:22:46] And this questionnaire is really about how this whole thing integrates into your entire life. So it’s not about doing five pushups, but rather, you know, what do you do when you have to lift your, your cabin bag into the overhead lockers. Things like this. How, just find out, you know, what is your status? And then I can, um, give you a few tips, uh, according to your, your results. So that’s something, um, you want to look at. Make sure you know where you start because you want to change, you want to go from A to B, you need to know where A is.
[00:23:21] Ed Watters: And can you share where people can locate you and, uh, get in touch with you?
[00:23:27] Kim Rahir: Yes. So the first one is my website, kimrahir.com. And then with my name, Kim Rahir, you can find me on Facebook and Instagram and, and, um, I share a lot of information, tips and thoughts, um, a little bit of my own weightlifting adventures. Try to make it fun, uh, like entertaining and informative. And you find me there with my name Kim Rahir.
[00:23:51] Ed Watters: I really like what you’re doing and I appreciate that you came on here today to share it with us on the podcast. Thank you for being here, [00:24:00] Kim.
[00:24:00] Kim Rahir: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:24:04] Ed Watters: Thank you for joining us today. If you found this podcast enlightening, entertaining, educational in any way, please share, like, subscribe, and join us right back here next week for another great episode of the Dead America Podcast. I’m Ed Watters, your host, enjoy your afternoon wherever you might be.