Power Mom And The Daily Practice

Hi, Welcome to Real Life Momz, I'm your host Lisa Foster, and Real Life Momz is a podcast that's all about connecting moms through real parenting conversations. I believe that moms have so much insight and knowledge, and together we are powerful. On this podcast, we give moms a voice to tell their stories and share their expertise and resources, all through a real conversation. And this week, I invited the co-founders of Power Mom, Trina, and Tara O'Brien. Together they are moms of twins. They are educators, coaches, speakers, health and wellness enthusiasts, and all things sports lovers.

They coach moms to become strong and confident again, all without mom guilt. They live what they coach and love helping moms grow into the best versions of themselves. Today, they're here to share with us practical steps we can make in our daily routine that will improve our physical and mental well-being and leave us feeling more fulfilled and energized. 

Hi Tara. Hi Trina. Welcome to Real Life Momz, and I am loving that you guys are here in Colorado, cuz that's my home base.

<Laugh>,.

You both are on a mission to empower moms, and I love that so much. And today, we're gonna discuss just taking steps to see how moms can become strong and confident and just our best selves without all that mom guilt. So can you tell us just a little bit about yourselves and what you are doing?

Yeah, thanks so much for having us first off, and we really appreciate it. Go, Colorado. For sure. So this is Tara Trina, and I are partners in life, partners in business. Were moms to eight-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. Our son is a fully functioning, crazy little eight-year-old who is absolutely amazing. Um, our daughter has some special needs, so we attend to her, uh, on a daily basis, and that led us to actually homeschooling them.

Uh, and that decision was made early on just due to a lot of Teagan's disabilities. So we get to spend every, every day with them. We created Power Mom about seven years ago, and it's, it's, it's evolved and, and I almost say it perfected over time, but there's a lot of work to be done. And as we continue to talk to moms and really understand the different struggles, the different challenges, and what we're all up against on a daily basis, we are able to take our resources and our expertise and just continue to expand on what we teach.

So tell us a little bit about Power Moms. What, what is that?

Well, it was about seven years ago. Uh, this is Tara again. I was, uh, working a corporate, corporate job, and I remember the twins were just about a year old. And I walked outside. It was freezing cold in Colorado around February. I got into my car, it was five o'clock, dark turn on the car, and I literally had a complete and total meltdown. This is what resonates with so many moms out there because it happens to all of us in some shape or form.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And I remember screaming at the top of my lungs. I slammed my hands on the steering wheel, and I thought to myself, there's just gotta be, there's gotta be more. There's gotta be a better way. You know, I, I, I loved my kids, loved my wife, but really who I didn't love anymore was me. And I felt I had reached this point of disgust, and I didn't know what was happening. And fast forward a little bit, what I realized, I put myself on the back burner because everybody was coming first, and I've lost all my, confidence, and my self-love. I was completely unmotivated, and I was tired.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> relatable, I'm sure to whoever's listening to this right now.

Totally. The story of my life. In fact, I think yesterday I was driving, and I started screaming in the car. Like my son was in the car with me, <laugh>. And I, and I just started, It's like, I just need to scream. I don't even know why. So I did while driving; so not, I wanna hear more about what you do cause this is not healthy, but yes, go ahead. Well,.

It happens, and it's, it's super real life. And that's exactly what Trina and I talk about every single day of our lives now, uh, with, with many, many moms. And ultimately, just to go back to the story is, you know, my, my heart was racing. I didn't know what the heck was going on, and I, I just remembered or was reading a book at the time, and it was, I kept talking about being average, and it was like, do you wanna be average? Because average is just like everybody else. I was, I was really sick of kind of all like the weird quick fixes and making a lot of excuses, not fostering our relationship.

And I wanted to start living a healthier life. And so I went home; you remember that? I do.

<Laugh> <laugh>. She totally remembers this day,

Clearly, and I walked in the door, and I was like,

We gotta do something like.

Completely freaked out. And we looked for something for moms at that time, and there are a lot more resources even now than there were back then, but nothing that was all-encompassing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we talked a lot about it. We looked for something for moms, and we couldn't find one. So we, over some time, looked at each other like, Look, what if we take what we both know we're athletes, we're massage therapists, we've done a lot of self-development. We put a lot of money into that. And so we said, What if we learn a hell of a lot more and create a program for moms ourselves?

And so essentially that that's what we did. And we're so happy right now because it's, we've learned how to take moms and ourselves frankly from exhausted to energized unmotivated to being confident and determined and having no time to really create that time without the mom guilt that you mentioned earlier.

Yes. Cuz I have a lot of mom guilt, FYI. That I need. So, so wait, I have to ask Trina. Okay. So Tara comes into the house, has this like idea and, and, your reaction is like, Okay, we are gonna do this. Like, what, what was your reaction?

Well, I think that realistically, I mean, we have very different personalities, and Tara's just a little bit more out there, and I'm a little bit more intrinsic mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And as she came and rushed in the door, I'm holding these two babies, you know, <laugh> and she's like vomiting at the mouth of everything that was going on emotionally. And what she didn't know and didn't realize is that I was also dying inside but differently. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Cause I was the one at home with the kids all the.

Time. Yeah. With twins. Yeah.

Yeah. She walks in the door and doesn't wanna talk cuz she's been talking all day, and all I wanna do is talk to somebody besides a baby <laugh>, you know? And so it really made sense that we were both letting ourselves go in different areas and like she said, we have a lot of knowledge, but sometimes you forget that you're losing yourself because, you know, man, kids can be demanding. Right?

Oh my gosh.

Demanding little buggers is what I always say. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And I mean that in the loving, most loving way cuz I love our kids so much. Uh, but it's really, the truth is it's easy to be sucked everything out of you, and you're left with nothing, and it's like you're a void. So it made sense as she was going through it. Remember, we have these red chairs that we sit on leather chairs. We both sat down, and we just talked through it, and it was really, I was grateful that she opened up because it opened up communication between us, but now has allowed us to really dive in into just helping so many other people just get better lives and be happier.

Yeah. Okay. So you created this program, and a big part of your program is called the Daily Practice. Is that right?

It is.

All right, Tell me about that. Cuz I am in, just so you guys know, I do everything. Whenever I learn on these podcasts and talk to people, I do everything. So I will be, I'm gonna be taking notes, and I'm gonna be doing it. So I'm ready teach me. All right? Right.

I am a huge advocate of the Daily Practice because I do it every day. And this is Trina, by the way. All right. So the Daily Practice is, it's what we call our secret sauce to success. And it incorporates four power components. So the first one we called building You mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Now building you is how you gain clarity on the exact action steps you need to take to reach who you want to become. And we call that your 2.0 version. All right. And we'll go into this, we're gonna give you action steps for each of these four power components in a moment so that tonight you can start doing this, or tomorrow, whenever you're listening to this, you can start putting some action steps into these, um, power components.

Great. So it's.

The second power component number two is called Fueling You. And you learn how to keep nutrition simple without counting points or calories.

Oh, I love that. Yes. No calories. Awesome.

<Laugh>. Yeah. Mom, life is crazy. And so we really keep it really simple. Power component number three is training, training you how to get real results without hours in the gym. Cuz, let's face it, getting to the gym and being at the gym and coming home from the gym, it takes a lot of effort and time, and so we've been able to condense that and still get great results without having to do that. Power component number four is extending you. And you know what, as Tara talked about, how we have built this program extending you is actually something we recently added.

And it's maybe our favorite part of this because what happens is, well, first, lemme tell you what power component number four is. It is where you evaluate where you are today within your personal relationships. Then you create a plan to help you focus on strengthening and growth growing within those relationships. Because what happens is, as you focus on component number one, two, and three, what happens is you naturally grow, and you start to love yourself more. And when you are full inside, you have more to give others.

And so now, because you've spent that time, your relationships are going to benefit, and so you're going to extend your love to everybody around you. And so that's why we call it extending you.

Beautiful. Love this. Okay. Yeah. I'm so excited.

<Laugh>. So Tara can go into a little bit of, um, what you can do when each of these power components so that you can start doing the daily practice right away. I will tell you, um, that I live this, and one of the things I love about the daily practice before Tip gives you action steps is because it's become my daily habit. I know exactly what I'm gonna do when I wake up. So for me, an example of my daily practice is I get up, I go to the bathroom, I brush my teeth, I go, and immediately I meditate. I've created some time in my space, some space for me because I've learned that when I give to myself first again, I'm able to be a better mom, a better partner, a better business, uh, person.

I'm able to coach better. Like I allow that time for myself. So I always give to meditation and then I listen to some books. I will do a little bit of journaling, and then I will do some exercising. And we talk about this more deeply in our program on how to realistically create this time.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.

Uh, so the other thing about the daily practice I love is if you do this every single day, and then let's say you go on vacation, you go on a cruise for a week, right? Nobody's really overly doing the daily practice. I, I might dabble in it because I'm that person.

Mm-Hmm.

<Affirmative> come outta it. And how many times do you go on vacation and stuff, and you're like, Oh, I've just been like, crap. And you just continue to get like crap. Right? Well, the daily practice takes you from vacation mode into, okay, I'm getting back to it, and you know exactly what to do.

Right? You're not starting all over again.

Yes. Cause you already know, you're not like trying to figure it out again. It's like, no, the daily practice, I'm just gonna go back to the daily.

Practice. Perfect.

Tara's gonna do action steps for you, what to do so for building you and, and listen, what what what you need to know personally and what we tell ourselves every single day and what all your listeners need to know right this second is mom guilt is real. And it, it's, it's a real thing, and it's okay. What, as moms and women, we are amazing, and we are so great, and sometimes we just need that greatness literally just sucked out and pulled out of us. And this is the key. So in building, you are the first thing is to know, number one, you're great, and you just need to pull that greatness out of you.

So, how do we do that? And there's, there are multiple things to component number one, but I'm gonna give you just one action step in each one of these because that's what all you need to implement straight away.

So the first one is, um, everyone's heard of affirmations, but Trina and I have taken a little bit of a next step calling its declarations. Because what a declaration does is it's something that not only you say out loud, but it involves it involvement your body actually being involved in what you're doing. So we say this may sound weird, but go ahead and start doing daily declarations and some of those things. And I'm gonna tell you what they are in a second because this is literally the takeaway from this, from this episode is to go look in the mirror and you and everybody else around you may think you're crazy <laugh>, you could do this when nobody's around in the beginning.

But it is putting your hand on your heart and saying to yourself in the mirror things like, I am filled with energy, health, and vitality. I am confident in my abilities. I love, respect, and believe in myself and who I am. Uh, you could say things like, I am worth it. I am strong for so many people, this is a huge leap, and that's okay, but if you don't believe it, that's okay too.

Start keep saying it, and eventually, it feels.

Right. It does. And your subconscious starts to take over. So the more you say, I have this mom guilt, I don't have time, I don't have energy, I don't, I don't, I don't guess what, then you don't. That's true. Yeah. The more and more we're saying, I am, I am, I am. Even if these things are not happening in your daily life, right this moment, it will start to happen. Number one, building you. That's the action. Step number two simple fueling you. Now in our program, we talk about not having points, and not having calories.

What are the things you can eat? Give you more, you know, meal plans and food plans than you need snack ideas and all of that stuff. But then, the takeaway from this is so simple it's the best molecule on the planet, and it's called water drinking. Half your body weight, announces of water every day guaranteed to increase your energy. It's gonna get your systems going, and you are just gonna feel so much better. I, I'm floored, but it's because we've been doing what we've been doing for a long time. How many moms we talk to on a daily basis don't drink water?

I'm a huge water drinker. That is one thing I do. I started it years ago and just kept with it. But it's so true. Or if it's a day that, for some reason, I don't, you feel it, it's amazing how much water just gives you energy even.

And we've, we've had a lot of moms say, Wow, just this one little tip has changed so much. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah, you're gonna the bathroom a lot more. So caution.

There, <laugh>.

But it, Lisa, if you're, your listeners are listening right now, and they're going like, What do I need to do? Cause this is such an easy one, and a tip is to set your alarm. Either it's on your watch or your phone to remind yourself to drink some water. Even the first thing in the morning is trying to keep some water next to your bed. And when you get up, before you check your phone, before you go to the bathroom, before you do any of that stuff is, just starting consuming water. And it, it's gonna be such a, it's such a big part of this. And so component number two, fueling you.

And that's one little tidbit there. Component number three is, is training. You and Trina mentioned earlier if you have the time to go spend at the gym and drive to the gym and get all cute and put your makeup on into your hair, more power to you <laugh>.

But we know that we find that a lot of moms don't have that time and just don't have that ability to be able to be so flexible to go to a place. And so finding something that you could do at your home, in your neighborhood, the number one key to this and, and it's cliche, but true, is consistency. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so the more consistent we can be with doing something that we love to do, especially in the beginning, is people are starting out. So whether it's going for a simple walk, whether it's going for a jog, playing tennis, you know, swimming, doing something that you love to do, but being consistent about it and getting your body moving is absolutely key.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And I think the key that you're saying is love to do because I think a lot of times people are picking exercises that they think are good for them, but they hate them.

Yes. Yeah. Yes.

So they never wanna do them. So yeah. Just going for a walk or something you love to do. Yeah, I.

Love that. And especially for people who aren't, aren't doing anything right now, and you've gotta start somewhere. And to start, you know, by saying, I'm, I'm gonna run a marathon next week is unrealistic. And so making sure that things are very realistic and that they're, they're time-bound and that the goals are set to where you can meet them is, is so important. And then power component number four, once again, is probably our favorite at this point because all of those three build on each other to extending you. Trina said we kind of evaluate where you are in your personal relationships.

This is so important. The relationship with your kids, with your partner, with the ones that you love. And are you really spending that dedicated time with them where there are no electronics? Are you, you really, really listening? Are you really in tune with what's going on? And one thing that you could start doing, cuz Lisa, you said you're gonna start doing this stuff, so we're gonna hold you to it. Are you ready? I.

Am. Yeah.

Okay. This is a tough one, I promise. It's.

A tough one. I'm a little but go ahead.

Count these eight to 12 hugs every single day.

Okay. I could do that. I love hugs.

It is, helps lower stress, boosts your immune system. Wow. It's gonna support, uh, just your, your health, your heart health. For anyone who's dealing with depression, it is unbelievable cause of the chemical reaction that takes place, which I won't bore you with right now. But look, it's unbelievable. Um, we're a very huggy family, as you just mentioned. You are mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And when really start to go, do I do that? You don't; you don't really do that. You don't do eight to 12 hugs a day. So once again, the same thing with the water.

People think this is crazy. And I'll tell you; our moms have had ultra success just impair repairing some of their relationships by being, by giving hugs. And that is setting your alarm to go off every hour and a half throughout the day. And wherever you are, you go and give somebody that you love or care about a hug. And again, they may think you're crazy <laugh>, but man, it, it is unreal how this is going to benefit you so, so much.

Right. So making connections and also boosting just your overall mental health and well-being Yeah. And others that you're hugging.

Yes. Yeah. Yes. <laugh>.

Wow. Okay. I'm, I'm up for the challenge. I'm going to do this. In fact, I will put it on our Real Life Momz Facebook group. I'm gonna put; I'm gonna let everybody do the challenge with me. Challenge. I love it.

The hub challenge is eight to 12 a day. Well, I love it. Okay. So just looking at all this, um, it, it is doable, and I think I actually incorporate a lot of this now; I've worked on myself quite a bit. It's taken, I'm 50, so it's taken probably 50 years. And so I do a lot of this naturally I have to say, I'm like looking at the list, I'm like, okay, the food thing, the water will be easy. But the food thing, I definitely reach for lots of bad foods to fill myself up so I can keep going.

You know, in my depleted state, I'm like, okay, let me grab that cookie. Oh, look, there's a Starbucks there. And I even do it for my kids too. Like, Oh, you had a bad day; let's go bring in. You know, it's terrible. It's terrible. So that is, I'm just staring at number two. I got the water. But yeah, you speak a little bit more to like the.

Food Sure. And, what we'd love to offer your listeners and it's actually brand new. Um, and I didn't even have this planned. So it's <laugh> it's.

Great. Not this planned. Yeah.

Love this is perfect because we literally just, just launched this snack guide because we all love snacks. And snacks are a great, a great opportunity to kind of sneak those extra nutrients and things into your diet. And instead of reaching for what we all know, we would consider, and you can't see me right now, but with my quotes in the air as far as unhealthy, we've created a guide of things that are going to absolutely satisfy you that are going to be, you know, on the healthy spectrum. One thing we talk about in our v i P program, um, is called red, yellow, and green light foods.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> red, Red meaning look, stop. And we all know the stop foods. I probably don't even have to announce some of them, but you know, the, donuts and the ice cream, to name a few; as I joke all the time, we always run a red light every now and again. Right.

Cause the red light foods, you, you can eat, but it's like, it, it's really, really moderation, Right. It's very, a.

Little bit. Yes. And it's starting to categorize these things. And what we've found, and I mentioned earlier, the kids are only eight, and gosh, I seriously, since they could talk or almost communicate, it's mom, mom, mom are, are these green, yellow, or red light foods? And it's, it's never too late to start implementing these things in your family. Um, because it's something that makes such sense. And you know, the yellow light ones are the ones where it's, Look, I'm having maybe, um, I don't know, some crackers on the side of my hummus and vegetables, or we can get in some of the specifics in a second.

But it, it's those things where like, in moderation, they're yellow, they're packaged, but they're not full of, you know, sugar and high fructose corn syrup and all of those things that we really teach about. And then the green light foods go to town, fruit, vegetables, you know, good grains and, and, and there's really no limit. I mean, eventually, there's a limit cuz you can't eat seven watermelons, but you, you get the point, right?

Yeah, totally. I love that. I've heard this method somewhat somewhere before too. My son, when he was younger, was kind of struggling with some feeding stuff, and we did that. We actually made the cabinet. So like, one shelf was red, you know, one shelf was yellow, and then in the fridge obviously was whatever cuz it was usually fruits and vegetables. Yeah. Um, and it was great. And we did, you know, but everything, you know, fades. I, I didn't have the daily practice to get me back on when I fell off <laugh>.

So, um, but it just reminds me we did do that. And it's such a great way because you're not counting calories. It's a great way to teach kids. I love that so much.

So our snacks guide, I mean, I'll give you, just a couple, and then I'll be more than happy to share the link for anybody who wants it. But, um, we, we do some, some yogurt stuff, some trail mix and, and you know, all this stuff is like, Oh, I, I bought this trail mix, but it had x, y, and Z in it. So it talks in here about what's the best trail mix to, to get or to really make your own, um, hummus with a lot of different vegetables, avocados, obviously fruits, certain popcorns are great oatmeal.

Just, just to give people an idea of, of what what you can do and how to get creative. And so we've really lined this out. Um, we're huge fans,, of eggs and, you know, apples, peanut butter, all of these different things that, uh, in our opinion in our research is, is healthy for you. Unless there's some specific dietary need, it's really like non-controversial. It's, it's just, it's green light foods, and, um, this is really exciting, and we'd be more than happy to share it with you. 

We'd love that. We'd love that.

And Lisa, you mentioned, I mean you're, you're on an awesome, awesome path. Personally, what we've seen is, you know, you lose sight of a lot of people in a lot of listeners who are starting really from the ground up and don't know which way to go. And so Trina and our's mission is to hopefully inspire people to just start taking that first step. So mm-hmm. <affirmative> one of those four things that we mentioned earlier, going into the snacks guide and really implementing the stuff versus just digesting more information is our goal to really give you things to take action on.

Yes.

Yes, yes. I love that. And now with the first step, which was the build you right. And, this affirmation and you talked about like, you get up, you meditate, you journal, I do that too, uh, actually, which is great. So I'm feeling really good about myself right now. Yeah.

You should be doing like major, you know, pats on the back.

I should, but here's what I do. Cuz I still have that guilt that we mention <laugh>. You know, all of a sudden I'm, I get up early, I'm an early bird. Like I get up at, you know, 5 at least. Yes, I do. And then I plan my day. I have; I meditate. I try to get some quiet time, but then guilt comes in because, you know, like, my husband might wake up early now he decides to wake up early, or I gotta make that breakfast or lunch for my kids so that they have something and they don't just grab snacks.

And those things start to kind of creep into my other self-time. That would've been more positive.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, um, this is about planning, and um, one of the things we do in our VIP is we talk about weekly planning, and we talk about daily planning. So we have the daily practice, but then we, we widen that to the week and it's planning where the snacks Lisa are already done.

Oh, the snacks are done.

They're.

Done. I love that.

You wake up in the morning, and you don't have to do the snacks for your kids. You already know that it's Tuesday, and here are my snacks Wednesday, here are the snacks. Um, I'm big, I love making these salads that can stay for a couple of days. And so I find foods like that that I can have that are easy to grab, but I make sure that that hour or whatever, how much time you're taking in the morning, number one is that you communicate it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> you communicate to your husband, to your kids. This is my time. Yes. Because I will make time for you throughout the day in other ways.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and planning helps you with that guilt. You already know that I have my meal, my snacks planned. I know what they're, they're having; having this takes time, This takes effort, and it does take dedication, but I promise that it will give you so much less mom guilt because you're meeting your needs and your family's needs.

Oh, I, I'm loving it. So wait, you make your lunches, and are you doing this at night or are you actually doing it for the week?

Well, you can do it a different way. So I'm a big person that when you get their groceries, which we, we talk about getting groceries, by the way, we have our groceries delivered because it saves us time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, moms say they don't have time. I'm like, have your groceries delivered. It will save you time, and it'll save you money cuz you're not gonna do impulse buys. <laugh>. Yes.

No, I do that too. I love delivery. Best thing I all.

Right. Yeah. So have 'em delivered when, you know, the moment they come that you can put stuff away, but you leave the stuff out that you need to chop and slop. Right. So I will leave out my stuff for; we have this coleslaw, it's fantastic. I can send you the recipe if you want, but it's, um, it's Apple site or vinegar-based. It's super healthy. It's so good. It will keep for about three to four days. And the kids love it. Kids love it. We throw it on other salads. Like there are so many things you can do with it; you can throw it on tacos. I know that's like a staple for the week, and I know it's a great way to get a lot of help in easily.

But I will cut it up right there, then I'll take celery and I'll chop it up into sticks, and I'll put it in another container.

The kids can grab that and go, You have carrots, you cut 'em up, and now you're starting to create this. Now with the fresh stuff, I would say do it maybe twice a week if you can mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, cause it does obviously not stay as fresh, fresh as long. But you know, you can grill chicken on the grill or in the house during the winter and have that out, for the week. You can have it all cooked up. You can have rice that is set out for, for the week and um, or you can, you know, change it up a little bit. Like we'll make rice and just have rice with eggs.

And then maybe the next day we're using rice, and we'll do more of a Mexican bowl where it has peppers and meats in it. And now we have like a Mexican bowl.

Okay. You're getting me excited. This is great. This is really; I feel like yes,

This is where I get passionate. We could go on and on and on.

About, I know.

<Laugh> about creating time and space for yourself. And that's the value of, the program we help you do that, and we help you be accountable to it as well. Yeah.

That is so great. Yes. So, okay. So you're, you're talking about the program. Sounds like you also have a VIP part as well. So how do listeners actually find you? I'm.

Gonna send you over the snacks, um, url. But please, uh, if, if you guys are listening and you're interested in learning more about power mom it's very simple. It's powermom.co.com. So power mom.co/info. And everything is really there. You can get in touch with us to ask questions. There's a training on there. Um, it gets you to any free, you know, resources and guides that we have. So that is a, great, great space to go.

Awesome. That's awesome. Now, you mentioned that you're starting a book as well, and I'm also thinking you should put some recipes in this book that you're starting. Cause that that that sounds great. <laugh>,.

I might have to put in, my coleslaw. Yeah,

Absolutely. Yes, you do. You do. Yeah, that would be great as a bonus. So yeah, tell us a little bit about this book that you're starting to write.

You know, we're super, super excited about the book because it is a way for us to just now extend what we have out to a lot of moms. And it really just walks through a lot of what we do in our program and gives a lot of our best tips and best ways of doing things. Um, and so we are in the midst of doing this book. We are about to get our, a new editor, uh, or get an editor; I guess I should say. And, uh, we're hoping to, within the next couple of months, be able to have the book finish and be doing a launch.

And we would love to get that into the hands of your listeners.

That would be great. And so what, what do you want parents to know? What message do you wanna get across to?

Them? Parenting is really hard. Being a mom is an ultra, ultra-difficult. It is probably one of the most cherished things that you can absolutely do on the planet. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But I think the message is you're still, uh, an individual, and you're still here to serve your purpose and to find what it is that makes you thrive, that makes you happy. And you can be the best, um, the best mom, the best partner out there. But if you're not serving yourself, you're doing a disservice.

Finding that self-love, really falling in love with who you are, and being able to give the best out there would be, would be our advice. And I think that's really, really difficult, but it's absolutely achievable, and we see it time and time again, um, once people start to really implement these things.

Oh, I love that. Yes. We need to; we need to take care of ourselves because it's, we can't take care of other people if we haven't taken care of ourselves.

Right.

Is there anything else that you really want our listeners to start doing today? We got drinking water and hugging everybody, <laugh> and picking an exercise that we love, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and affirmations. Yes.

Yes. Consistency would be the key. So doing those things one time is, is not going to, um, it's not gonna help just being completely, you know, transparent and honest. It's, it's not, there's a lot of different things out there, but I would say we talk to moms who literally say, I need this shift. I need this transformation. I am really ready. And if you're listening to this and you are really, really ready and you're just saying, Gosh, I just need that tip over the edge is starting to do those things and starting to do them.

Absolutely. Consistency. Uh, the last thing I'll say about that, Lisa, is that, uh, we call it the big rocks, the non-negotiables, the things, no matter what is happening, they're getting done. They're getting done. And other things can, you know, get put on the back burner, but not.

Yourself. And going back to consistency, I feel like, you know, you heard I always hear 21 days, right? It takes 21 days to, to make a habit. Is that true? Is.

Oh my gosh, I love this. I love this. There's another place for people to go too. I just didn't wanna flood. The where to go is. But um, we have a free Facebook group online called Power Mom Nation. Great, great fun, inspiring place. And we, um, do consistent value and videos in there almost on a daily basis. And one, I recently did take this for what it's worth, but the research I've done is that's a load of crap. Oh.

Wow. Okay. That's good to know.

Yeah. And here's why. Because consistency and habits are a lifetime formation, and as Trina said, you may, you may go on a vacation, you may do something that's out of the norm, but really it's just this consistency over time. We talk about <laugh> brushing your teeth and so do you brush your teeth when you want to, or do you brush your teeth twice a day because you just do it and it's a habit? And I want you to think about that. Like, you didn't brush your teeth for 21 days, and they go, Look, oh no, I just brushed my teeth. Right? It's like, no, it's, it's doing this stuff over and over and over and over and over again, and it might break, and then you go right back to it.

Which is why we have the daily practice checklist because it just keeps you on track. So no, I would almost debate anybody to say it's seven, it's 10, it's 21. I've heard up to 80 days.

<Laugh>.

This is, this is truly about a lifestyle. And to tell yourself, this is just what I do. This is just what we do. This is how we live, and this is what we do.

Right. And non-negotiable. Those are non-negotiable. So what has been your favorite parenting resource?

Slightly controversial. I will say. However, we, uh, have twins. <laugh> Baby Wise was our absolute favorite book, um, hands down. And um, I would say it really, really helped us. We have a huge, huge important part. We didn't even touch on sleep. Yeah. Which is, I mean, Trina can talk to you on days on end and the amount of classes and, and money and research she's dumped into sleep, but mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, it is, it's so important. And so that was our favorite resource because it really helped us get on track.

We were able to make the decisions that we wanted to around, uh, around that resource, but that was, that was our favorite. Yeah. You know what, that was actually, um, a surprise to us cuz I don't think if we had just had, you know, one child if we would've done sleep training, but if you want to sleep with twins, you or more <laugh>, you have to, you have to sleep train.

And I, I'll tell you what, it was a lot of work, um, for us, but it was highly beneficial later on in life. I know people that are like, my kid won't sleep, doesn't sleep through the night. And um, obviously it took some time and effort to have that happen, but eventually, our kids now are 10 hours easy and have been for, for years. But baby Wise was probably one of the biggest helpers of that. Um, and you know what, it's one of those books for me that I'm like, you take what you value and what makes sense to you and, um, what it, what doesn't, It's fine.

You don't have to use it. Um, but for us it was, that was one of our big.

Things. Yeah. I mean, sleep is so important, and I think everyone can relate to that. And um, for however, we can get our kids to sleep, so you can sleep, that's a bonus, right? Yeah. I mean, you need to sleep. So sleep is, you mentioned sleep is part of taking care of yourself. Does it fall under one of these steps?

Yeah, so, um, for us, we, we have it under, um, the training you, um, because when you sleep better, you have more energy and you're gonna be able to get, you know, better workouts in, um, you're gonna be able to, to be better because I mean, nobody likes, I can tell if I've gone off like a half hour to an hour, um, which does happen from time to time. And, uh, so there's a lot of tips that we share within our VIP program, and I could, of course, we could probably do a whole episode on, there are so many things that people can do to help their sleep.

Um, you know, from, I have a hard time falling asleep, or I get this often, and I have a hard time falling asleep, but I don't stay asleep, Right? We wake up, and we're, we're stressed, our mind starts going, and we're all human.

That happens to all of us. But there are certain things you can do to help shorten that amount of time or to get to the point where you're sleeping all the way through the night. And it depends on a lot of things that you're doing before you go to bed, what your, your atmosphere is like, um, and what you do with your brain to download. So there's a lot we could go into with that, but it's really, really important, and it's such a great way to help improve your health and how you feel. Um, man, people who notice, like, wow, you're not as cranky. <laugh>, I slept, I slept my nine hours, my eight to nine hours. So yeah.

I, I have a question about sleep, though. Like, so sleep versus exercise, both what it, but what if, what if you just could only do one? Is there, is there, uh,.

Well, it's hard to say because I know that exercises exercise helps with inducing sleep.

So that's what I say both. I'm not saying both because you need to choose; it's because one helps with the other, and the other helps with the other. It's cyclical. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So when you exercise, you sleep better. When you sleep better, you're able to exercise; you have more energy. And so it goes hand in hand, really. Um, I would choose sleep over exercise if you're like, okay, tonight, what do I do? Um, but I would say, get to the point where you're doing both of those cuz it's really important. And those that fit into the non-negotiables, like those, are the big rocks. Mm-hmm.

<Affirmative> at sleep and working out or exercise, whatever you wanna call it, is the big rock. And so really when Trina says both those are non-negotiable, like both of those should be happening. And when I say like, we're not robots <laugh>

We're moms, but we're on like a 90, 95 plus point apart of the time that that should be happening with no debate. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And we have that as the daily practice on what you do day to day is we look at your exercise, we look at your sleep. So those are.

Two. So you help parents figure out how to put that into their day-to-day if they feel like they don't have time.

And listen, everyone's different. And that's why it's not cookie-cutter. You can't say well, go to bed at x time and wake up at x time. We work with a lot of teachers, a lot of nurses, a lot of doctors, a lot of folks who are, you know, running different hours and shifts, and uh, their partner or husband may be on a different shift. And so it's, it's really understanding all about your particular situation, your life, and then how do we fit those big rocks, those non-negotiables into where it makes sense and that it's something that you're not just putting down on paper cuz it looks good but is something that you can truly say, I'm plugging into this system no matter what.

Well, okay, so I think, I think we need to create a Facebook challenge, Okay? For a Real Life Momz Facebook challenge. Now it doesn't have to be 21 days because that doesn't matter, right? Pick your favorite number. Pick your favorite number. My favorite numbers is like,.

Don't say one 18 challenge.

So, ok. So it's an 18-day challenge, and we are going to have a few non-negotiables, right? One is we're gonna get our sleep right. Two, we're gonna drink our water. Three, we're gonna pick something we love to do that's equal to exercise.

The exercise. This is difficult for some people, and I laugh because I used to say I'm never exercising in the morning. And guess when I exercise.

<Laugh> in the morning.

Because how many times have you heard? I'll do it later; I'll do it later, I'll do it after work, I'll do it tonight, I'll do it when the kids go to sleep, and it never ever gets done. And then it goes, I'll just start tomorrow. I'll just start Monday; I'll start Sunday, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we, every day long, every single week, this is exactly the same thing that we hear what we're sharing with you mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So we say, once again, it's part of, what we call your weekly game plan. Planning that in 30 minutes.

30 minutes,.

Doable. Doable. Okay. That is our challenge. I am going to post it on our Facebook group so people can join in. Awesome. And we can cheer each other on.

Yeah. Yeah. And uh, if you want to, I'd love to join your guys' Facebook group and just have some fun and give some tips and help.

With that. Oh, that would be wonderful. I love it too. Okay. I get it's non-negotiable. <laugh>. All right. Well, thank you for coming on, and just thank you for all you're doing for moms to help them prioritize themselves and their health and their well-being so that they are parenting from a much better place.

Yeah. Thank you. And can I add one more thing, Lisa?

Of course. Yes.

All right. So this is, probably the most important part of extending you as you go through that, and you're like, Moms are parenting from a better place. Guess what? They're also doing? They're leading by example, and they're going to change their children's lives forever in a very powerful way. And that's why we love the extending you. It's, it goes so far beyond just who you are as a mom and how you treat your kids every day because they are going to be watching you, and their lives will be different, and that will continue to happen.

Grow. That's perfect. I'm glad you added that. Ah, thank you guys so much for coming on. I'm getting; I'm gonna get ramped up for this challenge.

Thank you for having Lisa.

Thank you for listening to this episode. Tara and Tinana shared so many great tips to help moms prioritize their own health and well-being. Check out the Power Mom website for more tools and resources@powermom.co. And click on that free snack guide link in our show notes. Now come grab your friends and join us for our 18-day daily practice challenge on our Real Life Momz Facebook group. From November 1st to the 18th, where we're gonna put into practice the techniques that were discussed in this episode; Change starts with the first step.

So let's take that step together.