Nikki Cheak (00:02.176)
If you keep doing what you've always done, you're going to keep getting what you've always gotten. And for this past month, I had to face the truth in my own life. And I wanted to record this episode today because I wanted to kind of give you a peek behind the scenes and tell you what it looked like and what it actually gave me the fire for with what's next. So this past month, starting really in August, it was
I was really just trying to soak up the last little bit of summer before the kids went back to school. And my kids are 15 and 13 and 11. We had a birthday in there. We've had, you know, a sleepaway camp in there. And there were so many things that were going on. And I was running back and forth to the high school multiple times a day because all my kids had different camps up there. And it felt like I was just running around with the chicken.
Like a chicken with my head come off and I was in survival mode and I was definitely not in a place for, you know, where I could, I was, I was not taking care of myself. Like I share with all of you. So the pause in the podcast really wasn't planned. It was honestly just life piling on. was something that was eating away at me because I honestly love my podcast. I love sharing so many things with you and I have so much.
that I'm excited for and so many things coming down the pipe. But I recognized that maybe August was a good time for me to take a step back. unfortunately, I didn't share that much with you. And so I chose to hit pause on the podcast because I also started something new with my YouTube channel and I really started leaning into YouTube. And if you followed me for a while, you
likely noticed that maybe on Instagram, I haven't been posting as much and that's been intentional. And when I started this business journey, I never loved being super present on social because it, what ends up happening is that you end up doing the same thing that you do as a mom in general, right? You start comparing yourself to other business owners. You start comparing yourself to, you know, where, why am I not where I want to be all of these things, right?
Nikki Cheak (02:21.766)
And you start to say the things, same things that if you are in this, you know, weight loss process and this hormone process in all of these things, you're like, I should have this figured out by now. Right. I, why does this keep happening? Why do I keep going back to square one? Right. And you want to start to like take that power back for yourself. And so that's what I did. I took a pause from my podcast, not because I.
didn't want to show up for all of you, but because I was trying to figure out where I wanted to prioritize my time. And I needed to also spend that time at taking care of myself with, you know, with my family and spend the time getting my kids back into school. And so I got my, my kids are back in school now and I feel like, you know, we're about three weeks in and I finally feel like I'm hitting my rhythm of where I want to be. And
There were definitely some sanity savers that I had during this month where I was really focused on just taking care of myself, right? Taking care of the things that I needed to do for me so that I could show up as the best version for all of you. And the first thing that really saved me during this time is tracking my macros. And I've talked about this before. Macros, a couple years ago, I was like, yeah.
I don't know. You don't need to track your macros. But what I've learned is that if you don't track your macros, you're really just eating blindly. And if you're eating blindly, then you don't know if you're giving yourself the right fuel to go through your day, to have the energy you need to burn fat. Right. And for me, not having that education a couple of years ago to now is a complete game changer. And so that is a
That is a place, it's something that is kind of a non-negotiable for me, really understanding, like dialing in what I need for my goals and for my life. And I'm so excited because I'm finishing my advanced macro certification as we speak. And I'm excited to bring all of my knowledge to all of you because when you learn to track macros and understand it from a place where you are fueling your body and you're not coming from a place of a diet,
Nikki Cheak (04:44.246)
then it is a complete game changer because you're understanding what you need to do for yourself. And so that was a big sanity saver for me. Moving every day and walking daily non-negotiable, that was also a big sanity saver. I was making walks a priority. If I couldn't get my walk in early in the morning, like I typically do, then I was taking three to four, 10 to 20 minute walks in the afternoon and or throughout the day.
Right. They didn't have to necessarily be one long walk during the day because sometimes I don't have time for that. And so moving every day on purpose and lifting, lifting and doing strength training has been huge for me. have never loved cardio. I'm just going to say it because I don't love cardio, but I do love lifting weights and I love like days. I could work out on my legs every day if I could, but I know that's also not good either. And so.
really focusing on intentional movement versus movement for the sake of movement, right? And I've done several YouTube videos now on walking and my weighted vest and just why those two things have really been so huge in my life over the past several months. The other thing that, there's a couple of products too, that have just really helped me and
been sanity savers and one of those has been just ingredients. And if you've been around my world long enough, you know that I am a massive fan of what Carolyn Call is doing with just ingredients. And she has really taken all of her knowledge around food and ingredients and brought it to life in such a great way with her protein powders, her electrolytes, her supplements, and it's all real food.
and there's no fillers. And so when I look at, you know, the supplements that I take and the protein that I buy and the electrolytes that I use, all of it's really, really good ingredients. And I think that has definitely helped because had I been putting things into my body that maybe weren't such high quality, I think I would have felt it. The other thing is my weighted vest. I have been wearing my weighted vest every single day since
Nikki Cheak (07:07.798)
I got it in January and I cannot tell you what a game changer it was. I got a 12 pound vest in January and over the summer I was like, I'm, I, this is too late now. I need a 20 pound vest. And so I bought a 20 pound vest. And when I first got it, I was like, what am I doing? This is a lot, but I decided, I was like, you know what? I'm going to keep going. I love it now. And I'm like, Ooh, I think maybe I might need a 30 pound. but I'm going to keep with my 20 pounds for awhile.
So all of that to say, little things and little wins add up because when I first started with my weighted vest at 12 pounds, I was like, man, this is heavy, but now 20 pounds feels light. So it doesn't have to take forever, but it has to be consistent. And another thing that has really kind of just helped me is I definitely love my coffee and I will never tell anyone that they can't have coffee, but I love having coffee with my...
protein, a scoop of protein. My favorite right now is my coffee with a scoop of, with a tablespoon of real pumpkin, some pumpkin pie spice and a scoop of the Just Ingredients French vanilla protein. Oh, it is like pumpkin pie in a cup for me. And I absolutely love it, even though it's going to be like in the nineties in St. Louis for the next couple of weeks. But my other sanity saver has been mud water. And that has given me, if I
and wanting a little bit of caffeine or wanting something warm in the afternoon. Mud water is a functional beverage that doesn't have like has half the amount of caffeine, if not even less, and has functional like mushrooms in it, adaptogens so that you're still getting the energy, but there's no crash, no jitters, and it still tastes really good. I will drop my link for just ingredients and mud water in the show notes just in case you are curious and want to check them out. But at the end of the day,
I want to share this. The biggest lesson that I learned over this last month is that pressing pause isn't a failure. It's a strategy because you can't keep doing the same things that you're always done and expect a different outcome. It's just never going to happen. If you're always doing the same things, then you're always going to get the same thing. And sometimes the most powerful thing that you can do is to stop and listen, listen to your body, listen to your mind and reset.
Nikki Cheak (09:31.63)
so that you can come back even stronger. And so I wanna share a little bit about what's coming next because I am so excited about all the things that are coming and all of the things that I have in my heart and that I wanna share with all of you. And the first one is my YouTube channel. I mentioned it earlier, but I am committing to really leaning into YouTube.
I won't be present as much on Instagram anymore. It just doesn't feel aligned with me and who I am. And that's okay. Everybody's different. my YouTube channel will be a lot like my podcast. You're gonna hear, I'm gonna go in deep on a lot of different topics for you. And so if there's ever anything that you wanna hear about, or you want me to make a video on, let me know because I am always wanting to make sure that I am coming from a place of service for you. And so,
definitely check out my YouTube video, YouTube channel. It is at Nikki cheek wellness. that's my, my channel name. So go ahead and definitely check that out. And if you ever have questions or want some videos, let me know, but it's going to be a lot of hormone smart tips that you can use in real life, focusing on fuel with nutrition and strength with movement and definitely focusing on strategy. Those are what I call my core three that I will never
not talk about. And then I also have, if you're listening to this in real time, my midlife fat loss at kickstart is going to launch on September 22nd. And it is going to be a 21 day reset. And I don't, use the word reset lightly and I'm still not a hundred percent sure on the, on the name of the program, but it's going to be for midlife moms who are tired of spinning their wheels and ready to really get momentum on the goals that they want and whether that's
fat loss, weight loss, or just really feeling confident in their body again, or feeling like they can trust themselves again. That is what this program is gonna be meant to do. And if you are interested in something like that, I will put the priority list link in the show notes, but that is going to open only to my priority list. And my goal with that, this first round, is to get some feedback. And so it is going to be half the cost of what it is going to be normally.
Nikki Cheak (11:56.174)
and am just looking for feedback to continue to make it better. And then I also have a couple more projects in the works that I really can't wait to share soon, but I'll just drop a little teaser that one of them is going to be a 12 week program that is going to get into all the nitty-gritty to really help you make massive changes in your life. So if you have been in your own version of my August and you had chaos and all of the back and forth,
the exhaustion that makes you just really wonder if you were ever going to feel like yourself again. I want you to hear me. It is, it's not always you, right? It's sometimes just where we are in our lives. And I want you to know that I am always here and I am always here to help you and serve you and let you know that you're not alone in all of this. So I would love for you to jump on the priority list for midlife fat loss kickstart.
The doors are opening on 20 September 22nd. If you want to be the first to know when those doors open, definitely jump on that priority list. And if this episode has helped you or made you think anymore, I would love it if you could leave a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify because it helps more women find the show. And I am definitely going to be sharing so much more about my personal journey and helping you along the way in this crazy.
midlife craziness of raising kids and being in a health and wellness space. So I am so excited to continue to share all of this with you and until next time, stay well and remember you can't, you can't do what you've always done if you want to get different results.
