Friday Q&A with Tara Dixon

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0:44Plus, it's covered by most major insurances. Getting started is easy. You can book your first visit with a clinician right away. Midlife needs Midi. Visit joinmidi.com to book your first visit today. That's joinmidi.com. Insurance coverage varies. Check with your plan for coverage. Hello and welcome to Made by Mamas, the podcast. I'm Zoe Hardman. And I'm Georgia Dayton. And this is your parenting safe space where no conversation is off limits. With five kids between G and I, we have seen a lot.

1:15Georgia Dayton: We really have. Each week, we'll be joined by some famous faces and experts, and we'll chat about the brands and products that have saved us along the way. In short, we're the parenting podcast for you. Before we get started, hit subscribe or follow so you're the first to know when each episode lands. And they're on Tuesdays and Fridays. And it really helps if you leave a rating and a review. You can also find us on Instagram. We're on at Made by Mummies. But for now, George, should we get into it? Hello and welcome to Friday's episode of the podcast. Another fantastic Q &A lined up for you today.

1:47We are so excited because these Q &As, we sometimes do them remotely, but obviously now we've got our new home, we actually get to sit down with these amazing people answering all of your questions. Today's guest, an online coach, personal trainer. She is the founder of TDC. You may know her online as Mummy Juggler. It's Tara Dixon.

2:08Fresh from Ibiza. I am fresh back from Ibiza. I have a very yin and yang personality. But thank you so much for having me today, guys.

2:16Georgia Dayton: Excited to be here. It's really great to have you on. Now, Zoe obviously gave you a great intro there. But just for anyone who doesn't know you, doesn't follow you on Instagram, Just give us a little insight into what you do, why you started your online coaching. Gosh, I'll give you my full biography. So hello, I am Tara Dixon. Like you said, I'm an online health and fitness content creator and have my own business, which is online coaching. I have an interesting background in the sense that I used to be an actor in my 20s, which led to me having a terrible relationship with food. So I yo-yo dieted.

2:49I did every diet you can kind of think of. Atkins. Cabbage soup was my... Oh, awful.

2:56Georgia Dayton: The one that makes me laugh is the Kellogg's diet. Do you remember that? I actually did an advert for them. Did you? I was a Kellogg's girl, yeah. And you just had Kellogg's for breakfast, lunch, and then a normal dinner. And then a dinner. And it's a red swimsuit and it all looked so glam. And now you think about it, you're like, basically just cereal diet. Starving yourself. just not having any nutrition yeah times have changed kind of um and then I yeah my goal was always to shrink myself I'm five foot ten and I just I never felt good enough I think the acting world I was too big I also worked as a plus size model but I was slightly too small and I just my mind was like I don't know what size I'm meant to be and then I had my kids when I was 30 um I've got two kids my oldest has autism as well so there's lots going on there and then I've got a little girl as well um and I basically I had my kids and my whole mindset changed and I left the acting world and the modeling world and I was like oh my god what do I want to do and I basically learned how to fuel my body correctly and was driven by health and fitness which I never had been before it was always what I look like and how small can I be and I think when you go into the realms of um how how good can I feel and still have balance I have you know I love a glass of wine I love socializing so I still want to live my life but I am now just driven by you know what's my next challenge or what can I do you know to improve my health and fitness which then led me to train as a personal trainer and a coach which has now led me to the route of sharing on Instagram and launching my business.

4:36So yeah. I love that word balance. Yeah. It's the, it's, I think, if I may say so boldly, I think it's the word that many of us are searching for in life, the feeling of balance that actually it's okay for us to, like you say, have a glass of wine if we want to, or, you know, go to bed at 8 p.m. every night if we want to, but actually we can stay up in a nightclub and go dancing, but we can also be an amazing present mother to our children. And actually none of it is bad. all of it is essentially making up who we are as people but also hopefully bringing us that sense of fulfillment and happiness and and you know you shouldn't be shamed if you want to go and spend all night in a nightclub or you shouldn't be shamed if you only want to go to bed at 8 p.m but it's what your balance looks like for you you know 100 i was just about to say that i think balance is really different for different people and you know for some people alcohol having a balance that's not an option because they might have you know alcoholism or whatever it is and people might need to cut it out for other people they can have that healthy relationship so when I'm talking to my clients or friends you know everybody's different because what what works for them might not work for somebody else and within that as well there's so much noise around especially as a mom like oh my goodness I had a friend that was just out in Marbella and got really shamed for it and um well because she was on holiday yeah without her without her family or I'll get comments about that you know I've just been in Ibiza for four days oh my god yeah I last time I went to Ibiza I was shamed for it and I'm like no you can you can be a good mum and go and have a weekend with the girls and enjoy yourself and have that ballet.

6:09Why do you have to even say that? I know no I know but I do worry about it I and I'm because of you know what I do for work I worry that I'll be judged for it I've worked really hard on not worrying about it but still there's still that voice in your head isn't it? Nobody listening to this podcast will shame you for that.

6:25Georgia Dayton: Yeah no that's what I was just gonna say I think even when people say to you oh did you not feel guilty when you went there sometimes you say that to you no no it's fine with you because you know me that's different you know like if it's like in a friendly way among a friendship group you can be like oh god I feel so guilty when I do that do you not feel like that but when it's online I just think it's sort of times a million aggressive not because you can't hear the voice behind it exactly you can literally read it however you want or not want to but you know you'll read it in a way which you go oh I could be meaning that in not a nice way how is the sort of online coaching space and wellness and fitness space what is that like generally because you've mentioned a bit of you know judgment and shaming but generally is it is it a safe nice kind space to be I feel like I try to bring a kindness and warmth and no judgment like zone in my world um if anybody is negative I just am like no block because though I don't get loads of it to be honest and I think what I promote is balance and I think that's a journey you go on I don't think it happens overnight so I I tell that story a lot and share my story I know it exists out there um that there's a lot of negativity and um there's so much noise out there isn't there I mean with everything that's you know going on in the world today around weight loss yeah so much noise um but I try to stay in my lane in what I believe in and what I think will help others other than that I I almost put my blinkers on because you can't can you know if you absorbed everything that people were you know saying to you every day or commenting or what about this that and the other you'd go a bit stir crazy do you know what I think that is one of the things that I think people still feel guilty for wanting and especially I think mums admitting that they want to lose weight like I think it's like a swear word like it's like it's all it's an awful thing to say but so many people feel it and feel like they can't say it and I think it's because of the extremes right because you know extreme weight loss or weight loss in the wrong way there's we hear so much of that and why we shouldn't want to lose weight and it's not all about that we know that but so many people just think well no because I know I'm happier when I'm this or I feel better when I'm this or I want to you just feel like you can't we want to do it in a safe way though and I think like you said George there is so much noise around it and we're seeing you know pictures of of people you know on on the pen and it's and it's it's a difficult subject to discuss because potentially it's leading to unhealthy habits around maybe listen hey I don't know around food and how we lose weight yeah I went onto your page and the first thing that I saw was how you lost weight over 18 months I think it was I was in a fat loss phase for about a year but very slowly I never lost more than half a pound to a pound and a half a week and was that a very conscious decision to do it like that you just know that's the way that works you know what happened and it all ties in because I think weight loss is a is a difficult subject yeah it triggers was a lot of people and it's you know this is because we grew up you know with all these ridiculous diets and you know we grew up seeing whatever in the magazines and that's what our drive was was to be skinny um and for me there was pressure from the acting industry and the modeling industry um the second I did it for myself I was like what do you want to do without all this noise around you what what do you want to focus on um and it was a conscious decision I I actually had a coach myself um and I started losing weight but I started building lean muscle at the same time which then made me feel amazing which my mental health was like I had a really bad post-annual depression with my first boy and it kind of went on I don't I actually don't think I was totally felt took back to myself until my younger girl was four and my older boy was six and it was I believe to do with my diet and exercise but it was a decision and it but when I did it correctly and when it came from me because I wanted to do it it was totally different so when someone comes to me now and says I want to lose weight and obviously we feel shamed for saying that because we've also gone through a movement which is amazing I'm so pleased we have you know about body like confidence and acceptance but if someone says I want to lose weight but I feel you know I feel funny about that we talk it through and I love talking about that subject because I've been through both worlds when I first started my Instagram it was a body positivity page um and we talk it through because actually when people say they want to lose weight what what they actually mean is I want to feel better I want to have more confident I want to start having sex again like people you know a lot of it comes down to how sexual you feel because you've been a mom and you've lost well not everyone but I felt for a long time like oh my god don't touch me I feel disgusting yeah um and they want to get all of that back and that's really what they mean um and that is all tied in I think with exercise how you're feeling yourself how you show up for yourself so yeah it's interesting we've got loads of questions in sorry I keep ruffling all the things I'm passionate about um okay this is a really good place to start actually this is from Anna how to get motivated in the first place I want to be better for the kids but I'm just exhausted oh and I so know that feeling motivation is a really really difficult one because you know like the short answer is it's not going to turn up until you until you like um put action in place um so I would go small steps forward even if it's just that you're going out for a 10 minute walk every day any movement is going to get that kind of serotonin going get you feeling good and then once you get that little spark of like I'm feeling better add on something else okay I've done my walks I'm going to add on a little hit class once a week just a YouTube video anything um and then just start layering it up and the motivation then when you start feeling good that will just snowball and you'll you'll you know you'll never want to stop because you'll think I just I don't want to go back to how I felt but I get it it is exhausting and really there's no magic cure to that because when your kids aren't sleeping or you're just exhausted my god it's so hard yeah survival mode isn't it rather than really trying to top your own cup up cup up you're just trying to get through the day yeah but it doesn't have to be everything you can just do little small snippets here and there yeah because i think that's the thing isn't it for so many people it feels like it has to be everything you know you have to like wake up on monday morning and suddenly be like right i go to the gym every day and i don't you know i only eat this this miss whereas like you say it's like the small things that yeah yeah it feels less of a mountain to fly.

13:21And you see people doing it online as well and you think, oh god, I've got to be up at 5am be journaling, do like whatever. No, just little enough for what you can do. I quite like the new movement around you know, that actually the 5am stuff that everyone's been shoving down our throats isn't necessarily now for everybody. And I quite like seeing Instagram videos going like, have a fucking break love. Like if you want to sleep in, if you can till 6.30 or 6.45, and by the way that's a lie in for me, I'm like I'm taking it now. I prioritise sleep over any 5am start. And I am actually a believer in that.

13:55I'm like, if you can get more sleep, that's better for you.

13:58Georgia Dayton: You feel better. People probably tell me off the same as, but I'm not a big believer in the early, early starts. Yeah. I wake up early, not 5am. 6am. 6am. Naturally, I wake up at that time. But I don't use it for exercise. I use it to sit and drink a cup of tea in silence. That's what I use it for. That's okay. That's your self-care. It is. It genuinely is. And if I don't start my morning like that, I feel ratty and horrible. So it does, you know, it's even just like a small window of just. Yes, love that. We'll be right back after this short break.

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16:35Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? Can you explain a bit more around cycle stages affecting training, energy and strength? Yeah, I'm not great at science, but I will go into the basics for you. OK, so effectively, everyone can feel quite different. But what you should what should happen during a cycle, if you have a regular cycle, is you have your period where you shouldn't be lifting heavy. You should be kind of some people don't train during their period. um i do carry on training but i know i'm not gonna like you know run my fastest lift the heaviest weights um as you come off your period you get a surge in hormones which is when you should feel nice and energized you should be going for those pbs in the gym like you know right up until you're ovulating and then once you're ovulating you're going into that lead up into your period where you can wind things down again exactly the same with weight loss if you're on your period a lot of people go into a maintenance week um purely because you're going to be low energy tired and they'll up your calories to go back into maintenance so that you're not going like hell for leather whilst your body is, you know, feeling like shit.

17:41So yeah, that's generally the basics around it. Love it. Yeah, I like that.

17:48Georgia Dayton: How to strengthen your pelvic floor other than squeezing? Any specific exercises? Well, I wouldn't, yeah, I mean literally squeezing. But like I would do... I just did one. I just did one now. I know, as soon as anyone mentions it, you just do it, don't you? It's still there. I would actually try something like Pilates and just go right back into that inner core work. And yeah, I would do Pilates would be my recommendation. Yeah, Reformer's great. It's not cheap on the Reformer machines, but I do love them. There's a really great spot in Wabish that I go to and I always feel like I've really given myself a bit of extra toning from the inside.

18:28Yeah, and I would go to a specialist. I think if you have like problems with pelvic pelvic floor instead of tackling it yourself I would go if you can great I would go to a specialist yeah um how to stay on track with fitness program when keep catching all the coughs and colds oh this is really difficult so I ran London Marathon in April and I'm not kidding you I felt like I had every single bug from January up until race day that you can think of but if you've got kids you're always you know you're gonna have sickness bugs and colds and whatever yeah um I would say to control what you can so you know if you have a sickness bug for example you can't do anything like you're gonna be in bed can't do anything if you've got a cold and you just feel a bit run down you can definitely still have do your nutrition and your water and maybe your steps if you feel like you can still keep nice and active but I wouldn't be at the gym if you're you know if you've got a cold and you're trying to get rid of it um so depending on what is wrong with you be really honest with yourself because you know you might have a little bit of a sniffle and be thinking I can't work out yeah you're like come on you're okay um but if you are actually you know I have a tendency I'll be ill and I'll be like I'm still going to the gym and my husband has to be like Tara you're ill yes sit down um so i think it's about being really honest with yourself about what you can do with whatever you've got and also don't forget that if you're training through an illness it's going to take you much longer to recover so don't fight it sometimes it's better to take 72 hours off training and i'm saying this to myself because i also like you i'm like no i must go but actually i recover so much quicker if i just take my foot off the pedal for a second so funnily enough when i was training for london i had a half marathon booked in january and i had a chest infection was on antibiotics and I thought I'll be fine I'll just walk it but I didn't and I didn't get better for weeks and I think part of that is because I just carried on yeah and it was lesson

20:27Georgia Dayton: learned and what about things like you know like yoga or pilates when you've got a bit of a cold is that would that be okay yeah I think I just think if you if you feel like you can do it say if you normally do a yoga class and so you know what the level of like exertion is yeah if you think you're okay great but the other thing is you don't want to go around and spread your no that's no especially if you're in like a close like yoga group and you're sneezing and sniffling everybody hates it doesn't it yeah this is from sophie sounds like an excuse but i work 7 30 till five monday to friday my sit and i have a six-year-old how do i incorporate exercise i think for so many people you know they start their day they take their kids straight to nursery then they're on the commute to work then they come back pick their kids up and they go home so listen I think for some people it it's just really really difficult and if you can't fit it in you cannot fit it in but it sounds really harsh but if you really really really want to prioritize it I would just do it in little snippets so for is it Sophie did you say yeah Sophie for example um maybe she could do like a Saturday morning class um if she can fit it in and then maybe two evenings a week a 20 minute strength um you know session on youtube with some dumbbells in the kitchen once her little one's gone to bed um it's really hard you know my sister said to me once and she's got a very high-powered job and she said i just can't fit it all in and i was like okay cool well you can't fit it in and then a couple months later she was like i started getting up at 5 30 to do my workouts and she just she just found time because she really really wanted to do it i'm not saying that's the same for everyone i'm not going well if you wanted to do it you'd find time I don't mean it like that at all but I would just say like little again kind of what we were saying earlier a little snippet here and there but also have a really clear routine because if you're super busy and you're just kind of trying to wing it thinking I might do it on Thursday evening or I might do it here you know no you have to be it doesn't I think you have to be I'm so busy and I have to be I literally put my workouts in my diary um like appointments yeah Yeah, because otherwise they won't get done.

22:37Non-negotiables. They're non-negotiables. And everyone tries to put meetings in or podcasts. And looking at our producer over there, I do love him really. And I just have to set really clear boundaries around it. Otherwise it doesn't get done. And the knock-on effect, it isn't just missing a class or missing a session. It really, really doesn't do me any good at all. I'm not as good as mum. I'm not as good at my job. I'm not as good a friend. you know like it really makes me feel very low if I miss out on it yeah I think if it's important to you it's you know it's important to you and and I'm very vocal with that like with my husband we both have weird jobs he's an actor so our lives are a bit all over the place we've got two kids and so we have to be clear with each other like what am I doing this week what's in your diary so we just have a shared diary but I put my gym classes in there as well because he knows that

23:28Georgia Dayton: I'm not here and that's what I'm doing and also if you've got an office job I always think back to when I worked in an office and I was dropping Axel's nursery at 7am or whatever I was doing, I started going out at lunchtime and reclaiming that because previously I wouldn't have done that. But then I think if you've booked, say, for instance, a Pilates class where you might not get so sweaty and need to shower, because that's the other thing, especially for women. If you go to a spin class at lunchtime, well then you feel rank. Yeah, there's not enough time. You can't. No, that's not enough time.

24:01Georgia Dayton: But yeah, for instance, like a walk or a Pilates class or something a little bit less, you know, sweaty. Yeah, like even, you know, getting out for a walk, you know, get your heart rate up and pace around. But yeah, that's enough to get your body moving. What about a hobby as well? You know, some people, my sister's got back into netball and now she does it every Thursday. And she's met a whole new group of girl mates again. And that and that, you know, that isn't that that's kind of not the mental barrier that you need to climb over. because sometimes doing exercise at the end of the day when you know you've got to do a HIIT session.

24:35But actually, if you're going out to play netball with your mates or hockey or whatever it is. It's a couple of things, yeah. Fun. I literally, I say this to everyone. I always promote strength, a mixture of strength training and cardio. But I'm like, but it's not the best exercise. The best exercise is something you enjoy. And if you want to make that social because you've not got loads of time, oh my goodness, then do it. Like, find something that you love doing. Especially if you've been a mum stuck at home and feel, I felt so isolated and lonely when I had my kids. I moved to a town where I didn't know a single person and I just felt awful.

25:05And when I started exercising, I found this incredible community of people that I met. I literally changed my life because I just had these people that we instantly had something in common with. And you just have that community there. So, yeah, find, you know, netball or paddles become really popular. I got invited to this thing called Nine and a Wine the other day. And I got added to a new WhatsApp group. I haven't gone back to them yet. but it's play nine holes of golf and have a wine at the end of it with 40 other women. Oh, that's great. And I thought, I feel really intimidated by that invitation.

25:39And then I thought, that could be really fun. So you've ghosted them all, but you're still flattered. But you're still thinking about it. I am going to do, it's just about finding time for it, but I do love my golf and that would be a really lovely social thing to do with everybody and like fun at the end of the day. Like you go out and do nine holes of golf, you're walking for, you're doing your 10 ,000 steps probably.

25:57Georgia Dayton: Yeah. Or like there's so many run clubs now. And previously I always thought that would be really intimidating because everyone would be really fast. But now you see loads of them. You see funny ones like scrambled legs. It's basically like we're running, but we're running, chatting. And it's that kind of thing. To get you into it. There's so much of that now. I think slow running is almost popular at the moment. Because not everybody is a fast runner. I think very few people are fast runners. We have it in our heads that everyone is, apart from you. I am like the most self-proclaimed slowest runner.

26:32How do you know that? No, not you personally. It's like one. I was going to say, I'm not that fast anymore. No, not you. No, Zoe is fast.

26:40Georgia Dayton: We went for a run once. We can't be friends. And she just left me for dust in the end because she was just like, no, seriously. I love that you literally thought I was talking about you. I thought she was shaming me on the vodcast. Never. Georgia, when did I leave you? When we'd stayed in a hotel. No, where wasn't we? We ran around Green Park. I can't remember why we were there. I did wait for the first half an hour at your speed. Yeah, and then she couldn't do it anymore. I think that's true friendship, guys. And you can ditch her on a run. Yeah. No, I didn't mind. I was quite pleased. I just walked then.

27:12Georgia Dayton: Where to get a coffee? That's hilarious that you thought I was talking about, you know. Just general, you know. Apart from you. You over there. We'll be right back after this short break.

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28:21Way fair, every style, every home. dot com. Insurance coverage varies. Check with your plan for coverage. I'm Jake Stouck, co-founder and CEO of Serval. We built Serval to automate the IT work that slows companies down. Onboarding, password resets, access to applications, my laptop stopped working. While employees wait for help, their real work is put on hold. IT desperately wants to automate this work, and that's why they need Serval. You just tell Serval what you want to automate in plain English, and it's built. No drag-and-drop workflows, no expensive consultants. Employees get unblocked, and IT teams go from drowning in tickets to building what actually matters.

28:59With Serval, IT becomes the AI engine powering the entire company. This is a new way to run IT. We guarantee you'll automate 50 % of all tickets, and we'll prove it to you in a free four-week pilot. Go to serval.com slash tickets. That's S-E-R-V-A-L dot com slash tickets.

29:29Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? How to balance breastfeeding hunger and getting back to exercise and healthy eating? It all feels like a lot. That's from Louise. So I'm assuming Louise is probably in the early stages. Well, she might not be with breastfeeding. But if you're still breastfeeding and feeling like everything's quite overwhelming, I would keep things really nice and simple, especially if you're breastfeeding. You're going to be starving all the time, aren't you? I do have clients who are breastfeeding. Obviously, you need more calories. So, you know, you should be listening to your body and you should be eating.

30:06I'd like to say I'm probably the only person that I ever know that just put on a load of weight when breastfeeding. I was never one of those people.

30:12Georgia Dayton: Someone else here has put, is it true your body stores additional fat while breastfeeding? So maybe it's not. I thought you, well, I thought you lost weight because you use extra calories. Not me over here. I just piled it on. Honestly, I was gutted. But yeah, I would just keep it really nice and simple. Walks. I think any of my clients who have young kids, I'm like, just get out walking with the buggy. Listen to your body if you need the calories. I also believe that sometimes it's not the right time to start if you're breastfeeding and overwhelmed and not sleeping I would just make sure you're in survival mode aren't you yeah and sometimes it is not the right time give it another couple of months see how you feel and then you know yeah be kind to yourself there's no rush is there and I think that's the thing I think so many people feel like they've got these milestones in their heads you know like first holiday after a baby or but you know I want to be here after six months but actually there really isn't a rush like it can all happen in its own time yeah I say that yeah I say that to everyone I'm like stay in the game there's no rush and just see you know see what happens you've got the rest of your life if you want to do a lifestyle change you've got the rest of your life to live like that you don't need to you know put pressure on yourself and the kids are only young for a little bit you don't want to be having young kids and just constantly worrying about it yeah yeah and also checking in with yourself every day I think is a really nice a bit of advice because some days you're going to feel right today's my day to get out there and yeah you know go for that walk or do the run maybe if that's you or whatever it is and then other days you're going to think I don't want to do that and that's okay yeah you don't have to like shame shame because I haven't done it today yeah that's the thing actually isn't it it's the shame it's like yeah the that pressure you're putting on yourself when you don't do it you're setting yourself up for failure yeah and that just turns into guilt and that just makes you feel like worse about yourself exactly and it just is a downward spiral into i'm the worst human ever and i can't do anything yeah someone here has put easy and healthy meals for mums breakfast lunch dinner ideas that keep energy levels up oh okay that's a good one i love talking about food um i would say breakfast is really easy one is like um i normally do protein porridge so easy because you can just shove it in the microwave with some protein berries um you could have some yogurt if you wanted to and overnight oats is a really easy one as well i'm so bad i'm like the only health and fitness person that doesn't like overnight oats but i know how good they are so i'm like yeah don't you like the consistency no i just love a porridge but i know they're good and i you know i sometimes make them but i don't love them but I think porridge is brilliant I have protein shakes to hand what brand of protein do you like?

33:00I use Protein Works

33:01Georgia Dayton: Protein Works, okay there's so many out there now that are great I would say, if you're funny about textures or consistency, I would just try a few, I like Huel yeah, Huel's great so I would just try a few other breakfasts I have on the go you could get things like Weetabix, like overnight oaks where you crush them at the bottom, add your protein powder and a bit of milk and just leave it in the fridge overnight. Protein bagels are really good, a bit of peanut butter and a banana, that type of thing. Lunches, oh my goodness, I literally used to live off, I'd get a wrap, either a protein wrap or just a whole meal.

33:40Anything high protein, tuna, chicken, corn if you're veggie, that type of thing, loads of salad in there, whatever sauce you want, done. Easy, takes two minutes, but you're having protein, carbs. A bit of dressing with some healthy fats in there. A bit of avocado you could put in there. Anything like that. Just shove whatever you can. Feel like you're having a nice burrito every day. That's my easiest lunch. Oh, I love that. Yeah.

34:03Georgia Dayton: That is a good idea. Dinners. I'm quite a big believer in making normal dinners, like spaghetti bolognese, cottage pie, anything like that. But just change it so it's nice and healthy. So lean meats, lower calories if you can, if you're using butter or anything like that. and then obviously packed out with loads of veg and salads or whatever. You do it with lentils as well, can't you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think if you're feeling overwhelmed, especially with dinner choices, I always keep it quite simple. So again, just looking for your protein, your carbs and your healthy fats and obviously loads of fruit and veg.

34:39And then add some sauces just to make it nice and so you're not too bored. Yeah. That's what I do.

34:44Georgia Dayton: Because I think that sometimes it's better just to go back to basics, isn't it? like we've got some really good like you know those merchant gourmet things that you can have in your freezer oh yeah they're frozen so you can they do do pouches but they've got like i don't know lentils and rice vegetables and then you can literally just shove it in a frying pan and then put a piece of salmon in the air fryer and that takes like 10 minutes but you i think we build it up in our heads especially dinners that they've got to be all singing all dancing but there's so many good like quick things like yeah rice pouches like all that i actually think it's when my instagram started growing the most is when i started sharing the foods i was eating because it was so simple yeah don't you get that i get that thing where i walk around the supermarket and i go not a fucking gun yeah i think i don't know what to choose i don't know what to cook i don't i am getting better and obviously following people like you and getting interesting recipes and kind of things that are quick and easy and obviously george has taught me a load of things But I do just think, oh, gosh, because the majority of it for me is made up with protein, vegetables and a slow releasing carb.

35:48And that's kind of what we do on repeat, whether it's chicken or fish or, you know, a piece of steak or whatever it is. And then vegetables. But that's fine, though. It's very boring. Yeah. I just I change things up with like sauces and stuff. I'm quite like I love sauces. I just change it up here and there. And do you know what I mean? Like, I don't know, it's still probably quite basic. but I'm just like add a bit of like sriracha or a bit or whatever. Yeah and they're the touches that you need potentially a little bit of help around but like you said it's about keeping it simple go back to basics.

36:17And like for me I cook different meals so everyone's going to like judge me for this. So I have to cook three different meals. So my children, my little boy with autism is very very fussy. Then my little girl will eat quite like I say normally but you know what I mean. And then me and my husband do eat separately because we see it as like our time together because the kids don't have to go to sleep until like 10 o 'clock. So they go and have, we call it room. The kids don't go to sleep until 10 o 'clock. So my little boy, he just doesn't need that much sleep. And his brain is like just switched on all the time.

36:49So what we do, we have this trick, is that they have to be in their rooms between seven and eight and we call it room time. They're not allowed screens or anything. They can do whatever they want, but they have to be calming down in their rooms. And that's when we have our dinner so that we get to have a conversation without being interrupted. we have our adult dinner yeah and then at eight o 'clock is bedtime so that's when they have to be in their beds but room time they can do anything they just have to be in their room they just have

37:14Georgia Dayton: to be in their room yeah i like that right because what we had found is we were like putting pressure on a seven o 'clock bedtime they'd be up and down the stairs they'd be calling us they'd be doing whatever like you know you'd and you'd just be getting everybody would be getting frustrated like everyone in the house would be stressed so i was so we have this set thing and now they have those like really clear boundaries and what they're allowed to do that they don't come out their rooms at between seven and eight obviously unless they need us i sound like i'm really me but they're really happy they have your toes and they read their books or they listen to a podcast they love it they're like it's room time like they find this is great yeah because i think i might do room time yeah let's do room time together i might do room time yeah for myself We'll schedule it then.

37:58Georgia Dayton: But we'll reverse it. So I can do whatever I want in my room. Yeah. And they can be downstairs. Mummy's having noontime. Yeah. Oh, okay. But you're right though, because some people, you know, seven o 'clock bedtime. I mean, I used to love seven o 'clock bedtime. We used to put our kids to bed at like five past six, ten past six. Oh, 5.45. 5.45. I'd be like, it's night time. I tried that, but I just got so stressed because they didn't do it. Yeah, but that's the thing. It works for everyone. And now I can't do that because we were at Clippin Gymnastics at that time. Sucker. Tara, thank you so much for coming on.

38:35I feel like we got through the majority of the questions there on a range of subjects. I know that everybody would have taken away loads from today's conversation. So thank you very much for coming on. And come back and see us. Yeah, I've loved it. Thank you so much for having me. I just feel like we could have just talked about it. Yeah, I know. And I'm going to be taking some of those food, some of those recipes. Amazing, Tara. Thank you so much.

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