Beyond the Beach: The Little Things from Mexico That Changed Us

Episode Title: Beyond the Beach: The Little Things from Mexico That Changed Us 🌴🏖️

After a well-deserved week off, Sarah and Tanna are back with fresh insights, hilarious stories, and a whole lot of wisdom on how to bring those vacation vibes into everyday life!

In this episode, they chat about:

✅ Feeding bananas to sea turtles (who knew?!) 🍌🐢
✅ The magic of unplugging from social media 📵
✅ How intentional rest days can be a game-changer 😌
✅ The spicy benefits of reading for pleasure 📖🔥
✅ Why working out with your partner is actually super sexy 💪💖

Plus, hear all about Sarah’s realization that achievement burnout is real and Tanna’s bold new goal: scheduling a “Do Not Disturb” day!

Get ready for laughs, real talk, and some seriously good takeaways to help you feel recharged ~ no plane ticket required!

🎧 Tune in now and let’s train for life together!

Episode Transcript

's not always realistic for everyone.

Highly recommended.

Say it the sexy book.

I was hoping you'd go there.

I'm not even kidding that was my first thought. And then it was like hi I'm Sarah jolks founder of healthy role models and I'm tana Payne master trainer and former international Olympic weightlifter.

Welcome to training for life.

Join us as we share our experiences, insights, highs and lows from a combined five decades in the health and fitness industry.

Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or just starting your wellness journey, tune in for candid conversations, expert insights, and a whole lot of fun.

Get ready for a podcast as dynamic as your workout and as real as it gets.

This is training for Life.

Hey stranger.

Hi.

It's been a little while.

It's been some time.

Yes.

I here you went to Mexico.

I did oh my gosh our first time and it was phenomenal.

You had sea turtles like massive sea turtles.

They love did you know that they love bananas?

I I didn't know that but I was like don't they bite?

No.

Well, I mean yes. You have to like let the little piece like float in the water and then they come and get it, but they are not shy and they are just.

How did you learn that they like bananas did you just start feeding them stuff?

Well, it's like it's almost like a known thing at this resort.

Like I actually went on YouTube and that's where I got the hint of the where to go in the ocean and then people when they come they know that you know this is the resort sea turtles and so we're like we're going to some sea turtles.

Anyways was went to Mexico swimming with the sea turtles.

Actually, it was funny because we went into town one day just to get a few things and one of the adventure people were like, oh, do you want to ride ATVs?

Do you want to ride camels?

Do you want to swim with the dolphins?

And we're like, actually, we want to do nothing.

We want to do absolutely nothing while we're here.

Yeah.

Oh my gosh.

So I was thinking we could share some of the takeaways from each of us having a week off completely.

And ways that we can incorporate those things into our day today lives.

And and that's, you know, for you guys, for the listeners, like things that we can do each day and not necessarily have to take a week away in Mexico, although it's sounds highly recommended.

Not always realistic for everyone, however, little things that we can do each day to make our days better.

I'm into that.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

You want to go first?

Uh what about what?

What part?

What do you want me to start?

Earth to tennis something from your trip that a takeaway yeah a takeaway that you want to be intentional with incorporating a little bits into your every day.

Well, for me, I kind of looked at this topic um a little bit differently in that I sort of focused more on the way I was feeling how I was feeling giving myself a week off.

And my first takeaway was just the lack of anxiety.

I loved being able to wake up in the morning and I totally get that, you know, real life is not not conducive with real life, but getting getting up and just my focus immediately was, let's go to the buffet.

What what are we going to do and go to the buffet?

I'm not even kidding.

That was my first thought.

And then it was like, where do you want to go swimming?

Pool or ocean and just having fun, not having to think about what I need to do, when I need to do it, when does it need to be done?

Deadlines, you know.

And uh I just felt like I never had a headache the whole time I was gone and it just took away that anxiety piece of feeling, like not feeling like I was just going to miss something or, you know, forget forget something.

Yeah.

That's such a great feeling.

Yeah.

And have you thought about how you can take a little bit of that and incorporate that into your days so that you're not feeling that way all the time?

So, yes, and it would it kind of matches with the my other two points here is like intentionally having rest days, whether it's one day or two days, but making sure those days are not just like, oh, well I'm going to I'll do less or I'll do maybe I'll just do this, like intentionally having a day where, you know, the days prior you've gotten as much done as you can, but this day you have I've obviously I would have to train myself waking up and being intentional with this is my rest day.

I'm going to go to the buffet.

I yeah, where is the where is my margarita?

That's what I'd like to know.

Go to the buffet and enjoy nature and just be able to train myself not to think about the to-do list for even that one day.

Yeah, because I realized now how good it is for my brain.

Which I think is going to be, you know easier said than done.

But I think it'll be doable with practice, right?

Like any time.

It's like with anything that you are intentional about and you keep in the forefront of your mind that it's important then you can do that yeah how about you well I'll go with one of mine looked like you going to tell me something sneaky like well not yet.

Something that I guess goes along with that was when I was away, I did not feel the need to be posting on social media the whole time I was gone.

This week away from my husband and myself was something that we wanted to do to be completely present with one another and not feel distracted by anything.

And it's a trip that, you know, I again, I know it's not realistic for everyone to do.

Anytime that we normally travel together, it's for a conference or we have it's a family trip or we're doing a ton of crazy adventures, which are also amazing.

This trip in particular, though, was about rejuvenating, reconnecting and doing less.

So just like what you were talking about.

But I just find, you know, to be intentional with not posting on social so much, like normally I would post little things in my story about what I'm up to.

And this I just wanted to be present with my person and be connected with my person.

And I just think there's such a good lesson in that, whether it's just being more intentional with how much time you spend on social, because when you're on your phone, you're not where your feet are and with person or your people that you're with.

So maybe it's finding a particular time of day that you're going to be intentional with doing your posting. Um but for me on this trip, I didn't post at all on my public social.

Now seeing that, there are some really amazing aspects to social media, including our healthyoms private community group.

So I did post twice while I was away and there just to stay connected with everybody and because that's also super important to me.

And also, I just thought like the role modeling of staying active while I was away, that was important to me to share that with with our peeps. Sharing you're sharing with people that you truly care about and who truly care about you.

It's different, right?

It's different different kind of sharing for sure.

And I and I've been a part of events in the past where it just seems like every moment was like about content creation and then like, oh, I'm dancing, but I'm also holding my phone to capture that I'm dancing.

Yes.

And, you know, maybe there's a time and a place for that as well.

I just feel like if you want to be present and fully connected with your people, you don't have your phone and you.

So you know what?

That actually, that is an excellent one because I think that was a part of my lack of anxiety, too, when I was on the trip is not having my phone and if I did have it, it's strictly for pictures and not being bombarded with with social media, for sure.

And I didn't post either.

Like I don't give two tickits posting what I had for breakfast.

The thing is like nobody cares.

Nobody cares.

Yeah, like you do you, man and maybe I do it sometimes, but most of the time like I I have no interest in you knowing what I'm doing or or eating.

Like do you want to know when I go to the bathroom too, like while we had post it?

Well, and don't get me wrong because we did take photos.

I have an amazing album that I'm putting together of all the photos that we took . Well, that's the difference.

That is the difference.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And just to capture the memories so that we can like hold on to them a little bit more, but it was like take it slow and then put the camera or the phone away Yeah.

Okay.

Next point for you.

Okay.

So that kind of sort of segues into burnout.

I find when it's just constant kind of sort of sometimes that sort of feels like the same thing.

You have that anxiety to do this, do this, do this, and it's feels like, you know, same crap, different pile, different thing and not that it's bad.

Like I, you know, I love my life, but sometimes you just simply get burnt out from the constant needing.

So I I love that I I love helping people and I love being supportive to people.

I'm and there are certain times, though, where it's like I don't want somebody tugging up my coat strings, you know, just back off, you know, and just let me be me.

And I found that that that really helped having that week of just being able to be completely 100% percent present with my kids.

And I needed them, they didn' need me, but it in a different way.

We just played all the time.

It wasn't like they needed me to cook and clean now.

And now this person wants this for me and now I need to help that person with this and this, which typically I super love, but in this for this week and for, you know, these restays coming up, I realize that it can be a day of just, it can be aote me for a day where just, you know, nobody talk on me.

You know, is unavailable.

Please come try again later.

Yeah.

So in you're going to be intentional with incorporating more of that.

Yes, like a day where I'm just simply unavailable.

I mean, to a point right you know.

Unless the house is on fire. Uh but yes, and and that goes along with just the fact that I know about myself I need quiet time I need so solo time. Uh that's just something I've always needed love love it so much uh so that being away for a week really kind of reminded me like of the importance the importance for sure.

Okay.

So my next one actually goes along with burnout too.

It's a little bit more specific about something I do it's it's not uh reading for pleasure instead of personal growth.

So we every single day we had our little routine that we were doing we would get up and we'd make our our breakfast and then we would both go to the gym together and then we'd go back to the room, get changed cleaned up and go down to the beach with our books and we could read in the sunshine.

And normally I'm a girl who's all about the personal growth books and I gave myself permission on this trip to not bring any personal growth books and just read say it, the sexy book.

Yes.

I was hoping you'd go there.

And okay, so I'm going to bring in a little stat because, you know, everybody loves stats, right?

So there was a study from the University of Sussex that found that just six minutes of reading can reduce your stress by up to 68%.

It allows your brain to escape and it's just a really amazing form of relaxation.

And I think what happens with high achievers is we always feel like we're trying to be productive and we're trying to learn the next thing and get a takeaway and you can get into achievement burnout.

It's actually a thing.

So reading books for pleasure, reading novels, it just allows yourself that freedom to enjoy and restore and it just helps with your overall mental wellness.

Is that specifically spicy?

I mean it can be any kind of novelvels however I happen to really enjoy highly recommend the spicy.

So I think like just my takeaway is finding a balance with personal growth books because they're super important as well.

And I love learning and growing and adding in those pleasure books.

Yeah, yeah Why not?

Oh my gosh I love that I love I got to get a new spicy book specifically in a hockey romance you and your hockey romances man okay girl go get it get it girl okay you're next Does it help that your husband's the next hockey player play hockey Does he put on his jersey?

We're not going there.

That's a wholeher podcast okay, my last one, uh my last takeaway was more of a realization of how important my other takeaways are in terms of, okay, that didn't make sense.

My brain is going this way and my thoughts are going to say how important I am and how great I take away how you trying to say oh my gosh, that what it sounded like oh, how important Tana is.

No, how my performance highly decreases like my performance goes in the shaker when I am super burnt out or just constantly failing anxiety.

And sometimes I don't even realize it.

I don't you know, it's hard to realize that your your performance isn't where it should be when you're kind of used to performing at like a 50% level because that's just where you are. And then all of a sudden taking, you know, some quiet time to release the anxiety and refresh the burnout.

All of a sudden your performance is like, oh god damn.

I'm on it.

I'm crushing it.

I'm awesome.

See?

Yeah roundabout is awesome yeah, that's amazing yeah so you just come back feeling refreshed and your performance goes deep yeah and mentally and physically like you know you just you're re-excited you're there's that reexcitement.

And I think that comes back to your first point of just making sure like just when we're thinking of things that we can do daily or like incorporating into our everyday life is making sure you have those rest days to help you just feel that rejuvenation and refreshed and come back stronger.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Do you have one more?

I do.

Okay.

It's probably my favorite one too.

I would say working out or being active with your partner oh that's so good yeah so I I mentioned this but like part of our daily routine was we would go to the gym together every morning and there were a couple of days where we each did our own workout in the gym and then the rest of the days we were doing the same workout together.

And I also noticed there were other couples in the gym doing the same and it was so inspiring.

And I just think there are so many benefits to like if you have a significant other to being active with them.

Yes I felt way more connected.

I was like dang it's sexy to see you looking after us health I I always think like I hope my kids don't listen to this. It's fine it's totally fine um I think, you know holding each other accountable and supporting each other with your own health goals.

I think is also really amazing.

You can learn from each other.

Alec, my husband is like learning all about sprinting right now.

He's wants to be like the national champion.

He's unreal. Is but he's always teaching me the things that he's learning with that and then I'm teaching him things about the strength training that we're doing together too.

So the the big thing that we that Alec and I talked about was like we were probably the old couple in the gym.

I we were definitely the only.

Let's be honest.

There were a lot of younger couples there and it just felt like pretty awesome to think like maybe we're a role model for them.

So like if they they could think, well, dang, when we're in our fifties, we want to be going to the gym together and yeah, and staying strong and healthy together.

So just thinking of that role modeling.

So, you know, for for our listeners, just thinking how that could be for your family or for your loved ones if you are working together being stronger together with your significant other.

I just think there can be an amazing ripple effect from that.

Absolutely.

Yeah, for sure.

I my boyfriend and I, we he lives in Victoria, but he's frequently at my house and we take ever, every opportunity we can to go to the gym together.

It's so, so much fun.

And it kind of split 50, 50% of the time where we are working out together doing the same thing.

And then 50% of the time we're doing different things.

But it's nice that we're both there.

We're both guessing there.

Yeah, we both stretch afterwards and you know high fis and little looks across the gym during the workout and uh it you're right.

It it just makes it different.

It makes it enjoyable and it you you have that connection piece.

Yeah.

And it was just so incredible also to be doing that first thing each day and feeling strong heading into our day and it just it really does impact the choices you make throughout the day too, I believe, when you look after yourself first like that and it doesn't have to be if you're listening and you're like, oh, I don't do strength training or my partner and I don't do that kind of exercise.

It can be any kind of exercise.

It just make sure that you are being intentional with doing things together where you're active together could be hiking.

You be going for a walk or um my good friend Brett was sharing that he and his girlfriend go for a nightly walk together every single night after dinner.

And I just think it's such a beautiful ritual to have like walk to the mailbox together.

You know, you got to start somewhere.

Yeah.

So are we going to Mexico again?

I I mean I'd like to.

I'd like to be, but like we're bringing some Mexico home, right?

I see all these little takeaways there are things that we can do every day or just incorporating into our lives that will help to create those feelings that we had while we were away for sure.

I kind of summed it up here in my little notes that was like taking no breaks causes me to wear blinders eventually.

They start small, but the the less intentional rest I give myself, the more these blinders grow, right?

It just you feel more constricted.

Yes.

And sometimes you don't sometimes you don't really realize that you've got these massive blinders on uh before you start to feel gross, you know?

So if you just get ahead of it and take your rest a, even if you can't rest, like I have these people that are like, I can't rest.

I got to do something.

Like I have to do you know what, the challenge is to make yourself rest go for a nice stroll, but get in the habit of being excited about that next workout or excited about that next, whatever it is that you're craving to do versus thinking that you just have to be on it all the time.

I think one of the problems with burnout is you don't realize that you're in burnout until it's too until it's too late.

Yeah.

Yeah, until you're way too far out the other side.

So by incorporating some of these things, like whether it's reading for pleasure, whether it's being active with your partner, whether it's like making sure you have those resting. Go into the buffet now just do it oh my god do it but just these little things can make such a big difference yeah hundred percent oh man okay well thank you so much for tuning in today.

We've missed you guys.

It's been a few weeks however it was super important that each of us had that little bit of time away and come back refreshed excited and full from the buffet and ready to go.

We have our next program launching soon.

March is our spring registration and we have started the planning for the journey.

It's going to be pretty amazing.

I can wait.

And we would love to have you with us.

You can head to healthy role models.com to learn more about the 12 week journey. And in the meantime, we hope to see you, hear you, connect with you next week and you can always DM us on Instagram or Facebook.

Yes.

Okay, till next week, stay awesome.

Bye.

And if you're loving the training for life podcast and finding inspiration in our discussions, we'd be thrilled if you could take a moment to show your support, give us a five-star rating, leave a glowing review, and you can reach out to us on social.

You can find both Tana and I on Instagram at coffee role models or email us through the website, healthy role models.com.

Your feedback fuels our mission to spread positivity and empower others on their wellness journey.

We so look forward to hearing from you.