Hammer Time with Nikki and Kate

Welcome back, dear listeners!

And welcome back to Nikki, who has returned from her hiatus to rejoin Kate in our podcast, “Hammer Time with Nikki and Kate”!

Today’s episode focuses on how couples divide up the household, financial and/or parenting responsibilities, and what emotions/expectations may bubble up from that division.

We talk about how single parents deal with handling all of it on their own, and how teaching their kids to become more self-sufficient can help lighten the load a bit. We discuss households where one partner is the primary breadwinner and the other handles the child-rearing and/or household duties; where both partners are working; where one is disabled and the other is able-bodied, and how in every relationship, you need to be appreciative and sensitive to the other partner’s feelings.

While we do not proclaim to be any kind of relationship experts, we love sharing our thoughts and experiences with you, our dear listeners, in the hopes that you can relate to some of our stories and thoughts, and can feel comfort in the fact that we all need to continue to take account of our own feelings, as well as the feelings of those in our lives.

As always, we hope you’ll enjoy this episode of the podcast, just as we hope that you’ll stay tuned for the next one. Make sure you’re following us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr to keep up with us! Remember – our episodes are also available to stream on iTunes and Google Play.

We’d love to continue receiving your feedback as to past episodes, as well as suggestions for upcoming episodes. Feel free to hit us up via social media, or by sending us an email at [email protected].

Stay well, friends, and remember – be kind to each other, and to yourself!

Hi again, everyone!

While half of our dynamic duo is still on her hiatus (during which time, she’ll be creating and starting her own online nutrition-based education/coaching system – Go, Nikki!), the other half, Kate, is here to give you our fifth podcast episode, “Self-Hate and Female Rivalry.”

This podcast episode focuses on how we, as the female gender/sex, are taught to aspire to a particular body image and ideal weight, and the damage that we do to our own bodies and lifespans by pursing those ideals in an unhealthy way.

The episode also details the competitive and destructive nature of the female psyche when it comes to interacting with other women, whether it’s about hitting certain milestones “first,” being the very best mom/homemaker/spouse, being a superior female because you’re a working professional (as compared to a stay-at-home mom), and even between other women in your profession.

Kate spends the hour detailing how destructive these methods can be, not only to the women we direct our negative energy towards, but also to ourselves.

We need to be kinder and more loving, not only towards others, but towards ourselves. There’s no unlimited amount of happiness out there. We can all succeed without tearing one another down. Let’s lift each other up, and become better role models for the next generation of women/females out there.

As always, we hope you’ll enjoy this episode of the podcast, just as we hope that you’ll stay tuned for the next one. We’re still planning to ask some pretty awesome guest co-hosts to come in for the next few episodes, so make sure you’re following us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr to keep up with us! Remember – our episodes are also available to stream on iTunes and Google Play.

We’d love to continue receiving your feedback as to past episodes, as well as suggestions for upcoming episodes. Feel free to hit us up via social media, or by sending us an email at [email protected].

Stay well, friends, and remember – be kind to each other, and to yourself!

Referenced resources:

Hey, everyone!

Well, half of our dynamic duo is here to give you our fourth episode, “Being Your Own Health Care Advocate.” In it, Kate talks about the power that medical professionals have over our lives, and the faith that we put in them for that reason. She discusses her own experience as a disabled person and a lifelong patient, as well as the need for you, as adults, to have some frank conversations and make some fairly morbid decisions in order to make sure that your intentions are followed in the case of an emergency, as well as to protect your children or those you take care of in case of an untimely death or incapacitation.

Kate also goes on to discuss just how important it is to do your own research about your health, and to feel confident and empowered enough to become your own health care advocate; to ask the questions you need answers to; to make sure that your health care professional hears what you’re saying and knows what you’re feeling.

Our health care system is far from perfect, but it’s far more advanced and effective than it was in years past. Just like the legal profession and the law enforcement field, there are incredible professionals working within an imperfect, sometimes broken system. It may not be the individual professional’s fault, per se, that the system needs repair, but that doesn’t change the fact that the system can fail you at times. That’s why we, as patients, need to be informed and proactive in trying to collaborate with our health care professionals, so that we can work together with them to ensure that we receive the best medical treatment available.

We hope you’ll enjoy this episode of the podcast, just as we hope that you’ll stay tuned for the next one. We plan to ask some pretty awesome guest co-hosts to come in for the next few episodes, so make sure you’re following us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr to keep up with us! Remember – our episodes are also available to stream on iTunes and Google Play.

Also, as always, we’d love your feedback as to past episodes, or suggestions for upcoming episodes. Feel free to hit us up via social media, or by sending us an email at [email protected].

Stay well, friends!

P.S. Kate wants to thank everyone who came to the hospital to visit her after her spinal surgery at the end of March, as well as everyone who sent her good wishes, positive thoughts and prayers for her recovery. You all helped her get through a tough time, and it’s so appreciated!

Check out our third episode of the podcast, entitled: “Exercise For All! Workouts for Moms with Postpartum Pooches, Bedridden Diabetics and Anyone Else with a Few Spare Minutes a Day.” In it, we talked about our backgrounds in nutrition and fitness; Nikki’s qualifications in personal training and kinesiology; Kate’s experiences living with Type I Diabetes, and more!

And for those Moms who’ve been diagnosed with Diastasis Recti (i.e., what we call “Postpartum Pooch”), if you want to learn more about the “Moms Gone Strong” workout Nikki mentioned during the podcast, feel free to check out http://girlsgonestrong.com for more information.

As always, stay tuned for new blog posts and info on upcoming episodes, and feel free to comment below or reach out to us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Tumblr, or by sending us an email at [email protected].