Defying MS: Kim Rahir’s Story of Strength and Recovery

Rich Bennett 0:00
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm your host, Rich Bennett. And today I am joined by the remarkable Kimbra here, a vibrant 60 year old mother of three and European champion in masters weightlifting. She was diagnosed with M.S. a decade ago. Kim defied her doctor's prognosis, choosing instead to muscle her way back to vitality. Her triumph over adversity and her departure from a career in journalism to become a health coach for middle aged women is nothing short of inspiring. Kim's approach focuses on reactive eating and rebuilding muscle. Ditching diet. Culture. I love that. And promoting and nourished a flourishing lifestyle are God. First of all, Kim, I welcome. But I have to say the ditching the diet culture. Thank you. 

Kim Rahir 1:00
Well, thanks. Thanks for having me. And thanks for thanking me. Absolutely. It's doing so much damage. 

Rich Bennett 1:08
Well, I mean, I think people get so confused because there's so many different diets out there. You know, some are told that you shouldn't be eating this, that you should be lazy and vice versa. But every diet I've seen, if you stop the diet, what happens? 

Kim Rahir 1:29
Wait. Comes back up. 

Rich Bennett 1:30
Right. So it's 

I, I don't know. I don't get it. I don't I think it's and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's more of when you eat. How much? Well, not even how much, but when you eat the exercise, you do it sometimes. Maybe what you eat. I mean, I know you don't want to eat. A ton of red meat all the time because it's not good for your heart. It may be good for the stomach, but when I say good for the stomach, meaning it tastes good when it gets there. Yes, but there's just it. I don't want to mention any diet players, but I have friends of mine that are 

they're constantly trying different diets or they'll stay on one diet, stop and they go back to it, say, okay, if you put the weight back on, then it's not the diet. You need to change your lifestyle. And it just I don't know. It's it's mind boggling to me. 

Kim Rahir 2:38
You know, I think there's two things. The first one is I think it's it's a it's a fallacy. And I hear it every day. Oh, Quito, whatever it is, it worked really well for me. I lost £15 and then I put it all back on and I said, well, if you put it back on it, that it didn't work well for 

Rich Bennett 2:56
Right. 

Kim Rahir 2:56
you. This is like we say, Oh, it worked because it worked in a very short term. And then it all came back and nobody seems to want to make that conclusion that if it came back, it means it didn't work. It's very simple. But we just love that memory of the time when, you know, the pounds kept dropping and we felt so good. And then we think, Oh yeah, that worked. No, it didn't work. In a more general sense, I think we're living in a time where we have a deadly combination of something that we have inherited from our evolution, which is our brain that wants to eat all the time. It's not because you are greedy or but this person has no self-control or someone who doesn't have any discipline. We are hardwired to eat all the time because that's help the helpless survive. And until like 100 years ago, starvation was kind of still around the corner all the time. So this this hardwiring helped us survive. And now it's killing us because there's food around us all the time. We have this inbuilt desire. Food is everywhere and we lose control, that's all. We lose the connection to our body. We don't know when we're full. And our brain that, you know, is attracted by all the stuff around us all the time. So some people even call this an evolutionary trap because something that helped us survive now is slowly killing us. 

Rich Bennett 4:17
Yeah, well, my thing is it what I'll do now, because if I get hungry, if number one, if it's not breakfast time, if it's not lunch or dinner time, if I'm hungry, I'll drink water. And that seems to. 

Kim Rahir 4:33
Calm things down. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 4:34
Yeah. And I don't think a lot of people realize that it's not you're not hungry. You may think you're hungry, but usually that water is going to make a difference. Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 4:45
Absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 4:47
I think the other thing is, too, and I I'm the cook in the family. So, 

Kim Rahir 4:52
Nice. 

Rich Bennett 4:53
you know, when I cook dinner for me, my wife is my daughter. And it took me a long, long, long time to learn how to do this because I always cooked enough for an army. 

Kim Rahir 5:07
But that's great. You make for leftovers the next day? No. 

Rich Bennett 5:11
Well, yes, but the problem is on the one that the leftovers nobody else would. 

Kim Rahir 5:17
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 5:17
So I learned to cut it down to portions. And, you know, when I eat, that's all I'll do. I'll have enough for just that one portion. I don't like to eat after 7 p.m.. I do my best to eat dinner anywhere between five and six for all of us at the midnight snacks or late night snacks. I don't even do them anymore. 

Kim Rahir 5:43
Oh, no way. 

Rich Bennett 5:43
And if you get more sleep, you lose weight while you're sleeping. Go figure. 

Kim Rahir 5:47
Yeah. Absolutely nothing good happens after 10 p.m., right? 

Rich Bennett 5:52
No. No. Yeah, definitely. Well, I don't know. Some good dreams, but other. 

Kim Rahir 5:58
Yeah. You know, in terms of of, you know, healthy living exercise, eating, you know, ten. No, nothing good happens. 

Rich Bennett 6:06
Yeah. So I have to ask you this about the IMS, because I've had friends that had MMS. And of course, you know, we hear about. Christina Applegate now has MMS, who was Annette Funicello, had it. When was it that you were actually diagnosed with M.S.? 

Kim Rahir 6:25
It was in 

2013. 

Rich Bennett 6:28
Oh, wow. So within ten years or ten years? A little over ten years ago. 

Kim Rahir 6:33
But it wasn't my first problem with autoimmune disease because in 2008 I was hospitalized from one day to the next because I was seeing double. And 

Rich Bennett 6:43
Whoa. 

Kim Rahir 6:43
within I spent six weeks in the hospital and was paralyzed from the hips downward after three weeks. They couldn't really name what it was because I had my symptoms were all over the place. But after six weeks they made up their mind and said it was probably a syndrome that they called Guillain-Barre. And that's a one off. So it's your. Yeah, it's it's two French doctors who discovered this, and I think they discovered this. It happens a lot to soldiers. 

Rich Bennett 7:11
Oh, okay. 

Kim Rahir 7:13
And, you know, when you're a mom of three small kids working full time, you know, you're a bit like a soldier. So maybe I was too stressed out or something. And that was that was very scary. It was my my immune system, like making mistakes, like attacking its own tissues. And but they said it was a one off. So after a year of treatment and stuff, I learned to walk again. I was told I was fine. And then, you know, two years later, I had my left hand went numb and more more tests and stuff. And they said, no, this time it's different. This time it's me. And if it happens again, you know, this is because, you know, one episode, one relapse, they don't say anything. But the second one, then you're officially a patient. So that was I was sort of I had my official diagnosis in January 2013, which is more than 11 years ago now. Oh, my God. 

Rich Bennett 8:08
Yeah. 

So what was your first reaction when they told you you had MMS? 

Kim Rahir 8:17
I was terrified. I was terrified. Because you have absolutely a buddy. While the kids were small 

and they were scared, too. But they they they didn't show it too much. And I'm very grateful for that. You know. 

Rich Bennett 8:34
Right. 

Kim Rahir 8:35
And it's the time of my life also when I learn to focus on the present day. Because in that situation, when you think too far ahead, you know, you get scared shitless. It's just you have no idea what's going to happen. And, you know, when you get some infusions in hospital, when you have a relapse and you know, you have doctors walking around asking you questions, there's always students, you know, using you as an object of study. It's quite I find it a bit dehumanizing. And, you know, one guy came, one doctor came and asked me questions and I said, why are you asking these questions? And he said, I'm doing a study on this particular form of them as that makes you go blind. And I said, Oh, thank you for 

Rich Bennett 9:14
What? 

Kim Rahir 9:14
sharing that. Yeah. I mean, come on, give me a break. I didn't need to know that. So. 

Rich Bennett 9:20
Al. 

Kim Rahir 9:22
Yeah. I mean, everything is connected to your nerves, right? Every function in your body. So if the wrong nerve gets attacked. I mean, I had this one thing where I was seeing double. That was because the nerve that governs the eye muscles, you know, it's muscles that keep the eyes in place was damaged and it couldn't hold the eye eyes in place. I mean, that all came back and went away. I think that I'm still just a wee bit cross-eyed, but. It's, you know, not 

Rich Bennett 9:49
Not 

Kim Rahir 9:49
nothing 

Rich Bennett 9:49
that I 

Kim Rahir 9:49
terrible. 

Rich Bennett 9:49
can say I don't. 

Kim Rahir 9:50
Yeah, that's very kind. No, but you. You get really scared. And. And. In a way, you feel that your body is betraying you because it's doing weird things that you do not even feel are going on, right? When you have like orthopedic concerns, you can feel like there's a cracking in your knee or there's a pulling something in your shoulder. But this just weird things happen and you didn't even feel that there was like a wall going on inside your body and your immune system was sort of eating away. It's essential stuff. 

Rich Bennett 10:26
A you or still working full time at this time, right? 

Kim Rahir 10:30
At the time I was when when I got the diagnosis. No, I was a freelancer. So I had a little bit of I had a little bit of wiggle room, but yeah. 

I don't know if I. Yeah. Do you get like sick leave or something in Europe 

Rich Bennett 10:47
Yeah, 

Kim Rahir 10:48
when you have that. I wasn't too, I didn't have much damage from the mess. I mean the the, the first syndrome was much, much harder and 

Rich Bennett 10:56
right. 

Kim Rahir 10:57
more devastating. This one, I to this day, I have a mean on my left hand is a little bit on sensitive so that the physical damage was limited. That's also why I fought the doctor and didn't want to take the life long treatment because I thought, listen, it's this is very mild. So I really need to do this. Um, but they insisted. 

Rich Bennett 11:17
All right. So you show prongs of your left hand because of the. But yet you started weightlifting. 

Kim Rahir 11:24
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 11:26
How hard was that? Because I would think with your left hand, it be hard to balance the weights. 

Kim Rahir 11:32
You know. 

Rich Bennett 11:33
Especially if you're doing, you know, like bench press and all. 

Kim Rahir 11:35
Yeah, it's the the problem is sensitive, so it's just like it's numb, but it hasn't. There's no motor impairment. So I can I have a good grip for quite some time. I thought that my left arm was probably still is just a wee bit weaker than the right one, but that could be also just natural because I'm right handed. 

Rich Bennett 11:54
Right? Yeah, right. He is dominant. 

Kim Rahir 11:56
At at that time, I just wanted to become strong because the time in the hospital had also traumatized me a bit. 

Rich Bennett 12:04
Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 12:05
Because when you cut in in a hospital anyway, you have no say. Not when the lights on in your room, not when you wake up or when you go to bed. Not when someone's in your room. And I couldn't even decide when I wanted to go to the shower or go to the toilet. So I think I had this this thing that wanted me to you know, I wanted to be physically strong again and, like, be my own boss and take charge also of a part of my body that I kind of could control. You know, you have these inner workings going on and you're really scared because you think, you know, what's the next era of my immune system going to be? But then, you know, training and building muscle is something that you can control. So that felt good. 

Rich Bennett 12:44
Okay. So at this point, you're in your fifties, right? 

Kim Rahir 12:48
Yes, I well, I turned 50, like six months after my diagnosis. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 12:53
Okay. I have to ask this because most not just women, men too, when they get into their fifties and sixties, they don't think of weightlifting to build muscle. A lot of them think of either yoga, some type of cardio, some type of cardio exercise, or even martial arts. Why weightlifting? 

Kim Rahir 13:16
Oh, I'm. I'm so glad you asked, because this yoga thing and Pilates and stuff like this, like, you know, we're in our fifties, so everybody tells us. Gentle, gentle. Take it easy. You know, you have to be very careful. Your joints and everything. 

Rich Bennett 13:29
Right. That phrase, no pain, no gain. You're supposed to throw out the 

Kim Rahir 13:33
No, you don't. You know, you don't want to go for the pain, but 

Rich Bennett 13:36
right. 

Kim Rahir 13:36
to build to build muscle. It's very simple. There's a fundamental principle to building muscle, and it's called progressive overload. So you start it goes back to the to a story, you know, from ancient day, a guy called, I think his name was Milos Nihilist. He had he carried a cough every day until it was a couple. So the Lord. 

Rich Bennett 14:00
What? 

Kim Rahir 14:01
Yes. You know, that's a that's like a very old story and. 

Rich Bennett 14:06
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 14:06
That's the principle of progressive overload, you know, that we got from actually antiquity, which means, you know, today you do a wall pushup and next week you do a wall pushup again. Maybe you do ten, and then you take it lower, lower or lower. So the load that you put on your on your arms and on your entire body gets heavier progressively. 

Rich Bennett 14:28
I mean, what is a wall push up? 

Kim Rahir 14:31
You put your hands to the wall and 

Rich Bennett 14:33
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 14:33
you bend your arms and push back. 

Rich Bennett 14:36
So that's exactly what it sounds like. 

Kim Rahir 14:38
Yes, I'm saying this because it's really important in midlife to you want to you know, you want to do those exercises, you want to do pushups, you want to do deadlifts and bench presses and whatever you can, but you want to scale it. So you want to start where you're at and then load it more progressively. And that's what you don't get with yoga. Pilates, I have women I work with who went to Pilates classes, classes for years, always the same exercise they couldn't do. And then they started strength training with progressive overload becoming stronger. And then from one day to the next, they realized, Oh, I could do this now. So if you keep doing the same stuff, you won't change, and your body on top of this will become extremely efficient at doing this. This happens with running like all kinds of cardio. If you run 30 minutes every day after a while, it won't be that much of an effort for your body because it will become so efficient and you want to look for a little bit of inefficiency in training to challenge the body. 

Rich Bennett 15:38
Interesting. I didn't realize that because we 

to me, 

doing all push ups would almost be like cheating. But the way you explain it makes perfect sense. And you say you just slowly you progressed going lower and lower, right? 

Kim Rahir 15:58
Yes, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 15:59
So what, you're finally doing push ups like this down on the ground. 

Kim Rahir 16:03
Absolutely. And I have women who do that after three months. I mean, it depends where you start and how much weight you carry. But if you're very consistent, your body adapts to the load and you you know, you increase the load and then you get stronger and then you can do stuff. Yeah, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 16:19
Wow. I'm okay. I'm glad you told me this. 

Kim Rahir 16:24
There you go. 

Rich Bennett 16:24
No, I do. I need to I need to start exercising again because I just been so busy with this. I'm sitting down all the time. 

Kim Rahir 16:34
Yeah, like. Like most people. 

Rich Bennett 16:36
Visit me all the time. 

Kim Rahir 16:38
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 16:39
She's like, Rich, you need to get back to exercise, you know? 

Kim Rahir 16:43
There's one more thing I want to say about this yoga thing and Pilates. I mean, this is. They are great, right? I'm not saying don't do those. They're great. 

Rich Bennett 16:52
Right. 

Kim Rahir 16:53
You know, stress management for mobility. And just to, you know, do something with your body, be connected and everything. But when they say, for example, no dynamic or explosive movements for older people, I think this is a huge mistake. You know, you know, you yes, you might have high mileage joints and you don't want to do any jumps and stuff. It could be like painful. But one of the biggest health risks for older adults is what falls. 

Rich Bennett 17:21
Oh, yeah. Oh. 

Kim Rahir 17:22
Explosive, indeed. So you want to train your brain, a body, to be able to sort of manage itself during explosive movements. You know, knowing instinctively where the body is at in space and then have some kind of protective reaction. 

Rich Bennett 17:39
Wow. So with this show, you started this, what, ten doing this ten years ago, right. 

Kim Rahir 17:46
I started lifting. Yeah. Lifting for for strength and muscle like. Yeah. In 

2013 you. 

Rich Bennett 17:53
Okay. So what made you decide to go into competition? 

Kim Rahir 17:56
Well, that's also that's a great story. Well, first of all, what I did when I started like lifting weights to get stronger, this is what's called power lifting. It's a bit confusing because the power lifting is the slow movements and the weightlifting is actually the explosive movements. I did that. I got really strong. We moved to Spain. I started working with a personal trainer and he just one day said to him, Do you want to try Olympic weightlifting? And I had this memory of me and my dad watching the Olympic Games when I was a kid, and we would watch weightlifting. You know, those guys in the ridiculous leotards with the heavy bellies hanging out and the hairy naked upper body and stuff. 

That's that was my image of Olympic weightlifting when I when when I was asked if I wanted to try it. 

Rich Bennett 18:51
I can only imagine. You probably like, uh. I don't want my belly going like that. I definitely don't want all the hair. 

Kim Rahir 19:00
Yeah. No, I actually. 

Rich Bennett 19:01
For painting a picture in my head. 

Kim Rahir 19:03
Oh, yeah. You cannot unsee that ever. 

Rich Bennett 19:06
No, I guess. 

Kim Rahir 19:10
But it's changed, You know, when you see them now that they look, they they look hench and they look great. Most of them, I mean, in the upper weight classes, they still have to carry a lot of fat because they have to eat. So much to build so much muscle. And the body just creates some fat in the process. So I said, okay, I'm going to try. And I was hooked right away because this is something you need strength, but you need technique too. And I mean, I sucked it. I sucked at it big time because it's really complicated, because you have to overcome gravity. So you have to keep the bar right really close to your body. When you lift it, you lift, you lift it overhead. You know, there's two movements. 

Rich Bennett 19:42
Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 19:43
One in one girl called the Snatch and one in two movements, which is called a clean and jerk. So you want the power to travel vertically, you know, to be efficient against gravity. But, you know, your body's in the way, you know, just so you have to sort of find the perfect trajectory for the barbell to go up. And that's lifelong practice. 

Rich Bennett 20:10
But within ten years. And you did this. You were European champion. 

Kim Rahir 20:15
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 20:17
So I mean that to me that's just a bit art. So those of you listening, Kim and I can see each other and, you know, when you hear of people that are into weightlifting, especially champions, you think of like huge, big. But I'm looking at Kim and no, you would not that that's not the picture you get. I'm not, you know, somebody walking down the street meet you. They're not. They're going to look you weightlifter. 

Kim Rahir 20:49
You know, it depends, really, because, you know we have weight categories and. 

Rich Bennett 20:55
Right. 

Kim Rahir 20:55
And for women, it starts at, I think in an imperial or whatever you use, that would be like £100. 45 kilos there. Women weightlifters 

Rich Bennett 21:04
Wow. 

Kim Rahir 21:05
weigh 45 kilos, like £100. And it's always relative to your body weight. You know what you lift. 

Rich Bennett 21:12
Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 21:12
But it's something, you know, sometimes they do like a TV report on female weightlifters and they always talk about can they still wear nice clothes and do they look fat? You know, and I'm kind of just a little bit irritated because people always ask when, you know, in regard to a sport, we'll always ask you, how does that make you look? Why do they not ask first? How does that make you feel? Would that not be like the first question? 

Rich Bennett 21:41
Yes. Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 21:44
And especially women, you know, they were like, Oh my God, is this going to make you look bulky? Is this going to make you this? They're never going to ask, oh, is this, you know, going to make you feel like a bad ass or like really good about 

Rich Bennett 21:55
Right. 

Kim Rahir 21:55
you? And that's that's the main point. 

Rich Bennett 21:59
Yeah. I mean, well, you know how social media is and you're constantly seeing women that are into the bodybuilding and to the weight which bodybuilding weightlifting. There is a difference. I understand that. By some I mean, some of these women are just so big. And and I mean, make me, as Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, make me look puny. But they're I mean, they're just they're huge. And I would think that, yeah, you're a coach. So when women come up to you, are they nervous at that feeling that this is your body or weightlifting? It's going to beat me up like that, but I really don't want to look like that. Do you understand what I'm saying? 

Kim Rahir 22:47
Yeah. No, it comes up. It comes up still once in a while. 

Rich Bennett 22:51
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 22:52
And it's, you know, the woman you're talking about. First of all, I think you have to be a genetic outlier to to achieve that look or you have to use, you know, chemical help. 

Rich Bennett 23:04
Right. 

Kim Rahir 23:06
Because otherwise it's extremely difficult to achieve that look. And in either case, whether you're, you know, genetically gifted or you're using performance enhancing drugs, whatever it is, it takes a shit ton of hard work. Those women are in the gym 8 hours a day. So, you know, when you rock up and you think I'm going to move a little bit more and maybe look at a pink dumbbell from two yards away, how on earth are you going to bulk up? It's not possible. It's just it's physically not possible. It would take years. And think of the guys, I'm sure you know, guys who want to, you know, be hench and toil away in the gym and it never happens. 

Rich Bennett 23:47
Yeah. Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 23:48
So it won't happen to to a woman. And again, I you know, I'm going to ask the question, why do you ask about how this is gonna make you look first? Why don't you not ask how is this going to make you feel? The quality of life, your health, everything, you know, ask that question first. But yes, it's still out there, this idea, but it's just it's not going to happen. So I can say it's not going to happen. 

Rich Bennett 24:12
Well, it was the way you were doing it. And when you get back to the mess here for a minute, because I'm sure you know, when you were diagnosed with M.S., it had to it had to be a lot on your mental health as well. So you started exercising. How did that affect your, you know, your overall health and your mental health? BONE And with the M.S.. 

Kim Rahir 24:38
I think actually that the mental health aspect is the one that played the main part in my 

Rich Bennett 24:44
hmm. 

Kim Rahir 24:45
in my remission. I mean, I haven't had anything in I don't know how many years now. Yeah. And 

Rich Bennett 24:51
Good. 

Kim Rahir 24:51
like it. Yeah. Like ten or something. And I stopped my treatment six years ago, so I'm without treatment and without symptoms. 

Rich Bennett 25:00
Really? 

Kim Rahir 25:01
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 25:03
That is kick ass. I'm sorry, but it is. 

Kim Rahir 25:06
Yes. So. 

Rich Bennett 25:08
A. 

Kim Rahir 25:09
I think, first of all, you're part of the human body, that everything works better, functions better. And I'm not only talking about actual like motor skills, I'm talking about metabolism, I'm talking about joints, about functional independence. Everything works better when you make a physical effort on a daily basis. You have to break a sweat, You have to push things, you have to pull things. You have to carry things. That's how we evolved. That's this is how our health is optimized. So that's the first aspect of, you know, how I think it helped me. But the main part I'm and I'm totally convinced of this is the mental health aspect because you feel so good, you feel so good, so confident, so optimistic. And that's something I think that's you know, maybe that can explain it because when you're working in the gym, what do you do? You overcome resistance, right? 

Rich Bennett 26:02
Right. 

Kim Rahir 26:03
So your brain sort of learns and you. You feel it in your fibers. That you can overcome resistance. So when life throws resistance at you, in other you know, in other areas, I think you do have this this internal conviction or memory, that resistance is something that you can overcome because you have had this experience and it's not a conscious process like, Oh, hey, I deadlift it £200, so now I can stand up to my boss who's shouting at me. I don't think it's that. I think it's more visceral, you know, It's something that you. 

Rich Bennett 26:38
Right. 

Kim Rahir 26:39
You know, it becomes part of your your inner being. 

Rich Bennett 26:44
Okay. You're and I love that because I think it's very important. But I and I know it correct me if I'm wrong, but your focus is with middle aged women, right? 

Kim Rahir 26:55
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 26:56
Because I think even for young adults and teens. And you also works strictly with women, correct? 

Kim Rahir 27:06
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 27:08
I think something like this would be very good for women of all ages because, well, let's just face it, the mental illness is on the rise. We all know that ever since COVID especially. 

Kim Rahir 27:20
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 27:20
So do you ever get younger women that that contact you and say, look, I really would like for you to be my coach? Or do you recommend them to somebody else that's a better fit because of their age? How does that work? 

Kim Rahir 27:36
The age is not really the the the biggest problem. And I've worked with younger women, too. 

Rich Bennett 27:42
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 27:42
It's it's the goals, you know? Younger women, sometimes you know, maybe they have like that are like postpartum or something like this. And they need someone who specializes in that. But if it's a woman and she wants to become strong, then I can help. 

Rich Bennett 27:58
Okay. All right. You said push part of it. You just remind me of a friend of ours who is. Oh, my God. She's about to have a baby any minute, and she's still hitting the gym. 

Kim Rahir 28:10
Great. 

Rich Bennett 28:11
Still hits the gym out. Of course, my first thought is, My God, are you nuts? You lifted weights and everything. But the doctors, they like praises. Like, Yeah, do it. If you can still do it, do it. 

Kim Rahir 28:25
Absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 28:25
And I'm thinking if she's well. Well, she's in her third trimester now. If she can do it, 

then why are other people making excuses? Is that what it is? Is that what it seems to you? More people are making excuses like they don't have the time. Or just different things. 

Kim Rahir 28:49
I don't like calling it excuses, actually. 

Rich Bennett 28:53
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 28:53
I try to steer away from everything that makes us believe that there's something wrong with our character, because I think it's it's sort of it's kind of toxic and it keeps us from taking action. I think that our world today is set up in a way that makes this really hard because if you don't become proactive, you can spend your entire life sitting, lying, eating, driving. You know, it's not a given. That's the that's the problem. Most people have sedentary jobs 

Rich Bennett 29:27
Right. 

Kim Rahir 29:27
and the entire environment is set up in a way for us to move as little as possible. So what I say is and this is this is a mindset shift that we all need now. And nowadays we have to actually fight for the right to move. It's not like, you know, making excuses or being lazy or something. Everything is set up for us to to stay put. We need to overcome that. We need to work on our environment, change it where we can and insist and fight, that we can actually become physically active if we don't do that. It's not a given and it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen for us. We need to really fight for it. 

Rich Bennett 30:11
So if you don't mind me asking, I love to ask people this, especially they are into exercise and coaching because now this is your full time job as a coach, right? 

Kim Rahir 30:24
Absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 30:25
What is your daily routine? 

Kim Rahir 30:28
Like my own. What I do. 

Rich Bennett 30:30
Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 30:30
Yeah. So I wake up in the morning, first thing I do is. 

Rich Bennett 30:35
Well, I always helps. 

Kim Rahir 30:37
Meditate. 

Rich Bennett 30:40
I'm sorry. What? 

Kim Rahir 30:41
I start my day with meditation. 

Rich Bennett 30:44
Oh, God. I love you. Thank you. Okay, good. 

Kim Rahir 30:48
I really. 

Rich Bennett 30:48
I think more people need to do that. 

Kim Rahir 30:50
Yes, absolutely. I started this when I got my diagnosis, actually. And it's it's changed my life. And it you know, it makes you just so much more stress resistant. You can manage 

Rich Bennett 31:01
Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 31:01
everything so much better. That's the first thing I do. And then I go out for a walk in the in the morning light before 10 a.m. to set my circadian clock. 

Rich Bennett 31:12
To set your what? 

Kim Rahir 31:14
Circadian clock. 

Rich Bennett 31:17
What is that? 

Kim Rahir 31:18
Oh, my goodness. This is also there's so much stuff out there, potions and pills and powders when the solutions are so simple. You know, the whole human body is is sort of tuned into to a rhythm that is aligned with light daylight. 

Rich Bennett 31:38
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 31:38
And darkness. So if you have trouble sleeping, you know, it's because of all the artificial light that you exposed to. And if you go out first thing in the morning, there's actually and this is pretty new. I mean, I think they discovered this at the beginning of the 2000s. There are cells in our eyes that are exclusively for the detection of the quality of light. They do not form images. You know, our eyes are mostly for seeing, but some cells in there are just there to tell our body what time it is. And then when you go out into the first morning light, your body knows it's morning and then you get all the good hormones that get triggered for activity, for, you know, motivation, for effort. All that happens then during the first part of the day and automatically like 14 hours after that, you will get like tiredness signals and and, you know, begin to feel sleepy. And really you can if you stick with it, if you don't expose yourself to white light in the evening, if you sort of try to follow the natural light rhythm, you will sleep like a baby. 

Rich Bennett 32:47
I don't want to sleep like a baby. They always wake up in the middle of the night. 

Somebody else told me that especially. They certainly get to watch the sunset because it helps you if your melatonin. 

Kim Rahir 33:01
Absolutely. You know, when it gets dark, the brain starts producing melatonin, which will then put you to sleep. Yeah, it. 

Rich Bennett 33:07
Get rid of it. So the same thing. Get rid of the bright lights in the house. Well, or adjust them to where it's almost like a glowing. 

Kim Rahir 33:16
Absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 33:16
Light like candle flicker. 

Kim Rahir 33:18
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 33:19
I told my wife this. I told her I want to put the cause. I got the smart LED light bulbs and I told her I want to put those back in and set them to quickly do that. She told me I was nuts. But 

Kim Rahir 33:31
Anyway, so I got. I. Let's go back to my routine. I went 

Rich Bennett 33:35
yes. 

Kim Rahir 33:35
I go. I go out for a walk every day and then three times, three days a week I ride the bus to the other end of town for my weightlifting training. That takes, like about 2 hours. 

Rich Bennett 33:51
Good Lord. 

Kim Rahir 33:52
Yes, well. 

Rich Bennett 33:53
Two women, 2 hours to get to the other side of town or two. 

Kim Rahir 33:55
No, no, that might. No, no. My. My travel is, like, just under an hour, but the training itself 

Rich Bennett 34:00
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 34:00
is 2 hours, so it's half a day. 

Rich Bennett 34:03
Okay, man. 

Kim Rahir 34:05
Yeah, that's. 

Rich Bennett 34:05
They say it's a law that's a long ride away to the way. Wow. 

Kim Rahir 34:10
Then. Then I. Then I come back, I have lunch, and then in the afternoon I work. And on the days that I don't lift, I do often do some kind of cardio or like a spin spinning session or something, which I love. And I don't tell my trainer about this because he thinks I should preserve my leg power. But I love a bit of cardio. 

Rich Bennett 34:31
I think you just told your trainer if he ever listens to this or she ever listened to this episode. All right. Now, you said you eat lunch. What do you eat? Breakfast. 

Kim Rahir 34:40
Oh, yeah, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 34:41
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 34:42
I have a protein shake and then I'll have a slice of, you know, wholemeal bread or something with a little bit of turkey. I try to get to anywhere from 30 to 50 grams of protein when my breakfast. 

Rich Bennett 34:56
Now. What about lunch? 

Kim Rahir 34:58
It's just meat, vegetables, fish and vegetables, eggs and vegetables. 

Rich Bennett 35:04
You mean aches or who to eat? A meat is too. 

Kim Rahir 35:08
Absolutely. Eggs are actually very good for heart health. 

Rich Bennett 35:13
And what about for dinner? I bring it all this up because as we mentioned at the beginning, about food. 

Kim Rahir 35:20
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 35:20
And diet. 

Kim Rahir 35:21
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 35:21
So what is it for? Let me you know, let me just do it this way. What is your favorite thing to eat? 

Kim Rahir 35:29
My favorite thing to eat is actually chicken. 

Rich Bennett 35:33
Really? 

Kim Rahir 35:35
I loved it. And it was with the nicely cooked chicken breast or some chicken from the slow cooker. And it's like nice and juicy. 

Rich Bennett 35:43
Seasoned. 

Kim Rahir 35:44
Cool. Yeah. Yeah. Not bland, but, you know. 

Rich Bennett 35:48
Right. 

Kim Rahir 35:50
We could get a nice sort of fajita mix here. That's a bit spicy, which is nice. And then just any vegetables that I can lay my hands on. And, you know, sometimes when like for lunch, when I'm in a rush, I'll just have a raw carrot or something. Some, you know, raw carrot, tomato, cucumber. As long as it's a vegetable, I don't you know, I don't care so much about gourmet meals, I, I don't mind repetition. I don't my routine for for my food. I don't I use food mostly for for sustenance and fueling my workouts. Not so much for fun. Sometimes for fun, too, of course, But it's not like. It's not like the main driver. 

Rich Bennett 36:29
Now. How do you wrap your day up? 

Kim Rahir 36:32
Most of the time with my husband. We're going to watch some show on Netflix 

Rich Bennett 36:37
Okay. 

Kim Rahir 36:37
or whatever it is, HBO or something like that. 

Rich Bennett 36:41
So you actually just sit there, relax with the husband, and watch TV. 

Kim Rahir 36:45
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 36:46
That's why I asked this, because a lot of I mean, a lot of people feel that they have to do the same routine every day. And you don't. I mean, it's three days after the week. You say you're going across town. 

Kim Rahir 37:02
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 37:04
I'm sure it's not every night you sit down your husband to watch TV. Or maybe it's just me that doesn't like. Because I'm sure sometimes if you read, you just like to sit down and read a book or whatever. 

Kim Rahir 37:16
Absolutely. Yeah. I love to read. Sometimes we go to the movies, sometimes we go see friends and stuff. You know, it's just like this average day where, you know, nothing special is on. And this is for me, this is very much the it's pretty much the same. You know, you say that it's not the same for me. It is. I'm and I love I love routine. It's you know, my kids tell me that I must be on the autism spectrum because I don't mind doing the same things over and over and over again. 

Rich Bennett 37:47
No. When I say routine, I mean like, you know, a lot of people do the same thing, the same exact thing every day. But you're not doing that. 

Kim Rahir 37:57
No. 

Rich Bennett 37:57
Yeah, especially when it comes to the exercise. You're changing it up, 

Kim Rahir 38:01
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 38:01
which I think that helps a lot as well. Yeah, when you when you're when you are exercising your website and for those of you listening, make sure you go to it's, it's very easy. Kim Right here. Dotcom Right. 

Kim Rahir 38:18
That's it? Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 38:19
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. 

Kim Rahir 38:21
that's it. 

Rich Bennett 38:21
So you have something there when people go to it. Want to reverse menopause? Weight gain fast. Fabulous. In 15. 

So can you break down the key components of this approach and actually how it differs from more traditional, say, fitness or diet programs? 

Kim Rahir 38:42
So the centerpiece of this is 15 minutes of daily strength training. And if you get that dialed in, most of the other pieces will fall in place because it will have various knock on effects that will, you know, get your energy levels up, which is a big, big problem for midlife women. They are all just exhausted. And I think they're exhausted because, you know, there's just there's so much going on and there's still so much to do. 

Rich Bennett 39:16
Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 39:16
So if you do 15 minutes and it's must be strength training, you know, we talked about this progressive overload and all that stuff. So you your energy levels will go up, so you will be more active naturally. You know, you will move more in the day because you have more energy. You will have a better mood because of this, which will then sort of make you more resistant to sugar cravings and and and low feelings and low self-esteem. All in all, you will just sort of start becoming more active, more confident. You will also build muscle. You will also, you know, help your joints be healthier. You will sleep better. It's all around this centerpiece of 15 minutes of strength training per day. And then you build your meals according to, you know, what do you want them to do for you? How can they help you get stronger, build more muscle and feel even more energized? So no complicated diet stuff, no forbidden foods. You just make sure you have your protein and your vegetables in every meal and the rest is, you know, whatever you enjoy. I think what we have to think about and when it comes to eating and we started with that is not so much ask about what do I have to avoid? What's dangerous, what's toxic, but ask what does my body actually need? How can I fuel my body? Right? And then if I give the body everything it needs to function well, you know, it can deal with the odd donut or whatever it is that you want to have like easily because you know, it will be functioning and healthy. 

Rich Bennett 40:54
Right. And I love the name of it. Fabulous. In 15. 

Kim Rahir 41:00
It really works because and I think this 15 minute thing is really crucial. 

Because we think when we think of habits, for example, we think, okay, I don't make a habit of going to the gym. Now imagine if you are not a gym goer and you want to start going to the gym. How many decisions you have to take in that process before you're actually on the gym floor? You have to choose a gym. You have to choose how you get there. You have to, you know, buy a gym bag, buy some apparel. You have to decide what kind of workout you want to do that. So it's not just I'm going to go to the gym, it's I'm going to take 15 decisions three times a week that I'm not used to taking. And that's not just not going to happen. If you have like a busy schedule or you'd like, you have a really bad day, you're just not going to go. So my 15 minute approach is it's something that you can do in your home. It can do it in your pajamas. So you get up in the morning and you only have to make one decision. One decision, Do it now and then that lowers the resistance. That lowest, you know, removes most of the obstacles that could get in the way of you exercising. And then you start your day off. Right. And and you actually get stronger and and better and in the process. 

Rich Bennett 42:24
With with this, because you've I mean, you've coached a lot of people. 

Do you have a I like to call them feel good stories from somebody that you've coached that was either going through something similar to what you were going through or even worse, that you can share with us. 

Kim Rahir 42:47
Yeah, I have. I have one client, and when I talk about her, I always get emotional because when when we met and that was like, I think it was close to two years ago. No, she had had major surgery six months before and she had never been the same since then. She was like 68 and it wasn't orthopedic surgery. She was just feeling. 

Pain and stiffness all over. When she got up out of bed in the morning, she had to use a stick because she felt so stiff and felt she couldn't move. So I started her with this, you know, home exercise, very small movements and, you know, extremely gentle. This is this is a crucial point for midlife women. You have to start at your level of skill, ability and experience with exercise. 

Rich Bennett 43:38
Right. 

Kim Rahir 43:39
That's why following any, you know, great YouTube videos, but maybe not great for you because they do not take into account where you're at. So we started very gently start moving. The stiffness receded. She started walking without a stick, and then she started walking. Going on longer walks. She could get go, like for very short walks. And then her back backwards, sort of tense and up and, you know, week after week, month after month, she got better. And a few months ago, she fulfilled her dream of going horseback riding again. She lost. 

Rich Bennett 44:14
I'll. 

Kim Rahir 44:14
She lost £20 and she signed up for, you know, for an excursion for a ride. And she was so happy and she was this is the thing where she said, you know, she felt like her old self again. And this is what so many midlife women dream of. You, you know, you want to go back to that person you were and, you know, this always makes me emotional because she had to depend on her husband for so many things. And now she feels independent again. And even her husband started having health troubles and she was looking after him. She said that that was unthinkable like a year ago. And you know, makes her feel so empowered and and and just by really moving a little bit every day. 

Rich Bennett 45:02
So if somebody wants to hire you as a coach, can they do it from anywhere because you do it? Can you do it virtually as well? 

Kim Rahir 45:12
I work exclusively online, actually. 

Rich Bennett 45:14
Oh, okay. So people in the United States, everywhere worldwide, can actually just all that from going to camera here, icon. 

Kim Rahir 45:23
Absolutely. Yeah. There's. You can start with a free assessment on that as a health and strength assessment, which is like, um, you know, it says strength assessment, assessment. But I'm not only asking you if you can do five push ups, so it's like a more of a holistic view of where you're at. And then, you know, from that assessment you get like first tips on where you could start and you can also book a call with me and see, you know, if I can help you, what depends what your goal is, what you want to achieve and where you're at. 

Rich Bennett 45:54
Do you ever get any guys that contact you and say, No, I want you to be my coach? 

Kim Rahir 45:59
Well, I have worked with men. Actually, my when I when I started way, way back, my very first client was my brother and. 

Rich Bennett 46:06
Really? 

Kim Rahir 46:07
Yes. And he lost. He lost £40 with my help. And that's when I knew 

Rich Bennett 46:12
Wow. 

Kim Rahir 46:12
that. You know, So I was doing something right. And yes, I have worked with guys. 

It's I mean, it's it's a principle of how the human body functions as. 

But I do have a special connection with, you know, women my age, and they do need just a certain understanding 

and some kind of, you know, community solidarity. And that's why I think I'm best for for midlife women. I can help you if you need help. That's not a problem. 

Rich Bennett 46:47
Oh, no. Sometimes I think I'm beyond help. 

Say when my problem is because I told you before we start. Come Christmas time, I'm playing that guy and I do my best not to put on any weight. But, you know, when these kids keep bringing you all these good cookies. You sit down all the time. It's kind of hard. I think this year I put on £10 when I was. Anna. 

Kim Rahir 47:17
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 47:19
Yeah, I did drop it. I did drop £10 when I did the. I like to call it the chicken soup diet is because I got sick and about the only. 

Of course, you can't put it right back on. 

Kim Rahir 47:36
It is. Yeah. That's problematic, too, because, you know, when you know you're going to lose a lot of muscle. When 

Rich Bennett 47:41
Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 47:41
you lose weight like that, you don't want that. You want to keep your your muscles. 

Rich Bennett 47:45
But see, you've already encouraged me because when you mentioned the wall push ups, I never really thought about that. I always thought that was cheating. But I like it because you're progressing. I also need to get back to my total gym is staring at me right now. 

Yeah. 

Kim Rahir 48:07
You have a gym. Come on. That's great. 

Rich Bennett 48:11
I have the total gym. Yeah. And my son got me the the Was it the tubes a while ago? Um, they're stored away somewhere. I got, I got pull all this out because. Yeah, after talking to you, it's like, you know, when I talk to these young people that are into 

exercise and, and everything, I think they don't understand when as you get older, the exercise isn't the same. You know, it may be in 60, it's. And if everything I went through in the Marine Corps and everything else, yeah, I know my body can't do all the things I used to. I mean, hell, when we're done, Kim, I'm going to stand up from this chair in this. And like, a bowl of Rice Krispies, you know, everything's just going to be. Pop. 

But you gave me encouragement to get up and start exercising. It's something you mention with your daily routine. 

I know most people meditate before they go to bed, which I do as well. But I love the fact that you meditate in the morning when you wake up, which is also something I do. And I was going outside and walking. I need to get back to doing that, especially in the morning and probably at night before I even go to bed. Now, something very important. And if you did this, then I'm going to feel like a real idiot. Have you written a book yet? 

Kim Rahir 49:41
No, but I'm working on it. 

Rich Bennett 49:45
Because with I mean, your story alone is a book, but all the people you've been helping is is a hell. You probably have several books within you. 

So you are working on a book. Any ideas on when you're hoping to release it? 

Kim Rahir 50:05
Oh, I don't think it's going to be this year. 

Rich Bennett 50:09
By night. 

Kim Rahir 50:12
are always so many things get in the way. You know, like the day job, the training. 

Rich Bennett 50:18
Well. 

Kim Rahir 50:19
The travelling. 

Rich Bennett 50:21
Well, I think you already answered my next question. Podcasting, probably not so much starting a podcast. 

Kim Rahir 50:28
I'd love to do that because, you know, like the conversation we're having, it's just so much fun. I just don't know what goes into this. It's a lot of work, right? It's not just sitting down and chatting away. 

Rich Bennett 50:43
Well, yeah. Yeah. If you're going to do everything yourself. Yeah, it's a lot of work. It's when I first started doing this, a one hour episode usually took me 8 hours. 

Kim Rahir 50:53
Oh, my goodness. 

Rich Bennett 50:54
Well, that was with editing, doing to share notes and everything else. Now I've got it down to a science. And keep in mind, I've been doing this since I started in 2015. So technology has changed. So now a one hour episode may take me 3 hours. 

Kim Rahir 51:14
Well. 

Rich Bennett 51:14
Total. To edit, show notes and everything. And now that our like an hour of us recording that's one hour editing is another hour of me going back and listening to it, fixing anything. And then the third hour is transcribing it and create and share notes. So, yeah, I mean, it's a lot of work. Now, there are some people that, um, you know, they'll hire somebody. 

Kim Rahir 51:40
Yeah, like a producer or something, you know? Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 51:43
Now, one of the things I always tell people, if that's the case, if you're going to do that, 

then make sure you're somehow or another making money with the podcast. 

Kim Rahir 51:56
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 51:56
Whether you're getting more people because of the podcast to coach or whether you have, you know, that protein shake company as a sponsor. Yeah, yeah. There's there's so many different different things. But yeah, if you ever want to start one, just give me a holler. I'm always helping people. 

Kim Rahir 52:19
That's so cool. 

Rich Bennett 52:21
Well, I think with your message, it's yeah, it does help when you get on other podcasts, but you have your own as well. And you you have something that I don't have. In other words, like if I was going to be doing a pack strictly on the the fabulous in fifth February isn't a great name for a podcast but. But you, you, you could talk to all your all the people you've coached. There's your testimonials, live testimonials or testimonials on the podcast are, are great. So yeah, if you need help, definitely do it. But before I get to my last question, is there anything you would like to add? 

Kim Rahir 53:12
I just want to encourage anybody who's listening to to do something. Never think that it's too late. And that's the that's the biggest thing. It never is too late. You can become stronger and healthier at 99 if the body keeps working in the same way and, you know, if you ditch all or nothing thinking and you know, do you had yes, you might may have dodgy knees or a frozen shoulder then you walk around that you do you work the parts of your body that you can work but do something. Don't get lost in the big picture. This is also something when you know, especially when you're in the second half of your life, you know that you could think, Oh my God, is this worth it? You know, where am I going? I'm going to be old and and done. And, you know, don't look at the big picture. Look at what you can do today and do something. It is never too late. 

Rich Bennett 54:07
And just because a doctor tells you something. Yeah, I'd be like, Kim, go ahead and, you know, defy that prognosis. You know, if think about it, because if you didn't. Well, you probably wouldn't be doing this. You probably would not be into weightlifting, would you? Who knows what you'd be doing? 

Kim Rahir 54:27
I'd probably still be injecting myself three times a week with this thing. 

Rich Bennett 54:31
Yeah. And you don't want to do that. So any idea how many podcasts you've been on or interviews? Not just podcasts, but any type of interview? 

Kim Rahir 54:39
Oh, I'm not sure I. 

Rich Bennett 54:42
So a lot. 

Kim Rahir 54:43
At least 20. 

Rich Bennett 54:45
Okay. Could this question extend? So. So is there anything that a host has never asked you that you wish they would have asked you? And if so, what would be the question and what would be your answer? 

Kim Rahir 54:59
Yeah. No. You know something? There's a question that I like. Is that, you know, like an odd fact about you or something, but it has been asked once, and I answered it. 

Rich Bennett 55:12
An odd fact. What is an odd fact? 

Kim Rahir 55:14
Something weird. Yeah. That I love opera singing. I'm taking classical singing classes also. 

Rich Bennett 55:22
No way. 

Kim Rahir 55:23
I love to sing Mozart and stuff. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 55:28
A classical singer. 

Kim Rahir 55:31
Just for fun. 

Rich Bennett 55:33
Ain't nothing wrong with that. That's that's good. That is awesome. I would try that, but I would chase everybody out of the room. 

Kim Rahir 55:40
I'm not so sure. Like you could sing as a Santa? No. 

Rich Bennett 55:44
What have you. I never I never tried it. But what is it? What is classical singing like Mozart. Because you think of, like, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and all that. It's all. There's no words. It's all. 

Kim Rahir 55:58
Oh, that's words and words in opera. Yeah, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 56:02
Well, yeah, I never thought of. 

Kim Rahir 56:04
I just. I love opera. It's just something 

touches the heart, like. 

Rich Bennett 56:11
We like long lost brothers and sisters here. 

Kim Rahir 56:16
What would you like opera to? 

Rich Bennett 56:18
Oh, my God. I can sit here. Of course. I can only do it when my wife or daughter aren't home. I would turn on, especially when I had my stereo set up, because I'd still have my records. I would turn on classical or opera and just turn it up and listen to it, because what I loved about classical music and still love that classical music is just pawn all the different instruments out and listening to them. And the same with opera and just this, you know, depending on what opera you're listening to, because a lot of times it's sung in a different language. You don't understand what they're saying, but you can feel it, 

Kim Rahir 56:59
Yes. I'm so glad you said that. 

Rich Bennett 57:01
love 

Kim Rahir 57:02
Absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 57:02
it. 

Kim Rahir 57:03
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 57:03
Oh, God. I still have the original soundtrack to Madame Butterfly, actually. 

Kim Rahir 57:08
Wow. So do you have a favorite? 

Rich Bennett 57:12
I would have to say, Madam Butterfly, just because I. I probably wore that record out. I played it so much, I never knew what it was. And somehow or another I came across a bunch of albums that somebody was getting rid of. And I had John F Kennedy, his inaugural speech was in there, a bunch of other things, and I came across this Madame Butterfly. Now, at first I'm thinking, Oh, iron butterfly. Well, not that's not. A butterfly. I got check this out and I put it on as I age. I was just. I fell in love with it right away. I fell in love with it right away. God, this could have. We're gonna have to do another podcast and. 

Kim Rahir 57:57
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 57:59
No. 

Kim Rahir 58:00
I remember I went I went to see Madame Butterfly once here in Madrid in the opera. And then they had this. This production where you could see her face on a video and she was black, she was old and, you know, and it was like at the beginning of the look what she you know, she's too old for the role. And then the way she sang, you know, at the end, I was in tears. She was she just she just was it. And and that's what's so great. You don't need to understand the words. If you have an idea of what's going on. And people then say, I don't know about opera. How do I know if it's good or bad? And I say, Well, if you laugh or if you cry, then you know it's good because they touched you. 

Rich Bennett 58:44
This is something that actually I guess we can wrap it up. First of all, I want to say thank you for coming on now. I'll hit stop of the week to you, but thanks so much for coming in. 

Kim Rahir 58:55
Thanks for having me. I really had a great time talking to you.