Midlife and Swinging For the Fence

Real quick, before we dive into this episode, I have a little sleep secret I want to tell you about. Look, sleep is crucial for your fitness, but it's crucial for just plain old everyday life and function. And I find I sleep great unless I have a migraine. And I've had more than my fair share since perimenopause all the way through postmenopause. My secret weapon was Blue Sky CBD sleep gels. Each gel contains 25 milligrams of CBD and 25 milligrams CBN for deep restorative sleep. Something about it helps to reduce inflammation, which I believe for me was key in helping me get to sleep. But the biggest thing is so many of the over-the-counter solutions, whether for sleep or migraines, can ruin gut health, and liver health. Neither one of those did I want to be problematic for me. So this option is recommended by healthcare providers worldwide and backed by thousands of happy customers, many of whom come from our Flipping 50 community. There is zero THC, so it's non-habit-forming. It's made by a trusted family-owned company that we all can feel good about. Third-party tested for purity and potency. And if you're interested, you too can try a sample for just $6. But even better, you can get 30% off forever with discount code FLIPPING50. That's FLIPPING50. Just go to flipping50.com/blueskycbd. We'll put that link in the show notes and you'll find it everywhere on Flipping 50 at My Favorites. What are you waiting for? Good night. Are you swinging for the fence or just bunting? Midlife and an autoimmune diagnosis that might have made someone else fold their tent and go home, but not today's guest. In fact, she turned it around and leveraged it instead. You may say it fuels what she does. It's easy to think that you're on the downhill slide. You're enjoying an easier life, an empty nest, a little more disposable income. But are you really passionate about your daily life? Are you really looking forward to things on your calendar both near and far? Do you have goals that make you both a little nervous and a little excited? For the past 20 years of my 40-year career, I've been serving as a coach for many of my clients in addition to supporting the wellness and fitness goals they have. I was 18 years into my career juggling exercise, psychology, and physiology, but there was often more. We humans can sometimes put up obstacles to getting the things that we want as a way of self-preservation. We protect ourselves from the risk of change, and there we stay stuck unless somebody like a coach calls BS for you. Hello. BS, here we are. I think you'll agree that today's guest shares and lives much of this, my vantage point, in her everyday actions. I think you're gonna love this show. I know I did. I'm Debra Atkinson, and you're listening to Flipping 50, where I address, yeah, your top struggles and concerns, but most of all, we hope to inspire you so that you expect and you demand better services, better products made for you, made about you. And don't settle for what you've seen ahead, because we are the generation that will raise the ceiling on what it means to age, what it means to go through menopause. And we are going to need to have to get our own vision first. So I share what to eat, how to move, and how to change your mindset so you can have the energy and vitality that you want, need, and deserve in this second and better half. Today it's my honor to bring to you Christine Conte. She believes in the yes you can mindset. Christine is an international fitness educator, chronic disease wellness specialist, and the recipient very recently of the IDEA World 2023 Fitness Professional of the Year Award. She's the CEO of Conte, a woman-owned enterprise, and offers keynote speaking, chronic disease wellness mindset coaching, and continuing education for fitness professionals, schools, and private companies. Christine is also a bestselling author, podcast host, co-founder of Reinventing the Woman International, a 3-time Ironman, and a guide for Special Olympic athletes. After receiving a life-changing diagnosis at age 30, this former investment banker and English teacher is determined to show the world that anything is possible. I think you're going to love this. So Here we go. Christine Conti, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for having me, Debra. This is so exciting. I'm so happy to be with you today and, and all the listeners.

Thank you. Well, absolutely. And this is going to be such a gift to them. So first of all, we got to kind of paint the picture. Now, number one, you're a woman in midlife yourself. You've, you've had some health obstacles, but anybody here who would see you right now in pictures on they would not know that because you've leveraged them so well. You've turned them into assets, and you are doing things that potentially very apparently healthy people aren't doing. Talk a little bit about, you know, your, your health past and your current and future and your thoughts about, about getting to where you are now.

Wow. We can unload this from many places, but I'm going to take you back to— I loved movement from a very early age. I had two older sisters who were athletes and I idolized them. And, I was dragged to all of their games and fields and gyms when I was younger. So, that's what I was exposed to that I just thought that's what people did. You move. And I loved it. I love the feeling of accomplishing something, of being part of a team. And I grew up loving sports and appreciating movement and was able to play volleyball in college, which awarded me a lot of opportunities. And I'm grateful for them. But fast forward an investment banking career and a career teaching and being told that, you know, fitness is not a profession, it's just a hobby, something you can enjoy. But, hahaha, at this point. But it, it was something that I always thought would be there. And I think I took it for granted, movement and being able to run and jump and, and step and lift things. And, and when I turned 30, And I was handed down this diagnosis of an advanced autoimmune disease that my grandmother, my maternal grandmother, actually had. And she became a quadriplegic because of complications from this same disease. And she passed away when I was 10. So being handed this diagnosis at age 30, I thought it was a death sentence for me because I went from, wow, I could do all the things to, wow, I really don't have function of my hands. My feet hurt all the time. My back, I'm tired. I can't even, I can't hold keys or buttons or hold forks or I'm dropping and breaking glasses. I can't type. And it was just interfering with my quality of life, being in constant pain. And that's— it really changed my perspective on health and fitness and wellness. And, and what can I do if I don't know that I have 5 years, 10 years, 15 years of functionality in my body anymore? So my journey, I guess, was deciding that I was going to refuse to let this become a crutch, let this become the thing that gets me. And that's where I guess we pick up with how you see things in life, right? Are you going to see it as something negative or something that maybe you can try and learn from? And that's, you know, it took a long time and a lot of dark days, I would say, to come to the realization that this was not a death sentence, but a gift.

I love that. And I would call that a bit of kind of facing your fears because I would have imagined I was going to ask and you filled in that blank, you know, did you simply pivot or was it a struggle, you know, not to be pulled down, you know, and to have to get back up? You know, there are a lot of people who can't necessarily face that fear and, and have the hope or find the hope. And part of that might be who we're surrounded by, maybe our environment. But a lot of that largely has to come from within. I mean, some— something can't, can't be only external. Why do you think that many people are unable to face those fears.

Take a look at the 5 people that you surround yourself with. Just, just pick 5 when you think back, or think about it right now. Those 5 people that you spend your most time with in your life, what are they like? Are they positive? Are they empowering? Do they lift you up? Do they support you when you come up with an idea? Are they people who give you ideas of encouragement? Do they want to see you healthier and happier? Or are they people that constantly complain and drag you down? Are they unhappy? Because toxic breeds toxic, positive breeds positive. And I, I believe it's super powerful to surround yourself with positivity. This world is about energy, right? And we are balls of energy. Think about how you feel when you're around people that are really sad. Don't they make you sad? People that are depressed, don't you kind of feel that way? I truly believe— I mean, and this is just one simple thing— is to ask yourself, who are you spending your time with? And that may be a key insight. And if you think about that, then think about yourself and how you act. And if you're trying to get healthier, right? I always think of like the alcoholic who's trying to quit drinking. Guess what? You may have to remove yourself from your friends that all they do is go out and go to the bar, right? And that's hard. What is it? You know, what is it? Can you step into that? And that's why, you know, people have support groups and people have women empowerment and people listen to podcasts and read empowering books because they need to keep reinforcing those positive behaviors, which then become habits, which then become lifestyles. It doesn't happen overnight. You can't just say, hey, I'm going to be a more courageous person. Right now. You've got to take little teeny steps and practice every single day in order to be more bold and be more courageous and face a little bit more fear in your life.

Love that. And probably one of the things that most of us fear the most is change. Like rocking the boat, the status quo. I want to go back and highlight you just for a minute. So something I read, of course, in your bio, I mean, this, we cannot skim over this because this is actually fairly recent as we're recording. You are the winner of the IDEA World 2023 Fitness Professional of the Year. And listen, for all of you listening, you may not be in the health and fitness profession. I know there's a few of you lurking here. We are also, by the way, going to do a special episode tomorrow. Tomorrow for She Means Fitness Business with Christine. But this is a big deal. She's a big deal. She's here. She's all that. Just saying. I mean, every fitness professional and lots of health coaches, medical exercise specialists, fitness instructors know that when somebody won Ideal World, that's a big deal. Their, their name becomes household. So You did that, but okay, that's a big deal. You did a lot of things to gain the acclaim and to win that and have the integrity and the prestige to do that. But we're not stopping there because you also right now, I believe, are training for the World Ironman Championships. Am I right?

That is True. Yeah. And honestly, there's always backstories to some of these things. And yeah, I qualified, but I'm actually— I work with the Chris Nikic 1% Better Foundation and the Special Olympics and the Ironman Foundation, and I guide. So I guide athletes with Down syndrome, with autism, with neurodivergent issues so that they can experience just unbelievable accomplishment. Because if they can do that, anything is possible.

Wow. So, well, let me get this right. So you will be completing in Kona, you'll be there, but not necessarily pursuing your own goals or time in order for someone else to be there. Am I getting that right? Yeah.

So I'm actually going— I was asked to help guide. It's two women, and one of them is the first woman ever with autism to complete Ironman Kona. The second woman that I'm actually going to be racing next to, like she's my right next to the whole time, is a woman named Ashley who has MS, and she's had three different surgeries for pacemakers, and she'll be the first woman ever to complete the Ironman World Championships with that. So for me, I don't believe that— I, I don't know, I, I much rather would see and be a part of something so much bigger than myself than worry about, oh hey, maybe I can get a couple minutes faster, or what's my time. That's not what life is about. And I just am so— I'm grateful, I'm to be healthy enough to do this. And, um, honestly, Debra, people always ask me, you know, and you talk about the IDEA Award, um, people always ask, they're like, what are you training for? Because I tend to— I love work, I love— I always put a lot of pressure on myself. And people will say, you know, I go out for a run, well, what are you training for? And I'm like, I mean, you know, or what are you working so hard on, this article or this research? And I'll say I'm not really training for anything specific. I'm training for when opportunity arises, I'm ready. And that's really what it is, that if I wasn't taking care of myself the way I was because of having been diagnosed with this disease and realizing that health is so important and fitness and mindset, I would have never been able to help these women. Or guide these men and even make a difference in all these people that, you know, with Winning Idea, it's, it's exposure. And I advocate for people that have chronic diseases that believe that they can't. And you can fill in the blank, you know, someone's diagnosed with cancer. Oh, I can't. You know, they're diagnosed with Parkinson's. Well, I'm no longer going to be able to And I don't believe that because that's the mindset that's going to kill you.

I love that. And okay, so I just want to help every listener realize what you've just heard. So Christine, if you blush easily, this is your moment. Go for it. You're going to be blushing. But, you know, completing an Ironman, first of all, I think a lot of people, if you're not into that, you don't understand it, would look at that it as a very selfish endeavor because it's— there's a lot of time consumption in it. And, and having completed some, I would like to argue with that. Depending on who you are, if you're drawn to it, you, you feel usually like that really gives— helps you give back into the rest of your world. So I don't know that I love that, but it is a somewhat selfish endeavor in that for very few of us are we going to make money doing it, are we going to get any acclaim. And potentially that's a lot of training, and not necessarily is that making us more fit or healthy for longevity purposes. But okay, so there's that. So those overachievers who love to do it— I'm among, among them— who are somehow hooked on endurance exercise. But to hear Christine say she's dedicating all the time and the energy and the effort not for her own benefit but to benefit someone else and provide the opportunity and the accessibility of it to them. That is just— it gave me chills to hear you say that. So very cool. Thank you. Apply the example that you are for all of us to selfless act of love, really.

Honestly, it feels so good. It feels selfish for me. I have to say, there's nothing better than seeing other people do things that they didn't think they could. And that's— there's something about it. Like, you just— I've done, um, you know, I've guided people before, and to see the smiles on their face when they finish— it could be a 5K, it could be something little, But to see anyone, it doesn't have to be a race, right? It could be just maybe a book or speaking or whatever they did. To see the fear before and to see the "I did it" after is just something, there's no words to describe it. I feel selfish because I get to see this and it's so powerful. To me, being able to share that message with people of, you know, with the IDEA Award, we talk about fear and we fear change, but when you surround yourself with people that believe in you, that will help you, it makes overcoming fear and embracing change something that's normal, something that you can do. And that's what I try and teach for people that say, "Hey, Christine, I've been diagnosed with whatever, now what?" And I said, "Just do something. Let's put something that you can look forward to on your calendar and laser focus." Everyone reads all these empowering books about mindset. That stuff, that's real. That's real, real stuff about staying positive and all the energy. It's very powerful. And I think if I could try and be an advocate for people that do have chronic illnesses and disabilities, then maybe that's part of my gift of my diagnosis was to see that and speak.

Love that. I love it. Okay, so given all the things you're doing, I mean, obviously you were busy before winning the award. You, you do a lot of international presenting as a fitness presenter, so you're flying around to lots of conferences and doing lots of speaking gigs, and you're also kind of involved in this training to be able to complete the Ironman as a guide. That's a big deal. You've got a family, and so you're juggling a lot of things. And that, for a lot of our listeners, is, you know, I think it's an obstacle they can throw up and say, you know, well, that's for somebody else, that's for somebody who isn't married and has kids. And what do you say to that, or how is it possible that you're able to juggle all the things?

Well, first of all, there's no such thing as perfect work-life balance. Okay, let's just be honest. Let's throw it out there to everybody. It has to be something that works for you. And I know people that get up at 3 in the morning and do trainings. Okay, that is not me. Not me. I'm like, I can't. No. So I actually, you know, sometimes, you know, I've had different professions where I would sneak in a workout at lunch. And I would sneak something in maybe in the morning or the evening. And, that's what's interesting is that people think that you have to devote 4 hours a day to work out and train. And, if you really think about your day and think about the time, and again, maybe I'm just using the example of training for a big race. It could be anything. You could be training to be fluent in Spanish. You could be, um, learning how to cook. Okay, it could be the hours that you want to accomplish something. They don't have to be all at once. You can have little slivers of time throughout the day that add up to something monumental. 15 minutes here, 5 minutes here, 30 minutes here. It's all about being organized. It's all about your planning. You get up in the morning and— I'm sorry, don't we get up in the morning and we go to the bathroom, we brush our teeth, right? We've got this routine. Put it in your schedule. What is it that you want? And the first year that I actually— I left teaching and, um, to do whatever I thought I was meant to do, which I still am trying to figure it out sometimes, but I was like, I took a sabbatical and I wrote something on the top of my calendar that I kept on my desk. And it said, is what you're doing working towards your goal? And I knew my goal. I wanted to be more of a speaker, an advocate, get my voice out there. I started a podcast and wrote the book and did all the things. But I kept looking at it. And if something came up on my email or a call or someone asked me for something, I would ask myself, I would look at that, I'd stare at it and say, is this working towards my goal? And there were many times I'd be sidetracked by things. It's like, oh, promote this or do this. And I'm like, okay, that is not working towards where I want to be. And you'd have to set that time because, yeah, it's important. Every night, almost every night, I have a shutoff time. And my husband— I love working, right? I love people. So my husband sometimes will come in and be like, ah, do you know what time it is? You need to like wrap it up. And I'm like, okay, just one more, you know. Um, but it's really important to shut down, have the time with the family, be able to at the, uh, you know, every Sunday, okay, what's the schedule for the week? Who's got a game where? Who do I need to drive this? Where are we getting dinner for whatever? It's planning. If you can plan ahead of time, you can accomplish anything. But what are you willing to do? Is it— do you have to sit in front of that television for 3 hours? How, how often are you sucked into your social media and all of a sudden you're like, oh my God, 20 minutes just went by? You could have been out there walking for 20 minutes. And these are the things that sometimes we don't realize are happening. So thinking about that bigger picture is kind of how I balance things at this point. What's worth it? Some things are money, some things are time, and you can't get back time.

Amen. So love that. What are some words or advice that you live by? I mean, when you get up in the day, And you've got a long list of to-do things that you want to do, really, and accomplish. I mean, what are words that keep you going that are really the big, maybe, personal mission?

So I always, always, always, I'm the "Yes, you can" girl. Now, I don't have it trademarked. However, back in the day, and I think you know this, Debra, Rick and Dick Hoyt, Tim Hoyt, the father who pushed his son who had ALS in all of these races to raise money and awareness for chronic conditions. They actually have trademarked "Yes You Can." And that was something that inspired people all over the world to donate money to research and to really come together for people with different disabilities. Started saying, "Yes, you can," I don't know, 15 years ago was my thing. And there's people that would come up in the supermarket and they'd be like, "Oh, Christine, yes, you can." So, I always think of like part of my legacy, I hope when I'm gone that people still remember, "Yes, you can." Because if you have a "yes, you can" mindset, it's going to make things a lot easier, whatever that may be that's in front of you. I do believe that anything, um, anything is possible. And that, and that, I love that, because anything is possible in a positive or negative way that I've learned so far in life, right? You're like, wow, I can't believe that happened, and you're like, well, anything's possible. But, or there's the other part where you're like, oh my gosh, and it, you know, anything is possible. So I think there's a, there's a split to that, um, and I do believe that you need to act. Um, when, when I sat down to— it's funny, it took me like 6 months to come up with the name of my book, and I went back and forth, back and forth, and, and finally I realized that, you know, when people ask you, you know, what makes you different, Christine? And I'm like, well, I act. I have it. I have this like feeling in my— yeah, out of my body, I don't know. And I act. And many times I act before I figure it all out. And that is scary for a lot of people. It's courage is what it is. And I came up with this term called split-second courage, and it's the courage to act. And guess what? Then you figure it out. And for many people, they don't act. They don't do the things they want to. They don't you know, get out of that abusive relationship or quit that job that's making them sick or whatever it is because they don't act. They think, oh my gosh, what, what? Well, figure it out. If you want to be happy in life, you're going to have to act and then you're gonna have to figure it out. So it's kind of that split-second courage is what I like to say that we all need to have and we can work on little by little. Like we talked about before, a little, little fear can lead us to facing bigger fears. But those are the things I think of on a daily basis.

Love that. Love that so much. Okay, listeners, for you to go and connect with Christine, Christine, can you let us know where's the best place for them to follow you, find out more about you?

Easiest thing to do is you can go to my website and it's Conti, C-O-N-T-I, fit, F-I-T, so contifit.com. Uh, lots of information is on there. Of course, I am on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and TikTok and all the things, right? Really, I'm very easy to find. Um, but I would love, um, also, you know, as well as listening to Debra, um, I'm one of the Two Fit Crazies in a Microphone podcast, so twofitcrazies.com. As well. And then I run an international women's group, um, which is— which we're going to have Debra, uh, be a featured speaker. She just doesn't know it yet. Um, very soon. And, um, that is RTWtribe.com. So all that info is all over. And I appreciate you, Deb.

Well, thank you so much. Thanks so much for being here. Okay, listeners, now it's up to you.. So you can find the show notes and that'll have all the links that Christine just mentioned. So it's there for you. If you're working out, you're walking, we got you covered. Definitely if you're driving, don't go there now. You'll go to flipping50.com/swingingforthefence. And if you are a health or fitness pro, you're going to want to tune in tomorrow to She Means Fitness Business for the behind the scenes details. And what are you waiting for? Let's start Flipping 50 today.