Females Over 45 Fitness with Kelli Reilly

Kelli Reilly has poured all her passion and purpose into creating Females Over 45 Fitness which aims to make women over 45 stronger and fitter into their older years. 

Kelli is proof that even in our 50s we can go back to study, launch a successful business and follow our dreams. 

I’m delighted to welcome Kelli around the warm table to learn more about her life as a country girl and farmer, and to share with you what happens at the FOFF gym – what exactly is this fabulous fitness formula that Kelli has created especially for mature women?

Females Over 45 Fitness is the inaugural sponsor of My Warm Table Podcast, partnering with us in Season 2.  Warmest thanks to Kelli for supporting My Warm Table.

Warm thanks to:
Sponsor: Females Over Forty-five Fitness in Victoria Park
Sound Engineering: Damon Sutton
Music: William A Spence
... and all our generous and inspiring guests around the warm table this season!

Transcript

Sonia Nolan: 0:00

Welcome to My Warm Table. I'm Sonia Nolan and season two of this podcast about passion and purpose is brought to you by Females Over 45 Fitness or FOFF, in Victoria Park

Introductory Voice Over of Previous Guests: 0:14

My name is Kate Chaney. My name is Bonnie Davies. My name is Madeleine King. My name is Valerio Fantinelli. My name is Lyn Beazley. My name is Alexandra Helen Flanagan Hi, my name is Sharon Todd. My name is Lucy Cooke and I'm the CEO of SpaceDraft. I'm the first Aboriginal female funeral director. CEO and founder of Motion by the Ocean. I'm a psychologist and a professor in psychology at Curtin University. CEO and founder of Lionheart Camp for Kids. Around My Warm Table. Or listening on Sonia Nolan's My Warm Table. Just sharing a yarn with her.

Sonia Nolan: 0:37

I'm so thankful that season two of My Warm Table is sponsored by Females Over 45 Fitness, or FOFF, as it's lovingly called. The theme of our podcast this season is passion and purpose. And so when looking for a sponsor who might be the perfect fit, I couldn't go past Kelli Reilly, who is the founder and head coach of Females Over 45 Fitness in Victoria Park. Kelli has poured all her passion and purpose into FOFF, which aims to make women over 45 stronger and fitter into their older years. Kelli is proof that even in our 50s we can go back to study, launch a successful business and follow our dreams. So I'm delighted to welcome Kelli around the Warm Table to learn more about her life as a country girl and farmer and to share with you what happens at the FOFF gym. What exactly is that fabulous fitness formula that Kelli has created, especially for mature women? And I've got the pleasure of having a conversation with Kelli Reilly who is the founder and the head coach of Females Over 45 Fitness in Victoria Park. So Kelli, welcome to My Warm Table.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 1:49

Hi, Son. How are you going, love?

Sonia Nolan: 1:51

I'm good. And I want to hear all about your story. Because through the gym, through the you know, the days that I come along, I hear little pockets of your life. And it's so interesting, Kelli, what you've done, and what you've created, and how I guess you just woke up one day and said,"You know what, I'm just going to do it." So tell me about who is Kelli Reilly and how did you get here?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 2:14

Oh gosh.

Sonia Nolan: 2:15

Big question.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 2:16

Yeah, well, I'm a farm kid. Born and bred. Originally from Pingelly, married a farmer in Wyalkatchem, was married 27 years to him, had an amazing life. But then things started to change. And, yeah, I got to the point where I wasn't putting myself first. I wasn't prioritising me, got into my 50s, I was like, where am I going? What am I doing?

Sonia Nolan: 2:45

Where have the last 50 years gone? I don't even know what that means, but keep going.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 2:46

Yeah, and my kids definitely massive priority. My husband massive priority. My farm life, being So I've got this auger that feeds grain into very involved in the farm truck driving, fencing, sheep work, you name it, everything. But I sort of lost myself to everyone else. And I would probably say everything else. And you only get one chance at life, I think. And it can come out of the blue like that where it hits you. And that's what it did to me. I remember I was sitting out in the middle of the paddock, I was feeding sheep in my truck. And a spanner -because the pulley wheel came off the auger. So I was trying... our sheep feeder, and the rubber wheel came off the pulley, I was trying to get it back on with a spanner. And that spanner fell through the chassis of the truck, onto the ground. And I just look, it kept going, "Ding ding ding" down onto the ground. I just burst into tears. And I sat down at the truck for about 10 minutes and just cried my heart out. And that was my moment where I went, wow. I've got to look after myself. Because if I don't look after myself, who's going to do it? So that's when I went, what do I need? What do I need for me? And I think that's where women in their 50s, late 40s 50s get like, I need to do this, but I don't have time. But we need to get that time. And this is why the ladies at FOFF now. It's not something that they will go, "oh yeah I can't go, oh yeah, I'll go and do that for you." It's like "no. I'm going to FOFF. This is my time, I'm going." That's where they get to because they realise how important it is. So if you can't even attend FOFF, you've got to give yourself that time. Ladies, it's just you got to do it. It's just so important to us. And that's where my time to shine came into FOFF as well. So yeah, I left my marriage. Still have a fantastic relationship with my ex husband. But I needed to prioritise me and what I wanted in my life. And I went to Perth and I did my Cert three, Cert four. I had all the skill sets. I just needed the piece of paper there.

Sonia Nolan: 5:16

For personal training?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 5:17

For personal training, that was my goal. I want to get into the fitness regime with women. I went to Bolt Fitness to do a boxing session, and I met the owner there, Ceri Cummings. And he said, "I here you're a fitness trainer." I said, "Yeah, yeah." And he goes, "What do you want to do?" And I went, "I would love to train women. I'd love to train women over 45 - we're that forgotten group, you know, we still want to work, we still want to do things. We still want to be fit and healthy and active. But you know, we don't necessarily want to go into a gym with everyone else and younger people and that." And he goes, "Oh, right. Okay." And then he came back to me and six weeks later, I started a business there. Females Over 45 Fitness, and that's it. And it is a passion. Because I think we are that forgotten age group. I think we've got so much that we want to do for ourselves. But we just feel we don't have time to give ourselves. And this is why FOFF's so important, because it is your time, that one hour block to work out. That's you, you yourself your own time, and energy, and you just go for it - my time to shine, you only get one chance. So just use it.

Sonia Nolan: 6:33

It's so true, Kelli, and when you talk about, we still want to be fit, and we still want to be active. I know personally, I don't particularly want to be training with a gorgeous 24 year old who can do all sorts of things that there's no way I could do anymore. And I feel really self conscious. And I know when I first reached out to you, Kelli, back in a couple of - about a year ago now. And I you know sort of middle of winter, and you've got the winter blues. And I just sort of thought I just need to do something. And I rang and I said"I just want to come in, I just want to do my workout. And then I just want to leave. I don't you know, I just want somewhere that I feel safe to work out. But you know, I just want to keep my head down and get fit." And you just laughed because you said "that's absolutely not what we do at FOFF, we make friends and we're a community." And that's absolutely what's been my experience.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 7:26

Yeah, like you work out regularly now. 7am session and if you've ever been into a mainstream gym, and you walk in and everyone's got like their headsets in, the heads down, walking around the gym, not talking not everything. You walk into the FOFF studio, and it's like a chookyard. And you've got girls just standing around chatting away before the workout. Yes, when we get into our workout, you're all in it. You're all there. You're all putting in your efforts. And then at the end of it, you'll stand around your chat again and some go off and have coffee and catch up but we both do the connection within the studio. And outside of it. And this is why FOFF, I think is more than just a workout. It is a sisterhood. It is a community, the ladies ages range from what 45 through to 78. And like for me, I'm in my post menopausal age now. And I've got so many women I can talk about things like hot flushes, sweats, you know, aching joints, bloating, fluid retention.

Sonia Nolan: 8:27

You're in good company.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 8:28

Brain fog, my massive one is brain fog. And I've got people that understand me and that's probably why the women love it because they feel heard, they feel understood. And they just feel safe and comfortable. And know there's absolutely no judgement and I love it. I love seeing all these women come in and the sight - they just are so inspiring, the stories that the ladies tell me are just so inspiring and so wow, wow this is awesome.

Sonia Nolan: 8:57

They are inspiring aren't they? You've got people who have, you know, had hysterectomies and need to get back into some sort of fitness after feeling you know really, really average before then, you've got women who've recovered from accidents who, you know, need to again rebuild their fitness and you know, lucky to have a second chance of life. You've got women who are a lot more postmenopausal or very menopausal and wondering what is going on with my body. And it is, it's such a safe space to have those conversations and have a laugh about them as well. I mean, the things you hear in there are definitely you know, you know, women - not women's only talk but it is just a very safe space to have a laugh about you know what's going on post 45, post 50.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 9:42

Look, we've got ladies that are going through separations. Like with me, and they've got ladies that they can talk to about it, who understand their side of it. We've got ladies with fibromyalgia osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis. Hip replacements, knee replacements, ladies with social anxiety issues, I have one member who joined who has a social anxiety disorder. And it's now completely settled. And she's absolutely blown away. And yeah, she's just going, it's just changed my whole life. Ladies with fibromyalgia, I had a new lady join the other day and she said, look, I've got a issue with my fibro, do you have other members with fibro? I said I do. So I reached out to the other member, and they're now chatting about their fibro. So they've got commonality, to be able to go, Hey, I'm having this issue. How do you cope with it? And so they've just got that little sisterhood amongst themselves to be able to communicate. So there's so many elements in there. And when you see, oh these ladies blow my mind, ladies in their 70s. And you've seen them yourself.

Sonia Nolan: 10:56

I have. I'm inspired. Totally inspired.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 10:58

I just go, I want to be her. And this is where you've got ladies in their 40s working out with ladies in their 70s. And these ladies in the 70s, they're doing the most amazing things in their workouts. And I go, I want to be her, because they're inspiring us as young ladies to go, age is just a number. You can either use it or you lose it.

Sonia Nolan: 11:21

That's the key, isn't it, use it or lose it. And especially as we're getting older, if we do not use those muscles, and increase our strength training, I've learned all this from you, Kelli, you know, we really have to do something. And look I never realised, I just didn't realise. I just thought you're going to get older, you're going to get you know, cuddlier and you're going to you know, just age. But now I - look I haven't lost a lot of weight. But I've definitely got stronger, and feel so much more confident. So it really is this mindset and this understanding of how important strength is.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 11:58

Like I know, when you first started, your shape, everything.

Sonia Nolan: 12:04

I couldn't do anything. Oh my God the thought of the plank horrified me.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 12:07

Everything that you do from when you first

Sonia Nolan: 12:08

Yeah and it's interesting. You mentioned started, is you've totally changed. You can see it in the way you bounce into the room now. The confidence that you have amongst all these other ladies and how you're working out, it's all evolved, and it's going to keep evolving, it's just going to get better, and you're going to get stronger. And then it's like when you're in your 80s and 90s. Hopefully, we're not in Zimmer frames and wheelchairs and we can still go up and down stairs, well, we can still play with the grandkids and get up and get down off the floor quite easily. And that's what we need to do. We've got to think, it's not about now it's like what we're trying to protect in the future. grandkids, because I know conversations with some of the ladies have been about I just want to be able to play with my grandkids or do you know what now I'm able to to lift my two year old grandson now because, you know, I'm so much stronger and fitter. And so it's all of those sorts of conversations and all of those things that you know, we maybe take for granted, that are actual real part of our lives that we need to really maintain and think through.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 13:09

Yeah, because yeah, ladies come in, not all of them come in like, I want to get fit, toned, stronger, lose weight, whatever it's like purely either to de stress or,"Hey, look, I can't pick my grandkids up. I want to get stronger just for that." So yeah, they all come in for different reasons. But they all get more than just what they're thinking they need out of the workout. It's yes, you get a physical, you get that emotional workout, you get that mental health workout as well. And that is even a huge part of the programme. That mental health section is a major part of FOFF as well. So even for myself, because yes, I suffer from depression and anxiety and I have not spoken about it for over 10 years. Now I'm at FOFF, I'm actually sharing me, I'm actually being real. And I'm open to discuss depression and anxiety and the impacts that it has on myself. And then that's going well if she's talking about it...

Sonia Nolan: 14:12

Makes it okay.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 14:13

It's okay, I'm in a safe place to say hey, look, I know, I hear you, because this is what I'm going through. So it's this whole nother dynamic within FOFF yet again. So yeah, it's it's an amazing place to be.

Sonia Nolan: 14:27

It really is and that friendship and those relationships cultivated inside the walls of the gymnasium. They actually hold us all accountable because I know that if I can't turn up for whatever reason, because life happens or you know, you've got to look after an ageing parent or you have to, you know, look after your kids or whatever work commitment, whatever it is, that means that you can't turn up to a particular session. We all feel accountable to each other. So there's a little Whatsapp group and we go in there say sorry, I'm not going to be there tomorrow and every one cares about where you are and what you're doing, and you feel you need to turn up because of those relationships in that class. So I don't know that I would have kept going without that community. Because it's so easy to drop out of the gym, isn't it? It'd so easy to just sort of say, Oh, it's too hard. You know, I don't feel like it's working. Or it's working. But it's hard. And I feel hurt. Everything hurts after my session.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 15:30

Yeah that muscle fatigue. And this is like one member. With that 7am group. She goes, I don't just go to work out now. She said, It's not a chore. She said, I go there, because I've got all my friends are there. I want to catch up with my friends. So yeah, it's - I love the environment, I love what it's even building more into, it's just evolving all the time. And yes, the ladies are really looking out for each other.

Sonia Nolan: 16:03

Could you have imagined, Kelli, when you sort of decided and we had that sort of, you know, unexpected conversation with Ceri in the gym while you're doing your boxing class, that this is what would have manifested?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 16:15

No, no. Because I did my Cert three, Cert four to go right, I'm going to do my own little PT business, or work with within a gym environment, and then get clients in that way. But soon as I met Ceri, and he's an amazing man with his own businesses. And then he inspires me to just go follow your dream. And I was like, this is it, Females Over 45 Fitness got created after a conversation. And then six weeks later, bang, we have this business up and going and we're at 175 members now. And it's still growing.

Sonia Nolan: 16:53

And you've only been going two years, haven't you? Just celebrated your second birthday a couple of, few weeks ago. And yeah, yeah, two years and memberships growing. So we've talked a lot about the social element, which definitely is a key factor of FOFF and something that is really special. But tell us about the actual work, the workout, the thing we're supposed to do in there not just chat like the chookyard?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 17:18

Yes. Look FOFF has three elements to it, we do a bit of cardio, and we do strength work. Okay. So as we age, we need to retain our muscle mass. If we don't retain our muscle mass, we get more of the fat content. Okay, and where do women store fat mostly, around our bellies, the dreaded meno belly. And that's probably one of the most common things ladies come up and go Kell, I just want to get rid of this. And it's like, "Well, okay, it's probably taken you 10 or 15 years to get this." Because I said, if you haven't done strength training, leading into your 40s, and 50s, it's going to take time, unless you want to go on some strict diet and count your calories. And then then you stop it, and then everything comes back on again. FOFF is about doing it so you have a lifestyle choice, you're not having to count calories, weigh food and all that, it's just about having a great healthy lifestyle with health and fitness in it. So we have a spin bike section. So yep, working on that cardio aspect, but it's also working on your leg strength.

Sonia Nolan: 18:28

And on that, look, I remember jumping on the bike the first time and you know, riding the bike. And you know, I don't love spin cycles. And you know, one of the exercises, we had to stand up on the bike, and I could not stand, I think it took me about six to seven weeks Kelli, before I was able to actually stand up and cycle on the bike. So yeah, it was and I felt so excited when I could, when I could stand up on the bike. That's how bad I was when I started.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 18:56

And a lot of ladies, we lose that leg strength. So and then you've got grandkids and you've got no leg strength, but you want to be able to get up and get down off the floor with them. You got to have that leg strength, then you do the floor workout. Now that changes every single time you come to the studio. It's never the same.

Sonia Nolan: 19:12

Always new toys.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 19:13

Oh yes, lots of new toys. And I do that so that you don't get bored. There's no point doing the same workout day in day out because"I didn't like that one on Monday. I'm not going on on Wednesday." So we constantly change it up.

Sonia Nolan: 19:28

We've got a new one we can't like. A new one to hate, yay.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 19:33

But you're always working your upper, your middle and your lower body. So yes, we've got really quite weak upper body strength. So we're working on that. Core strength we really need to up that and then our leg strength. So all of those elements come into your workout and it's either using your own bodyweight or using easy to use gym equipment. It's stuff you can even utilise at home. And then the third element which I would probably say would be the ladies favourite would be the boxing.

Sonia Nolan: 20:01

Love the boxing, and I never thought I would.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 20:04

And I've had ladies reach out and go "oh I don't like boxing. No, no, I'm not gonna like it" I said, "look come and do a trial, you know, try before you buy, I don't mind," you know, I want you to be happy with your workout, if you don't like it, that's fine. They get in and go "oh the boxing sections my favourite," because it is a stress release, and it is a cardio, and it can be your strength component as well. And the ladies get so much out of it. And for me like I like to real power punch. So yeah, the ladies see the way I punch or I box and it's like, ooh I want to do that. So we develop your techniques to get you to that point, if that's what you're wanting to do. And yeah, I find the boxing is probably the most amazing section of the workout. Because you do you see the ladies, they ust get so in the zone when they're boxing.

Sonia Nolan: 20:57

I think there's a real emotional release or, you know, sort of like if you've had a bad day or you know, things aren't going too well, like the boxing is so therapeutic. The way that the boxing is set up. So I think this is interesting, because I've tried to describe the box master to people, you're gonna have to look up, Google'box master', and you'll see exactly what it is. But it's not just a punching bag. How would you describe it?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 21:28

you've got your hooks. So you've got numbers, numbers one through four at the top. And it's a particular number is what you punch, to do a particular actual action like a boxing technique, then we go into the core section, which is like literally at your belly button height, which is four numbers. And it really works on the main core muscles and the sides of your core. And then down the bottom is working on your leg strength, and your rotation through your hips, through your knees. So these lower numbers, which are out wider, which is like a low hookshot. So these boxing elements really work so many aspects of your body, it is a full body workout.

Sonia Nolan: 22:10

It really is, when you get going and of course the music's pumping in the background. And it just seems for me, Kelli, and I don't know if you do it on purpose, but every time I get to the box master, it's a faster beat.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 22:23

There's a good tempo to it.

Sonia Nolan: 22:24

A huge tempo that you're just absolutely trying to you know, do your jab, your hooks and all of that. And you absolutely are going up and down that sort of box master rhythm to get a full body workout, like you said.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 22:37

Well with the box master. It's not probably used as a traditional boxing technique is what Ray Fazio would have developed. But what we use the boxing for is stability, balance, core strength, hand eye coordination, memory retention. Holy moly, like when you have a number sequence like 12346511 and 10. And you have a new member in there. And they're like, uhhh.

Sonia Nolan: 23:01

Yeah, it totally stumped me when I first started, thought "oh, my gosh, am I losing my marbles? Because I can't even get this sequence right." And that was a real revelation for me. And so even that, you know, really getting your brain active is an important part of what you're

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 23:15

One of my 70 year old members said the other doing. day with the boxing, she's finding that because she's using a lot of her core strength with the boxing is actually helping her pelvic floor as well. So and she's got really bad brain fog issues. And she said, it's helping her in that aspect. So there's so much to it. And it is, it's just helps ladies in so many areas, with stability, balance, the coordination aspects of it, using your feet work, using not just your arm strength, but using- building your core strength to be able to box with more power. So as the ladies first start, they will mainly just use their arms to box. Once they realise that, oh, I've got a core, then they activate the core as well. So these whole development of seeing these women and how they work out and they develop, like your own technique alone from when you started.

Sonia Nolan: 24:13

Think I was like a dying cockroach to start with. Arms flaying everywhere.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 24:16

And now seeing you, you know, with the shoulder rotation, the hip rotation, the knee movements, everything and you're hitting now with more power. And you're building that core strength which is in turn, your shape is changing you're getting stronger in so many areas, both upper middle and lower body. So yeah, those three elements, the bike, the floor, and the boxing. That's what we're all about.

Sonia Nolan: 24:41

They're a winner. And it's not just the fact that they are there but you've got your programme which is high intensity. Can you walk me through that?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 24:58

Yes. So we do a 40 Second of a workout. And then we have a 20 second rest, so that the ladies can just get that high energy workout. So yes, it's not about going fast repetitions, it's about time under tension. So we're getting you using either weights or using slam balls or using booty bends, whatever it is we've got, bench work, and we're trying to get you to do time under tension to really activate those muscles. Okay, and yes, using a weight, that's not too light. But it's at your range. Like we've got ladies using one kilo weights, I've got ladies using 17 and a half kilo weights. But you're all working within your capabilities.

Sonia Nolan: 25:40

And it's not competitive. I think that's the other point that's really important to pop in there is that, you know, even though I might be using a four kilo or a three kilo or a 17, it doesn't matter. No one else cares. In fact, when they see someone doing well, there's this great celebration among the women to say, "Hey, I saw you do that plank. That's amazing. Well done." Or you know, "oh my gosh, you've just used a 10 kilo for the Russian Twist. Wow." Everyones really encouraging of each other rather than competitive.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 26:11

Yep, definitely. We've got another member, she's in her 70s. She'd go "Kell, I've got no ab strength." She couldn't even do a plank for four seconds. And she says that I can't even plank for four seconds. Now she's six weeks in and she's doing 40 second plank. And she's just blown away. She's like "wow I actually do have abs." We have a lot of ladies that haven't joined, I say "Hey, come in and just watch a session. The ladies don't mind if you come in." And I had a lady come in earlier this week. And she sat down she went, "you're all normal." And I went, "What do you mean?" she goes, "you're all normal shapes and sizes."

Sonia Nolan: 26:49

And you're not wearing design a gym gear.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 26:51

And I go"yeah, we're just normal women, we've all got jiggly bits. We've all got things that aren't in the exact right spot. But this is why the ladies love it because they they feel understood." Yes, we've got things in the wrong areas, but we're working on them. We're working, we're walking through that door. That's all that matters. The fact you're walking through that door and going, if I don't use it, I'm going to lose it. I'm going to look after myself. And you're working out how you need to work out that suits you. Your body. And that's it.

Sonia Nolan: 27:23

Just jumping back now. Sorry, I took you down a path. I did I took you down a path to talk about other

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 27:26

Oh did you? things. But I want to get back to the actual session. So the high intensity. So it's 40 seconds of high intensity. Time under tension, and then 20 seconds to recover. And you'll do that four times. Yep. So we have each work - Each round has three sections to it, which is the boxing, the bike and the floor. You work out on each element for four minutes. So it's a 40 second workout, 20 second rest, 40 second workout, 20 second rest and that 20 second rest some ladies go "oh it's too long," but it's like"okay for you, it might be too long. So you work out five seconds before the 40 seconds starts and five seconds after." But some ladies need that time to either get up off the floor.

Sonia Nolan: 28:13

I was going to say, 20 seconds is just enough to get up off the floor and start the next one.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 28:18

Some of us have knee issues. So that 20 seconds, suits them. So if we're wanting to push you harder, you can do a 50 second and have a 10 second break. And those that need that 20 seconds, they need that 20 seconds. So we can balance it out for everybody. So four minutes on the bike, four minutes on the floor, for minutes boxing, we have about a minute rest, the girls all like chat away like oh, I got through that one. Right, then we start the next round where I demonstrate everything because no exercise is done without the demonstration. Because yes, we want to make sure you don't injure yourself. And we walk the floor, we check your form out. So yeah, there's lots of things that come into it. So we do three rounds, you get a warm up at the beginning, as well. And we do a cooldown at the end. So the whole workout is completely supervised. And you learn exercises to warm up with and you learn exercises to cool down with them. Protein, ladies, get that protein into you. Because protein is massive. Like even as a general rule, as we start going through menopause or into our 40s we need to keep our protein intake up because protein helps with that muscle. And if we don't have that muscle, we lose that muscle and we get more fat. And then our fat stores generally come around our core, around our thighs, then onto our arms as well. And then it's I want to get rid of it now. It's okay, well, have you been doing strength training in your late 30s and 40s? "Oh, no, no, I was raising the kids. I was doing this whatever." We need to educate women to keep up strength training, right from late 30s into their 40s and beyond because the meno belly side of it, we can assist that to a degree with keeping up that muscle. And I think if GP's got out there and said, right ladies, even in your 30s go,"Right. Do you want to not have a menopausal belly when you're in your 50s?" And they go, "Oh, hell no. I don't want that." Because women think that's a given. Oh yeah, you get to menopause, you're gonna get a meno belly. But necessarily, that's not the case. Because if we can keep that muscle mass really good, which keeps your metabolism up, which then burns the calories, which gives you a good resting metabolism rate to then keep your body burning calories, then when you exercise, you get a good calorie burn, keeps that muscle mass up. If it's strength training you're doing, that's even better. Because that's going into so many other aspects with your bone density, and all those things that we're needing to look after, as well. So if GP's were really on the ball, they should be saying to us, ladies, let's keep up strength training. Don't just walk around the block. Yeah, okay, go for your walk, that's great. But keep doing some form of strength training, it is so important for your health, getting into your 50s. So that's, that's another little passion that I'm going to get into.

Sonia Nolan: 31:19

I can hear the passion, Kelli. It's just beautiful. And you know, our Season Two for My Warm Table is about passion and purpose. And that's why you're the perfect sponsor to come on board. Because your passion for fitness and your passion for women as we age is so evident in everything you do. And then you put it into this purpose of actually starting FOFF and just seeing where it's all going. And it's blossoming way beyond your expectations.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 31:47

Yes, it is growing.

Sonia Nolan: 31:50

It's pretty special, Kelli, what you've created.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 31:52

Yeah, I know.

Sonia Nolan: 31:52

It really is from a farm girl who was already working out like I just think you're amazing, full stop. When I think about you on the farm, you were doing your squats, when you were fencing, and you were lifting heavy things. And like all the things that you do on a farm is incredibly physical.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 32:11

So I'm in shape yards with quite large sheep. And yeah, I'm a born and bred country kid. And yes, it is a very big strength activity. So yeah, I can do a lot of things that probably a lot of women my age, strength-wise can't do. But when they see me work out in the studio, they go, "Oh, wow. Well, she's pretty strong." And it's like "Okay, well, I'm here, I want to get to this next weight. And then from that next weight, I want to get to the next one," and you're doing it at your own rate. And you'll get stronger and stronger and stronger as you go.

Sonia Nolan: 32:55

Without having to lift a merino sheep.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 32:57

Without having to lift a merino sheep. And yeah.

Sonia Nolan: 33:01

Tell me more about your time on the farm.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 33:03

Oh gosh, like it is. Farming is an amazing life. When it's good, it's good. When the weather's against you, it can be pretty sad, but I find farmers would probably have to be the most resilient people. Because, you know, on the farm in Wyalkatchem, we had like six or seven years of real drought conditions. My son when he was six years old, we were driving up our driveway one day, and he went, "mum, mum look at that." I'm going "what?" He goes, "it's so green," and he was six, and he'd never seen a mass of green in the paddocks. So yeah, so we'd had a lot of years of really low rainfall. And it was, so he was six years old before he actually saw masses of green pasture. But yeah, for the kids and myself and even Marcus, it's an amazing way to bring up kids, because you've got, you got this element that they are allowed to really evolve themselves in so many areas, like I've taught the kids to do fencing, drive trucks, front end loaders, crutch sheep, sheer sheep, driver a header, you know, Chase had been driving. So let alone my oldest daughter who's a nurse, she also can do all of these farming elements. So as kids, they're not being pigeon holed into an area. She can be whatever she wants, because she's learned that yeah, this is a main mainly a male domain in agriculture, but that's changing. Women are getting so much more involved in agriculture in their own way. And I'm so glad to see that because we have so much to give. And I would be at RAM sales and that and I'd be going around and I'd be checking out you know, their micron and everything and looking through and I'd be marking which one I wanted and then the stock agent would come upand go "what you doing, Kell?""God. Well, I think this one," he'd go "ooh, okay. Yep. Okay." And then we go in and we'd bid on it. And this is all because of what I wanted, all the detail that I was looking at, for my sheep breeding on our farm. And Marcus would allow me to do that. And then we would build our flock up. Get the guy, and then it was just fantastic. Got into the fat line, getting rid of the lambs through the market for fat sheep, fat lambs. And yeah, and then I would just go right fencings next, because we've got lots of shape. And then I'd get out on that fencing run and teach the kids all the fencing so they can do it all themselves now. They can site in, they can get the posts in, they can put the strainers in.

Sonia Nolan: 35:48

It's incredible. And so did you grow up on the farm as well? Not with an actual shear.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 35:51

Yeah. Pingelly born and bred, my mum No, no. And yeah. And then my dad taught me and dad have been in Pingelly all their lives. I've got two brothers still on the farm down there. And we had lots of sheep. to shear as well. And because I'm left handed, so that was Every week. Yeah, Mum and I were the sheep gurus, mostly, the boys would be doing other things. But Mum and I would be in the sheep yards, drenching sheep or backlighting sheep or doing stuff with the sheep. And there was a lot of weeks in the shearing shed. I'd stand up on the rails in the shearing shed. And I'd remember watching the shearers and I'd go and I'd practice you know, I'd get the dog and I'd practice shearing on the dog. really interesting trying to teach a left handed with shearing. But yeah, Dad and I, and we - Dad and I would work in the shearing together crutching sheep. Yeah. And yeah. And then after that, I left the farm, moved basically, or from Pingelly to Perth. And then I met Marcus in 1993. And we got married 1994, I did lots of travelling overseas, worked overseas for 12 months, went all around the US and that so I did the big travel abroad stuff. But married farmer and moved to Wyalkatchem, got a job there in the local Shire. And then when kids came along, I went right I want to be a mum full time, I didn't want to go back to work. Didn't want to miss those key moments. So I was lucky to be able to work on the farm and I would, I'd take the kids with me everywhere.

Sonia Nolan: 37:34

It's also a choice. I know a lot of people say you're lucky to be able to stay home with your children. And for some that is the case, but it's also a choice.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 37:42

Yes, it was definitely a choice. I didn't want to miss that first word or that first stand or that first - unless there was probably, I could have, but I think I got those firsts because once those firsts go, you never get it back. And this is why it's so important to me to try and get the first, the first hockey game of the season or the first football game of the season for that year. Because yeah, they rarely come back and you never know when it's all potentially going to stop. So yeah, it's an amazing life. It's a lot of kilometres because this is what the ladies talk about even now that I live in Baker's Hill, and I drive an hour to get to work. And like that's so far. It's like, well no, it's not really because in the country, where I live in Wyalkatchem where it's like an hour to a physiotherapist. That could be an hour to a chemist, hour to a hairdresser. That could be you know, grocery shopping, I'd always try and buy local because you need your local stores, so I'd buy local but parts, you know parts could be a two hour drive to get parts for machineries. To play sport. That was a two hour drive to get to sport some days so an hour's drive it's like "Oh, okay, off we go, get in the car and off we go."

Sonia Nolan: 39:00

So what time does your day start? I know as a farmer your day would start early anyway but what time does-what does your day start like as a FOFF trainer.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 39:08

Okay, so for me I get up at quarter at five in the morning. I'll have my protein intake, my shakes and that in the morning and then I will get in the car by half past five. I get to work by half past six, girls will start rocking in at half past six. I coach from seven until 10:30 in the morning then I do either my admin or my sales or my social media or member follow ups through till quarter to four, then I coach from four o'clock through to 7:30pm Clean up. Get in the car at eight o'clock, drive home and get home at nine o'clock, feed the dogs, feed the cat, feed the horses, lock the chooks up. Come inside.

Sonia Nolan: 39:54

When do you collect the eggs?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 39:55

Ah, the eggs. Yeah cause the ladies love my eggs.

Sonia Nolan: 39:57

Yes we do.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 39:58

So yeah, I collect the eggs in the evening, because I take the Jack Russells in there because we've got rats issues. So the Jackie's love to come in and look for the rats while I'm shutting everything up and collecting the eggs. And then I bring the eggs down to the ladies and I give them to the members, and they always"oh, I should pay you" I go,"No," I said, "I've got all these eggs" all farm free range eggs, take them. And I've got one member, we swap, I give her eggs, she gives me plants. So we've got this little barter system going. And it's so good because I've got all these plants in my garden now. And they've all come from her.

Sonia Nolan: 40:33

We're gonna have a FOFF market.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 40:34

Well, that's it. I think a little market could be up and going because yeah, that's just, I don't know, what country people, you know, we share it all. We're all just connect in so many different ways. It's amazing.

Sonia Nolan: 40:50

Any tips for us? I know that you know, as part of our series this season, we're going to have a little tip from you, after every one of our episodes so that you can continue to inspire us with your wisdom and knowledge about what we need to do as we age and some of the important things that we should know. And but is there anything really striking that you want us to remember?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 41:15

Right, well, basically, you only get to live once. And if you're at that point where it's like, Where have I put myself, am I at the top of the list, or am I at the bottom of the list? And you've got to put yourself up the top because if you don't look after you, and you fall in a heap, what's going to happen to everything else? And that's what happened to me, is I put myself at the bottom of the list, and I fell into a heap. And I had nowhere to go. So I had to step back and go, I can't do this anymore. I need to look after myself. And it is a conscious decision, it can be a hard decision. But if you don't prioritise at least one hour up to three days a week, if possible to you. Because one hour workout three days a week is less than one day a month, you're giving yourself purely for you. That's less than a day a month, out of a 30 day or 31 day month.

Sonia Nolan: 42:17

That's a good way to calculate it, isn't it?

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 42:18

So three sessions a week working out at FOFF, even if it's any exercise, any strength workout, walking around in the park, and then stop and do a strength section. And then continue your walk, whatever you're having to do whatever you can fit in, try and fit it in, you have to give yourself me time. Because if you don't look after you, you're not going to be able to do everything else that you need to do, which is probably chase the kids around for sport or the husband doing something here or going out for an event or having some function at home or organising some thing at work. So if you can't even attend FOFF, you've got to give yourself that time. Ladies, it's just you got to do it. It's just so important to us.

Sonia Nolan: 43:05

Kelli, I'm so grateful that you decided to do something for you. That was then going to make you live your purpose and your passion. Because what you've done is that has just absolutely overflowed into everybody else that you've been able to touch and encourage so, for me personally, thank you. And on behalf of everybody at FOFF I know that, you know, we're all so much stronger and better because of your dream. So...

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 43:38

Thank you.

Sonia Nolan: 43:38

Thank you so much for being a guest on My Warm Table. And continue on with all of your passion and purpose in taking FOFF to wherever it's going to blossom next.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 43:50

Thank you. Yeah, watch this space.

Sonia Nolan: 43:53

Thanks for joining me Sonia Nolan around the Warm Table. Let's grow the community. Please follow My Warm Table podcast on socials and like and share this episode with your family and friends. My Warm Table is brought to you by Females Over 45 Fitness. Keep listening now for a health tip from FOFF head coach Kelli Reilly.

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 44:18

Hi ladies, it's Kelli here, the founder and head coach of Females Over 45 Fitness or FOFF for short. Ageing. Did you know about each decade women put on about 5.4 kilos? Okay, so if you're wanting to really try and keep that weight increase down, really try and keep up your exercise regime. As we age in menopause, strength training is really what we need to do. So if you can try and get some strength training into your day and into your week, that would be fantastic. Just remember, if we don't use it, we lose it. Let's keep exercising. Remember ladies, it's your time to shine.