This week, I sit down with Fitz Koehler of The Fitzness Show, and author of the book My Noisy Cancer Comeback.
On her podcast, Fitz talks about the smart, crazy, effective and fun stuff in fitness. Fitz is also an author and TV personality, and has an incredible story to share about her breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent journey, which we talk about in this episode.
Topics up for discussion this week include:
Settle back for a fun, engaging, moving, and uplifting chat about motivation and finding your formula to survive.
Connect with Fitz:
Contact me: danny@podcasterstories.com
My equipment:
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Nobody told me XYZ was gonna happen. So they tell
Speaker:you up front with chemo. Oh, you might feel sick.
Speaker:You might be extra tired. You might be bald. Nobody
Speaker:tells you that your eyes may change colors or that
Speaker:your fingernails may rod out while on your hands and
Speaker:stink to high hell. Nobody's told me any of those
Speaker:things. So as the accumulation of side effects became the
Speaker:size of a mountain, I CA I, it turned humorous.
Speaker:You know, it was one of those things where I
Speaker:thought, Holy crap, this is so fun.
Speaker:Hi, and welcome to Podcaster. Stories each episode. We will
Speaker:have a conversation with podcasters from across the globe and
Speaker:share their story. What motivates them by the start to
Speaker:the show are the crucial. And More, we'll also talk
Speaker:about their personal lives in some of the things that
Speaker:have happened that made them, the person who you are
Speaker:to do. And now here's your host. Danny Brown hi,
Speaker:and welcome to Podcaster. Stories where we get to meet
Speaker:the people behind the voices of the show. As we
Speaker:all listen to him this week, I'm talking with Fitz
Speaker:Koehler host The Fitzness The Fitzness shop, where Fitz talks
Speaker:about the smart, crazy, effective, and fun stuff in fitness
Speaker:Fitz is also an offer and TV personality and has
Speaker:an incredible story to share with you will speak about
Speaker:it in the show.
Speaker:So Fitz, welcome to Podcaster Stories, really appreciate you coming
Speaker:on. How about you? Tell us about yourself and your
Speaker:show.
Speaker:Sure. Well thank you, Danny. Thank you for having me.
Speaker:So I'm a fitness expert. And what I do is
Speaker:basically I do a variety of things that helped me
Speaker:do one very specific thing, which is helpful live better
Speaker:and longer by making fitness, understandable, attainable, and find. And
Speaker:so I've done that for decades on TV, radio books,
Speaker:magazines. Anyway, I could reach a mass audience is where
Speaker:I focus my efforts. I do a lot of corporate
Speaker:speaking engagements and spokesperson work because corporations bring people and
Speaker:that's what I want. I want people to help. I
Speaker:also am a professional race announcer So I host to
Speaker:start and finish lines of some of the largest, most
Speaker:prestigious running events in America from the Los Angeles marathon,
Speaker:Buffalo marathon, Philadelphia, a big Sur.
Speaker:I announced the D C wonder woman and Batman run
Speaker:series. So I am once again, handling mass audiences and
Speaker:helping them achieve their goals within sports and celebrate those
Speaker:goals as well. I own a youth running a program
Speaker:called The Morning Mile and I'm also an author and
Speaker:I have a brand new book out called My Noisy
Speaker:Cancer Comeback.
Speaker:Wow. So you get busy.
Speaker:I like to stay as busy as possible because man,
Speaker:do I love what I do? You know, that a
Speaker:moment when I'm not working on lesson with my kids,
Speaker:it's a moment that I want to be working or
Speaker:with my kids. So, yeah.
Speaker:And, and you mentioned obviously the podcast that speaks about
Speaker:the, the fun stuff in fitness and not just the,
Speaker:obviously a bit talks about the fitness goals and plans,
Speaker:et cetera, but I know you make up a fun,
Speaker:you know, endeavor much like you do with your offline,
Speaker:you know, a fitness programs, et cetera. So how did
Speaker:he do the idea of the show come about?
Speaker:You know, I only, I only put information out there
Speaker:when I have something to say, and I do enjoy
Speaker:the medium of writing. You know, people like to read
Speaker:articles their, their, their evergreen forever, or people can go
Speaker:back and review, but there's something special about being able
Speaker:to put a personal touch on the communication, whether it's
Speaker:the inflection of your voice or a pounding your fists
Speaker:on a desk. You know, I think you have video
Speaker:and audio provide just a lot more exciting and understandable
Speaker:version of communication. So I started the Fitzness show back
Speaker:in 2016. So far we've recorded over a hundred episodes
Speaker:in there and they ranged. So I get into the
Speaker:nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of fitness, you know, how to
Speaker:become, fit, how to achieve your ideal weight with the
Speaker:exact formula for weight loss, how why, and how to
Speaker:pursue strength training.
Speaker:And even within that niche, how to pursue it within
Speaker:certain sports. And then we talk a lot about really
Speaker:cool products for athletes and, and folks are just getting
Speaker:started with a fitness and we've talked to fitness celebrities
Speaker:and athletes and coaches, and you know, anything that makes
Speaker:people a, a little more motivated. You know, I, I
Speaker:do understand that even while I have tons of incredible
Speaker:answers, I'm not the only person with an answer. So
Speaker:it's nice to speak to other people who have some
Speaker:golden nuggets to share.
Speaker:And you had mentioned, obviously you're working with a lot
Speaker:of people, you were celebrities, movie stars you've even worked
Speaker:with the wiggles, which is cool. Cause that was one
Speaker:of my kids at my book. My kids loved that
Speaker:show a growing up. And I think we took them
Speaker:to like a live performance and Toronto, maybe two or
Speaker:three years back. So what, what's it like? I mean,
Speaker:obviously you share some horror stories about working with them,
Speaker:some mistakes that you've made, maybe when you were working
Speaker:with them, what's that like, you know, working with people
Speaker:like that,
Speaker:Do you know what I'm not starstruck? The only thing
Speaker:that's ever left me a little bit excited and giddy
Speaker:has been American presidents, some American president. So I'm a
Speaker:raging fan of my country. And so American presidents have
Speaker:really floated my boat when it comes to celebrities. I'm
Speaker:not Google crazy. So I'm able to just greet them
Speaker:casually and, you know, obviously respect what they do and
Speaker:the list of people I've interviewed includes Brooke shields and
Speaker:Christina Applegate and, you know, tons of Olympians, tons of
Speaker:athletes, ah, the crew for me, ESPN to so many
Speaker:actors, I really couldn't even pull them up the wiggles.
Speaker:I got to tell you out of all of the
Speaker:people that I have now, I have, I have interviewed
Speaker:the wiggles when I met them for the first time
Speaker:in Chicago. And I probably worked with the wiggles almost
Speaker:a dozen times now over the years, but they were
Speaker:coming in off of their tour bus into the arena
Speaker:where I was going to interview them on video before
Speaker:the show and the purple Jeff wiggle. He walked by
Speaker:and that's the first time of the celebrity. I got
Speaker:a little like, woo. I felt, I felt like I
Speaker:shouldn't be seeing this. It was almost like peeking in
Speaker:on Santa Claus. So they were very cute, very sweet.
Speaker:They came out one by one and we did a
Speaker:little workouts together and talked about their healthy habits. And
Speaker:it was just adorable.
Speaker:There, there was so much fun, you know, celebrities, just
Speaker:regular people. There's that book called everybody poops. And I
Speaker:truly believe that, you know, and there's nobody that's truly
Speaker:better than the others, but you know, their careers quite
Speaker:often in real rely on there, physique, you know, Brad,
Speaker:Pitt's, wouldn't be Brad Pitt or if he was out
Speaker:of shape. So there is a unique burden on certain
Speaker:types of actors and performers to be in great shape
Speaker:and maintain beauty regimens above what you are or I
Speaker:have to do. And so I really enjoy the fact
Speaker:that when I work with celebrities, usually they tell a
Speaker:really good tale.
Speaker:They say, I used to do really dumb diets and
Speaker:gimmicky things. And I found out that it doesn't work.
Speaker:And so I've committed to exercising often and watching what
Speaker:I put in my mouth. And so my purpose with
Speaker:working with celebrities is often for them to tell the
Speaker:tale that resonates with people, because there are their career
Speaker:relies on them being fit or being the most beautiful
Speaker:version of themselves. And, you know, even with my master's
Speaker:grain exercise for the sciences in all of my years
Speaker:of experiences. And so I got on a stage with
Speaker:beyond say, And someone in the audience wanted to know
Speaker:how to get a fantastic rear end.
Speaker:They would ask her not me. And so, you know,
Speaker:it's and I used celebrity's as a tool. I use
Speaker:them as a tool in quite often, they're very effective.
Speaker:And obviously, I mean, you mentioned that you worked with,
Speaker:you know, various celebrates for years. Have you seen that?
Speaker:There's a huge disconnect between male and female movie stars
Speaker:are still, there is more pressure on women to look
Speaker:a certain way to, to wear a certain way or
Speaker:to have a certain, you know, body index, et cetera.
Speaker:Is that the case when, when the celebrities come to
Speaker:you and do you try to help them overcome that?
Speaker:Or is that it never really come up?
Speaker:Pressure is doled out. Eve equally. And you know, a
Speaker:lot of people want to waive the women quite often.
Speaker:Are you or anyone in these little subgroups? We liked
Speaker:the way the, the pity party PFLAG and where are
Speaker:the victims and so forth. But no, I see pressure
Speaker:equally doled out on men. I mean, a Chris Hemsworth
Speaker:for crying out loud, he is, he doesn't get to
Speaker:be thorough other than the last Avengers. You know, he
Speaker:doesn't get to be that guy without abs. And I
Speaker:do think there's a tremendous amount of pressure on men
Speaker:as well. They're hitting the gym hard. They have to
Speaker:watch what they put in the mouth in. Some of
Speaker:us have seen more men and women have to do
Speaker:those dramatic weight fluctuations. Remember Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.
Speaker:Oh. And cast away Matthew McConaughey. He's done it. There's
Speaker:been so many actors go up and down. So yeah,
Speaker:I think actually it is, it's possibly in some regard
Speaker:easier to be a woman, but I, I feel bad
Speaker:for you guys. They get it too, for certain things.
Speaker:It's funny. I just read a story about Daniel Crick
Speaker:with a new bond movie coming out in the us
Speaker:as his last breath out in a James Bond. And
Speaker:he's 53, you know? So the regime he went through
Speaker:for this movie is it actually is 15 years ago.
Speaker:It was completely different. It had to be, as you
Speaker:mentioned, a toner to his age, his, his fitness, his
Speaker:body, et cetera. So it just, it's interesting to hear,
Speaker:as you mentioned, the different things everybody has to go
Speaker:through for their role needs.
Speaker:Well, you know, it's interesting with fitness and coming out
Speaker:of my recent Cancer battle, my, my rule with fitness,
Speaker:it's always first do no harm. And we hear doctors
Speaker:have that mantra where, you know, they can injure or
Speaker:cause harm to the patients. But I do think with
Speaker:fitness, that's the first priority as well. You shouldn't do
Speaker:something that's going to hurt you, you know, and if
Speaker:you make smart progress, if you pursue baby steps, you
Speaker:can get to your end goal. Even the same goal
Speaker:you had when you were 20 years younger, if you're
Speaker:smart about it. And I'm sure Daniel Craig, this is,
Speaker:is really keen to the fact that he may throw
Speaker:out his back more easily now than he did before
Speaker:he can still achieve those extraordinary results.
Speaker:But you just can't be reckless in the process.
Speaker:Nope. Did you had mentioned also that you've got various
Speaker:guests on the podcast and then some of the episodes
Speaker:I was laughing at, as opposed to listen to your
Speaker:Show are the ones who have done when your daughter
Speaker:Topics you have done with your daughter or your daughter's
Speaker:teenager. And you're talking about a book from the fifties
Speaker:and how do we get a husband? And I have
Speaker:a follow-up episode to that. What's it like record on
Speaker:a show of your doctor and how did that come
Speaker:about?
Speaker:Oh, that's hilarious. Ginger is 17. And you know, what
Speaker:I learned really early on is she has my exact
Speaker:same skillset as a presenter and a, we call her
Speaker:Fitz 2.0, the new and improved version. She's just, she's
Speaker:more beautiful than I am. She's she got on a
Speaker:stage and her first grade play. And when she wasn't
Speaker:cowshed, all she had to do is read. Maybe three
Speaker:sentences are from memory. And she stood, stood on this
Speaker:stage with this extraordinary posture and
the only kid out of a, 150 of them that
Speaker:spoke clearly and concisely. And it was beautiful.
Speaker:And I thought, wow, she is incredible. And, and so
Speaker:she will go on to be a pro presenter as
Speaker:well. And she had done race announcing with me, but
Speaker:she just really funny person. So I saw that article.
Speaker:It was from, I think it was McCall's in 1950
Speaker:something, how to get a husband. And it was outlandish
Speaker:some of the suggestions where, you know, go by the
Speaker:engineering department out of college and paint a picture. So
Speaker:the will come and want to meet you. And then
Speaker:one of them, one of the suggestions was go stand
Speaker:in a corner and cry, but certainly some guy will
Speaker:come and, you know, wanting to comfort you and you
Speaker:may get a husband. So I, I just thought it
Speaker:would be a lot more funny to bring her in
Speaker:on the subject.
Speaker:And then of course the follow-up was the modern day,
Speaker:2020, how to get a man or how to be
Speaker:sexy. I think. So it was very, very funny. I
Speaker:try to keep it very wholesome and clean, and I
Speaker:think we, we achieve that, but she's hilarious. And you
Speaker:know, I'm, I'm not opposed to any guests, if they
Speaker:are going to make my podcast more interesting or exciting
Speaker:and humorous.
Speaker:Oh, it's like, I can imagine when we see how
Speaker:much, you know, society has changed over the last years.
Speaker:And we always started to look back and I mean,
Speaker:I can still remember when you were allowed to smoke
Speaker:on an airplane, for example. And there was a separate
Speaker:smoking section. 'cause obviously a little current would make all
Speaker:the difference in a plane with smoking. So it does,
Speaker:it's funny to see the examples you shared with me,
Speaker:you know, how a woman should behave and get a
Speaker:husband because that's her on the road and a life
Speaker:basically. Right?
Speaker:Hysterical. Yeah. I mean, I just, through the years and
Speaker:even between this year and the last year, you know,
Speaker:if I walk out in my house without a mask
Speaker:on, people think I'm a gangster. They were like, look
Speaker:at her. What does she think she is? Show in
Speaker:her mouth. So, you know what I mean? It just,
Speaker:I don't know where the world has gone crazy lately,
Speaker:but, but yeah, things are definitely different in which you
Speaker:read an article like that. And I understand why there's
Speaker:a disconnect sometimes between the way my mom did business
Speaker:and the way she wanted me to do business, because
Speaker:I thought, well, clearly that some of those guidelines are
Speaker:out of place. In fact, she used to tell me,
Speaker:never call the boy. You can even call it a
Speaker:boy back if he called you first.
Speaker:So you were just not allowed to dial the boys
Speaker:number. And so there's a part of me that still
Speaker:thinks, you know, ginger, don't go pursuing guys. Don't do
Speaker:that. Don't but I do believe you should be able
Speaker:to return a phone call. So I don't know, I
Speaker:kinda like some of the old fashion stuff. And then
Speaker:some of that obviously needs to be left behind way
Speaker:behind in the dust.
Speaker:They're all saying we won't have to become, parents were
Speaker:always to where I'm not gonna do the things that
Speaker:my parents' did with my cousin. And we do, you
Speaker:know, you stop yourself because you have done exactly the
Speaker:same way.
Speaker:Now, let me ask you this. Do you look back
Speaker:and wish your parent's had to intervene when they didn't?
Speaker:Maybe sometimes that was just a couple of things. When
Speaker:I was maybe a younger man that I did stuff
Speaker:that wasn't so good that I had my parents center
Speaker:or a vendor given me like a stronger moral compass.
Speaker:If you like, it would've been a whole different story.
Speaker:So, but I think if you grow as a person
Speaker:by making mistakes right. And learning from him. So I
Speaker:think this whole helicopter parent that's for me, one of
Speaker:the more dangerous for one of the battle of work
Speaker:aspects of Parenthood at the moment and not allowing your
Speaker:kids to much of it.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. It's a fine line. I really, my kids
Speaker:are so good and I just caught my husband. Oh,
Speaker:not my husband, my son getting into a little mission
Speaker:last week. And I was terrified him. I gave them
Speaker:this really abrasive, like get in the car now. And
Speaker:he, the look of shock on this six foot one
Speaker:boy, you know, he was like, Oh know, and I
Speaker:laid it on things just to scare him, just to
Speaker:let them know how serious it was. And then I
Speaker:didn't lay on. And it's a tremendous punishment. I think
Speaker:I gave him the assignment. If you know, you're going
Speaker:to clean these five rooms and if you ever do
Speaker:that again, then, then I'm going to drop the hammer.
Speaker:So I do believe in, you know, some mischief, but
Speaker:the thing that my daughter and I get into a,
Speaker:she, she wears just really stupid stuff sometimes is that
Speaker:it really is an unflattering.
Speaker:And so I look back and I think about all
Speaker:the terrible clothes I wore and how I wish my
Speaker:mother would have stopped me from leaving the house, looking
Speaker:like a moron. And now I'd try to pay that
Speaker:forward with gender and say, Oh, those jeans are kind
Speaker:of where they don't, they don't fit you. You're so
Speaker:beautiful. These are really unflattering. No mom, they are cool.
Speaker:So when I back off and so, you know, quite
Speaker:often I just let her walk out of the house
Speaker:looking like a bozo, but she has got to make
Speaker:that mistake too. Right.
Speaker:Yeah know. And then you'd mentioned off, so you've got
Speaker:two kids, you got to change or your daughter and
Speaker:your son. And you've talked about the program that you've
Speaker:come up with a The Morning Mile program, where you
Speaker:get kids involved across the us, Canada and Japan with
Speaker:mine and routines and fitness. How did that come about?
Speaker:And what's the, the impact in like, what's the feedback
Speaker:you've been getting for that? Cause I've been, that's been
Speaker:going for a few years now. 11, 11 years. Yeah.
Speaker:So when my kids were little three and five, my
Speaker:daughter started kindergarten and some of her friends went to
Speaker:different schools and the moms kept telling me, Oh, Aiden
Speaker:is running before school. Aden is running that at all.
Speaker:And I kept thinking, wow, I wish ginger could do
Speaker:that. That sounds great. I wish my kids could do
Speaker:that. And I had a few parents that kept bragging
Speaker:about this and Ben My, you know, fitness innovator, a
Speaker:light bulb went off and I thought, you know what?
Speaker:I don't just wish my own kids could do this.
Speaker:I wish all kids could do this. This is really
Speaker:quite the solution for a health and fitness. You know,
Speaker:it's a mindless activity, walking or running requires very little
Speaker:skill, little to no equipment.
Speaker:These many of my Morning milers are out there in
Speaker:boots and sandals who cares or just, you know, moving.
Speaker:So when I decided that I wanted all kids to
Speaker:do that, I went to the various schools that had
Speaker:before school walking, running programs and said, Hey, can you
Speaker:tell me what you're doing? I would like to create
Speaker:something duplicatable. And so they shared their best practices. I
Speaker:took some of theirs. I added some of my own,
Speaker:and I created this turn-key program, which is any school
Speaker:can implement. It's 30 minutes before school walking or running.
Speaker:There is no coaching choreography or instruction whatsoever. It's just
Speaker:literally you let everyone come out and do loops, whether
Speaker:they're students or family, faculty.
Speaker:And then we make it really fun, really welcoming, really
Speaker:rewarding. We have music playing. We have a great system
Speaker:of rewards and my Morning milers are they blow our
Speaker:mind. So we have individual elementary students that complete six
Speaker:or 700 miles per school year. We have small elementary
Speaker:schools or middle schools completing over 20,000 miles for school
Speaker:year and a yeah, it's funded by corporations. So, you
Speaker:know, schools don't often have money to put into fitness.
Speaker:They're too worried about math and science. And I get
Speaker:that. So we have allowed the corporate corporate world to
Speaker:invest in the schools and the, and the students.
Speaker:And in return, we allow them to market their business
Speaker:on the field with a big banner. You know, it
Speaker:could be Bob's plumbing or, you know, ABC hospital or
Speaker:Aquafina a water company. It doesn't matter to me as
Speaker:long as it's a wholesome family-friendly product, we're happy to
Speaker:share their banner. And yeah. So in The Morning Mile
Speaker:is in over 400 schools worldwide. My kids have completed
Speaker:millions and millions of miles is actually kind of stopped
Speaker:keeping track. I just couldn't keep up with it anymore.
Speaker:And yeah, I feel like these kids, and not only
Speaker:have a better start on life and I have a
Speaker:habit that they can continue into their nineties for certain,
Speaker:because anyone is, as long as you are able to
Speaker:walk, you can get up and go for a walk
Speaker:around in your house, your block, your neighborhood, whatever And
Speaker:I I believe soon we'll be seeing an Olympian say,
Speaker:you know, I've got my start back in elementary school
Speaker:doing this program called The Morning Mile.
Speaker:And I think we'll see the same for CEOs of
Speaker:major organizations are just really teaching these kids consistency, discipline,
Speaker:attaining goals, and having fun, being healthy. And that's it.
Speaker:I love the fact that it's not structured. It's, you
Speaker:know, the kids or the parents of the faculty just
Speaker:gets it out and it does a Walker or On
Speaker:or whatever. I always called them up. When my kids
Speaker:are on a bus, I'm just saying that you have
Speaker:to run and their sillies out to the house to
Speaker:get out. And that, but as you mentioned, it belts
Speaker:habits. And I don't know if you've read James Clear's
Speaker:book, atomic habits. I had asked them and it points
Speaker:to your very point now at a punch to your
Speaker:point had a box and it can't get completely glues
Speaker:with the point where it's about building habits to achieve
Speaker:goals, as opposed to setting goals and not reaching them.
Speaker:Cause you don't have the habit to attain that. So,
Speaker:and especially with kids because kids, you know, their, their
Speaker:minds are all over the place.
Speaker:It can be a here, here, here, here, or at
Speaker:school, but to get habits early on an easy, a
Speaker:ti attainable habits, is that
Speaker:Awesome? Absolutely. And you know what, like you said, it
Speaker:gets their youthful energy out. Are there sillies out? And
Speaker:when they show up to class, there are settled. There
Speaker:are a lot calmer or they're ready to learn. They
Speaker:behave better. There's so many benefits. Principals reach out and
Speaker:say, ah, where you have slashed our problem with tardiness
Speaker:because the kids want to be there at The Morning
Speaker:Mile. So they naturally arrive at class on time. We
Speaker:give out far fewer referrals and punishments because our kids
Speaker:are far better behaved because they've got that energy out.
Speaker:And then the teacher, you know, I I've been hit
Speaker:with hugs and it felt like I was being tackled
Speaker:by a, an American football player because teachers are saying,
Speaker:Oh my God, my third grade boys are sitting still,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:So it really is beneficial and so many ways. And
Speaker:not just for kids, I know as a grownup in
Speaker:society, whether I'm working or being a parent an early
Speaker:morning workout, just kind of expels any stress I have.
Speaker:And it gives me that a long time to think
Speaker:if I'm swimming and there's absolutely nothing to think about
Speaker:are nothing to entertain me. But the bottom of the
Speaker:pool, I certainly am focusing on my next step as
Speaker:a professional speaker or new topics to talk about with
Speaker:my podcast. So yeah. Exercise goes a long way from
Speaker:the beginning to the end of your life. If it
Speaker:matters,
Speaker:You know, you'd mentioned earlier you, how about your cancer
Speaker:or your recent cancer journey and that, that happened in
Speaker:2018? I think, I mean, obviously you'd been busy with
Speaker:fitness programs and TV and the podcast, and then you
Speaker:get diagnosed with breast cancer. So what, what was it
Speaker:from being a composer? A silly question probably. But what
Speaker:was that like? And what was it at a time
Speaker:when you were thinking, I can't do the things that
Speaker:I've been doing up to now. I won't be able
Speaker:to do this moving forward.
Speaker:So great questions. And I, you know, as I was
Speaker:diagnosed, I thought for certain I'm dying, you know, I,
Speaker:I have I'm I'm the ultimate optimist, but I couldn't
Speaker:use that at that point in the second I found
Speaker:the lump and then the doctor said, yeah, we see
Speaker:that. And three hard swollen lymph nodes. I thought, Oh
Speaker:my gosh, this thing has taken me out. Cause I
Speaker:had had a clean mammogram less than seven weeks prior
Speaker:and clean mammogram and then six and a half weeks
Speaker:later, I found the lump. So, you know, I had
Speaker:to get passed the death and not see my kids
Speaker:grow up. You know, that was basically the, the laser
Speaker:focus. But then once I got my feet underneath me
Speaker:in my doctors convinced me that the types of breast
Speaker:cancer I have is curable.
Speaker:In fact, 94% of all breast cancers are curable that
Speaker:I, I instantly decided, well, I am not letting this
Speaker:disease a win. Not that there were points to give.
Speaker:Not only was I not only had I intended to
Speaker:survive, but my career is extraordinary. It's one of my
Speaker:driving forces for every breath I take. So I decided
Speaker:I am not missing out on any of my work
Speaker:obligations. North quality time with my children. So if I
Speaker:would have taken a year and a half off, absolutely
Speaker:nobody would've blamed me. They would of said, well, of
Speaker:course you are going through this nightmare treatment, stay home,
Speaker:stay in bed. But for me, I just decided, hell
Speaker:no, I am getting to work.
Speaker:I'm doing what I do. And what I do predominantly
Speaker:is I travel 35, 40 weekends of the year across
Speaker:America and announcing races. And my smallest event has 2,500
Speaker:athletes. My largest has about 35,000 and I just decided
Speaker:I'm not missing it. I'm going to figure it out.
Speaker:And I did. So I, I actually made a video
Speaker:declaring, you know, I had to share with people, I
Speaker:have breast cancer and I, I didn't wanna share it.
Speaker:I'm a private person when it comes to my actual
Speaker:personal life. But knowing that I was gonna go from
Speaker:two feet of hair, I had waist length, one hair,
Speaker:two bald. I figured people are going to start asking
Speaker:questions.
Speaker:So I better let them know. And so I make
Speaker:this video and it's very cute. Its still on. Fitzness
Speaker:both on my website and in my Facebook page, but
Speaker:I look back and I think, gosh, I was so
Speaker:naive, but I was so determined. Because I look in
Speaker:the camera and say, listen, this is what I got.
Speaker:I'm going to be fine. I am going to probably
Speaker:feel a little bad. I'm going to look kind of
Speaker:weird, but I will not miss my races. I will
Speaker:not miss any of the events on my calendar. I
Speaker:expect no pity. You can root for me, but that's
Speaker:it and onward. And so I didn't know what I
Speaker:was in for it. It turned out that I got
Speaker:hit when they gave me the most toxic combination of
Speaker:chemo drugs. There are, I responded accordingly being violently ill
Speaker:for five months and then 10 months more of a
Speaker:lesser chemo.
Speaker:I had the surgery and I had the radiation, but
Speaker:I never missed an event. And a, it was, it
Speaker:was awesome. You know, it was really, really hard, but
Speaker:looking back, I'm really proud of myself.
Speaker:So you mentioned that you you've got like a really
Speaker:strong mix of different treatments, six to combat this, but
Speaker:you still kept, what were your commitments? You still did
Speaker:what you had planned. How hard was that? Both emotionally
Speaker:and physically to do that whilst going under the treatment.
Speaker:So I you know, one of the things I have
Speaker:said is that if I were, you know, stuffing envelopes
Speaker:for a living, I would, I would have definitely stayed
Speaker:home, but I'm so fortunate at that my career I
Speaker:could Subsys subsists on adrenaline alone. You know, when I
Speaker:got on the stage and there's 30,000 people in front
Speaker:of me and it's hard to even think of yourself.
Speaker:So the hard part was a while. There was a
Speaker:lot of the hard parts, but when, when it came
Speaker:to work, you know, I would go to the airport
Speaker:and my husband would drop me off and I'd be
Speaker:balled and gray and glossy eyed and sick. And he
Speaker:would say, Hey, how are you going to do this?
Speaker:And I would just look at them and say, I
Speaker:just am I, and you know what? I had an
Speaker:ultimate faith in me. I knew I would be okay.
Speaker:I knew I would figure it out. And so traveling
Speaker:with an exploding stomach is not a good time airports
Speaker:with an exploding stomach, not a good time, but I
Speaker:would say I asked my race organizations and my race
Speaker:directors for a little help. I, you know, and I,
Speaker:I, on occasion I could reach out and saying, Hey,
Speaker:can you help me get some Ivy fluids while like,
Speaker:you know, I'm in your town. So I would fly
Speaker:to California to get off the plane and race director
Speaker:had a range for me to get a ride over
Speaker:to a hydration place to go get fluid's in Buffalo,
Speaker:New York, they had a nurse come to my hotel
Speaker:room and, and I needed that. I needed that to
Speaker:stay upright and not be dehydrated, but a even if
Speaker:I spent the night on the hotel bathroom floor sick,
Speaker:when my alarm went off in the morning, I would
Speaker:put on my ally, my running clothes.
Speaker:Or was it not that I was writing? I hope
Speaker:nobody thinks that I was running these races that was
Speaker:purely on the microphone, but I would get dressed and
Speaker:I would just March forward. And that's sometimes what you
Speaker:got to do that you just have to March forward.
Speaker:But then when I got on those stages, it was
Speaker:like a, nothing was wrong or almost nothing. You know,
Speaker:I, I, I D I certainly felt some of my
Speaker:side effects while working, but the, the joy filled me
Speaker:up so much. And that's really, you know, with my
Speaker:new book, that's one of the main lessons is, or
Speaker:messages is that pursue your passions, no matter what's going
Speaker:on, are going wrong in your life. You need to
Speaker:find your passions and you need to hold on tight
Speaker:to them.
Speaker:And if you, if you love animals and you spending
Speaker:your time at, on the farm, and that could be
Speaker:a great joy, and now you're in a hospital, fine.
Speaker:Maybe you can't bring your donkey to the hospital, but
Speaker:you can get online and watch cute little animal videos.
Speaker:You know, there's always a way to include your passions
Speaker:and your present. And I think that my running community
Speaker:saved my life, that in my time with my kids,
Speaker:it just, I, I found the formula for thriving while
Speaker:surviving.
Speaker:And, and obviously you had mentioned that you were very
Speaker:upfront about your diagnosis and you'd made the video and
Speaker:you see, and you, you probably are pure you baldness.
Speaker:And you know that there is also a treatment and
Speaker:that takes peripheral into the title of your book, I
Speaker:think, which is My, Noisy, Cancer come back. What you
Speaker:really epitomizes, you know, that the journey you went through
Speaker:and how others can learn from it, with their own,
Speaker:if they have gone through a similar process, no, also
Speaker:written a book. It can be hard for anybody, but
Speaker:when you were going for a treatment and you're gonna
Speaker:be feeling drained and tired, how hard was it? And
Speaker:where are you ever wondering why you started writing on
Speaker:the first place?
Speaker:Yeah. You know, and you know what? I wish I
Speaker:would have known I was going to write a book
Speaker:from the start because I, you know, two things. When
Speaker:I, as I went through the treatment, I didn't let
Speaker:anybody know what was going on. I they know what
Speaker:I was being treated and they knew I was fall,
Speaker:but I would say I was always smiling and saying,
Speaker:I'm fine. I'm fine. Thank you for your great, I
Speaker:never let on that. I was sick or crying my
Speaker:eyes out every day from stress. You know, I just
Speaker:kept a, a smile on my face publicly because my
Speaker:job is to care for other people. Right. So what
Speaker:happened is, you know, a couple of months into the
Speaker:process, I started thinking, well, nobody told me XYZ was
Speaker:gonna happen.
Speaker:So they tell you up front with chemo, Oh, you
Speaker:might feel sick. You might be extra tired. You might
Speaker:be bald. Nobody tells you that your eyes may change
Speaker:colors or that your fingernails may rot out while on
Speaker:your hand and stink to high hell. Nobody's told me
Speaker:that any of those things. So as the accumulation of
Speaker:side effects became the size of a mountain, I kept,
Speaker:I, it turned humorous. You know, it was one of
Speaker:those things where I thought, Holy crap, this is so
Speaker:funny and I was suffering, but I also thought it
Speaker:was hilarious. And then I, I just kind of resented
Speaker:the fact that nobody not even all these celebrities with
Speaker:their memoirs, none of them were coming clean and telling
Speaker:the truth about what treatment was really like.
Speaker:So I started making a list in my, the notes
Speaker:section on my iPhone, have, you know, a chemo round
Speaker:one, what side-effects came with those round too. And I
Speaker:didn't know if I was going to let me just
Speaker:do a talk or write an article. And then eventually
Speaker:I got to the point and I thought, no people,
Speaker:people would get a kick out of this. You know,
Speaker:AI can help people do better and be better. I
Speaker:can help guide them on good practices for doing battle
Speaker:with cancer and winning every day. But I also thought
Speaker:it would be a really fun story. You know, things
Speaker:went haywire in a way, as you look back in
Speaker:a hilarious way. So to have my chapter title is
Speaker:one of them's called the bright side of poop on
Speaker:my face.
Speaker:And the other one is called, when things go wrong,
Speaker:don't go with them naked at the airport. And both
Speaker:of those things happen to me. There was poop on
Speaker:my face, threw my treatment and I was naked in
Speaker:an airport and it was hilarious. So I would write
Speaker:on an airplane on airplanes. And that was the only
Speaker:time I really had, you know, four or five hours
Speaker:where I wasn't sleeping. I wasn't that the doctor I
Speaker:wasn't working, I can just sit. And so I was
Speaker:making progress with a book on airplanes and, and that
Speaker:was, I liked being productive. I like when I have
Speaker:something to say, and then once COVID shut down the
Speaker:world and still my career, I had plenty of time
Speaker:to sit on my back porch and finished that book.
Speaker:And as you mentioned, as a very raw and honest
Speaker:as to what happens when you're going through this journey
Speaker:of varsity, some that are not deliberately should cost the
Speaker:process, but maybe if you don't want to be as
Speaker:upfront because they're embarrassed or it's not what they're trying
Speaker:to portray themselves, which you obviously, you know, Admiral admirably
Speaker:didn't want to do. And what's been the feedback I've
Speaker:received from people that I've read it, that you have
Speaker:met at conferences or emails or whatever it about them
Speaker:in the book and the impact on them.
Speaker:So most importantly, the book has been from people who've
Speaker:actually had. Cancer the most common bit of feedback I
Speaker:get is I wish I had this book when I
Speaker:was diagnosed. They look at it and say, Oh my
Speaker:gosh, I had not, I did not have a tool
Speaker:like this. That was, it would have been great. And
Speaker:then on the flip side, I have so many people
Speaker:buying the book for friends that are newly diagnosed or
Speaker:going through it. And the response from present cancer patients
Speaker:is extraordinary. They just, you know, this is helping me.
Speaker:This is inspirational. This is going to allow me to
Speaker:pursue happiness while I'm being treated. You know, I have
Speaker:a new respect for perspective. You know, my attitude, even
Speaker:though again, I suffered to the max, I never had
Speaker:a pity party because I wasn't a kid with cancer.
Speaker:You know, that's going to be way worse than me
Speaker:in a grown up. It wasn't my kid with cancer.
Speaker:And for me, it wasn't one of the more lethal
Speaker:types of cancer or ALS you know, something or, or
Speaker:instant paralysis. You know, there is some things that could
Speaker:go horribly wrong. And I was very fortunate that there
Speaker:was a light at the end of the tunnel for
Speaker:me. So I decided to suck it up like a
Speaker:good little soldier. So yeah. So those bits of feedback
Speaker:that it, it, that cancer patients say, this is a
Speaker:valuable tool and this is helping me. And I, and
Speaker:I go on to some rants because people, Oh my
Speaker:gosh, it's for the majority, almost everyone was so kind
Speaker:of right. I have all of this wave of kindness
Speaker:as tsunami of kindness always sent my way, but then
Speaker:people did some really weird things.
Speaker:So for example, when I was newly diagnosed and I
Speaker:have time, I have, I don't have thousands of connections
Speaker:around the world. So people would reach out and saying,
Speaker:Oh, I'm rooting for you, blah, blah, blah. But some
Speaker:people would reach out and saying, Hey, just wanted to
Speaker:let you know, my aunt just died of breast cancer.
Speaker:And I thought, Oh wow, thank you. Like, I know
Speaker:what to do with that. And I know they were
Speaker:just trying to connect and they were rooting for me,
Speaker:but to constantly be reminded by people say, Hey, my
Speaker:sister just died of breast cancer. That made me feel
Speaker:bad. And if I wasn't such a sturdy person, that
Speaker:type of comment might have, you know, left me and
Speaker:a ball of tiers on the floor. So the, you
Speaker:know, the message being, if you hear of a friend
Speaker:who has some newly scary diagnosis, trying to aim for
Speaker:the positive, you know, don't, don't bring up the dark
Speaker:and gloomy side because they already know that that exists.
Speaker:Some people would say things like, Oh, it's just hair.
Speaker:You know, it's not just hair. If it was just
Speaker:here, we all just shaved a head and, and, and
Speaker:we'd all be balled, but it's not just here. We
Speaker:like it here. It can make us feel pretty. It
Speaker:could make us feel warm. And so, you know, I
Speaker:try to include some lessons in the book. And then
Speaker:really, I think, you know, they always say, choose a
Speaker:market, right? You don't your book. Isn't right for everybody.
Speaker:But if it's, if you're a person going through hard
Speaker:times, or you just would like to have a laugh,
Speaker:because as there is a few places in the book
Speaker:where people tell me, they've cried, most of them say,
Speaker:is it okay that I lacked my head off through
Speaker:your book? And I want them to know that was,
Speaker:that was part of my intention.
Speaker:I thought my experience was a hilarious in hindsight 'cause
Speaker:it was just so preposterous. So, you know, if, if
Speaker:you're not laughing, when the poop, it's my face, there
Speaker:is something wrong with you.
Speaker:And, and I, I love the fact that you have,
Speaker:you mentioned that people had wished they had it, you
Speaker:know, when they were going through it or had been
Speaker:diagnosed, because generally as you mentioned, friends and family, or
Speaker:trying to come through you and, and make you feel
Speaker:good, but we said the wrong things, you know? And,
Speaker:and to your point, we say that we consider in
Speaker:the dark, but you've got this, you've got this. Like,
Speaker:I don't know if we do have those, you know,
Speaker:so it's really interesting to hear that you mentioned that.
Speaker:Yeah. How do you know, how do you know its
Speaker:interesting. I asked my family, you know, asked my son
Speaker:I when I told my kids, I can. I said,
Speaker:adamantly, I am going to be fine. I'm going to
Speaker:look weird. I'm going to feel a little sick, but
Speaker:I'm going to be fine. And, and my son, his
Speaker:response was mommy, you are going to look so cute
Speaker:bald, which is so sweet. So I thought I did
Speaker:a good job of convincing him. But a year later
Speaker:when he and I we're having a conversation, I said,
Speaker:Parker, was there ever a time when you thought I
Speaker:might, you know, not survive. He said, Oh yeah, I
Speaker:definitely thought you were going to die. And I thought,
Speaker:well, why didn't he said, I didn't want to make
Speaker:your life more difficult by telling you that. And I
Speaker:thought, wow, what a sweet or, but yeah, its hard
Speaker:to convince everybody you are going to be okay when
Speaker:you're really unsure that you're going to be OK.
Speaker:I mean, I, now I still have to keep looking
Speaker:over my shoulder. So am I going to have a
Speaker:reoccurance am I going to find out, you know, last
Speaker:time I had a, a very identifiable lump and my
Speaker:breasts, when I come, if it comes back, we'll come
Speaker:back the same way. Will it just land in my
Speaker:brain? And I have no idea what, you know, it's
Speaker:just, it can be scary. It's a tough situation, but
Speaker:the book is definitely full of laughs.
Speaker:Awesome. Now, and obviously it ties in now to your
Speaker:podcast and that we can compliment each other power for
Speaker:Claire. Your show is over a hundred episodes and I
Speaker:have, as you mentioned earlier, what are your plans for
Speaker:the future of the podcast? Is that to continue with
Speaker:their current format? Are you looking to start and maybe
Speaker:do a live on, on the field events? I guess
Speaker:if there are, you know, the kids do in the
Speaker:morning and my own, et cetera, what was your plan
Speaker:for it?
Speaker:Great suggestion. You know, My a podcast, to be honest
Speaker:with, you has kind of slid off the front burner
Speaker:for the past couple of years. Once I got diagnosed,
Speaker:I just kind of lost my steam for that. And
Speaker:so where I probably should be at episode a hundred,
Speaker:200, right now I've really only recorded a handful in
Speaker:the past two years. So I, my intentions are to
Speaker:come back in video format. I mean, one of my
Speaker:great greatest assets as a presenter is that eye to
Speaker:eye contact. You know, I do like that. So more
Speaker:interviews, more engagement. I have some new online broadcasting software,
Speaker:so Fitzness dot com will be back in color.
Speaker:Nice. And I don't know if I said, well, I'll,
Speaker:I'll be sure to share a lot with all of
Speaker:our listeners know you mentioned earlier when we're talking about
Speaker:your, your fitness programs and how your helping celebrities, that
Speaker:you got the room of UN with the wiggles have
Speaker:old people. Yeah. But who would be your all time
Speaker:here or that it would make your ultimate were and
Speaker:why that person or people. Right.
Speaker:Well, okay. Thank you for giving me a few of,
Speaker:so I would love to meet Garth Brooks. He was
Speaker:my favorite singer. My another woo. I mean, there are
Speaker:some hunky guys that would definitely take Chris Hemsworth he's
Speaker:doing nothing wrong and there's my laser focus. Apparently. I'm
Speaker:After cute guys too. Woo Over. I'd love to bring
Speaker:back Abraham Lincoln and work out with him actually are,
Speaker:are former president George W. Bush. He is an athlete.
Speaker:He, you know, he's not a, a, a, well, I'm
Speaker:just going to say it. He's an athlete and he's
Speaker:a cyclist and he multiple times a year, it gets
Speaker:together with large groups of veterans and goes on long
Speaker:bike rides with him.
Speaker:And I just think that's so magical. And for someone
Speaker:to one of my favorite thing is not one of
Speaker:my favorite things in my actual favorite thing is the
Speaker:United States of America. I love my constitution, one of
Speaker:the bill of rights and I'm, couldn't be more grateful
Speaker:for all of our freedoms. So to be able to
Speaker:go work out or consult with a president and a
Speaker:bunch of wounded warriors who have fought so hard for
Speaker:freedom, that would be, you know, that would be an
Speaker:exciting beyond belief that what that would make me go
Speaker:fan girl, for sure.
Speaker:That would be amazing to have someone like Tammy Duckworth,
Speaker:for example, work alongside you. Like her story is incredible.
Speaker:I just, anytime you see her speak at the time,
Speaker:so Tammy Duckworth, I think she's, I think she's in
Speaker:politics now and I'm pretty sure she's like a, a
Speaker:representative like one day, I don't know if it's a
Speaker:Democrat or Republican, right. But she is a war virtual
Speaker:support for the legs and comeback. And she is very
Speaker:big obviously on VAT, you know, the vets they are
Speaker:being looked after. So it would be amazing to see
Speaker:like you both very powerful forward women. So it'd be
Speaker:amazing to see us together. I think. Sure. I love
Speaker:that. All right, cool. So you mentioned a joint Toby,
Speaker:which there, and I was watching one of the, bring
Speaker:it on movies with my kids, like the children of
Speaker:movies and it, and one of them.
Speaker:And I, I don't know if this was just a
Speaker:movie, but it's actually a lot of a, I've been
Speaker:there for something, but they mentioned it to George W.
Speaker:Bush was the actual cheerleader and we all cheer letter
Speaker:back in the day. So have you heard of that?
Speaker:I don't
Speaker:Call, but I imagine it probably wasn't GW. I imagine
Speaker:it was probably his father, George Herbert Walker, Bush. He
Speaker:was also a baseball player for, I believe Yale. So
Speaker:I don't know if it's GW. I haven't heard that
Speaker:GWL was a cheerleader, but he was a fun guy.
Speaker:He was an enthusiastic Mann, perhaps he was going to
Speaker:have to learn about that now.
Speaker:Yeah, we did some Google and I couldn't find anything.
Speaker:So I think maybe its just like a throw over
Speaker:a lane in a movie, but I just also, I
Speaker:just stuck there thinking, but possibly I am at all.
Speaker:Oh for sure. Yeah. I know that sports. We're a
Speaker:huge deal on that family and Gen
Speaker:Well, for me, this has been amazing. I've really enjoyed
Speaker:talking to you today and I know our listeners are
Speaker:going to really enjoy our chat For for people to
Speaker:wanna connect with you online, to learn more about a
Speaker:year. You know, you're more than a mile program for
Speaker:kids for the schools, buy your book, et cetera, whereas
Speaker:the best police for them to connect with you.
Speaker:Ah, thank you Danny. So Morning Mile dot com will
Speaker:take you to get more kids moving in the mornings.
Speaker:Fitzness dot com is my home base. That's F I
Speaker:T Z N S S. So Fitzness dot com. AU
Speaker:is where you find me every day of the year.
Speaker:You can also follow me at Fitzness on Instagram, YouTube
Speaker:and Facebook and follow me. Yes, but also engaged with
Speaker:me, say hi, say I heard you on Danny's podcast
Speaker:and they want to say hello because why just following
Speaker:each other? Why not actually communicate? And then if you'd
Speaker:like to purchase my book, it's available in hardcover, paperback
Speaker:e-book and audio books, and it's available, wherever books are
Speaker:sold war worldwide. So certainly Amazon Barnes and Nobles, audible,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:However, I love it when people buy it directly from
Speaker:me at Fitzness dot com because I can autograph every
Speaker:one of those books. And if you order on my
Speaker:website, there is a little spot that says, who do
Speaker:I inscribe this too? And so I sign all of
Speaker:those books and I have a fun little gift with
Speaker:purchase that comes with the book in it. It's a
Speaker:sticker that says I can do hard things, which was
Speaker:my internal mantra as I was going from one scary
Speaker:moment to the next, during treatment. And it really got
Speaker:me through it. So, but yeah, I appreciate everyone who
Speaker:does take interest and you know, I hope that the
Speaker:book brings some big laughs and some comfort for those
Speaker:who need it.
Speaker:Awesome. And I'll be sure to drop all the links
Speaker:sent to the show notes. So all of your list
Speaker:that all your favorite podcast app made sure to check
Speaker:the show notes as usual, so you can collect straight
Speaker:through to them. It's a fit, as I mentioned, I
Speaker:really appreciate you coming on today. I, I know I
Speaker:personally, I'm looking forward. I actually have a lot of
Speaker:your book on Amazon, but it might cancel that. No,
Speaker:and go direct to your website to get a little
Speaker:ones, to know that they know that. That's awesome. So
Speaker:I'm looking forward to reading and I've had an absolute
Speaker:blast talking to you today and, and listen to your
Speaker:story as a thank you. Thank
Speaker:You, Daphne. And thanks to all of the listeners.
Speaker:It's been another episode of Podcaster Stories. If you enjoy
Speaker:this week's episode, be sure to subscribe on your favorite
Speaker:podcast app like Apple podcast, Google podcast, Spotify, or a
Speaker:head over to Podcaster Stories dot com. Catch up on
Speaker:a lift to episode unsubscribed for the, for your newsletter.
Speaker:I told the next time stay safe and take care