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Kevin Lowe: I want you to imagine waking up one day to find your entire world turned upside down.
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Kevin Lowe: And yet, the very challenge that has seemingly destroyed your life would end
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Kevin Lowe: up becoming your greatest source of strength.
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Kevin Lowe: Today, I'm going to introduce you to Kim, a remarkable woman who has a journey
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Kevin Lowe: from adversity to triumph that will leave you breathless and begging for more.
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Kevin Lowe: But as with most of the guests on this podcast,
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Kevin Lowe: the most important thing that you need to know headed into today's episode is
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Kevin Lowe: that you might be listening to Kim tell her story, but you must understand that
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Kevin Lowe: this all relates right back to you.
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Kevin Lowe: Because no matter where you are in life, there's always a starting point.
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Kevin Lowe: You can always start right now to becoming stronger, more resilient,
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Kevin Lowe: and ultimately unstoppable. My friend, I can guarantee that this is the episode
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Kevin Lowe: that you needed to hear right now.
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Kevin Lowe: Welcome to episode 358.
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Kevin Lowe: Hey, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and you are listening to Grit,
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Kevin Lowe: Grace, and Inspiration.
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Kevin Lowe: Welcome back to another awesome interview here on Grit, Grace,
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Kevin Lowe: and Inspiration. Today is certainly no exception.
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Kevin Lowe: Kim, welcome to the podcast.
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Kim Rahir: Well, thanks for having me, Kevin.
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Kevin Lowe: Oh, my goodness. Well, it is an absolute honor. And I have been looking forward to this so much.
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Kevin Lowe: And Kim, you have you have such an amazing story, such an inspiring story.
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Kevin Lowe: And I guess the best place always to begin is kind of back at the beginning.
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Kevin Lowe: And you can, you know, take it from where you want.
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Kevin Lowe: But basically, I know that, you know, a big part of your story kind of begins
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Kevin Lowe: around the year like 2008. I'd love it if you just kind of give me,
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Kevin Lowe: you know, the story surrounding kind of that time in your story.
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Kim Rahir: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I can't believe it's, you know, that long ago.
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Kim Rahir: That's coming up on 16 years in November, at least that's when it started.
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Kim Rahir: Not that I want to go back, though.
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Kevin Lowe: No, absolutely.
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Kim Rahir: So I was, we had just moved country again. I lived with my husband.
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Kim Rahir: We were both journalists with three small kids. And we moved every four years
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Kim Rahir: from country to country, which is very exciting, never boring.
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Kim Rahir: But of course, it's challenging also, especially when you drag along kids.
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Kim Rahir: But we had arrived in Germany, which is my home country.
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Kim Rahir: And we lived in Berlin, had been living there for a year. And for the first
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Kim Rahir: time also in all our time together, I had a full-time job.
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Kim Rahir: I was employed too, because we were both journalists, but my husband had got
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Kim Rahir: the assignments and I started as a freelancer wherever we went.
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Kim Rahir: So, you know, we were in my home country. I had a full-time job, three kids.
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Kim Rahir: We lived in a beautiful house and it felt like, you know, that was it.
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Kim Rahir: I had made it. I had sort of fulfilled my dream. I'd always wanted to prove
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Kim Rahir: that you could have a family and a career as a woman, which when I was raised
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Kim Rahir: was not like, you know, a given at all.
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Kim Rahir: I was raised in a, you know, like socially very conservative Germany where the
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Kim Rahir: word career woman was an insult when I was a teenager.
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Kim Rahir: And it was always assumed that you had to choose either you had kids or you had a job.
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Kim Rahir: And I would, you know, never want that and accept that.
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Kim Rahir: And here I was and I had both and I felt like now I had made it.
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Kim Rahir: And then from one day to the next, like literally, I was struck down.
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Kim Rahir: I was out of it all. It started by me seeing double.
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Kim Rahir: I was picking up my kids from school, we were driving and I was driving a car
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Kim Rahir: and I was seeing double and I thought, oh my God, something's really wrong.
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Kim Rahir: Now this came on the heels of just, you know, like a flu infection that I'd
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Kim Rahir: had a few days before, but, you know, like any, any mom of small kids would
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Kim Rahir: do, I was back on my feet right away.
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Kim Rahir: And then there I was seeing double and I knew this time I had to go to the doctors
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Kim Rahir: because, you know, that's no small thing. That's something happening in the brain.
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Kim Rahir: And went to the doctors and I was sent straight to the hospital where I was
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Kim Rahir: to stay for six weeks because they had to do all kinds of checkups.
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Kim Rahir: They couldn't really find what it was.
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Kim Rahir: And on top of like the weird eyes, after three weeks, I was completely paralyzed
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Kim Rahir: from the hips downwards.
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Kim Rahir: No sensitivity whatsoever in my legs.
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Kim Rahir: And that was just so scary. It was so scary, especially because they,
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Kim Rahir: I mean, they thought it was something autoimmune, but they couldn't really name
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Kim Rahir: it because my symptoms were all over the place.
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Kim Rahir: And they love, you know, having that symptoms in those boxes.
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Kim Rahir: So like the eyes would have been a Miller-Fisher syndrome and legs were like
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Kim Rahir: a Guillain-Barré syndrome.
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Kim Rahir: And there I was in the middle of this, always having like students in white
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Kim Rahir: coats around my bed because I was such a weird case, which, you know,
00:05:05.743 --> 00:05:09.883
Kim Rahir: contributed also to me feeling a bit dehumanized, actually, because already
00:05:09.883 --> 00:05:11.723
Kim Rahir: you don't have any power in a hospital.
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Kim Rahir: You can't decide like anything, not when the light is on in your room,
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Kim Rahir: not when you're going to sleep, not when you're waking up, nothing at all.
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Kim Rahir: When you can't walk, you can't even decide when you're going to have a shower
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Kim Rahir: or when you're going to the toilet.
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Kim Rahir: And then on top of this, I was there sort of exposed like a study case to students
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Kim Rahir: once a week. And I even said, can you please, I don't really want this anymore.
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Kim Rahir: And then they sort of always talked me into, you know, allow that one more time.
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Kim Rahir: My life had changed like from one day to the next, from one day to the next.
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Kim Rahir: Everything that I had taken for granted, taken as a given, was gone.
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Kim Rahir: I couldn't walk. I couldn't look after my kids. I couldn't go to work.
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Kim Rahir: I couldn't do anything, basically. That was really, really tough.
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Kevin Lowe: Wow. You know, I always say it's crazy how everything in life can change in the blink of an eye.
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Kim Rahir: Absolutely.
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Kevin Lowe: Now, during this time, you went in seeing double is what prompted you to go to the doctor.
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Kevin Lowe: And then you mentioned while there, you then basically became paralyzed from what the waist down.
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Kim Rahir: Yes.
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Kevin Lowe: How did that come on? Was it something did you just wake up and all of a sudden
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Kevin Lowe: realized you couldn't feel your legs or how did that happen?
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Kim Rahir: No, that was very gradual, actually. you know, it was my immune system attacking
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Kim Rahir: my own nerves and it was mostly the sensitive nerves in my legs that it started
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Kim Rahir: like sort of gnawing away at.
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Kim Rahir: And first it was just a weird feeling in my feet.
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Kim Rahir: Like that's the thing with neurological conditions. You always have sensations
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Kim Rahir: that you shouldn't have.
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Kim Rahir: And my feet felt weird. Then I
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Kim Rahir: realized that I couldn't properly flex my
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Kim Rahir: leg muscles you know it was like very very slowly first it was weird sensations
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Kim Rahir: then it was like limitations things I couldn't do and then at some point I just
00:07:08.541 --> 00:07:13.081
Kim Rahir: had lost all control over my legs that it took about like you know I'd say like
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Kim Rahir: two weeks first week started after one week in hospital.
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Kim Rahir: And that's also quite scary when you see yourself you know feel yourself getting
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Kim Rahir: worse every day And they treated me with all kinds of stuff with,
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Kim Rahir: how do you call this, cortisone and then immune globulins and all sorts of things.
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Kim Rahir: And because they were also a little bit desperate because they were not sure what was going on.
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Kim Rahir: So when I felt the feeling come back in my legs, we didn't really know what
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Kim Rahir: had helped because they had tried so many different things. Could have been one or the other.
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Kim Rahir: I'm glad, you know, I was just happy to get better.
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Kim Rahir: But was still not very very clear
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Kim Rahir: what was going on i could leave the
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Kim Rahir: hospital i was in a wheelchair i could sort of stand i
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Kim Rahir: was very wobbly and it took me about six months
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Kim Rahir: to walk normally again and after i had left hospital they then after a while
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Kim Rahir: decided that this was indeed a guillain which is a syndrome that happens a lot
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Kim Rahir: to soldiers and when I look back now you know my.
00:08:21.501 --> 00:08:26.301
Kim Rahir: Fulfilling my dream and having a full-time job and three kids and all that I
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Kim Rahir: think I was a bit stressed out actually I was soldiering along a little bit and,
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Kim Rahir: I'm not going to say this is what caused my illness, but it somehow,
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Kim Rahir: you know, fits the description.
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Kim Rahir: And I remember one day I was at home. I still couldn't walk properly.
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Kim Rahir: It was like an icy Berlin winter outside. And I saw a couple on the sidewalk.
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Kim Rahir: They were walking along and they both had such grumpy faces.
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Kim Rahir: They both looked so angry. And I was sitting inside and I thought,
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Kim Rahir: how on earth can you be so angry when you can walk?
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Kim Rahir: Come on, you don't even know how lucky you are.
00:09:06.829 --> 00:09:11.089
Kim Rahir: And this sudden insight when I thought these people have stayed with me ever since.
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Kim Rahir: Every step I take today, I'm grateful and I know that it's a gift.
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Kim Rahir: So looking back, it sounds so crazy, but I'm actually grateful for this experience.
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Kim Rahir: It was very dark. It was very frightening.
00:09:25.689 --> 00:09:30.449
Kim Rahir: It was totally defeating. You know, I felt utterly helpless and powerless.
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Kim Rahir: But now I know that it's taught me so much about life, how to look at life and
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Kim Rahir: how to enjoy what I'm given and be grateful for all the blessings,
00:09:42.889 --> 00:09:46.629
Kim Rahir: you know, small blessings, they say. For me, there's no small blessing.
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Kim Rahir: Everything that I can do today, I'm really grateful for. And that makes it so
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Kim Rahir: much more enjoyable, you know.
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Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. Now, during this time, what was even just the emotional toll
00:10:02.149 --> 00:10:04.869
Kevin Lowe: on you as far as being a mom?
00:10:05.009 --> 00:10:12.469
Kevin Lowe: Because obviously, you weren't able to take the kids to school or care for them
00:10:12.469 --> 00:10:14.929
Kevin Lowe: like you had been. How was that on you?
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Kim Rahir: It's very painful to have your kids come visit you and you're lying in a hospital
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Kim Rahir: bed. It's just pure pain.
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Kim Rahir: But you can't show it, right? You can't show your pain.
00:10:27.969 --> 00:10:32.349
Kim Rahir: I didn't want to show my pain. I didn't want them to feel pained,
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Kim Rahir: you know, on top of being so, well, they weren't unbalanced,
00:10:36.549 --> 00:10:38.769
Kim Rahir: but sort of their routine, everything had gone away too.
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Kim Rahir: I mean, they were still going to school, but it was not me and they were still
00:10:41.749 --> 00:10:44.129
Kim Rahir: getting their dinners, but it was not me who made them.
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Kim Rahir: So I didn't want to show my pain, but I felt it like very badly.
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Kim Rahir: And, you know, that's, I remember my oldest son, I mean, Berlin is a huge place.
00:10:54.029 --> 00:10:59.349
Kim Rahir: My oldest son, he was 10 at the time and he was already traveling by himself to school.
00:10:59.649 --> 00:11:04.509
Kim Rahir: And one day, I mean, this was before smartphones also, I was just at the onset,
00:11:04.749 --> 00:11:07.389
Kim Rahir: you know, I think he had smartphones existed.
00:11:07.809 --> 00:11:10.229
Kim Rahir: A lot of the stuff in hospital would have been easier probably.
00:11:10.589 --> 00:11:14.989
Kim Rahir: Anyway, he sent me a text message and said, can I come see you?
00:11:15.269 --> 00:11:19.569
Kim Rahir: And then he took like, you know, public transport all across town just to come
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Kim Rahir: see me after school. even today when I think of this, you know,
00:11:22.309 --> 00:11:26.009
Kim Rahir: I feel like tearing up because it was just so...
00:11:26.497 --> 00:11:29.937
Kim Rahir: So heart-wrenching, you know, to know that your kids are missing you.
00:11:30.197 --> 00:11:33.317
Kim Rahir: There's also this other aspect. When I got home for Christmas,
00:11:33.617 --> 00:11:38.557
Kim Rahir: there was a tree, there were presents, there was food, and I hadn't done any of it.
00:11:38.657 --> 00:11:43.337
Kim Rahir: So this feeling that so many moms have, and this is something I really want
00:11:43.337 --> 00:11:48.677
Kim Rahir: to tell all the women out there who feel that if they don't do everything.
00:11:49.217 --> 00:11:54.937
Kim Rahir: You know, nothing's going to work, that everything depends on us, every single thing.
00:11:54.937 --> 00:11:56.837
Kim Rahir: And that the world's sort of
00:11:56.837 --> 00:12:01.037
Kim Rahir: somehow going to stop if we don't do what we have to do every single day.
00:12:01.217 --> 00:12:06.517
Kim Rahir: And that moment taught me that, yes, I was like out totally from one day to
00:12:06.517 --> 00:12:10.537
Kim Rahir: the next, but the world kept on turning and there was still Christmas and we
00:12:10.537 --> 00:12:15.257
Kim Rahir: still came together and there were presents and there was food even without me doing it.
00:12:15.437 --> 00:12:21.697
Kim Rahir: And that's a big relief actually when you realize that you are not indispensable,
00:12:21.697 --> 00:12:25.137
Kim Rahir: that you can take time off.
00:12:25.337 --> 00:12:30.377
Kim Rahir: We never do this when we, you know, like voluntarily, but learning that,
00:12:30.637 --> 00:12:34.237
Kim Rahir: you know, everything will still work okay if you're not there.
00:12:34.417 --> 00:12:39.577
Kim Rahir: I think it's really, it's liberating and it's empowering because it gives you
00:12:39.577 --> 00:12:43.677
Kim Rahir: the strength to say sometimes, no, I can't do this. This is just too much.
00:12:43.817 --> 00:12:48.177
Kim Rahir: I need some time here to do something else or to do something for myself.
00:12:48.177 --> 00:12:53.677
Kim Rahir: And I wish, I really wish to carry this message to all women out there who think
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Kim Rahir: that the world rests on their shoulders because it's a heavy load to carry.
00:12:58.097 --> 00:13:03.797
Kim Rahir: And I wish, you know, for them to get it, to get this insight without having
00:13:03.797 --> 00:13:07.157
Kim Rahir: it demonstrated to them so brutally as it was to me.
00:13:07.597 --> 00:13:15.437
Kevin Lowe: Absolutely. You, your mindset and the way that you see life, it's really beautiful.
00:13:16.117 --> 00:13:21.197
Kevin Lowe: It's really powerful. And the way that you can see, looking back on it now,
00:13:21.677 --> 00:13:28.297
Kevin Lowe: the blessings that you gained from such a terrible experience is, it's really amazing.
00:13:28.537 --> 00:13:33.477
Kevin Lowe: I guess what my next question is, is after this six-month period,
00:13:34.097 --> 00:13:37.377
Kevin Lowe: did you ever have symptoms like that come up again?
00:13:37.877 --> 00:13:42.317
Kim Rahir: Not the same, but unfortunately, that was not the end of my autoimmune saga
00:13:42.317 --> 00:13:48.057
Kim Rahir: because, well, after I got more treatment after that, after six months I could
00:13:48.057 --> 00:13:52.657
Kim Rahir: walk again, but I still went into the hospital once a month to get infusions and everything.
00:13:52.877 --> 00:13:57.457
Kim Rahir: But then after a year, I was told that yes, absolutely, this was a one-off and
00:13:57.457 --> 00:14:01.397
Kim Rahir: I didn't need any treatment anymore. And I was now just a normal, healthy person.
00:14:01.517 --> 00:14:08.397
Kim Rahir: And I can't describe how overjoyed I felt to call my husband on the phone.
00:14:09.141 --> 00:14:14.681
Kim Rahir: We both cried with joy and I thought this is, you know, this is a gift.
00:14:15.141 --> 00:14:19.521
Kim Rahir: I'm not, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to, you know, live every day,
00:14:20.101 --> 00:14:24.301
Kim Rahir: every moment with my kids and enjoy every, every bit of it.
00:14:24.661 --> 00:14:30.821
Kim Rahir: And then a year, another year later, I felt my left hand going numb.
00:14:31.001 --> 00:14:34.921
Kim Rahir: And this thing that I say with neurological stuff, you feel stuff that you shouldn't
00:14:34.921 --> 00:14:40.821
Kim Rahir: be feeling. So I knew that sensation wasn't right and I got more checkups.
00:14:41.061 --> 00:14:44.081
Kim Rahir: And this time they said, oh, yeah, this is different.
00:14:44.361 --> 00:14:49.501
Kim Rahir: This is not the kind of immune attack that you had before. This is an attack
00:14:49.501 --> 00:14:52.421
Kim Rahir: of your system on the white matter in your nerves.
00:14:53.201 --> 00:14:56.541
Kim Rahir: And, you know, this is MS, this is multiple sclerosis.
00:14:57.081 --> 00:14:59.821
Kim Rahir: And you can imagine that I thought this was like
00:14:59.821 --> 00:15:03.061
Kim Rahir: a really low blow because I had just overcome
00:15:03.061 --> 00:15:06.541
Kim Rahir: this other thing which was really kind of traumatizing
00:15:06.541 --> 00:15:10.161
Kim Rahir: and I thought I was so so happy
00:15:10.161 --> 00:15:14.321
Kim Rahir: so relieved so overjoyed to have left that behind me and then they said oh no
00:15:14.321 --> 00:15:18.961
Kim Rahir: you know go back to square one and by the way this time it's worse and this
00:15:18.961 --> 00:15:23.741
Kim Rahir: time it's not a one-off this time it's for life so the darkness that I had felt
00:15:23.741 --> 00:15:28.621
Kim Rahir: for the first time it came back it came back and it was even scarier,
00:15:28.801 --> 00:15:33.161
Kim Rahir: but I had learned certain sort of approaches and attitudes.
00:15:33.181 --> 00:15:35.701
Kim Rahir: And I think they got me through this.
00:15:35.881 --> 00:15:40.641
Kim Rahir: I didn't allow myself to look at the future, at the big picture.
00:15:40.801 --> 00:15:42.601
Kim Rahir: I didn't. It was too scary.
00:15:42.801 --> 00:15:47.881
Kim Rahir: I really focused on what I could do in the moment. I had to accept lifelong
00:15:47.881 --> 00:15:52.321
Kim Rahir: treatment after a fight with my doctor, because that's what they give you for
00:15:52.321 --> 00:15:56.141
Kim Rahir: multiple sclerosis. But I had just this hand thing that was numb.
00:15:56.301 --> 00:15:58.801
Kim Rahir: The rest had been stopped then by an infusion.
00:15:59.401 --> 00:16:04.561
Kim Rahir: And I could walk, I could move. And I just decided that I was going to just
00:16:04.561 --> 00:16:10.101
Kim Rahir: live every single day like this, the way I felt, thinking that I was okay and
00:16:10.101 --> 00:16:12.861
Kim Rahir: not scare myself with thoughts of the future.
00:16:13.041 --> 00:16:17.981
Kim Rahir: And I think that helped me tremendously. I think when you have a diagnosis like
00:16:17.981 --> 00:16:24.501
Kim Rahir: this and you start imagining what's going to happen, even in two weeks or in two years or in 20 years,
00:16:24.721 --> 00:16:29.701
Kim Rahir: you can be so paralyzed with the uncertainty of it that you will forget,
00:16:29.701 --> 00:16:30.941
Kim Rahir: you know, to live your life.
00:16:31.081 --> 00:16:35.701
Kim Rahir: And I decided, no, I'm going to just live every day because right now I'm okay
00:16:35.701 --> 00:16:37.901
Kim Rahir: and I'm going to make the most of that.
00:16:38.221 --> 00:16:39.381
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely.
00:16:40.641 --> 00:16:49.381
Kevin Lowe: So in this journey, this medical journey that we're on, where does exercise
00:16:49.381 --> 00:16:53.381
Kevin Lowe: and in lifting weights, how does that even enter the picture?
00:16:53.941 --> 00:16:56.561
Kim Rahir: Yeah, it's quite interesting. I mean,
00:16:56.701 --> 00:17:01.361
Kim Rahir: I had been a gym goer before all that happened, but I went to the gym like most
00:17:01.361 --> 00:17:06.181
Kim Rahir: women did, you know, like with this idea of achieving a certain body shape or
00:17:06.181 --> 00:17:09.001
Kim Rahir: staying fit in a very general way.
00:17:09.001 --> 00:17:12.221
Kim Rahir: And after my ms
00:17:12.221 --> 00:17:15.441
Kim Rahir: diagnosis i felt this desire to
00:17:15.441 --> 00:17:20.181
Kim Rahir: go back to the gym first of all and then to go there to become strong like i
00:17:20.181 --> 00:17:27.841
Kim Rahir: wanted to become insanely strong physically strong and i think this this came
00:17:27.841 --> 00:17:33.841
Kim Rahir: from feeling so powerless when i was in hospital and i came from,
00:17:34.401 --> 00:17:37.921
Kim Rahir: wanting to make the most of what I had in the moment. As I said,
00:17:38.021 --> 00:17:39.221
Kim Rahir: I could walk, I could move.
00:17:39.361 --> 00:17:42.961
Kim Rahir: I had just, I mean, my left hand is numb to this day, but that's about it.
00:17:43.541 --> 00:17:50.361
Kim Rahir: And I really felt this need to be strong also to be able to trust my body again,
00:17:50.501 --> 00:17:52.101
Kim Rahir: to count on my body again.
00:17:52.481 --> 00:17:57.281
Kim Rahir: Because with autoimmune diseases, there's this bit of a feeling of betrayal
00:17:57.281 --> 00:18:00.701
Kim Rahir: that you can't trust your body. It's doing, you know, like stupid things.
00:18:00.881 --> 00:18:03.881
Kim Rahir: Why, you know, it's supposed to protect you, not to attack itself
00:18:03.881 --> 00:18:06.761
Kim Rahir: i mean this is with hindsight i just felt this
00:18:06.761 --> 00:18:10.381
Kim Rahir: need i wanted to go to the gym and become like really strong and
00:18:10.381 --> 00:18:13.341
Kim Rahir: this is how i sort of explain where this might have come from this
00:18:13.341 --> 00:18:17.081
Kim Rahir: desire but it's what i did and i
00:18:17.081 --> 00:18:19.881
Kim Rahir: bought a book one of the first books out there i think
00:18:19.881 --> 00:18:23.101
Kim Rahir: it was from the late 90s one of
00:18:23.101 --> 00:18:27.021
Kim Rahir: the first that said women you know should lift heavy and because it's just as
00:18:27.021 --> 00:18:31.361
Kim Rahir: important for them as for anybody else and i followed that book the workouts
00:18:31.361 --> 00:18:40.041
Kim Rahir: the the instructions for proper form everything to a T and I got so much better it's hard to.
00:18:40.681 --> 00:18:43.501
Kim Rahir: You can't overstate how much better
00:18:43.501 --> 00:18:48.881
Kim Rahir: I got and I think it's because of something that we know now we have science
00:18:48.881 --> 00:18:52.401
Kim Rahir: on this now but this was like 10 years ago where this was still all sort of
00:18:52.401 --> 00:18:58.661
Kim Rahir: evolving strength training is is like an elixir for your mental health you walk
00:18:58.661 --> 00:19:02.941
Kim Rahir: out of there and you have a, you feel positive, you feel good about yourself,
00:19:03.121 --> 00:19:06.101
Kim Rahir: you feel good about everything and you feel good about what you can do.
00:19:06.761 --> 00:19:10.601
Kim Rahir: And I think this helped me get better, like spectacularly. And even,
00:19:10.721 --> 00:19:14.181
Kim Rahir: you know, my neurological checkups, they took like two minutes.
00:19:14.341 --> 00:19:17.461
Kim Rahir: You know, I had to check in every six months with a neurologist and they saw
00:19:17.461 --> 00:19:20.481
Kim Rahir: me the way I walked in there and they knew that I was just fine.
00:19:20.701 --> 00:19:24.641
Kim Rahir: So much so that we, I know we moved again between all these things.
00:19:24.781 --> 00:19:28.981
Kim Rahir: The first episode was in the Berlin, the multiple sclerosis diagnosis was in
00:19:28.981 --> 00:19:31.621
Kim Rahir: France. and then we moved to Spain where we live now,
00:19:32.413 --> 00:19:37.253
Kim Rahir: And after three years of watching me thrive, I really must say it like this.
00:19:37.433 --> 00:19:40.453
Kim Rahir: My Spanish neurologist said, well, you know, if you want to,
00:19:40.533 --> 00:19:42.993
Kim Rahir: you can stop your treatment. And I did.
00:19:43.193 --> 00:19:49.513
Kim Rahir: And that was like seven years ago. I have been without relapse and without treatment for seven years.
00:19:49.793 --> 00:19:55.333
Kim Rahir: And that's also when I felt, even though I, you know, I'm not claiming you can
00:19:55.333 --> 00:19:59.353
Kim Rahir: cure a mess with strength training, but I felt that was this approach that I
00:19:59.353 --> 00:20:00.793
Kim Rahir: had used instinctively.
00:20:00.793 --> 00:20:03.593
Kim Rahir: I was on to something there was you know
00:20:03.593 --> 00:20:07.453
Kim Rahir: the benefits were like so incredible for
00:20:07.453 --> 00:20:10.293
Kim Rahir: you know for overall health for mental health and
00:20:10.293 --> 00:20:13.073
Kim Rahir: it had gotten me back to living a
00:20:13.073 --> 00:20:16.133
Kim Rahir: normal life without having to inject myself three times
00:20:16.133 --> 00:20:20.693
Kim Rahir: a week that's when I got the courage up to fulfill something that I'd been dreaming
00:20:20.693 --> 00:20:24.513
Kim Rahir: about for a while which was like sleeve journalism become a health coach and
00:20:24.513 --> 00:20:29.053
Kim Rahir: you know shout it from the rooftops if you want to be happy and healthy just
00:20:29.053 --> 00:20:33.613
Kim Rahir: go strength training and most things will take care of themselves.
00:20:34.294 --> 00:20:42.194
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Wow. So in this kind of fitness journey and you talk about the just profound
00:20:42.194 --> 00:20:48.634
Kevin Lowe: impact that it had on you, were your doctors surprised at this?
00:20:49.074 --> 00:20:52.694
Kim Rahir: Yes, absolutely. I mean, the very first one who gave me the diagnosis,
00:20:52.874 --> 00:20:56.014
Kim Rahir: when I asked him about exercise, he told me to be careful.
00:20:56.314 --> 00:21:00.474
Kim Rahir: And I don't know what he meant by that, actually. And I think it was a way of
00:21:00.474 --> 00:21:03.854
Kim Rahir: saying, I don't really have an idea of what you're talking about.
00:21:04.294 --> 00:21:08.334
Kim Rahir: But I don't want to take any responsibility. So I'm going to just scare you
00:21:08.334 --> 00:21:10.234
Kim Rahir: a little bit by telling you to be careful.
00:21:10.714 --> 00:21:13.554
Kim Rahir: And then, you know, for the rest of that, you're on your own.
00:21:13.894 --> 00:21:19.374
Kim Rahir: And then the next guy who was looking after me was this Spaniard who is also
00:21:19.374 --> 00:21:22.034
Kim Rahir: a bit of an expert in MS here in Spain.
00:21:23.114 --> 00:21:27.634
Kim Rahir: And when I told him that I was actually, that I had started weightlifting,
00:21:27.794 --> 00:21:31.934
Kim Rahir: because over my journey from normal lifting in the gym, I switched to Olympic
00:21:31.934 --> 00:21:33.994
Kim Rahir: weightlifting, which is something totally different.
00:21:33.994 --> 00:21:38.354
Kim Rahir: And again, you know, it's just, it's this sport where there's just two movements
00:21:38.354 --> 00:21:42.054
Kim Rahir: of putting, you know, the barbell over your head.
00:21:42.194 --> 00:21:46.934
Kim Rahir: And it got me totally hooked because it's so much fun and very technical and challenging.
00:21:47.314 --> 00:21:53.474
Kim Rahir: And when I told him that I was doing that sport, he was amazed and he thought, that's fantastic.
00:21:53.874 --> 00:22:00.274
Kim Rahir: And he also told me, you could be an inspiration to so many people, so many patients.
00:22:00.494 --> 00:22:04.314
Kim Rahir: He said, please keep doing this. This is great. this is fantastic.
00:22:04.694 --> 00:22:08.174
Kim Rahir: And I'm very grateful that I have met this guy.
00:22:08.354 --> 00:22:11.574
Kim Rahir: We moved to Spain. I looked for a neurologist and I, you know,
00:22:11.674 --> 00:22:18.714
Kim Rahir: I went, I Googled and I found him and yeah, he's, he's super supportive.
00:22:19.574 --> 00:22:25.474
Kim Rahir: And he, he also gave me this idea of, you know, sharing, spreading the word.
00:22:25.954 --> 00:22:32.414
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Okay. So you mentioned one little detail that I think me and everybody
00:22:32.414 --> 00:22:35.294
Kevin Lowe: else was like, Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. Say what?
00:22:35.996 --> 00:22:43.476
Kevin Lowe: You weren't just like lifting, doing some little arm curls with the little 10 pound dumbbells.
00:22:43.856 --> 00:22:47.496
Kevin Lowe: You went on to Olympic lifting.
00:22:47.876 --> 00:22:48.736
Kevin Lowe: That's crazy.
00:22:48.976 --> 00:22:54.096
Kim Rahir: Yes, it is a bit crazy, but it's one of the best things I've ever done.
00:22:54.236 --> 00:22:56.276
Kim Rahir: So, you know, I was training in the gym.
00:22:56.576 --> 00:22:59.656
Kim Rahir: We had just gotten to Spain. I was working with a personal trainer.
00:22:59.936 --> 00:23:04.296
Kim Rahir: He was very, very glad to work with me because, you know, most women still go
00:23:04.296 --> 00:23:09.796
Kim Rahir: to the gym to spend half an hour on the elliptical one and sort of avoid anything
00:23:09.796 --> 00:23:12.316
Kim Rahir: that includes heavy metal.
00:23:12.916 --> 00:23:19.036
Kim Rahir: So I was working with him and he one day said, would you like to try Olympic weightlifting?
00:23:19.676 --> 00:23:23.556
Kim Rahir: I think he had just started himself somewhere just to try it out.
00:23:23.636 --> 00:23:27.476
Kim Rahir: He was a guy who tried all sorts of things, you know, like rugby and kite surfing
00:23:27.476 --> 00:23:31.396
Kim Rahir: and what have you. And then he was into Olympic weightlifting and said, do you want to try this?
00:23:31.616 --> 00:23:35.876
Kim Rahir: And I said, yeah, why not? And my memory of this, this is the first thing I'm
00:23:35.876 --> 00:23:37.676
Kim Rahir: going to share because that's really funny.
00:23:38.016 --> 00:23:40.976
Kim Rahir: I had a memory of Olympic weightlifting because when I was a kid,
00:23:41.136 --> 00:23:42.716
Kim Rahir: I watched the Olympics with my dad.
00:23:43.036 --> 00:23:47.116
Kim Rahir: And because I think Germany had weightlifters, that's why we watched it.
00:23:47.376 --> 00:23:50.616
Kim Rahir: Otherwise, I don't see why we would have been there in front of the TV.
00:23:50.856 --> 00:23:58.516
Kim Rahir: And my memory was of like really big, often like fat guys in weird, weird leotards.
00:24:00.736 --> 00:24:03.736
Kim Rahir: Very like heavy and hairy and like
00:24:03.736 --> 00:24:06.636
Kim Rahir: lifting insane amounts of weight over
00:24:06.636 --> 00:24:09.356
Kim Rahir: their head that's the memory i had and still i said yeah i'm
00:24:09.356 --> 00:24:13.396
Kim Rahir: gonna give it a try why not because i thought that was you know could be fun
00:24:13.396 --> 00:24:17.456
Kim Rahir: and i tried and i totally sucked at it because i can't begin to describe i mean
00:24:17.456 --> 00:24:21.196
Kim Rahir: i could talk about this for hours so you need to stop me but it's you know it's
00:24:21.196 --> 00:24:25.196
Kim Rahir: not only physical it's also physics you have to outsmart gravity because you
00:24:25.196 --> 00:24:28.856
Kim Rahir: need to put the barbell overhead so to make it as.
00:24:29.470 --> 00:24:33.170
Kim Rahir: As light as possible, like, you know, easy to lift as possible.
00:24:33.230 --> 00:24:35.050
Kim Rahir: It has to be very close to your body.
00:24:35.250 --> 00:24:37.670
Kim Rahir: It has to be close to your center of gravity.
00:24:38.050 --> 00:24:41.250
Kim Rahir: Otherwise, you know, just imagine holding a heavy weight, like,
00:24:41.470 --> 00:24:45.270
Kim Rahir: you know, on an outstretched arm far away from you or close to your body.
00:24:45.410 --> 00:24:47.290
Kim Rahir: You can, you know, imagine how that feels.
00:24:47.470 --> 00:24:51.230
Kim Rahir: It has to be close to your body, but in order to travel up, you know,
00:24:51.350 --> 00:24:54.670
Kim Rahir: with some speed and ease, it also needs to travel vertically.
00:24:54.670 --> 00:24:57.450
Kim Rahir: Vertically it's really important yeah because that's
00:24:57.450 --> 00:25:00.590
Kim Rahir: the most efficient way of lifting it up but then
00:25:00.590 --> 00:25:03.410
Kim Rahir: your body isn't vertical and especially because you
00:25:03.410 --> 00:25:06.350
Kim Rahir: need to bend your legs and and then straighten them
00:25:06.350 --> 00:25:10.850
Kim Rahir: to to give the thing a push you know it's not vertical at all so you have to
00:25:10.850 --> 00:25:15.410
Kim Rahir: find a way to sort of move the barbells close to your body as vertically as
00:25:15.410 --> 00:25:19.990
Kim Rahir: possible and then give it a good shove overhead so it's it's challenging but
00:25:19.990 --> 00:25:23.970
Kim Rahir: i loved it because it's you know it's more than just strength.
00:25:24.250 --> 00:25:28.790
Kim Rahir: And it's also something I think I appreciate it so much because you have to
00:25:28.790 --> 00:25:30.430
Kim Rahir: be totally in the moment.
00:25:30.790 --> 00:25:34.970
Kim Rahir: You cannot think of anything else while you're doing it.
00:25:35.230 --> 00:25:41.050
Kim Rahir: You need to focus 100% on this one movement that you're about to do.
00:25:41.750 --> 00:25:48.190
Kim Rahir: And I think that's what hooked me, which, and then it led me to joining a pure weightlifting club.
00:25:48.270 --> 00:25:50.670
Kim Rahir: So I left the commercial gym, went to a weightlifting club.
00:25:50.890 --> 00:25:53.870
Kim Rahir: After two weeks, they asked me if I was, if I wanted to compete.
00:25:54.030 --> 00:25:56.970
Kim Rahir: And I said, what? You know, I was 55 at the time.
00:25:57.410 --> 00:26:00.390
Kim Rahir: And then I thought, yeah, what the hell? You know, why not?
00:26:00.650 --> 00:26:05.430
Kim Rahir: Okay. I said, I'm going to compete. And I'm pretty sure that in my 30s,
00:26:05.530 --> 00:26:08.450
Kim Rahir: I would never have said yes. I would have thought, oh my God,
00:26:08.670 --> 00:26:13.570
Kim Rahir: just another sort of obligation, another stress factor, another thing to do.
00:26:14.050 --> 00:26:18.730
Kim Rahir: And then, you know, nerve wracking and you could fail. You know, but...
00:26:19.135 --> 00:26:22.435
Kim Rahir: After everything I'd been through, I was just like, what the hell?
00:26:22.595 --> 00:26:26.855
Kim Rahir: Yeah, let's have some fun and see how this goes. And it's amazing.
00:26:27.315 --> 00:26:30.755
Kim Rahir: It's so, you know, the first competition I ever did, there was a regional meet.
00:26:30.895 --> 00:26:33.655
Kim Rahir: And I thought I was going to, I felt like crying all the time.
00:26:33.995 --> 00:26:41.195
Kim Rahir: Because, not because I was sad, but the emotions were so strong of excitement,
00:26:41.195 --> 00:26:45.895
Kim Rahir: of nervousness, of fear, of, you know, wanting to go.
00:26:46.115 --> 00:26:49.875
Kim Rahir: It was just so intense. And that's something,
00:26:50.075 --> 00:26:54.675
Kim Rahir: I mean, I don't suggest that everybody start competing in Olympic weightlifting,
00:26:54.835 --> 00:27:00.735
Kim Rahir: but, you know, looking for situations where you are challenged and where you're
00:27:00.735 --> 00:27:05.455
Kim Rahir: happy to rise to the challenge, especially when you're in your 40s or 50s.
00:27:05.595 --> 00:27:10.055
Kim Rahir: You need to do that because it makes you feel so alive.
00:27:10.575 --> 00:27:13.975
Kim Rahir: It really adds zest to life.
00:27:14.175 --> 00:27:17.595
Kim Rahir: And you have to learn how to fail. I mean, of course, you know,
00:27:17.775 --> 00:27:20.935
Kim Rahir: you don't make every lift and you have to learn how to fail.
00:27:21.495 --> 00:27:24.315
Kim Rahir: And I think it's very beneficial.
00:27:24.995 --> 00:27:30.155
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Oh, my goodness. You're amazing. This is absolutely incredible.
00:27:30.435 --> 00:27:35.035
Kevin Lowe: The fact that you didn't just get into weightlifting, but now you're doing in
00:27:35.035 --> 00:27:40.455
Kevin Lowe: a club. And so with the club, I assume that that means you got right into doing competitions.
00:27:41.315 --> 00:27:45.835
Kim Rahir: Yes, because that's a competitive place. It's a club for that.
00:27:46.403 --> 00:27:51.663
Kim Rahir: And it's wonderful because it's like a family and I lift with guys who are 18,
00:27:52.223 --> 00:27:55.163
Kim Rahir: some are 25, others are in their 40s.
00:27:55.363 --> 00:28:00.263
Kim Rahir: You know, nobody cares how old you are and everybody's got their own challenges.
00:28:00.263 --> 00:28:05.243
Kim Rahir: And the cool thing with weightlifting, the training is worked out in percentages.
00:28:05.483 --> 00:28:09.463
Kim Rahir: So, you know, you've got to go there and the coach tells you to,
00:28:09.843 --> 00:28:16.383
Kim Rahir: you know, I don't know, do five series of snatches at 75% of your personal best.
00:28:16.643 --> 00:28:21.903
Kim Rahir: So the relative intensity that you're training at is the same for everybody.
00:28:22.083 --> 00:28:28.183
Kim Rahir: The guy who lifts, you know, 400 pounds, he works at 75% of his best.
00:28:28.303 --> 00:28:33.703
Kim Rahir: And me, I lift a hundred pounds and I work at 75% of my best.
00:28:33.823 --> 00:28:39.603
Kim Rahir: So we sort of in this together and we, and there's no, you know, like no snobbism.
00:28:39.723 --> 00:28:43.683
Kim Rahir: Nobody would ever say oh you you know you're an old woman and you only live
00:28:43.683 --> 00:28:49.803
Kim Rahir: very no we know you know we know that we're doing the same so so.
00:28:49.803 --> 00:28:55.823
Kevin Lowe: So now you're the person in one of those goofy leotards that you talked about earlier yes
00:28:55.823 --> 00:29:02.883
Kim Rahir: I mean that's a bit of that's a bit of a downside i mean they look much better
00:29:02.883 --> 00:29:08.223
Kim Rahir: these days than they look then because then i think they had like like their
00:29:08.223 --> 00:29:10.983
Kim Rahir: upper their torso was somehow naked.
00:29:11.063 --> 00:29:13.663
Kim Rahir: I don't know why that was the case.
00:29:13.983 --> 00:29:17.463
Kim Rahir: Or maybe they were like very low cut or something. No idea.
00:29:17.923 --> 00:29:21.843
Kim Rahir: And now it's not quite as bad. Now it's, they look a little bit better,
00:29:22.003 --> 00:29:26.723
Kim Rahir: but it's, you know, nothing you want to really be seen anywhere else.
00:29:27.463 --> 00:29:34.563
Kevin Lowe: Oh my goodness. I love it. Now, how old are you today? I know you said you got started when you Yes,
00:29:34.883 --> 00:29:42.143
Kim Rahir: I'm 60 today and in, hang on, we're what? Yeah, in four days, I'm turning 61.
00:29:42.463 --> 00:29:43.243
Kevin Lowe: Oh my goodness.
00:29:44.180 --> 00:29:50.640
Kevin Lowe: Wow. So here you are at almost 61 years old.
00:29:51.160 --> 00:29:56.880
Kevin Lowe: You are still in the gym, still lifting weights.
00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:04.160
Kevin Lowe: I mean, talk about an inspiration to others of what is possible.
00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:09.740
Kim Rahir: Oh, absolutely. And this is something I so want to shout it from the rooftops.
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:13.920
Kim Rahir: And I think this is why my story needs to be shared also.
00:30:14.180 --> 00:30:20.220
Kim Rahir: Because, I mean, I was unable to walk. I had no legs, no functioning legs.
00:30:20.780 --> 00:30:26.940
Kim Rahir: And now I'm competing in weightlifting. So I know how I felt in the moment.
00:30:26.940 --> 00:30:30.440
Kim Rahir: I didn't know at the time if I was ever going to walk again.
00:30:30.580 --> 00:30:33.500
Kim Rahir: And I know there's so many people out there who have problems.
00:30:33.840 --> 00:30:38.760
Kim Rahir: And it could be just dodgy knees that make you think there's so many things you can't do.
00:30:38.900 --> 00:30:43.600
Kim Rahir: Or a frozen shoulder or a sore back or whatever it is. or maybe you're carrying
00:30:43.600 --> 00:30:46.620
Kim Rahir: too much weight and you don't feel like you can move.
00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:53.000
Kim Rahir: No matter where you are, you can always start doing something.
00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:58.580
Kim Rahir: And this is also what my whole approach when I work with my clients now is based on that.
00:30:58.800 --> 00:31:02.580
Kim Rahir: We find the place where you can start.
00:31:02.860 --> 00:31:06.920
Kim Rahir: Don't go looking for stuff on YouTube. There's fantastic workouts there,
00:31:07.020 --> 00:31:12.060
Kim Rahir: but they are probably not made for you if you were in your 50s and you have
00:31:12.060 --> 00:31:16.500
Kim Rahir: high mileage knees and you haven't done, you know, exercise in a while.
00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:21.920
Kim Rahir: If you find your sort of point of entry, as I also like to call it,
00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:26.400
Kim Rahir: the one that's right for you, no matter how low you might feel,
00:31:26.560 --> 00:31:28.680
Kim Rahir: this point of entry exists.
00:31:28.860 --> 00:31:35.080
Kim Rahir: And then from there, you can start getting stronger, building momentum and like,
00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:38.700
Kim Rahir: you know, increasing your quality of life, like manifold.
00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:42.280
Kim Rahir: And you don't even need to go to a gym for
00:31:42.280 --> 00:31:45.820
Kim Rahir: that because that might be the second objection that comes up like i know i
00:31:45.820 --> 00:31:49.360
Kim Rahir: hate gyms i don't want to go to the gym you don't have to you can get stronger
00:31:49.360 --> 00:31:54.340
Kim Rahir: like in the comfort of your own home and that's what i do with my clients they
00:31:54.340 --> 00:31:59.620
Kim Rahir: start with literally 15 minutes a day at home and it you don't even have to
00:31:59.620 --> 00:32:01.320
Kim Rahir: get out of their pajamas to do that,
00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:07.499
Kim Rahir: We take it from there. So wherever you are right now, if you feel that there's
00:32:07.499 --> 00:32:12.059
Kim Rahir: nothing you can do, you know, forget that thought. There's something you can do right now.
00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:17.179
Kim Rahir: And no matter how small, but it will be like the first building block of,
00:32:17.299 --> 00:32:19.119
Kim Rahir: you know, of your castle.
00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:22.779
Kim Rahir: And, you know, even if it starts with a little pebble, you know,
00:32:22.899 --> 00:32:26.319
Kim Rahir: this is one step in the right direction and you can always do something.
00:32:27.999 --> 00:32:33.519
Kevin Lowe: Absolutely. Well, before I ask you more about what you're doing today, I want to ask you,
00:32:34.379 --> 00:32:40.159
Kevin Lowe: back when you got started lifting weights and then even kind of up to today,
00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:44.659
Kevin Lowe: what has been the response from your family, from your kids,
00:32:44.819 --> 00:32:48.539
Kevin Lowe: that mom is now competitive weightlifting?
00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:57.599
Kim Rahir: Oh, well, I think they love it. That was not even a, they didn't take a beat.
00:32:57.599 --> 00:33:02.539
Kim Rahir: I don't know if you say it like this or pause think oh my god what's mom doing it's it was just,
00:33:03.019 --> 00:33:07.199
Kim Rahir: wow that's cool wow that's amazing it
00:33:07.199 --> 00:33:10.339
Kim Rahir: was not quite as I mean that's my kids my husband
00:33:10.339 --> 00:33:16.279
Kim Rahir: he had to sort of get used to the thought and I think there's a but it didn't
00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:19.479
Kim Rahir: I mean it didn't take him long or anything and there was absolutely no resistance
00:33:19.479 --> 00:33:24.119
Kim Rahir: which is really important because I know that many women get resistance from
00:33:24.119 --> 00:33:27.419
Kim Rahir: their environment when it comes to these things but But this, you know,
00:33:27.539 --> 00:33:31.099
Kim Rahir: this cultural aspect that you're sort of talking about is really,
00:33:31.259 --> 00:33:36.079
Kim Rahir: it's really important because it's physical strength is not part of the sort
00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:38.899
Kim Rahir: of virtue catalogue for girls or women.
00:33:39.679 --> 00:33:43.579
Kim Rahir: And that's something I want to change too, you know, we need to be strong,
00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:49.379
Kim Rahir: physically strong if we want quality of life and, you know, our own power,
00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:51.699
Kim Rahir: our independence until we're very old.
00:33:51.859 --> 00:33:53.979
Kim Rahir: We just, we need physical strength.
00:33:54.704 --> 00:33:58.864
Kim Rahir: And even though it's not, it's not our first thought, you know,
00:33:59.044 --> 00:34:00.864
Kim Rahir: how are we raised as girls?
00:34:01.044 --> 00:34:05.364
Kim Rahir: I don't know about young girls today, but in my generation, it was like,
00:34:05.484 --> 00:34:06.944
Kim Rahir: you know, you want to be pretty,
00:34:07.444 --> 00:34:12.464
Kim Rahir: you want to be smart, you want to be slim, but like, you know,
00:34:12.584 --> 00:34:16.884
Kim Rahir: you want to be muscular and strong was not really part of that.
00:34:16.884 --> 00:34:25.724
Kim Rahir: And that's why it's so hard to adopt, to embrace, you know, that ideal or that goal.
00:34:25.904 --> 00:34:29.484
Kim Rahir: But it's the one that's going to give you everything else that you desire.
00:34:29.584 --> 00:34:32.224
Kim Rahir: So here I am spreading the message.
00:34:32.604 --> 00:34:34.864
Kevin Lowe: Yes, look at you, you little trendsetter.
00:34:37.604 --> 00:34:45.324
Kevin Lowe: Now, such a powerful message. I want to ask you kind of a deep question is,
00:34:45.564 --> 00:34:51.804
Kevin Lowe: do you ever deal with fear of if things come back?
00:34:52.084 --> 00:34:58.384
Kim Rahir: To be honest, not really. It's a very weird thing.
00:34:58.584 --> 00:35:04.884
Kim Rahir: And I've been thinking about this a lot because I am acutely aware every day
00:35:04.884 --> 00:35:08.284
Kim Rahir: that all of this could end tomorrow.
00:35:09.144 --> 00:35:12.224
Kim Rahir: It's not you know and it's not we all have this
00:35:12.224 --> 00:35:15.324
Kim Rahir: rational knowledge in our
00:35:15.324 --> 00:35:18.244
Kim Rahir: head we know that tomorrow is not guaranteed we could
00:35:18.244 --> 00:35:21.104
Kim Rahir: die in an accident we could be i don't
00:35:21.104 --> 00:35:24.204
Kim Rahir: know in an earthquake or whatever but i'm not
00:35:24.204 --> 00:35:27.444
Kim Rahir: talking about this this sort of rational insight i
00:35:27.444 --> 00:35:30.684
Kim Rahir: really know in my bones from my
00:35:30.684 --> 00:35:33.784
Kim Rahir: experience that you know this can all end
00:35:33.784 --> 00:35:36.964
Kim Rahir: tomorrow it could anything could happen i could
00:35:36.964 --> 00:35:39.964
Kim Rahir: not be able to lift tomorrow that's just a fact
00:35:39.964 --> 00:35:43.264
Kim Rahir: that i and and i feel it in
00:35:43.264 --> 00:35:46.564
Kim Rahir: every fiber of my body but it doesn't make
00:35:46.564 --> 00:35:55.144
Kim Rahir: me afraid it makes me more determined to make today you know the best day it
00:35:55.144 --> 00:36:01.344
Kim Rahir: can possibly be and to you know live everything that i can live today to the
00:36:01.344 --> 00:36:04.304
Kim Rahir: fullest so i don't i I don't know if that's,
00:36:04.404 --> 00:36:06.784
Kim Rahir: is there some denial in what I'm doing?
00:36:06.964 --> 00:36:13.384
Kim Rahir: Maybe, maybe, but I'm not, I'm, I'm really totally aware that this is,
00:36:13.584 --> 00:36:18.564
Kim Rahir: you know, not a given forever, that this is actually a very fragile sort of
00:36:18.564 --> 00:36:21.504
Kim Rahir: state of, of happiness and health.
00:36:21.924 --> 00:36:29.924
Kim Rahir: But instead of sort of scaring me, it just gives me this determination to make the most of it right now.
00:36:30.344 --> 00:36:31.164
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:31.659 --> 00:36:38.259
Kevin Lowe: I absolutely love that. You know, it kind of goes back to the way in which we
00:36:38.259 --> 00:36:40.479
Kevin Lowe: all can choose how we see the glass,
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:46.139
Kevin Lowe: whether half full or half empty, you know, and if you have that choice to make
00:36:46.139 --> 00:36:49.939
Kevin Lowe: and you're really wanting to make the most out of every day,
00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:52.359
Kevin Lowe: why not choose to see it as half full,
00:36:52.679 --> 00:36:55.259
Kevin Lowe: you know, and that's so powerful.
00:36:55.259 --> 00:36:59.759
Kevin Lowe: Now, today, what are you doing?
00:37:00.139 --> 00:37:04.999
Kevin Lowe: Where can people learn more about what you're doing and really just kind of
00:37:04.999 --> 00:37:06.679
Kevin Lowe: stay plugged in with your world?
00:37:06.879 --> 00:37:11.579
Kim Rahir: Well, what you can do if you want to find out about what I do in my work with
00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:16.419
Kim Rahir: women, help them to become strong and lean, you can check out my website,
00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:18.839
Kim Rahir: which is with my name, Kim Raheer.com.
00:37:18.839 --> 00:37:21.739
Kim Rahir: And there's also a free health and
00:37:21.739 --> 00:37:24.659
Kim Rahir: strength assessment on there that you can take because remember that
00:37:24.659 --> 00:37:27.379
Kim Rahir: point of entry I was talking about that will give
00:37:27.379 --> 00:37:30.299
Kim Rahir: you a very good idea of where you are at right now
00:37:30.299 --> 00:37:34.419
Kim Rahir: with your health and strength and when you fill that out I can I'm sending you
00:37:34.419 --> 00:37:39.239
Kim Rahir: some pointers and tips on you know what you could do next to get started if
00:37:39.239 --> 00:37:44.279
Kim Rahir: you you know don't want to engage like that right away you can just start you
00:37:44.279 --> 00:37:48.419
Kim Rahir: can lurk a little bit on on Facebook with my My name also, Kim Raheer,
00:37:48.499 --> 00:37:49.759
Kim Rahir: where I'm sharing lots of stuff,
00:37:50.379 --> 00:37:55.799
Kim Rahir: you know, info, helpful tips, and some of my weightlifting adventures too.
00:37:56.139 --> 00:37:59.479
Kim Rahir: Same on Instagram, by the way. You know, just with my name, you can find me.
00:38:00.099 --> 00:38:04.179
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, amazing. Well, I'll be sure that anybody interested, I'll be sure that
00:38:04.179 --> 00:38:08.679
Kevin Lowe: all of that information and links, all of it is in the show notes for easy access.
00:38:09.179 --> 00:38:13.939
Kevin Lowe: Kim, it's been a pleasure getting to meet you today, to get to hear your story.
00:38:13.939 --> 00:38:22.399
Kevin Lowe: And more than just your story is getting to be enlightened by your perspective on life.
00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:31.299
Kevin Lowe: I think you are one of those real-life superheroes for the fact that you see
00:38:31.299 --> 00:38:38.039
Kevin Lowe: life differently and that you were faced with this thing,
00:38:38.319 --> 00:38:41.239
Kevin Lowe: and yet you chose to persevere.
00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:43.699
Kevin Lowe: You chose to keep going
00:38:44.487 --> 00:38:48.747
Kevin Lowe: And look at where you are today. It's such a beautiful story.
00:38:49.007 --> 00:38:50.147
Kim Rahir: Thank you so much.
00:38:50.607 --> 00:38:56.347
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. Well, listen, I have one final question and then I'll let you go.
00:38:56.527 --> 00:39:02.687
Kevin Lowe: But my final question is, is for somebody listening today who maybe they're
00:39:02.687 --> 00:39:08.027
Kevin Lowe: going through their own struggles, whether it's something physical, maybe mental,
00:39:08.467 --> 00:39:14.207
Kevin Lowe: something that hasn't been a position in life, maybe back where you were during those six months.
00:39:14.487 --> 00:39:18.027
Kevin Lowe: What would you say to them to give them a little bit of hope and encouragement?
00:39:18.367 --> 00:39:25.047
Kim Rahir: I want to say there's only one question that you want to ask yourself in order
00:39:25.047 --> 00:39:27.667
Kim Rahir: to get better and to feel better.
00:39:27.927 --> 00:39:30.947
Kim Rahir: Do not ask, why is this happening?
00:39:31.367 --> 00:39:34.707
Kim Rahir: Who is to blame? How did this happen?
00:39:34.987 --> 00:39:40.187
Kim Rahir: Or why is this happening to me? Or don't even ask what's going to become of me.
00:39:40.407 --> 00:39:44.007
Kim Rahir: Ask this one single question. what
00:39:44.007 --> 00:39:47.607
Kim Rahir: can I do right now that will
00:39:47.607 --> 00:39:50.407
Kim Rahir: make me just a little bit better and there's
00:39:50.407 --> 00:39:53.927
Kim Rahir: always something that you're going to find and that could be the smallest of
00:39:53.927 --> 00:39:58.927
Kim Rahir: things like listening to bird song having a glass of water or calling a loved
00:39:58.927 --> 00:40:03.707
Kim Rahir: one whatever it is but if you ask that one tiny question what can I do right
00:40:03.707 --> 00:40:10.147
Kim Rahir: now that will get you on a path of doing something instead of pondering and fearing,
00:40:10.407 --> 00:40:15.707
Kim Rahir: and it will create momentum and it will help you get out of the place you're in right now.
00:40:16.387 --> 00:40:23.867
Kevin Lowe: Wow. Kim, you're amazing. You are absolutely incredible. Thank you once again for being here.
00:40:24.127 --> 00:40:27.367
Kim Rahir: Thank you so much for having me. You're such a lovely host.
00:40:27.467 --> 00:40:32.667
Kim Rahir: And I know that the feelings that I've been talking about, you know, all about them.
00:40:33.207 --> 00:40:38.227
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. Well, for you listening today, I hope that you're smiling
00:40:38.227 --> 00:40:43.907
Kevin Lowe: as big as I am because this woman today, wow, she just brightened my day and
00:40:43.907 --> 00:40:45.347
Kevin Lowe: I hope she did yours as well.
00:40:45.987 --> 00:40:50.627
Kevin Lowe: If today's episode resonated with you, if it made you think of somebody who
00:40:50.627 --> 00:40:55.927
Kevin Lowe: could use a little boost to their day, maybe consider sharing today's episode with them.
00:40:56.087 --> 00:40:59.667
Kevin Lowe: That would mean the world to me. And I know that it would mean the world to
00:40:59.667 --> 00:41:03.587
Kevin Lowe: them. Until next time, of course, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe,
00:41:03.687 --> 00:41:07.107
Kevin Lowe: and this was another interview here on Grit Great.
00:41:07.120 --> 00:41:27.199
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