Burpees, Birds, And Beating Chemo | Carly Fauth

We explore how a 15-minute movement method helped Carly navigate triple negative breast cancer, build resilience, and reimagine strength as consistent, compassionate action. From a chemo-chair podcast to a book born of courage, the tools are small, practical, and deeply human.

• redefining fitness as 15-minute wins
• perimenopause as a shared, open conversation
• the diagnosis, treatment choices, and fear
• movement as medicine for fatigue and nausea
• momentum before motivation and the plus one idea
• Chemo Coffee Talk evolving to Fit and Fitness
• Pray For The Bear and finding purpose in pain
• simple starter habits like coffee-squat rituals
• building a lifelong fitness foundation
• where to find Carly’s programs, book, and podcast

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Connect with Carly!

Website
 https://www.fitfuncarly.com

Podcast
 Fit in Fitness Podcast

Book
 Pray for the Bear

Instagram & LinkedIn
 @fitfuncarly

Facebook Group
Fitness Can Be Fun

Free 15-minute conversation Available through her website

This is Delay the Binge™ — formerly The Plus One Theory Podcast.

Delay the Binge™ explores the patterns behind urges, habits, emotional eating, stress, burnout, and Quiet Depletion™, and what happens in the pause between impulse and action, where real behavior change begins.

Through conversations with leading experts in neuroscience, psychology, resilience, and human behavior, you’ll gain practical insight into how the brain shapes reactions, and how small, intentional shifts can interrupt patterns and create lasting change.

Because it’s not about willpower…it’s about what you do in the moment the urge hits.

Full video episodes available on YouTube
 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@pamdwyerspeaker

Learn more: https://delaythebinge.com

Pam Dwyer | Speaker & Bestselling Author
Storytelling that transforms. Healing that lasts.

Books + Speaking:  https://www.tpkkconcepts.com/

⚠️ IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, psychological, or professional advice.

The content shared reflects personal experiences and general insights and should not replace guidance from a licensed healthcare provider, therapist, or qualified profe...

Transcript

A Life-Changing Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:00

There are moments in life when everything changes. A diagnosis, a loss, a moment when the future you thought you were walking towards suddenly looks completely different. And in that moment, you discover something about yourself that you may have never seen before. Strength, resilience, and sometimes purpose. Today's guest embodies that in a remarkable way. She believes fitness doesn't have to be overwhelming or time consuming. Sometimes meaningful change begins with something as simple as a 15 intentional minute a day workout. But Carly's mission took on an entirely new depth in February of 2024 when she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, y'all. While many people understandably retreat inward during treatment, Carly chose something extraordinary. She started a podcast, not after treatment and not when life became easier, but from the chemotherapy chair at the uh the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. That podcast, Fit and Fitness, became a place of connection, encouragement, and hope for people navigating their own challenges. And during that same time, Carly also wrote a book titled Pray for the Bear. Can't wait to hear about that. Sharing what it means to face life's hardest moments with courage, faith, and resilience. Today we're talking about movement, mindset, resilience, and what happens when life places something in front of you that you never ask for. But choose to face anyway. Carly, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Thank you. What an introduction, Pam. That was like the nicest introduction I've ever received. I appreciate it.

Present Season And Perimenopause

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Thanks for having me. I've just been so blown away. You're amazing, and I can't wait to just dig deep. So, but before we do get into your story, I'd like to start with you right now. So, what season of life are you in today? And what are you most excited about in your work and mission at this moment?

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Um, so I'm a cancer survivor, and I'm almost two years um out of my cancer treatment. So that is something to celebrate. Every day is something to celebrate. I think everybody should be celebrating every day, no matter if you've had a cancer diagnosis or not. Um, I'm heading into perimenopause, which is like which is like that is the season of life I'm in, Pam. Um you'll get through it. I've been there through it. And I feel like a lot of my clients, most of my clients, are are dealing with the same thing. So that's always top of mind. It's not that bad yet, but I feel like the way that I have dealt with a lot of the things that have kind of landed in my lap in my life, I think I can use some of those principles that I used to get through those times to get through something like this. And at the end of the day, I'm glad I'm here to be able to go through perimenopause. Well, and we meet each other, you know, when we're going through. We need to talk about it. Yeah, I feel like before no one was really talking about it. So there was all this like, is this normal? And doctors didn't really know. Yeah. And now everybody is able to like that's all anybody wants to talk about. So I feel like that's definitely a a good thing is to just things things feel better when we can be open and honest about them.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

So, well, I got through it and and I did need support. I didn't have it when I went through it, and it was tough to go do it by yourself, you know?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, it is. It's a lot, it's a lot. It's a change. Changes are hard.

From Side Hustle To 15-Minute Method

SPEAKER_01 4:02

So um before your diagnosis, I know I'm gonna dive right in there. Yeah, go ahead, dive right in. Okay. Before your diagnosis, you were already deeply committed to helping people move their bodies and build strength. So tell us about the work you were doing and the mission behind FitFun Carly.

The Cancer Diagnosis Unfolds

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Yeah, so I had I had started out with fitness as a side hustle. So I had a I had a real job. I had a whole bunch of different real jobs and marketing, PR, advertising. And then fitness was something I kind of developed on the side, and I really liked it. But as the years went by, I started to kind of think about like why, what, what is it about teaching fitness that seems to resonate with me and my teaching style seems to resonate with so many people because my following was growing. And I realized it really wasn't the things I was teaching. So I started with a bar certification and bar as of like a, yeah, I'm not a ballet dancer. I really, to be honest with you, don't even like bar that much, but I got the certification so I could teach it at a studio that needed to bring it to their um services. So that's why I did it. And then I was like, it isn't really about the bar, it's about the connection to students and seeing how I can make this something that feels good in their bodies and watching people connect to the things I was teaching. So it could have been anything. I mean, Zumba I don't love, but I could have been a Zumba teacher and love to see people connect to Zumba. So I started to kind of think more about that, and then I realized that maybe it wasn't, maybe it was time for me to develop something other than just being a fitness instructor. So I came up with my own method, which I had uh used for a lot of my clients who are busy moms, busy professionals who were telling me that they had no time to exercise. And I said, You do, you have 15 minutes. And they're like, Do I? I'm like, Yeah, think about it. You could wake up 15 minutes earlier or go to bed 15 minutes later, and it's not going to disrupt your day. So they started to use this 15-minute workout formula and it started to really work for them. So I thought, let me make this into a like the Fitfon Carly method. So I came up with my own 15-minute method and started pushing it out there. Um, it was going really well. I made fitness my full-time job. I got rid of the other real jobs and made fitness my real job. And then I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So I was just on the upswing. And it for me, I never thought I'd own my own business. I never thought I'd be an entrepreneur. It's not something that comes easy or natural to me. It's a it is a big um step outside my comfort zone. So I thought, how am I gonna do this? It's just me that teaches these classes and they're all virtual, so I had to do them. It's not like I just tell people what to do. And I thought I have no idea how this cancer thing is gonna shake out. I didn't know what chemo was gonna look like. All I knew is what I thought I knew. And then I started to do some um research into the importance of exercise during cancer treatment just for my own benefit. I asked my oncologist. She didn't really know that much about it, but she gave me a book called Moving Through Cancer. So I read that book and I was like, I can do this. I'm gonna work out every day and teach my classes, and I'm gonna use my 15-minute method to get me through cancer. And so knowing that chemo eats muscle for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and that the chemo could affect my heart because it was very aggressive chemo. So, long story short, I ended up achieving my goal. And through that, I realized how powerful my method was for helping people, not only with cancer, but fighting anything, grief, um, transitions, like anything. This 15-minute is 15 minutes is just easy to wrap your brain around. And most of the time, if you do 15, get you going, you could do 15 minutes more, 15 minutes more. It's just easy for the brain to understand. So I was really proud of myself that I did that. And then when I was done, I started thinking about it more as this idea of really trying to help people get through hard times with movement and redefining exercise. So it's not, it's not always something you have to think about going to the gym for and adding another thing on your to-do list. It's something that truly makes you feel better. So let's start there first. And then once you get the wins from feeling good because they come fast, then you can start talking about progression and building muscle and working on whatever it is you want to work on. But we have to start at the very basic level to get people on board with exercise. So that is what how I've kind of transitioned the 15-minute fit and fist fit fit in fitness method um up until this point. So it's it's been exciting and I love what I do, and I just love being able to meet so many people, strong people. We're going through hard times.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Yes, yes. And I find that a lot of your principles um blend with mine so well. I have something called the plus one theory, which is doing your best plus one more in small incremental steps.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Yes.

Triple Negative And Treatment Choices

SPEAKER_01 8:59

And and it really is key. And I've been doing a lot of research on the neuroscience of all of that. Because the brain literally needs to bring this frontal part of your brain back online because the lower part of the brain's in charge, which is the caveman, making you do bad things. But, you know, that's just my way of explaining it. But 15 minutes, I mean, that just gives the brain ch a chance to get back online and to really reason with you about why this is important, why we need to move our bodies, even if it's just in small little pieces.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yeah, I think it's outdated to think of. Like, I mean, I think of like even how we growing up, people didn't know any better. So it was all like no fat and just the snack well generation where we stuff our faces with snack wells, and that like that's probably why I got breast cancer. But I I think I would eat the whole box before I'd get to the grocery store checkout. Yeah, and I thought I was being so healthy. So I think that we need to evolve our way of thinking about things as more research comes out and um how we understand the brain more. It does not have to look like it has always looked, nor should it. Everybody is different with how they do things. So it's I think it's key to really try to understand what works for each individual.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Oh, gosh, that's so important. I mean, I've been through such a journey on myself with with medical issues, and I found that, you know, doctor after doctor would say, I don't know what's wrong. So you have to get curious and try to figure out what your unique situation is, you know, what's going to help you move beyond what's happening to you, you know, to your health. And so I love I love what you're doing with all of that because, you know, we just need to give ourselves a little grace and a little time. And I think that we can can move into that healthy zone.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

So let me help my listeners relate to how amazing you are and resilient.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

So February of 2024 arrives and you're diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. I mean, I'm trying to be empathetic and put myself in inside of you right when you when you learn this. So can you take us into that moment? Like, where were you when you heard the diagnosis and what went through your mind?

Movement As Medicine During Chemo

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Yeah. Well, I had found, I think I must, my guardian angel must have been looking out for me because I didn't, I didn't check myself. I just didn't. But I was in the shower and I was um washing my armpit and I felt like a teeny little bump. And I like checked the other side and I was like, is that is that on the other side? And it wasn't. So I let it go for about a week and then I was like, I should get this check. So I went to my doctor. She didn't think it was anything, so she didn't rush the biopsy. But no, first it was an ultrasound. She didn't rush the ultrasound. So about I guess 10 days later, I went for the ultrasound. I went in there thinking it was like, I was in a great mood. I was chatting everybody up. And then you know when the ultrasound technician stops and her face drops, and then she jams it in your armpit, and you're just like, what? And then the doctor comes in and they're like, we need you to come back for a biopsy. I didn't know, like, I was out of my mind, scared. I th I came home, I fell on the floor. My dog must have been like, What the heck is going on? I just sobbed. I was, I was so, it hit me like an it hit me like a Mac truck. I was able to get myself like pulled together, so I went back for the biopsy. And I mean, I think at that point my instincts were telling me that it was something. And then, I mean, my the beginning of my journey was filled with frustration because tests weren't coming back. The ultrasound machine broke when I was in it, and then I had to wait to get another. It was like one thing after. Then they found some shadow in the ultra sound machine that wasn't me, but they thought it was me, and they thought I had a like a big two tumors. It was like, it was so stressful. But then when I did get the call that it was um trip, that it was breast cancer. Um, my doctor didn't really read the report fully. And it stages don't really matter anymore, but I I was still in my own head, in my own zone of what I knew, thought I knew about cancer. And she told me that it was stage three, but it wasn't, it was stage one. But then I had to go through the whole, I mean, it was like, it was pretty traumatic.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

And then some of us would be like, what is stage one, two, or three, or four? What does that mean? What is that?

Mindset, Momentum, And Small Wins

SPEAKER_00 13:26

But you uh you hear the later stages, the worse it is. Like that is what I had been brought up knowing. I know better now that stages don't really, they're stage four survivors that do that thrive and go on. But um, and then I found out it was triple negative. I didn't even know that there were different kinds of breast cancer. So triple negative is a breast cancer that is not hormone-driven. So it is a more aggressive form of cancer. So if I had let it go longer, it would have been a disaster. It spreads quickly. Um, rate of recurrence can be high, but I did have a double nosectomy. I chose to go flat and then I went the most aggressive route with chemo. I didn't have to have radiation because once I got past that beginning part of all these mistakes happening and the scariest part, once I got a plan, then I felt like everything happened like in my favor and it hadn't spread to my lymph nodes and the surgery went well and the chemo worked. So the thing with triple negative cancer is most cancers that are hormone-driven, after you're done with your treatment, you can take a hormone suppressant, which will help which will prevent the cancer from coming back. Um, but mine, I can't take anything for it. So I because it's hormone negative. So I just try to live my best. There's there's like you adjust. I adjust and I live my best life, and I get scared sometimes, and then I get over it, and then I make sure that I'm exercising and eating well, but I'm not, I don't go nuts. I live my life. I want to enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Well, and and too, it makes you appreciate things a little better, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Oh, 100%. But but like I think there's this misconception that you have a diagnosis like that, and then every morning you wake up and you look out the window and you're just like, this is great. And that is not the case. I wake up and I'm like, uh, and I go to bed and I'm like, uh, I mean, we still you still use you're a human. So but you know, like you can check it back into place and be like, oh, it's what are what are the alternatives to this, not being here.

Chemo Coffee Talk To Fit And Fitness

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Well, and we actually use what we're telling everyone else they need. Yes, exactly. I mean, that's how we came up with it, right, in the first place.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

Yes, yes, exactly. So it's it's been a journey.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Right. I I and yes, but an important one that has led you to the place that you're at now. I mean, your your whole message uh is around movement. Yes. But during cancer treatment, movement takes on an entirely different meaning. Yes. Yes. But did it did it play uh movement play a uh a big role in your chemotherapy?

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Oh, 100%. And help me deal with the side effects. Um, every single time I felt nauseous or tired, and trust me, there were days where I could barely get out of bed. I knew that I could trust myself. All I had to do was do it once to see how like going out for a 15-minute walk reduced the nausea symptoms. If you are going through chemotherapy and you feel miserable and there is something that you can do to relieve your symptoms, you are going to do it. It's not always a pill. I knew that I wouldn't feel like it, but if I if I worked, if I got up and I and I moved my body, I could reduce the fatigue. I could feel better mentally. Like I wouldn't go down that mental rabbit hole of fear and depression and wallowing. Not that, I mean, it's okay to have a pity party, but pity party, but you have to stay positive. You have to stay on the sunny side of the street. So that is what really helped me. And it was just eye-opening to see the connection to the brain when you're moving your body. And if you would take the associations of having to like sweat or having to like push so hard that you're collapsed on the floor and you can just take it back a notch and understand how much movement helps you feel better and also appreciate your body. I knew when I went out for my Saturday morning runs, I had a six-mile loop. And I every time I went out, I was like, I'm gonna run as much of it as I can. And there were some days I could run the whole thing, and some days I had to run walk. But I was like, this is like me doing this with a 20-pound weight on my back. And good for me. Like it's an at a girl moment where you could get, you could like, I don't know, have a little swagger with my bald head and flat chest. I was like, I am so I'm crushing this on the good days. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yes, and and it's tools, right? We all rely on all kinds of tools, expecting the tool to do it for us, but it's the mindset that helps us utilize the tool full fully. And I look at movement, movement like a tool. And and it's my, I'll have to confess to you, it's my least favorite thing to do. Yeah, exercise. Working out, yeah, walking. But I have to make myself do it. And then for some reason, that's when the motivation happens, is after I'm Oh, that makes sense. Make myself do it.

Turning Fear Into Purposeful Creation

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Momentum is the thing that builds motivation. You will never want to do it until you do it. And then momentum is the thing that creates that motivation. You can't just all of us, you're not going to feel mo if you're sitting here being like, I'm just gonna wait till I feel like doing it or I enjoy it, it's never gonna happen. You have to take the action. Then you get the reward, but you gotta move, you gotta do it. There's no magic wand.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Well, that makes a lot of sense. And you talk about um fitting and fitness, even when life's overwhelming, and that philosophy must have taken on a deeper meaning during your treatment.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

100%. I mean, I was doing um burpees from my chemo room. Um, I had I did like a burpee a day until I beat cancer. That was my thing. Um and yeah, I it didn't exercise did not look like it always had for me. Like I was I was that girl who didn't think it was a good workout until I was like dying and like sweating, and like I I lived on that release, and I used exercise as a way to kind of escape my problems to tune out. All of a sudden I was using exercise to tune in. I was like walking with no headphones and listening to the birds. Like my sensory, my sensory perception or my senses, I feel like they heightened during that experience. I was really connected to birds. I don't I didn't even like birds before my whole journey, but then all of a sudden I was like listening to the birds chirping and it was bringing me peace. So um, yeah, I still really like birds now.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Birds are like the most resilient animal on the planet, I think, because they are they can find food anywhere. They are.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

So maybe that's why I bonded with the birds, but yeah, now I like birds.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Um I think that one of the most powerful parts of your story is that you started this podcast. You I don't know about you, I can relate to that because it really helps me heal when I'm helping others heal.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

You know, so fit and fitness from your chemotherapy chair at the Dana Farber is tell us about that moment, like when you thought it's gonna really help me to help others. I mean, how tell me about that moment when you've realized I'm gonna do a podcast.

Writing, Journaling, And Healing Tools

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Yeah, so it started Fit in Fitness, it expanded to Fit in Fitness. I rebranded the podcast after my caves or journey. When it started, it was called Chemo Coffee Talk. So that's how so I was I was on a podcast, a friend had a podcast, um, and she invited me over to be on it, and we like sat in her living room and she had a cell phone with two little microphones, and that's how we recorded. So I was like, and it was the week before I was going in for chemo. And there was just this thought that hit me like, I should do a podcast from my chemo chair. And then I started thinking about it more. I'm like, you know, I would have loved to have somebody tell me what chemo was like. I mean, you go to the chemo talks with a nurse, but that's still that gives you like they go over the drugs and they go over like what happens, but they don't go over like what it's going to feel like and look like and um the the emotions that go along with chemo because a lot of the doctors have never had cancer. So they're looking at it from a different perspective. But I was like, I want to see I want to talk to somebody who's been through it. And I could talk to somebody, but I wanted like a first row, I I wanted to see it. So I was like, I'm just gonna let people in. Now I knew that if I walked into Dana Farber with um and asked to film that that probably would have gotten me shut down because of privacy loss. Obviously, I'm not an idiot, but then I thought if I come in with these little baby microphones, like number one, who's gonna even know that I'm doing it? But number two, like, how could they have a problem with it? So I walked. In the first day to my chemo nurse, and I was like, okay, so I'm just so you know, I'm doing a podcast. And she was like, For what? And I think I caused like a major ruckus, but they didn't stop me. And I thought, you know what? I'm gonna show them how good it is, and then then they're not gonna want to stop me. I even had an on an on-air sign from my door. So like the doctors would see and they'd be like, Can I come in? Like, yes, you work here. But I just I needed, I think I for the idea was to help other people, but um I will be 100% honest, it was more to help myself because I was so scared and I do not like to be scared, and I do not like to admit that I'm scared, but I was so afraid and I thought, how can I turn this into something that's going to make me get through it and maybe even have purpose and make me feel like I'm almost excited for chemo day to come. So then I thought, I'm just gonna say that chemo day is podcast day, and I'm going to Dana Farber, but I'm going to my podcast studio. So that's why I got the on-air sign and I would interview all my chemo buddies who wanted to come to chemo with me. So you can bring two people in, at least at Dana Farber and Milford. Um, so my husband went with me the first time, and then each week I had two guests come and they would, and the thing was, you could come to chemo with me, but you have to be a guest on my podcast. And the whole premise was that these people that came were all these like great people in my life that have all taught me something, and they all gave me some tool or nugget of wisdom that was helping me get through this cancer experience. So this was my way of like thanking them in a public setting, of pointing out the thing that I admire about them and then asking them about it. Like, how did that start? So it could be a like a there was always like a takeaway for the audience members to have from my friends who are so wonderful. Um, so those episodes I didn't edit them because I didn't know how. I would literally just publish it from my chemo room. You hear the beeps of the chemo machine. I gave an update on how I was doing. And yeah, it was probably the best thing I ever did for myself in regards to my cancer treatment.

Programs, Community, And Where To Find Carly

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Well, and I just want to go back for a moment because no one can really prepare you for what your experience is going to be. I mean, I've my big the big thing in my life is the procedure I had done was bariatric surgery. Yeah. And it's very different, I'm sure, than cancer because it's a little more urgency there. Yep. But you prepare for an entire year just because insurance wants you to get, you know, uh behavioral health, uh, mental health support. They teach they teach you about nutrition. They prepare you for this new life that you're going to be living, but that one critical component that they do not tell you or teach you is about maintenance. Is like, okay, let's say you do reach your goal, all right, and and you do transition into this new way of eating. How do you maintain that? Because guess what? This is a tool. What's really messed up is up in here that brought you to that place to that place for in the first place, you know? Yep. And so no amount of preparation can really prepare you for what you will experience. And I'm sure there were a lot of surprises for you in your experience. There was for me, I know, but it's completely different worlds.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

But it's the same feeling. I find I say all the time because people are always like, well, I don't want to tell you about this problem because your problem is so much bigger than mine. I'm like, take away the problem. It's the same feeling. It's that we're all human beings, it's the same feelings we're having about the experience we're having. It doesn't really matter what the thing is. Fear, um, it's all the same. Fear, exhaustion, sadness, like it's all the same. It's all the same.

unknown 25:44

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

I really, I really want to talk about. I mean, I'm I'm just amazed. Here you are in chemotherapy and treatment, and you're coming up with all these amazing ways to help others that, you know, are going through the same type of thing. And you wrote a book during this season called Pray for the Bear. Yep. And it's a powerful title, and I love it. Can you explain what it means though? What's the meaning behind it?

Why Starting Small Builds Consistency

SPEAKER_00 26:13

Yeah. So uh people seem to think it's a religious book, obviously, because the word pray, but it's not. It's based on a Kobe Bryant quote. If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear. Um Yeah. So a friend of mine sent me an Instagram reel um right when I was starting chemo, and it was Kobe Bryant talking about a hamstring injury or an Achilles injury. And um, he was saying how hard it was for him to come back and he worked so hard and all this stuff. And then he was like, But if you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear because I'm gonna win and I'm gonna have this comeback. So I was and she was like, This is you, and I'm like, Yes, it is. So prayer for the bear kind of became my rallying cry. So when I wrote the book, I couldn't think of anything else to name it because that I didn't want it to be a cancer book. There's so many books out there, and and it's lovely when people write about their cancer experience because some people really love that type of book and it's important, especially for the person writing it. I think it's very therapeutic. But for me, I wanted it to be more than just cancer because I was learning through that whole experience, similar to what I just said to you, is that it doesn't really matter. Like cancer, that's my bear. It jumped out and it wanted to attack me. But your bear may is bariatric surgery. Somebody else's bear may be loss of a child. It's the same, same kinds of awful feeling. So, what are you gonna do? There's always in every awful situation, I don't care how awful it is, and there are some really awful situations, there is always a nugget there, but it takes a lot of courage to see it that you can use to help empower you or other people moving forward. Whether or not you grab hold of it, that's your choice. But there is always, and I purpose seems too big of a word because I don't like to think of like someone losing a child, that there's purpose in that. But in order for you to continue your life and not completely want to throw in the towel, there has to be something worthwhile that you can use as a tool to go on with your life. Otherwise, I just could not stand that like cancer. I didn't choose to have this. Like, how dare this cancer come into my life? It was almost like I was in this like very competitive situation with cancer. Like, you think you're gonna derail me? I don't think so. I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna show you how much I can do with this to show you that you picked the wrong boob. That was my whole thing. So I was like, I'm gonna write a book. It was a great way to spend my time when I didn't really feel like doing anything else. I had a lot of thoughts going through my head, and I just wrote, wrote, wrote, wrote, wrote and turned it into a book.

unknown 28:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

We call it a brain dump, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

It is a brain dump.

Identity, Resilience, And Self-Worth

SPEAKER_01 28:44

It was a huge brain dump, but something people could can use and grow from. You know, the one I've only written one book and it's a memoir about uh an abusive, dysfunctional childhood and then what it does to you as an adult. And I was going through a lot of intense therapy. And so my journal notes are every few chapters. And journaling literally, I didn't want to do it at first, but then I started realizing, wow, this is this is helping me. It's helping me see patterns. It's helping me, and that's like you, I've heard you say this before, like you, I turned, I turned it into a book.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I always think that we're given these situations to help other people deal with similar situations. Like how can we help others moving forward? That's a big thing of I think of who I am is how I how I how can I help?

SPEAKER_01 29:35

Yes, and looking outside of ourselves. Yeah. I used to think I was the only person that went through such a traumatic childhood, but I am one of many.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

One of many. And the more it just like we talked about perimenopause and menopause, the more you allow yourself to talk about it and be honest, the more comfortable other people are gonna feel about talking about it.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

Yes, so much. And facing that bear, I just love it. Well, actually, you're the bear.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Some people get confused. They're like, they they didn't get quite get the title and they're they like use the the word bear a little wrong. I don't care how people use it, but yeah, I'm just like there'll be other bears, but I like refuse to let the bear win. Like I will win. I don't care how tough the bear is.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Yes, and uh just just seeking clarity, you know, being curious, and and just I I don't know about you, but I literally glean. I always use the word glean, and I use that with chat GPT too. I've trained it to learn glean because like if I put any information in there, I'm like, can you just glean everything you can from this? Yeah. So I just put glean and then it gives me a summary.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

It's a great word. It's a great word.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Yeah, yeah. And and that's what we're really all doing. Yep. We're just gleaning information, sitting around the fire and and hopefully educating ourselves enough to grow and thrive. So um last question. Uh what can you tell us about a little bit of your work and where we can find it?

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Yeah. So I have a website, fitfuncarly.com. Um, I work with clients three ways. I work one-on-one. I have a Fitfun community, which I started based on my 15-minute method. So I teach live 15-minute classes and a 30-minute class daily, where people can subscribe and join live. And I have an on-demand library of like 4,000 classes of everything, um, and one-on-one support there too. And then I just launched the 15-minute club. And the 15-minute club is a little different because it's a lot of mindset work. We do move, but we start with what I talked about before. Like, let's give you the tools up here to actually want to exercise. So, how can we break this down in a way for you to feel the feel good feelings from exercise? So, you want to build from there and you're gonna want to do it. How can we build this into your day and redefine exercise in a way that's meaningful for you? And that's a six-week cohort. And I have one that's starting in April. Uh kind of removes the intimidation, it does. And it's and it also deals with like sometimes we are in a stage of our life where we're like we're achieving goals and running marathons and doing all the things and playing sports, and then you reach the age where things don't feel the same way as they used to. It's not a reason to quit. There's just a new way of doing things that is just as good as the old way. It's just different. Like, how can we get you moving forward to reach your goals, rethinking things, which I it's how can we evolve? Um, and then I'm on Instagram, FitFunCarly, a lot of FitFun Carly. Um, and my book is available on Amazon and the podcast is called Fit and Fitness. The chemo coffee talks are under the Fit and Fitness profile, but you have to scroll down, and that's on Spotify and YouTube.

Closing Reflections And Takeaway

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Well, and why let me ask you this real quick. Why is starting small so powerful? You know, why do people underestimate the impact of consistency?

SPEAKER_00 33:03

So consistency is so important because you think of it like a building block. You think about it as like the foundation of your house. If you have a weak foundation, the everything on top of it is gonna fall. And if you are thinking of like intensity and trying to, I work with people all the time who I say, well, how many, how many days a week do you think you would like to exercise in this plan that I'm gonna put together for you? And they're like, I'm going all in, I'm seven. I'm like, no, because that's not sustainable. So small is small and being consistent is sustainable. And if you are looking to be healthy for the rest of your life, that's what you need to find is that base, that foundation that you never go below. You can grow from. There may be some times in your life where you're training for something and you're rising above and doing all the things, but when you stop, you never stop. You just come back to your fitness foundation. And I think that is the key in staying consistent and staying strong mentally and physically for the rest of your life.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

That is so powerful. And I just hope that everyone at least gives it a shot because they'll see. Yeah, they'll see that the small steps bring them to a new place.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

100%.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Yeah. So so when you look back at the woman you were before February of 2024 and the woman you are today, what what have you discovered about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 34:22

Um, I think I've discovered that I think it's just reaffirmed who I thought I was before, deep down in my tippy toes. I always knew this Carly was there, but I was a little, I didn't know how to let her out. I was still a pee way more of a people pleaser. Um I didn't really understand how I would react if something like this came my way, like would I crumble? Deep down I knew I wouldn't, but this is kind of a test for me to show like how strong I am and also my values in who I am and know that like the outward stuff doesn't matter. It's the inside that matters. And when you're stripped of your hair and your eyebrows and your eyelashes and you're wearing a mask in a grocery store and you feel invisible, but you can still hold on to your sense of self, especially as a woman, I think that's really empowering. Like nothing can get to the true core of who I am. Nothing. Because that's not gonna nothing can change that.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Yeah, nothing at all. And that is so true. And I have found that too, just to to look inward. And and what we a lot of us do is we just refuse to look. You know, we don't want to look inward.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Yeah, no one wants to look under the hood.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah no one wants to look under their hood. Well, if anyone listening today feels discouraged, overwhelmed, what's the one small step they could take today to move forward?

SPEAKER_00 35:52

Think of the next thing that you do in your day daily. So a ritual, so a habit. So let's just say like I always like to have an afternoon cup of coffee. Start today, start now. Go make your cup of coffee, and as your coffee is brewing, do 10 squats. Start there. That's it. I love that. That's it. Start there. You gotta start somewhere. Every little bit counts. See how you feel after you do those 10 squats. Notice. Look under the hood.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Yes, yes. And and I've seen elderly people that can barely walk in the like in the grocery store. Yep. And that is the last thing I want. I don't want to be disabled like that. I want to be strong and fit.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

But the only way you can do it is if you do the work.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

You gotta do it. There's no magic wand. And it does not have to be painful. It doesn't have to be a drag.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Gosh, I'm so excited, Carly, about all of this. I'm I'm gonna be like your number one fan. Oh, Pam, thanks.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

I'll be your number one fan too.

SPEAKER_01 36:48

So remember, I I intentionally asked for all of her contact information earlier to give you a chance to note it, write it down. But if you didn't, I'm gonna put it in the show notes. That's exactly how you can find her and just pick the best thing that works for you. Carly, your story is very powerful. It's a powerful reminder that strength doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes strength looks like showing up, moving your body for just 15 minutes, y'all.

SPEAKER_00 37:21

Or 10 starts when you're making your coffee. That's how that's what's strong. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

I'm so gonna do that. Do it, Pam. Starting a podcast from a chemo chair and simply choosing hope one day, one day at a time. The book, Pray for the Bear. I'm I'm buying it today, y'all. Maybe we can have like a discussion on it during a podcast. I love it. I love that. I love reading it. And then I I always want I, as a writer, I try to visit with anyone that has read my book. Because who better to talk to you about the story than the author?

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Mm-hmm. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 38:01

You know, so Pray for the Bear would be a great one to discuss with you. Carly, thank you so much for sharing your story with us today. Your courage, your honesty, and your commitment to helping others through movement and mindset is truly inspiring. And for everyone listening today, I hope Carly's story reminds you of something important. Sometimes, strength doesn't look like a giant leap forward. Sometimes it looks like showing up, moving your body for 15 minutes, choosing hope on a day when things feel uncertain, or simply taking the next small step when life puts something difficult in front of you. That's really what this show is all about. It's not perfection, it's not willpower, but it's learning to pause long enough to choose something that actually serves you. So wherever you are today, if something in this conversation resonates with you, I encourage you to take a small moment and ask yourself, what's the next right move for me today? Thank you for being here. And if this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who might need to hear it. Because sometimes the right story at the right moment can change everything. Till next time, remember, you don't have to fix everything today. Just pause and choose the next right move. See you next week.