September 28, 2021 • 31 mins
We all know that women can do anything, right? But there are still many roadblocks and cultural stereotypes related to Muslim women in sport and fitness. Co-hosts Meg and Mon discuss Saman's journey through fitness.
Saman Munir is a fantastic example of what it looks like to pursue your passions in the face of opposition. She proudly represents hijabi women on her platform as a trainer and UA athlete.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know what, We've got to respect each other regardless
of who and what we are. And this is what
I love about Under armed that they recognize the need
of every single athlete, regardless of their color, religion, background.
I think fitness is something that brings everybody together, no
matter who you are, what you are. We need to
involve everyone. We need to include everyone, We need to
work together as a team. This is what The details
(00:25):
a collaboration with Under Armour and I Heart Radio, a
sports and training podcast made for women by women. I'm
Meg Bogs. I'm a powerlifter, author, body positivity advocate and mother.
And I'm Monica Jones. I'm a fitness coach, boxer, business
owner and u a athlete. Every episode, Meg and I
will talk to athletes, trainers, and experts and learn more
about how the body and mind work together in training
(00:47):
and competition. That's right, and in today's episode, we are
very excited to be talking to personal trainer and Under
Armour athletes Simon Munir. Simon is a mother of three
and contributed to the design of thest You a sport
her job, which is just incredible. Yes, Simon is truly
a force. Not only has she helped create a fitness
focused design for women who wear her jobs. But she's
(01:10):
also a passionate advocate for underrepresented women in fitness, and
of course we all know we need that. She is
so incredibly inspiring. I think someone is just a perfect
example of how we as women are so many things.
We are mothers, warriors, teachers, creators, partners. As a mom myself,
I'm definitely going to want to talk to someone about
(01:31):
the balance of motherhood and training, and maybe even how
she sees motherhood connected to her own fitness journey. I
love that Meg. The other thing I want to point
out is that Simon is a role model for young
Muslim women. I love how she talks about drawing confidence
from her her job. I am curious who her role
models are and who inspires her, because it's so important
for women to have someone like Simon in the mix
(01:51):
and making space for her job wearing women in fitness
in general, I agree. In fact, I was doing research
for this interview and I found myself shocked by how
many women have been disqualified from competition just because they
wore a job. I read a New York Times article
about one high school athlete who discovered only after she'd
finished a race that she had been disqualified for wearing
(02:12):
her her job because it was considered a uniform violation.
And this happens in a lot of sports. Has happened
in weightlifting, in basketball, I mean, even fencing. I mean
it's happened almost in every single sport, and I mean
the list just goes on and on, and it's so unfortunate,
and what someone is doing is so important for representing
(02:32):
Muslim women everywhere, and I'm just I'm excited to chat
with her more. I mean, there's a lot to be
said about being disqualified after you're done your race. Just
being able to be an entertainer or be able to
be an athlete and serve the purpose of entertaining with
competition and then being told that you're not qualified, that
(02:53):
alone is unjust. I'm really excited to hear someone talk
about her own experience because I know that she has
been such a beacon of light for other women in
this industry. Could not agree more, Monica, what do you
say we get into the interview with Simon wineir, Let's
get it. What's going on everyone today? We have the
(03:13):
incredible Simon Muneer here with us. And we are so
excited welcome someone. Thank you for having me. So I
first want to go back to when you were a teenager. Um,
what was your relationship with fitness and exercising and all
of that. Like back then, as a child, I never
grew up playing any sports. Um, I didn't do much activities.
(03:34):
To be honest with you, UM, fitness was not a
thing for me at all. I'm going to be straight up. UM,
I was overweight slightly in high school. And I guess
when I was around twenty, I think that's when I
started to really like said, okay, you know what, I
need to do something about myself. I need to lose
weight and stuff. So I just started, you know, just
taking small baby step walking around the block, eating healthy,
(03:58):
and I believe I dropped twenty pounds. And since then
it became more like, okay, you know what a lifestyle
and I need to change it. But my mindset was
all about doing cardio. How can I lose what? It
was not like, how can I be strong? How can
I learn other things? So as I got into it,
especially at the age of thirty seven after having my
third baby, that's when I really pushed myself and Teddy,
(04:20):
you know what, Okay, you know I want to be strong.
Forget about losing weight. I changed my mindset. I said,
you know what, um, I want to be strong. I
want to learn how to do push ups. I want
to learn how to do pull ups. And that's honestly,
was the best position to have ever made. And uh,
here I am. I did whatever I could to achieve
my goals. And obviously, you know you have to work
hard for it, you have to put your mind into it.
(04:42):
And uh that's how it went. Incredible. Wow, that is inspiring.
We're talking seventeen years of growth in a process of
becoming healthier. Correct When did you realize that your journey
was inspiring others? I think when I started my fitness account.
Prior to that, I was a beauty blogger, so I
(05:04):
was more into like how to put a hitge job on,
how to style my hitge job, like more like a lifestyle.
I have another page as well called Makeup hitch Up.
So I was really into that and after seven eight years,
I kind of got tired of it. My husband, actually,
he's the one who told me, is like, they're not
a lot of most of the people who are doing
workouts and stuff like that. Um, why don't you create
a fitness account and inspire some Muslim people are around
(05:27):
the world, inspire everybody. Um, I said, okay, you know
so it was his idea, So I said, okay, like,
let's do it together. So we both started, you know,
working out, posting videos, and I believe after a week
he gave up on me. He's like, okay, I'm busy.
You can continue doing what you're doing. And honestly, from
there it just went up. Wow. So now you have
this huge, incredible and inspiring platform inspiring just hundreds of
(05:51):
thousands of women every single day. Who are the people
that inspire you? Was there anybody who was you know,
a h Jobbi wearing athle that just started making you
feel inspired the same way that you've now been inspiring
hundreds of thousands of people. To be honest with you,
growing up, there weren't a lot of Hijabi athletes. Just now,
I see like if the hash Muhammad, Um, there's Zena
(06:14):
from Europe. She's a boxer, she's doing amazing. UM, so
there are a few, but just like now now, like
were growing up, I didn't see I didn't have that
Hijabi role model, but I'm pretty sure the young girls
now would have that role because there's so many out
there now. There's so many Hijabi athletes out there who
are doing their things that is so incredible. And over
the time span of starting to see more women rise
(06:37):
up and show their strength and show their concern and
show their leadership and fitness and wellness is also a
great precursor to your journey in becoming a mom. So
you know, we've got women who want to find their health,
they want to find their strength, they want to find
their place and where they can lead and where they
can start to express themselves. And then you also have mothers.
(07:00):
So what were the biggest challenges in starting your journey
after giving birth and becoming a mom? So obviously as
a mom, like, first of all, you're so busy, you
feel guilty that you're not doing enough and all that stuff.
But before I even had my kids, I was working
for a innerospace company UM as a document specialist. So
after I had my daughter, I just left my job.
I left my whole career and I was like, okay,
(07:22):
you know what, I'm going to take care of her.
Then I had my second son, and then my third
and obviously I didn't take care of myself as much.
But I told myself, like, when they all started going
to school, I'm going to start doing something about it.
So that's when I started hitting the gym and I said, okay,
you know what, it's time to take care of myself.
Because at the beginning, I remember, like before I had kids,
I'm like, how are these moms you know doing their
(07:43):
thing and they don't worry about their kids. But now
I realized as a mother that you need that me time,
that one hour where you can do whatever you want
and just you know, just do whatever it makes you happy.
And for me, Jim is my outlet. I'm just like
focused on my workout. I'm focused on what I want
to do. It's not about okay, I need to worry
about this or that. So that's the me time. So
(08:03):
it is hard, I mean, obviously because I have clients
as well, I'm juggling between my family between my work.
But you know what, when you're passionate about something, you
will take that time out to do what you enjoy.
Absolutely agree. I I can relate to that so much.
You know, I have a daughter, and it's hard you know,
it's hard to to make the time, but like you said,
when you start thinking about it that way, that you're
(08:26):
doing this for them, like you're doing it for yourself,
but it's also for them at the same time. So
that's incredible. I love I love talking mom stuff. So
I I could talk about this for you, but I
want to go back. Um too, you said something earlier
that you didn't have, you know, someone to kind of
look up to a jobbi wearing athletes, to kind of
be inspired by. What are the common misconceptions and assumptions
(08:51):
that you know, non Muslims make about Muslim women in fitness.
You know, how are you kind of countering those? Obviously? Um,
I have to thank under Armour a lot for helping
me break that stereotype that real Muslim women are capable,
we're strong, we're brave, we can do whatever we want
to do. Um. Under Armour has always helped me inspired
me to be stronger and to be who and what
(09:13):
I want to do. So um, actually under Arma has
helped me break those stereotypes around the world that you know, what,
Muslim women are capable and they can do whatever they
want to do. So it's not easy even when I
go to the gym, I get those looks all the time,
like Okay, what is she doing here? Until they seem
working out and it's like it's it's their perspective is
totally changed. Then then it's not like they're the way
(09:33):
they look at you. It's totally in a respectful way. Okay,
you know what, she's working hard, she knows what she's doing.
So it's the first look that you get is a
bit annoying, but you know what, later on to realize, Okay,
you know what, why not? I'm still capable of doing
whatever I want to do. But the misconception of us
job woman is it is out there. So I am
trying my best to break those stereotypes, you know what,
(09:54):
that we are capable and that we are strong and
that we can do whatever we want. Because Islam really
out of rates of the Muslim females, there is no restrictions,
there's no limitation of us. So it's it's just the
culture thing that puts that limitation on woman. It's not
the religion. I love that differentiate or culture versus religion
(10:15):
is incredibly important when we talk about what actually is
empowering and how we can separate the two but be
able to honor both. Many hit jab wearing athletes have
faced backlash or have been banned from competing because their
hit jabs correct. What would your message be to those athletes?
You should be proud of your identity, be bold, do
whatever makes you happy. Don't let anyone tell you that
(10:37):
you can't. You gotta keep going. You gotta keep going.
It's just a piece of cloth, aren't you. I don't
understand what is the problem here. This is what I
don't get. Like, if you were less clothed, they call
you like you're you have more freedom, whatever, But if
you were more close, they call your oppressed. So I
don't understand that part. We should be treated all equally.
If somebody wants to work out in a bikini, amazing,
and if somebody wants to work out in fully clothed,
(10:58):
we should respect that as This shouldn't be any difference. Absolutely,
I could not agree more. I know that you worked
with under Armour on their first ever sports to job design. Um,
what was your role o? Can you tell us a
little bit about that? Absolutely? Um, that was the best
part of being uh the message of under Armour. Um,
it took us two years to go back and forth
(11:19):
to design this sports job that I'm worrying, and honestly
it was a huge deal from me and we came
up with this amazing hit job, the sports to job
that I love. It's breathable, it's light um and honestly
pushes me through. I don't need to worry about, you know,
fixing my HDG job all the time, especially when I'm
doing boxing. I don't have to keep on fixing it.
So to me, this was a huge deal with Under
(11:39):
Armour that they came up with this awesome HITG job
and out I'm wearing the second color, Yes, two new colors,
get the vibrants out. We love it. It is incredibly
inspiring that you had such a huge part in that
process and it takes a lot of staying true to yourself,
staying true to your routines to really create something that
supports you in motion and support is incredibly important. I'm
(12:04):
curious about where you feel there's room for improvements surrounding
inclusion and fitness. Where can we work on that. I
would love to see more hijab athletes to be honestly
part of the Under Armoured team. I would love to
see more of Muslim women, you know, um working together.
That would be awesome. To be honest with you, I
feel like there is a lot of needs to see
(12:26):
Muslim athletes coming out together and working for brands like
under Armour or any other brand. I love that. So,
you know, we we we talked about the large brands
including more Hijabi athletes in their marketing just in general
with their brands. What about the smaller ways? You know,
how can other people, anyone honestly be more supportive of
(12:49):
underrepresenting communities and fitness. I just think we need to
come together as a team as a community and help
each other out. I love to collaborate with other athletes
as well. Love that collaboration is huge. Were so powerful.
I've found that I've seen women who think that they
need to have X amount of followers to be collaborated with,
and that's just not her. Yeah, there's so much for
(13:12):
you and who you are as an individual. Yes, yeah,
it takes a lot of us just coming together and
being supportive. You know what, Eve, We've got to respect
each other regardless of who and what we are. And
this is what I love about under armed that they
recognize the need of every single athlete, regardless of their color, religion, background.
I think fitness is something that brings everybody together, no
matter who you are, what you are. We need to
(13:33):
involve everyone. We need to include everyone, We need to
work together as a team. Yes, our online communities are
very much like teams, which is really great. We're closing
a gap of any span of space between us. What
is your favorite part about connecting with your community online.
The best part about like posting all these videos are that,
(13:55):
you know, I get a lot of ladies sending me
d ms and saying how inspired they are, that they
they're happy to see someone like them who are working
out and who are putting the effort. And the good
part is that it's not just the females, but I'm
also getting m d ms from men as well, are saying, like,
you know, we need to see more of Muslim women
in our community, you know, being strong and healthy and
(14:16):
taking care of their bodies. Especially being a mom, I
feel like it's really important that I am, you know,
taking care of myself so my kids can see that,
and I'd rather be their role more than somebody else,
So I feel like it's it's really important and there
are times where I'm like so tired and I just like, okay,
I just I feel like I'm going to give up
or whatever. But then when I see the positive feedback
that people already being inspired and they're tagging me because
(14:38):
they are doing my challenges, that makes me really really
happy that, Okay, you know what, I'm accomplishing something. Maybe
not a lot of them, but at least few of
them who are at least working hard and trying to
do what I'm doing, so totally makes it worth it.
Speaking of those fitness challenges that you're talking about that
you do with your community on Instagram, can you tell
us how did those get started? Where did that come from?
(15:01):
It's the most exciting thing I've ever seen on Instagram.
It's like my favorite thing when you post those challenges.
It's funny because I actually get a lot of inspiration
from TikTok. And I was one of those people who
said that I don't want to have TikTok ever, because
I don't want to do those dancing moves and all
that stuff, because first of all, I can't even dance,
So I was like, okay, so how can I move
these dancing moves? To workouts and that's how I started
(15:21):
doing reals. But I got inspired by a lot of
people of course, like you see how they do it
and then you just you know, change it up and
all that stuff. So well, you've completely inspired me. Thank you,
thank you. So it's nice to see when people you
know tag you and they try to do the same
challenge or whatever. So yeah, it's awesome. I love it. Yeah,
that is so fun. I watched your videos and I'm like, man,
(15:45):
I hope that I can just hit some squats today.
We're gonna do what's But I absolutely love watching you
move someone. You are just absolute poetry in motion in
a complete badass. You're welcome. I love your answers because
you're you're very true to your self and very happy
to admit that you are really really picking up and
(16:06):
enjoying the positivity that is coming to you and that
you can give to others. It's not always about doing
something that takes an hour takes you know, ninety minutes
to do. I find that you do a lot of
effective workouts in a short amount of time, all right,
So when you are tight on time, you know, what
is one part of your routine that you always try
to incorporate it will be hit Like if I don't
(16:28):
have time, I will try to do twenty minute hits.
I have like a slam ball, dumbbells, agility letters. Whatever
I can do in twenty minutes, I'll do. But I
have I know that I will work out every single
day except one day. I'll take a rest Sundays or
for the rest days. But I need to get my
workouts done. You love it. Um. I wanna finish off
(16:48):
with this question going back to the Muslim community and women,
what would you recommend to a Muslim woman who is
very concerned about kind of losing her modesty, you know,
while exercising, because I know the goal is to be covered.
So if someone is afraid to maybe go into a
gym or go into a public space because maybe that
(17:10):
will happen to them, what would you recommend to them? Okay,
so I personally when I work out, I personally were
baggy clothes. Um, I always wear a hoodie. That's just me.
And especially when I do squats, I always make sure
that I put a hoodie around my but so it's
just covered. Again, that's just me. But then again, there
are a lot of other Muslim girls who who don't
(17:31):
wear it that they're comfortable with the the way they
work out or whatever they or the way they dress.
So that's up to them. But I personally like to
be um covered and um if it shifts a little bit,
I mean, it's all it's okay, not a big deal,
it's all good. I love that. I find that interesting
that you mentioned if there are men around a lot
(17:52):
of us women just in general sometimes find it challenging
to be comfortable in that space. And it's what you
do that build your confidence to be able to get
the work out in. So do you have any personal
affirmations maybe that you say to yourself before you start
your workouts or before you start your day. I just
put my head phone on and I just put the
(18:12):
loud music so I don't hear any noises around me
and I just do my thing. That's it. Um. I
noticed that if I don't wear my headphone and I'm
hearing people, I lose my focus. So the best thing
is just to put your music out loud. I love
that focusing with music and just you know, being able
to be in your own world. That's awesome. I love it.
So when you're blasting that music. What is your favorite
(18:34):
type of music to listen to you have specific artists
or what do you like to listen to? No, No,
it's like English, French, Spanish, Punjabi, Indian. It's like everything
is mixed up. I don't just listen to one sort
of yeah music, it's all mixed up. Anything that's upbeat. Yeah.
Sometimes I have to put on like slow R and
B if I know I'm really not supposed to be
(18:55):
going that hard in the gym, and I'm like rest
and lift, rest and lift, and then I need the
hardcore stuff. If I'm doing some hit, it all depends.
That's smart. That's actually really smart. Yeah, oh my gosh,
it helps so much. Or like a you know, a
podcast like you know, sweat the Details, Here you go.
I love it. Do you have any um current like
(19:18):
goals for your fitness career, the future or for your community.
What are you kind of working on right now? I
would love to have an app, a workout app, because
I get a lot of people who are asking me
to do online training, and I just don't have the
patients to sit in front of the laptop and train
people online. But if I can have an app, that
(19:39):
would be awesome. Um, what else? And my personal goal
is to get one muscle up. I'm not sure when
that's going to happen, but I'm working on it. You've
got to be so close to that muscle up. I'm
telling you. You You are explosive. You're pushhops for Christine, it's yeah,
it's got to be something like the in between, right.
It's a fascinating when I watched those videos of people
(20:01):
doing their their drills, so fun. Yeah, under armours, Sweat
the Details will be back after a short break. Welcome
back to Sweat the Details. Let's do it. I think
that it's time for us to play a little game.
(20:24):
We love to ask our guests some fun questions, and
for today's game, we're playing Beyond the Barboa. I really
wanted to do that. Sorry. Basically, we're gonna alternate asking
you a quick question about your other passion and community
surrounding makeup and fashion. So what do you say we
get started? Sure, let's go. Do you share so many
(20:47):
different styles of hijab? What's your favorite way to wear
your hijab? Oh? My god? Um, honestly, I just put
it around my neck and that's it. That's the easiest way, simple,
get it done. Yes, I love full glam or no makeup,
makeup look, no makeup makeup look. M feel there also yeah,
(21:08):
also a fan of that. You know someone you look
so great in a lot of different fashion styles. What
is your favorite? Cute slash, casual or dressed to impress?
Which do you enjoy more casual? I would say casual. Honestly,
most of the time, I'm in my under armor garrett.
And yesterday I wore a dress and my husband was
(21:30):
really impressed. He's like, wow, you look like a woman's
time wearing a dress. I don't know. I just don't
like wearing dresses. I'm more of a pants than a
top girl. So I understand that. I understand that if
you could only use one makeup item for the rest
of your life, what would it be. One makeup item? Concealer. Oh,
(21:52):
that's a good one. That's a good facts. Yes, darkness
circles need to go, that's all you need. Yeah, I
don't know. It is a life changing thing. Actually didn't
start using concealer until like the last year. Oh my gosh. Yeah, alright,
(22:13):
so I think I know the answer to this one.
But are you a five minute makeup girl, or as
long as it takes. Oh no, no, five minutes. I
don't have time, don't have patience to do that. I
used to be like half an hour, forty five minutes. No, no,
I'm a five minute makeup girl. That's it done. We
got kids, we got stuff to do. I feel yeah,
(22:34):
all right, I love that. Well. Thank you so much, Simon,
my pleasure. Please tell us where we can find you
on your socials. Okay, so on my Instagram. You can
find me at SFM Underscore Fitness if you're interested in
looking about makeup or you know a little bit of
a glam whatever. That would be makeup pitch jobs and
TikTok again SFM Underscore Fitness. I love it. Hey, Simon,
(22:58):
thank you so much are taking us through a little
peek into your fitness journey, your community, even a little
bit of your previous styling and makeup life. It's been
incredibly enlightening and really inspiring to see what you've done
and forged a path for so many other women. So
thank you so much for joining us today. We really
(23:18):
look forward to our next conversation with you. Thank you
so much for having me Monica and Meg. It was
absolutely pleasure talking to you guys. That was fantastic talking
to Simon about just pioneering her own fitness journey and
really starting a community and continuing to challenge them in
(23:39):
different ways. Meg, what was your favorite part about our
interview with Simon? I think, um, it made me emotional
when she started talking about just not feeling like she
had any representation or anybody to be inspired by, kind
of growing up, and like, I can relate to that
on every level. You know, we have very different experiences
with that, but it's still the same pain. It's still
(24:01):
the same just defeat that you feel. And so hearing
her kind of explain that and knowing that she's got
this big platform that she's consistently just inspiring everyone around her,
it's it just makes my heart feel full, honestly, and
that just shook me up. I tried not to cry,
but I think my voice got shaky. And I completely
(24:23):
feel you on that one, and it's so beautiful to
have been able to share that energy with both of you.
I think that for me, I listen to the things
that she was doing and how she really took it
upon herself to discover what she needed. Although you can't
find that necessarily in the industry or in media. Someone
(24:44):
that looks like your represents or shares the same religion,
but you can still find it within yourself to take
care and be healthy. That is incredible to me also,
and I really enjoyed that time with her, And it's
definitely a goal of mine to make sure that I
am staying well aware of you know, who is watching
(25:05):
and who is listening, and how even the smallest things
that we do can positively affect others. So I think
that is a good segue for us to talk about
our goals. Are you ready? Oh, I'm ready, I'm ready,
all right, Meg, So this is the part where we're
gonna talk about what it is that we've been working on,
what are personal goals at the moment, and how all
of our listeners in community can help support us. So
(25:27):
what you've been working on over there, Meg, Well, I'm
doing my absolute best to just keep going at this point.
Like I I've been trying to make like goals around numbers,
you know, around the amount of weight I'm putting on
the bar, and it's just not really the most realistic
thing for me to do right now, since I'm starting
my IVF treatment, and so I'm just trying to slow
(25:48):
things down a little bit and just keep moving. That
is my goal every day, whether it's just going outside
for a walk or whether it's getting underneath the barbell,
I'm just trying to keep moving. So for me, it's
just pulling it back a little bit, taking it easy,
and we'll see what happens. I'm sure you'll hear all
about my journey as we start changing up my goals.
(26:08):
My goals are probably gonna change more from a fitness
goal to a wellness goal, since during that period of
my i V of treatment, I'm not allowed to actually
even walk. I can't even walk around the block. I
have to be very just still and protect my insights.
So that's what I'm gonna be doing moving forward. I
was really sad when I found out that I'm gonna
have to stop what I'm doing for a little bit.
(26:30):
But it's okay because that's the best part about goals
is that you can always come back to them. They're
always there. There's always an opportunity to reach for a goal.
Whether it's now, whether it's three months from now. It's
all beautiful in my eyes. What about you, can you
share about your goals right now, because I need I
need to hear like some excitement, because I was kind
(26:51):
of sad this morning thinking about all of that. Hey,
I am literally just I can feel your energy and
you still have so much inspiration within you to get
connected in this way, and I have similar goals, Like
I love hearing you talk about protecting your insides, like
we can we can slow down sometimes and make it
(27:12):
a goal to literally what feels like going the opposite
way is actually just a fork in the road and
how we're taking a different path that can really parallel
with what it is that we were working towards. So
it might have been numbers before and now we're working
towards a little bit more of the internal connection. And
I feel the same way. I'm looking for internal connection,
you know, as you guys know, or if you're just
(27:34):
tuning in now, I am fighting for cancer research in November,
and you know, yes, the fight is physical, there's a
lot of training, but I want to connect with more
warriors of cancer, the warriors who are going through treatment,
the people who are really battling this disease. And I
(27:54):
want to do what I can there. So whether it's
taking care of myself so that I can donate blood.
Being in good health, I can lead others to do
a blood drive, or you know, staying connected and doing
something virtually for that community because you know, we can't
just go in hospitals and visit people anymore. I'm looking
to make that connection both internally within myself and within
(28:14):
this community. And that is the real fight right now.
So you know, it's it's I'm going to keep moving
right but how can I keep my mind and soul
at the center of this overall goal? And you know,
I think that you and I will have very similar answers,
but I want to know how can we support you,
Meg in you know, reaching this goal of this personal
(28:36):
connection in this slowdown and this different type of learning
your body. Um. You know, for me, I feel like
whenever I share anything online, normally it's something that I'm
really excited about, something that I'm really proud of, that
I've done for the first time, or that I finally
did successfully for the first time, And lately I haven't
(28:58):
been able to do that. I don't have EPRs, I
don't have you know, these magnificent things that I can
share just because I have to be patient with myself
right now in my body, and so for me, it's
just still having that community there, because sometimes it can
feel like if you're not doing the big, shiny things
that it's not as important. The slowdown isn't as important,
the rest isn't as important, but it really is. It's
(29:21):
probably the most important part because I know that after
this it's going to be a very different experience for me.
So honestly, just send me a hard emoji that would
be great, Just anything to acknowledge for me. What about you?
How can we support you? What you're doing is just
like wow, thank you. I you know, I feel the same.
I think that it's easy to feel like if we
(29:43):
don't have something big or something that feels like a
huge accomplishment to share, then we are not worthy of sharing,
or it's not worthy of a post or whatever it is,
you know, And there we underestimate the power of just
checking in with a person and sending a little bit
of love, maybe an emoji or something. So I am
more than happy to also received interaction in general and
(30:04):
and really continue to cultivate that energy together. So and honestly,
it helps me to see just women supporting women. So
even if you know you're not hitting my page and
at hitting Meg's page or the under Arm or Women's
page just yet, like if you're hitting your friends up
and saying, hey boo, how you doing, I am so
happy to see and feel that energy. So that's how
(30:24):
you guys can help us out. And please please share
your goals with us Meg, tell them where they can
find you. Yes, you can find me on Instagram at
Meg dot bogs and Twitter at Meg five bogs and
TikTok at Meg dot box. What about your mono taken
in talking I love it. You can find me at
train with mon on all platforms and keeping it real
(30:45):
simple there. Thank you guys so much for listening. This
has been incredible, just an amazing conversation. I feel very
very connected to you all, and let's send him home Meg.
Until next time, stay tuned in, stay motivated, and don't
forget to sweat the details. Fine, if you liked what
(31:10):
you heard on the show, subscribe for free or follow
the show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast
or wherever you listen, and don't forget to leave a
five star rating and review. Sweat the Details as a
collaboration with under Armour and I Heart Radio. Our show
is hosted by me Monica Jones and me Meg Box.
Our executive producers are just strip Stein, Just Sell, Louis Archibald,
(31:31):
Molly Sosha and Maya Cole. Our producers are Kelly and Tole,
Layla Cadrein, Emma Osborne and Alejandra Aruvalo. And our sound
editor and engineer is Sarah give Alaska. Keep up the
latest news in women's fitness by following under Armour at
under Armour Women and at under Armoured
You know what, We've got to respect each other regardless
of who and what we are. And this is what
I love about Under armed that they recognize the need
of every single athlete, regardless of their color, religion, background.
I think fitness is something that brings everybody together, no
matter who you are, what you are. We need to
involve everyone. We need to include everyone, We need to
work together as a team. This is what The details
(00:25):
a collaboration with Under Armour and I Heart Radio, a
sports and training podcast made for women by women. I'm
Meg Bogs. I'm a powerlifter, author, body positivity advocate and mother.
And I'm Monica Jones. I'm a fitness coach, boxer, business
owner and u a athlete. Every episode, Meg and I
will talk to athletes, trainers, and experts and learn more
about how the body and mind work together in training
(00:47):
and competition. That's right, and in today's episode, we are
very excited to be talking to personal trainer and Under
Armour athletes Simon Munir. Simon is a mother of three
and contributed to the design of thest You a sport
her job, which is just incredible. Yes, Simon is truly
a force. Not only has she helped create a fitness
focused design for women who wear her jobs. But she's
(01:10):
also a passionate advocate for underrepresented women in fitness, and
of course we all know we need that. She is
so incredibly inspiring. I think someone is just a perfect
example of how we as women are so many things.
We are mothers, warriors, teachers, creators, partners. As a mom myself,
I'm definitely going to want to talk to someone about
(01:31):
the balance of motherhood and training, and maybe even how
she sees motherhood connected to her own fitness journey. I
love that Meg. The other thing I want to point
out is that Simon is a role model for young
Muslim women. I love how she talks about drawing confidence
from her her job. I am curious who her role
models are and who inspires her, because it's so important
for women to have someone like Simon in the mix
(01:51):
and making space for her job wearing women in fitness
in general, I agree. In fact, I was doing research
for this interview and I found myself shocked by how
many women have been disqualified from competition just because they
wore a job. I read a New York Times article
about one high school athlete who discovered only after she'd
finished a race that she had been disqualified for wearing
(02:12):
her her job because it was considered a uniform violation.
And this happens in a lot of sports. Has happened
in weightlifting, in basketball, I mean, even fencing. I mean
it's happened almost in every single sport, and I mean
the list just goes on and on, and it's so unfortunate,
and what someone is doing is so important for representing
(02:32):
Muslim women everywhere, and I'm just I'm excited to chat
with her more. I mean, there's a lot to be
said about being disqualified after you're done your race. Just
being able to be an entertainer or be able to
be an athlete and serve the purpose of entertaining with
competition and then being told that you're not qualified, that
(02:53):
alone is unjust. I'm really excited to hear someone talk
about her own experience because I know that she has
been such a beacon of light for other women in
this industry. Could not agree more, Monica, what do you
say we get into the interview with Simon wineir, Let's
get it. What's going on everyone today? We have the
(03:13):
incredible Simon Muneer here with us. And we are so
excited welcome someone. Thank you for having me. So I
first want to go back to when you were a teenager. Um,
what was your relationship with fitness and exercising and all
of that. Like back then, as a child, I never
grew up playing any sports. Um, I didn't do much activities.
(03:34):
To be honest with you, UM, fitness was not a
thing for me at all. I'm going to be straight up. UM,
I was overweight slightly in high school. And I guess
when I was around twenty, I think that's when I
started to really like said, okay, you know what, I
need to do something about myself. I need to lose
weight and stuff. So I just started, you know, just
taking small baby step walking around the block, eating healthy,
(03:58):
and I believe I dropped twenty pounds. And since then
it became more like, okay, you know what a lifestyle
and I need to change it. But my mindset was
all about doing cardio. How can I lose what? It
was not like, how can I be strong? How can
I learn other things? So as I got into it,
especially at the age of thirty seven after having my
third baby, that's when I really pushed myself and Teddy,
(04:20):
you know what, Okay, you know I want to be strong.
Forget about losing weight. I changed my mindset. I said,
you know what, um, I want to be strong. I
want to learn how to do push ups. I want
to learn how to do pull ups. And that's honestly,
was the best position to have ever made. And uh,
here I am. I did whatever I could to achieve
my goals. And obviously, you know you have to work
hard for it, you have to put your mind into it.
(04:42):
And uh that's how it went. Incredible. Wow, that is inspiring.
We're talking seventeen years of growth in a process of
becoming healthier. Correct When did you realize that your journey
was inspiring others? I think when I started my fitness account.
Prior to that, I was a beauty blogger, so I
(05:04):
was more into like how to put a hitge job on,
how to style my hitge job, like more like a lifestyle.
I have another page as well called Makeup hitch Up.
So I was really into that and after seven eight years,
I kind of got tired of it. My husband, actually,
he's the one who told me, is like, they're not
a lot of most of the people who are doing
workouts and stuff like that. Um, why don't you create
a fitness account and inspire some Muslim people are around
(05:27):
the world, inspire everybody. Um, I said, okay, you know
so it was his idea, So I said, okay, like,
let's do it together. So we both started, you know,
working out, posting videos, and I believe after a week
he gave up on me. He's like, okay, I'm busy.
You can continue doing what you're doing. And honestly, from
there it just went up. Wow. So now you have
this huge, incredible and inspiring platform inspiring just hundreds of
(05:51):
thousands of women every single day. Who are the people
that inspire you? Was there anybody who was you know,
a h Jobbi wearing athle that just started making you
feel inspired the same way that you've now been inspiring
hundreds of thousands of people. To be honest with you,
growing up, there weren't a lot of Hijabi athletes. Just now,
I see like if the hash Muhammad, Um, there's Zena
(06:14):
from Europe. She's a boxer, she's doing amazing. UM, so
there are a few, but just like now now, like
were growing up, I didn't see I didn't have that
Hijabi role model, but I'm pretty sure the young girls
now would have that role because there's so many out
there now. There's so many Hijabi athletes out there who
are doing their things that is so incredible. And over
the time span of starting to see more women rise
(06:37):
up and show their strength and show their concern and
show their leadership and fitness and wellness is also a
great precursor to your journey in becoming a mom. So
you know, we've got women who want to find their health,
they want to find their strength, they want to find
their place and where they can lead and where they
can start to express themselves. And then you also have mothers.
(07:00):
So what were the biggest challenges in starting your journey
after giving birth and becoming a mom? So obviously as
a mom, like, first of all, you're so busy, you
feel guilty that you're not doing enough and all that stuff.
But before I even had my kids, I was working
for a innerospace company UM as a document specialist. So
after I had my daughter, I just left my job.
I left my whole career and I was like, okay,
(07:22):
you know what, I'm going to take care of her.
Then I had my second son, and then my third
and obviously I didn't take care of myself as much.
But I told myself, like, when they all started going
to school, I'm going to start doing something about it.
So that's when I started hitting the gym and I said, okay,
you know what, it's time to take care of myself.
Because at the beginning, I remember, like before I had kids,
I'm like, how are these moms you know doing their
(07:43):
thing and they don't worry about their kids. But now
I realized as a mother that you need that me time,
that one hour where you can do whatever you want
and just you know, just do whatever it makes you happy.
And for me, Jim is my outlet. I'm just like
focused on my workout. I'm focused on what I want
to do. It's not about okay, I need to worry
about this or that. So that's the me time. So
(08:03):
it is hard, I mean, obviously because I have clients
as well, I'm juggling between my family between my work.
But you know what, when you're passionate about something, you
will take that time out to do what you enjoy.
Absolutely agree. I I can relate to that so much.
You know, I have a daughter, and it's hard you know,
it's hard to to make the time, but like you said,
when you start thinking about it that way, that you're
(08:26):
doing this for them, like you're doing it for yourself,
but it's also for them at the same time. So
that's incredible. I love I love talking mom stuff. So
I I could talk about this for you, but I
want to go back. Um too, you said something earlier
that you didn't have, you know, someone to kind of
look up to a jobbi wearing athletes, to kind of
be inspired by. What are the common misconceptions and assumptions
(08:51):
that you know, non Muslims make about Muslim women in fitness.
You know, how are you kind of countering those? Obviously? Um,
I have to thank under Armour a lot for helping
me break that stereotype that real Muslim women are capable,
we're strong, we're brave, we can do whatever we want
to do. Um. Under Armour has always helped me inspired
me to be stronger and to be who and what
(09:13):
I want to do. So um, actually under Arma has
helped me break those stereotypes around the world that you know, what,
Muslim women are capable and they can do whatever they
want to do. So it's not easy even when I
go to the gym, I get those looks all the time,
like Okay, what is she doing here? Until they seem
working out and it's like it's it's their perspective is
totally changed. Then then it's not like they're the way
(09:33):
they look at you. It's totally in a respectful way. Okay,
you know what, she's working hard, she knows what she's doing.
So it's the first look that you get is a
bit annoying, but you know what, later on to realize, Okay,
you know what, why not? I'm still capable of doing
whatever I want to do. But the misconception of us
job woman is it is out there. So I am
trying my best to break those stereotypes, you know what,
(09:54):
that we are capable and that we are strong and
that we can do whatever we want. Because Islam really
out of rates of the Muslim females, there is no restrictions,
there's no limitation of us. So it's it's just the
culture thing that puts that limitation on woman. It's not
the religion. I love that differentiate or culture versus religion
(10:15):
is incredibly important when we talk about what actually is
empowering and how we can separate the two but be
able to honor both. Many hit jab wearing athletes have
faced backlash or have been banned from competing because their
hit jabs correct. What would your message be to those athletes?
You should be proud of your identity, be bold, do
whatever makes you happy. Don't let anyone tell you that
(10:37):
you can't. You gotta keep going. You gotta keep going.
It's just a piece of cloth, aren't you. I don't
understand what is the problem here. This is what I
don't get. Like, if you were less clothed, they call
you like you're you have more freedom, whatever, But if
you were more close, they call your oppressed. So I
don't understand that part. We should be treated all equally.
If somebody wants to work out in a bikini, amazing,
and if somebody wants to work out in fully clothed,
(10:58):
we should respect that as This shouldn't be any difference. Absolutely,
I could not agree more. I know that you worked
with under Armour on their first ever sports to job design. Um,
what was your role o? Can you tell us a
little bit about that? Absolutely? Um, that was the best
part of being uh the message of under Armour. Um,
it took us two years to go back and forth
(11:19):
to design this sports job that I'm worrying, and honestly
it was a huge deal from me and we came
up with this amazing hit job, the sports to job
that I love. It's breathable, it's light um and honestly
pushes me through. I don't need to worry about, you know,
fixing my HDG job all the time, especially when I'm
doing boxing. I don't have to keep on fixing it.
So to me, this was a huge deal with Under
(11:39):
Armour that they came up with this awesome HITG job
and out I'm wearing the second color, Yes, two new colors,
get the vibrants out. We love it. It is incredibly
inspiring that you had such a huge part in that
process and it takes a lot of staying true to yourself,
staying true to your routines to really create something that
supports you in motion and support is incredibly important. I'm
(12:04):
curious about where you feel there's room for improvements surrounding
inclusion and fitness. Where can we work on that. I
would love to see more hijab athletes to be honestly
part of the Under Armoured team. I would love to
see more of Muslim women, you know, um working together.
That would be awesome. To be honest with you, I
feel like there is a lot of needs to see
(12:26):
Muslim athletes coming out together and working for brands like
under Armour or any other brand. I love that. So,
you know, we we we talked about the large brands
including more Hijabi athletes in their marketing just in general
with their brands. What about the smaller ways? You know,
how can other people, anyone honestly be more supportive of
(12:49):
underrepresenting communities and fitness. I just think we need to
come together as a team as a community and help
each other out. I love to collaborate with other athletes
as well. Love that collaboration is huge. Were so powerful.
I've found that I've seen women who think that they
need to have X amount of followers to be collaborated with,
and that's just not her. Yeah, there's so much for
(13:12):
you and who you are as an individual. Yes, yeah,
it takes a lot of us just coming together and
being supportive. You know what, Eve, We've got to respect
each other regardless of who and what we are. And
this is what I love about under armed that they
recognize the need of every single athlete, regardless of their color, religion, background.
I think fitness is something that brings everybody together, no
matter who you are, what you are. We need to
(13:33):
involve everyone. We need to include everyone, We need to
work together as a team. Yes, our online communities are
very much like teams, which is really great. We're closing
a gap of any span of space between us. What
is your favorite part about connecting with your community online.
The best part about like posting all these videos are that,
(13:55):
you know, I get a lot of ladies sending me
d ms and saying how inspired they are, that they
they're happy to see someone like them who are working
out and who are putting the effort. And the good
part is that it's not just the females, but I'm
also getting m d ms from men as well, are saying, like,
you know, we need to see more of Muslim women
in our community, you know, being strong and healthy and
(14:16):
taking care of their bodies. Especially being a mom, I
feel like it's really important that I am, you know,
taking care of myself so my kids can see that,
and I'd rather be their role more than somebody else,
So I feel like it's it's really important and there
are times where I'm like so tired and I just like, okay,
I just I feel like I'm going to give up
or whatever. But then when I see the positive feedback
that people already being inspired and they're tagging me because
(14:38):
they are doing my challenges, that makes me really really
happy that, Okay, you know what, I'm accomplishing something. Maybe
not a lot of them, but at least few of
them who are at least working hard and trying to
do what I'm doing, so totally makes it worth it.
Speaking of those fitness challenges that you're talking about that
you do with your community on Instagram, can you tell
us how did those get started? Where did that come from?
(15:01):
It's the most exciting thing I've ever seen on Instagram.
It's like my favorite thing when you post those challenges.
It's funny because I actually get a lot of inspiration
from TikTok. And I was one of those people who
said that I don't want to have TikTok ever, because
I don't want to do those dancing moves and all
that stuff, because first of all, I can't even dance,
So I was like, okay, so how can I move
these dancing moves? To workouts and that's how I started
(15:21):
doing reals. But I got inspired by a lot of
people of course, like you see how they do it
and then you just you know, change it up and
all that stuff. So well, you've completely inspired me. Thank you,
thank you. So it's nice to see when people you
know tag you and they try to do the same
challenge or whatever. So yeah, it's awesome. I love it. Yeah,
that is so fun. I watched your videos and I'm like, man,
(15:45):
I hope that I can just hit some squats today.
We're gonna do what's But I absolutely love watching you
move someone. You are just absolute poetry in motion in
a complete badass. You're welcome. I love your answers because
you're you're very true to your self and very happy
to admit that you are really really picking up and
(16:06):
enjoying the positivity that is coming to you and that
you can give to others. It's not always about doing
something that takes an hour takes you know, ninety minutes
to do. I find that you do a lot of
effective workouts in a short amount of time, all right,
So when you are tight on time, you know, what
is one part of your routine that you always try
to incorporate it will be hit Like if I don't
(16:28):
have time, I will try to do twenty minute hits.
I have like a slam ball, dumbbells, agility letters. Whatever
I can do in twenty minutes, I'll do. But I
have I know that I will work out every single
day except one day. I'll take a rest Sundays or
for the rest days. But I need to get my
workouts done. You love it. Um. I wanna finish off
(16:48):
with this question going back to the Muslim community and women,
what would you recommend to a Muslim woman who is
very concerned about kind of losing her modesty, you know,
while exercising, because I know the goal is to be covered.
So if someone is afraid to maybe go into a
gym or go into a public space because maybe that
(17:10):
will happen to them, what would you recommend to them? Okay,
so I personally when I work out, I personally were
baggy clothes. Um, I always wear a hoodie. That's just me.
And especially when I do squats, I always make sure
that I put a hoodie around my but so it's
just covered. Again, that's just me. But then again, there
are a lot of other Muslim girls who who don't
(17:31):
wear it that they're comfortable with the the way they
work out or whatever they or the way they dress.
So that's up to them. But I personally like to
be um covered and um if it shifts a little bit,
I mean, it's all it's okay, not a big deal,
it's all good. I love that. I find that interesting
that you mentioned if there are men around a lot
(17:52):
of us women just in general sometimes find it challenging
to be comfortable in that space. And it's what you
do that build your confidence to be able to get
the work out in. So do you have any personal
affirmations maybe that you say to yourself before you start
your workouts or before you start your day. I just
put my head phone on and I just put the
(18:12):
loud music so I don't hear any noises around me
and I just do my thing. That's it. Um. I
noticed that if I don't wear my headphone and I'm
hearing people, I lose my focus. So the best thing
is just to put your music out loud. I love
that focusing with music and just you know, being able
to be in your own world. That's awesome. I love it.
So when you're blasting that music. What is your favorite
(18:34):
type of music to listen to you have specific artists
or what do you like to listen to? No, No,
it's like English, French, Spanish, Punjabi, Indian. It's like everything
is mixed up. I don't just listen to one sort
of yeah music, it's all mixed up. Anything that's upbeat. Yeah.
Sometimes I have to put on like slow R and
B if I know I'm really not supposed to be
(18:55):
going that hard in the gym, and I'm like rest
and lift, rest and lift, and then I need the
hardcore stuff. If I'm doing some hit, it all depends.
That's smart. That's actually really smart. Yeah, oh my gosh,
it helps so much. Or like a you know, a
podcast like you know, sweat the Details, Here you go.
I love it. Do you have any um current like
(19:18):
goals for your fitness career, the future or for your community.
What are you kind of working on right now? I
would love to have an app, a workout app, because
I get a lot of people who are asking me
to do online training, and I just don't have the
patients to sit in front of the laptop and train
people online. But if I can have an app, that
(19:39):
would be awesome. Um, what else? And my personal goal
is to get one muscle up. I'm not sure when
that's going to happen, but I'm working on it. You've
got to be so close to that muscle up. I'm
telling you. You You are explosive. You're pushhops for Christine, it's yeah,
it's got to be something like the in between, right.
It's a fascinating when I watched those videos of people
(20:01):
doing their their drills, so fun. Yeah, under armours, Sweat
the Details will be back after a short break. Welcome
back to Sweat the Details. Let's do it. I think
that it's time for us to play a little game.
(20:24):
We love to ask our guests some fun questions, and
for today's game, we're playing Beyond the Barboa. I really
wanted to do that. Sorry. Basically, we're gonna alternate asking
you a quick question about your other passion and community
surrounding makeup and fashion. So what do you say we
get started? Sure, let's go. Do you share so many
(20:47):
different styles of hijab? What's your favorite way to wear
your hijab? Oh? My god? Um, honestly, I just put
it around my neck and that's it. That's the easiest way, simple,
get it done. Yes, I love full glam or no makeup,
makeup look, no makeup makeup look. M feel there also yeah,
(21:08):
also a fan of that. You know someone you look
so great in a lot of different fashion styles. What
is your favorite? Cute slash, casual or dressed to impress?
Which do you enjoy more casual? I would say casual. Honestly,
most of the time, I'm in my under armor garrett.
And yesterday I wore a dress and my husband was
(21:30):
really impressed. He's like, wow, you look like a woman's
time wearing a dress. I don't know. I just don't
like wearing dresses. I'm more of a pants than a
top girl. So I understand that. I understand that if
you could only use one makeup item for the rest
of your life, what would it be. One makeup item? Concealer. Oh,
(21:52):
that's a good one. That's a good facts. Yes, darkness
circles need to go, that's all you need. Yeah, I
don't know. It is a life changing thing. Actually didn't
start using concealer until like the last year. Oh my gosh. Yeah, alright,
(22:13):
so I think I know the answer to this one.
But are you a five minute makeup girl, or as
long as it takes. Oh no, no, five minutes. I
don't have time, don't have patience to do that. I
used to be like half an hour, forty five minutes. No, no,
I'm a five minute makeup girl. That's it done. We
got kids, we got stuff to do. I feel yeah,
(22:34):
all right, I love that. Well. Thank you so much, Simon,
my pleasure. Please tell us where we can find you
on your socials. Okay, so on my Instagram. You can
find me at SFM Underscore Fitness if you're interested in
looking about makeup or you know a little bit of
a glam whatever. That would be makeup pitch jobs and
TikTok again SFM Underscore Fitness. I love it. Hey, Simon,
(22:58):
thank you so much are taking us through a little
peek into your fitness journey, your community, even a little
bit of your previous styling and makeup life. It's been
incredibly enlightening and really inspiring to see what you've done
and forged a path for so many other women. So
thank you so much for joining us today. We really
(23:18):
look forward to our next conversation with you. Thank you
so much for having me Monica and Meg. It was
absolutely pleasure talking to you guys. That was fantastic talking
to Simon about just pioneering her own fitness journey and
really starting a community and continuing to challenge them in
(23:39):
different ways. Meg, what was your favorite part about our
interview with Simon? I think, um, it made me emotional
when she started talking about just not feeling like she
had any representation or anybody to be inspired by, kind
of growing up, and like, I can relate to that
on every level. You know, we have very different experiences
with that, but it's still the same pain. It's still
(24:01):
the same just defeat that you feel. And so hearing
her kind of explain that and knowing that she's got
this big platform that she's consistently just inspiring everyone around her,
it's it just makes my heart feel full, honestly, and
that just shook me up. I tried not to cry,
but I think my voice got shaky. And I completely
(24:23):
feel you on that one, and it's so beautiful to
have been able to share that energy with both of you.
I think that for me, I listen to the things
that she was doing and how she really took it
upon herself to discover what she needed. Although you can't
find that necessarily in the industry or in media. Someone
(24:44):
that looks like your represents or shares the same religion,
but you can still find it within yourself to take
care and be healthy. That is incredible to me also,
and I really enjoyed that time with her, And it's
definitely a goal of mine to make sure that I
am staying well aware of you know, who is watching
(25:05):
and who is listening, and how even the smallest things
that we do can positively affect others. So I think
that is a good segue for us to talk about
our goals. Are you ready? Oh, I'm ready, I'm ready,
all right, Meg, So this is the part where we're
gonna talk about what it is that we've been working on,
what are personal goals at the moment, and how all
of our listeners in community can help support us. So
(25:27):
what you've been working on over there, Meg, Well, I'm
doing my absolute best to just keep going at this point.
Like I I've been trying to make like goals around numbers,
you know, around the amount of weight I'm putting on
the bar, and it's just not really the most realistic
thing for me to do right now, since I'm starting
my IVF treatment, and so I'm just trying to slow
(25:48):
things down a little bit and just keep moving. That
is my goal every day, whether it's just going outside
for a walk or whether it's getting underneath the barbell,
I'm just trying to keep moving. So for me, it's
just pulling it back a little bit, taking it easy,
and we'll see what happens. I'm sure you'll hear all
about my journey as we start changing up my goals.
(26:08):
My goals are probably gonna change more from a fitness
goal to a wellness goal, since during that period of
my i V of treatment, I'm not allowed to actually
even walk. I can't even walk around the block. I
have to be very just still and protect my insights.
So that's what I'm gonna be doing moving forward. I
was really sad when I found out that I'm gonna
have to stop what I'm doing for a little bit.
(26:30):
But it's okay because that's the best part about goals
is that you can always come back to them. They're
always there. There's always an opportunity to reach for a goal.
Whether it's now, whether it's three months from now. It's
all beautiful in my eyes. What about you, can you
share about your goals right now, because I need I
need to hear like some excitement, because I was kind
(26:51):
of sad this morning thinking about all of that. Hey,
I am literally just I can feel your energy and
you still have so much inspiration within you to get
connected in this way, and I have similar goals, Like
I love hearing you talk about protecting your insides, like
we can we can slow down sometimes and make it
(27:12):
a goal to literally what feels like going the opposite
way is actually just a fork in the road and
how we're taking a different path that can really parallel
with what it is that we were working towards. So
it might have been numbers before and now we're working
towards a little bit more of the internal connection. And
I feel the same way. I'm looking for internal connection,
you know, as you guys know, or if you're just
(27:34):
tuning in now, I am fighting for cancer research in November,
and you know, yes, the fight is physical, there's a
lot of training, but I want to connect with more
warriors of cancer, the warriors who are going through treatment,
the people who are really battling this disease. And I
(27:54):
want to do what I can there. So whether it's
taking care of myself so that I can donate blood.
Being in good health, I can lead others to do
a blood drive, or you know, staying connected and doing
something virtually for that community because you know, we can't
just go in hospitals and visit people anymore. I'm looking
to make that connection both internally within myself and within
(28:14):
this community. And that is the real fight right now.
So you know, it's it's I'm going to keep moving
right but how can I keep my mind and soul
at the center of this overall goal? And you know,
I think that you and I will have very similar answers,
but I want to know how can we support you,
Meg in you know, reaching this goal of this personal
(28:36):
connection in this slowdown and this different type of learning
your body. Um. You know, for me, I feel like
whenever I share anything online, normally it's something that I'm
really excited about, something that I'm really proud of, that
I've done for the first time, or that I finally
did successfully for the first time, And lately I haven't
(28:58):
been able to do that. I don't have EPRs, I
don't have you know, these magnificent things that I can
share just because I have to be patient with myself
right now in my body, and so for me, it's
just still having that community there, because sometimes it can
feel like if you're not doing the big, shiny things
that it's not as important. The slowdown isn't as important,
the rest isn't as important, but it really is. It's
(29:21):
probably the most important part because I know that after
this it's going to be a very different experience for me.
So honestly, just send me a hard emoji that would
be great, Just anything to acknowledge for me. What about you?
How can we support you? What you're doing is just
like wow, thank you. I you know, I feel the same.
I think that it's easy to feel like if we
(29:43):
don't have something big or something that feels like a
huge accomplishment to share, then we are not worthy of sharing,
or it's not worthy of a post or whatever it is,
you know, And there we underestimate the power of just
checking in with a person and sending a little bit
of love, maybe an emoji or something. So I am
more than happy to also received interaction in general and
(30:04):
and really continue to cultivate that energy together. So and honestly,
it helps me to see just women supporting women. So
even if you know you're not hitting my page and
at hitting Meg's page or the under Arm or Women's
page just yet, like if you're hitting your friends up
and saying, hey boo, how you doing, I am so
happy to see and feel that energy. So that's how
(30:24):
you guys can help us out. And please please share
your goals with us Meg, tell them where they can
find you. Yes, you can find me on Instagram at
Meg dot bogs and Twitter at Meg five bogs and
TikTok at Meg dot box. What about your mono taken
in talking I love it. You can find me at
train with mon on all platforms and keeping it real
(30:45):
simple there. Thank you guys so much for listening. This
has been incredible, just an amazing conversation. I feel very
very connected to you all, and let's send him home Meg.
Until next time, stay tuned in, stay motivated, and don't
forget to sweat the details. Fine, if you liked what
(31:10):
you heard on the show, subscribe for free or follow
the show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast
or wherever you listen, and don't forget to leave a
five star rating and review. Sweat the Details as a
collaboration with under Armour and I Heart Radio. Our show
is hosted by me Monica Jones and me Meg Box.
Our executive producers are just strip Stein, Just Sell, Louis Archibald,
(31:31):
Molly Sosha and Maya Cole. Our producers are Kelly and Tole,
Layla Cadrein, Emma Osborne and Alejandra Aruvalo. And our sound
editor and engineer is Sarah give Alaska. Keep up the
latest news in women's fitness by following under Armour at
under Armour Women and at under Armoured
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