Roll With The Punches

Look out everybody, the fabulous Lara Briden is back, and this time we went WAY beyond periods.
We got into what happens when we stop treating female physiology like a problem to be fixed, why the menstrual cycle is actually a pretty bloody clever system, and whether we've gone a little too far with the whole 'everything is a symptom' approach to perimenopause.
Lara and I talked about cycle syncing, period pain, endometriosis, ridiculously heavy periods, hormonal IUDs, progesterone, breast health, HRT and what happens when you start looking at all of this through an evolutionary lens.
But the bit I probably loved most was the bigger conversation underneath all of it. How much of what we believe about our bodies is actually true, and how much have we simply been told so many times that we've stopped questioning it?
Lara makes a pretty compelling case that perimenopause isn't a disease or a deficiency, that women don't have to feel exactly the same every day, and that feeling fine in your forties doesn't mean something is wrong with you... Wild, I know!
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Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
LARA BRIDEN
Website: larabriden.com
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeffrey's story is wild...
Abused by ten, homeless by twelve, twenty years in and out of boys' homes and prison, and eventually part of a notorious Australian bank robbery crew, Jeffrey's life could very easily have ended up looking very different to what is does today. But somewhere along the way he started questioning the life he'd normalised, the people around him, his own identity, and the behaviours he'd come to see as just 'how life is.'
We got into what it actually takes to change when your old identity keeps pulling you back, why he had to drop his pride and ego and even delete relationships, and how he learned to turn some of the traits that once made him a bloody good criminal into traits that now make him a successful businessman.
We also got into culture, emotional regulation, nervous system chaos, the power of having good role models, and his grandmother's question that stuck with him for years: "Do you reckon this is culture?"
There's a lot in this one about not accepting your current life just because you've become accustomed to it. Because as Jeffrey says, if you want something different, at some point you've got to stop waiting for someone else to change it and start doing the work yourself.

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Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
JEFFREY MORGAN
Website: jeffreymorgan.com.au
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scotty's back and since retiring last year from paramedicine after decades of doing work that became a pretty big part of who he was, we got into what happens when you suddenly don't have to work anymore. We covered money, identity, the weirdness of no longer being the provider, and why he's now much more interested in spending his time doing things he actually gives a shit about.
Then we got into the (kind of all too recent, if you ask me) period of his life when he was diagnosed with cancer and how rather than sitting around waiting to see what happened, he started making plans for what would happen to his daughter if he died. He kept working as a paramedic, kept cooking, kept living his life and somehow found plenty of humour in a situation that wasn't all too funny at all.
And then, because Scott is Scott, we ended up talking about his obsession with adventure, his ability to somehow get himself into rooms and friendships most people wouldn't, and the fact that he seems to have spent his entire life saying yes when someone says, "You should come."
"You get one go on the merry-go-round and you should give it a good crack." Not a bad philosophy, dare I say, Scotty!
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Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
SCOTT DOUGLAS
Website: horatio-jones.com.au
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com

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Di often slides into my Insta DMs in response to gym content, then sent me a photo of her epic guns and I genuinely couldn't believe she was almost 64. So obviously I had to get her on the podcast for a good yarn...
Di is not just incredibly strong with a phenomenal physique, she's also got a really interesting story. She was the 'fat kid' at school, got into powerlifting, walked away from training for a long while, then came back at 50 and has basically spent the last 14 years rebuilding herself through the gym.
She's had total knee replacements, multiple surgeries, a broken patellar tendon and plenty of reasons she could have decided she was 'too old' or 'too injured' to train. Instead, she kept finding ways to work around what her body could do.
We got into ageing, strength, training to failure, knowing when to push and when to stop, food, emotional eating, tracking calories, why all-or-nothing thinking keeps people stuck, and why women really need to stop worrying about everyone else in the gym.
And then we got into her lifting numbers, which are frankly ridiculous.
122kg deadlifts for reps. Eight pull-ups. Heavy sled work. Nearly 64 years old.
She's also a weight loss and nutrition consultant, so of course got into the psychology behind why people eat when they're not actually hungry, and why sometimes food isn't really about food at all.
Honestly, Di is exactly the kind of woman I want more women to hear from. And my biggest challenge to her at the end of the episode was this... Di, you need to get better at bragging about yourself, sista!

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com

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I met Dallas Lane by accident at the gym, and within about five minutes of chatting I knew I needed to get her on the podcast. She’s 50, a boxer, a trainer, a mum, a writer, and someone who has lost around 70 kilos. She’s also living with MS, after spending years knowing something wasn’t right and fighting to finally get a diagnosis.
And honestly, the MS is almost the least interesting thing about her.
We talk about being told you’re too old, what happens when your body gives you limitations you didn’t ask for, why Dallas refuses to let MS become her identity, and how she’s still getting in the ring and training despite balance issues, foot drop and fatigue. We get into adaptive boxing, therapy, crying, grief, her dad, writing poetry, and why sometimes the thing that changes your life doesn’t actually get to decide what your life looks like.
She’s bloody funny, incredibly honest and has one of those personalities where you could talk for hours without noticing the time. I absolutely loved this one.

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.