Meet the Partner Q&A: Pieta McCrum
This month, as part of our Meet the Partner series, we are thrilled to be sharing this enlightening discussion of all things health and wellbeing related with the incredible Pieta McCrum.
Pieta is the brilliant founder of bypieta, an inclusive, online, community space where women across the globe can come together to connect, focus on their fitness, find balance, boost their self-confidence, and more.
A moment with Pieta will have you feeling more motivated – just have a quick read of this post and you’ll see what we mean!
What does health and wellness mean to you?
To me ‘health and wellness’ means finding our healthy balance – not perfection – in mind, body, soul, environment and purpose. We can find harmony, peace and energy in our bodies by tapping into our intuition, practising self-respect and acceptance, eating well, moving the body, choosing to vibe higher with love and abundance, being playful and inquisitive, lifting up others, and through rest and meditation.
It’s all encompassing. If we feel out of balance in our health and wellness, chances are it’s not just that we’re eating too much or not moving enough, there is a lot more to it.
What motivates you?
A few things:
My boys and family – they are my everything. I want to spend more time with them and I’m building a path that is helping me create more space to do that.
Purpose. Helping busy women realise the strength they’ve always had within is amazing. It’s one of the most rewarding feelings to help a woman build confidence in themselves through mindful fitness, coaching, healthy lifestyle habits and mindset changes. If that new-found confidence helps them spread their wings to achieve more of what they want in their life, then this drives me every day to do better.
What is your go to song that always gets you feeling energised?
At the moment, I’m loving “I’ll Find My Way To You” by Elderbrook & Emmit Fenn.
What is an average day in the life for you?
I’m usually found training my global online fitness group at 6:30am Monday through Friday during school term, which means that my mornings typically start at 5:15am so I can prepare. I built my business to suit the lives of busy people (including me!), so it works around my boys (aged 6 and 8) and my husband’s work commitments too.
Once the kids are fed, dressed and off to school, I’m usually coaching my nutrition clients or 1-2-1 peeps online. As it’s only me in my business, I’m also creating content, diving into my social media marketing and business admin, and then sorting the house/kids’ stuff before I collect them from school. I love to cook, so evenings are spent cooking Mindful Chef, or talking to my husband while he cooks, and spending time with our boys.
What do you do to improve your mental wellbeing when feeling low?
I have had a history of anxiety and panic attacks, which messed with my mental wellbeing and mood. They started unexpectedly when I was 16 and carried on well into my 20s (I’m 43 now). I had to relearn how to breathe and also pay attention to my diet, exercise, sleep patterns, and stress management. It taught me a lot and has carried me through to today.
I’m originally from New Zealand and was brought up in the sun and by the sea. If I’m feeling low, spending some time in the sunshine helps lift my mood (I take vitamin D and adaptogen supplements too). I also love saunas; they feel really cleansing. Talking with my mum, or my husband really helps too. But low energy-mood for me can also be triggered by my cycle, so I honour my energy during my cycle (I’ve designed my BODYHIIT challenge for people who menstruate, to bend and flex with energy shifts) and pay attention to the moon. It helps me make sense of how I’m feeling.
Do you have any tips on how to establish a healthy routine?
Yes, loads!
1) First, know this. You are already enough. What you’re about to do is going to help you become the best version of yourself.
2) Write down and/or tell someone WHY it’s important for you to establish a healthier routine. Get specific – how will your life be different? What will you do more or less of as a result? How will you use your new energy? What goals do you want to hit?
3) Next write down your INTENTIONS. These are different to goals. An intention is something you want to align with in your life: think of it as an aim, purpose, or attitude. They are deeply personal and intangible. Think about how you want to show up.
4) Plan ahead. Life is busy, and it’s the first excuse for why we don’t show up or do the thing we said we would. Planning ahead and using our schedules to commit time to exercise or meditation is a great way of ensuring we have a structure to follow.
5) Start with small sustainable changes.
6) Get up 5-10 minutes earlier and build up to eventually an hour earlier – perfect time to exercise, mediate, journal, or whatever makes you feel good.
7) Focus on eating MORE healthy foods rather than being in the “diet mentality”. Think about nourishing your body instead of being restrictive and counting calories. It’s calories vs. nutrients, my friends!
8) Perhaps start with bite-size exercise sessions. 10-minute HIIT sessions are perfect to get started and build momentum.
9) Make exercise part of your miracle morning as an early-morning habit. It’s a high-performance habit which will set you up for the day and you’ll feel far more productive, happier and balanced as a result too.
10) Recruit a friend to join you and sign up to something upfront that is fun, motivating and will help to drive you forward.
11) Just start and show up. It doesn’t matter if you show up late, messy, weird, confused or scared – just be there, commit, and figure it out as you go! You’ll feel great for it.
What is one of the most important things you look for in a fitness mat?
Safety!
I’ve had many a mat slip from underneath me when I’m in the middle of an intensive HIIT session. Not good! The YoYoga fitness mats are brilliant, they don’t budge! Even on short grass, I find them better than anything I’ve tried before. I’m also super green conscious, so it’s really reassuring to know these mats are eco-friendly and produced to the highest standard.
What kind of activities do you use your YoYoga mat for?
I run my online fitness business BODYHIIT from my garden studio, and the mat is the centrepiece for all my sessions and demonstrations, both live or in my video playbacks. I’m either doing some form of HIIT-Fusion, weight training or mobility-flow work, and the mat is super handy for instructing foot and hand placement when doing body weight exercises too.
What is your favourite way to refuel after a workout?
Protein smoothie, hands down.
I’m a big fan of undenatured whey (this means it’s as close to nature as intended. Most protein powders have been put through boiling point and lose key nutrients in the process – this is not the case with the cold filtration of undenatured whey), and also plant-based pea-hemp-brown-wholegrain rice protein. It’s awesome for fat loss and muscle repair, and keeps me energised until lunchtime. As a busy mum, this takes me one minute to make while I also juggle sorting the kids’ breakfasts and getting them ready for school.
What is your favourite colour in the world and why?
I love gold and yellow. They’re both bright, fresh, luxurious and calming. I love the sun and yellow is also the colour of the solar plexus, which is part of the sympathetic nervous system. With my history of anxiety, this colour is great for me. It’s a show-stopping colour as a dress too.
What a wonderful insight into your world Pieta – thank you for sharing so much of your wisdom with us!
If you’ve found some inspiration from this fantastic conversation with Pieta, you can also check out our previous Q&A with Cadbury Pilates founder, Kate Cadbury.
As always, if you would like to share your answer to any of these questions yourself, we’d love to hear from you! Similarly, if you have any questions of your own, please send them in and we’ll be sure to try and include them in future posts. Simply email us at [email protected], or message us directly on Facebook or Instagram.
