125. How Rod Stanley Helps You Transform Mind, Body, And Spirit

Be aware of what it is that's going across your mind so that we could shift that, maybe ask better questions. And when we start to question our own thought patterns and our own beliefs and behaviors, that's when we can start to get into some change patterns.

Are you a woman in medicine feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from the personal fulfillment that you desire? You're in the right place. Join doctors Joanne and Erin as they rewrite the rules for women in medicine. Let's begin.

In today's episode, we have a repeat guest, Rod Stanley. I always refer to him as a personal trainer, but he's actually more than that. He is a lifestyle interventionalist with a mission to guide clients through a customized journey of transformation that supports the mind, body and spirit. And I've had the amazing ability to work with Rod. We're going on our third year. He's helped collaborate with me as a facilitator at my retreats, as a workshop leader, and also a prior guest on our episode. And I'm so excited to welcome him here along with my Amazing Co host, Dr. Joanne Sotelo. Rod, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me on the show again. Excited to be here.

Yeah. And you and I have been working behind the scenes on some new developments. But first I'd like to hear, can you share with our audience about this role and what exactly does a lifestyle interventionalist do and how does that differ from like a traditional health coach or personal trainer?

Yeah, this is a new role that I'm stepping into, the lifestyle interventionist. And it's all about meeting someone exactly where they're at. There's so many integers that go into creating health. And then to me, health means healing. And to do that, we have to look at the entire picture of someone's life so that we can bring in all the components that we need to really have a major impact on that health, on their health. So that includes, you know, nutrition, exercise, the environment, what thoughts they're going through, if they're, you know, if their lab values are great, how are their organs functioning? And the lifestyle interventionist is a role where I'm going to partner with that, each individual client as well as their healthcare professionals to bring about more health, more vitality and longevity in their life.

I love that holistic approach which is so in alignment with Joanne and Mai's mission as physician coaches as well.

Yeah, it's a huge mission. I was in that role quite a bit ago when I worked at the Age Management Medicine Clinic and I saw when I was in that role and also as a young personal trainer that people needed a little bit more than just the know how it was. How can we get them, give them the know how and then walk them through the steps of implementing it into their life. Which is the major part of being a personal trainer is holding someone accountable to their goals and keeping them on track. So that's what the lifestyle interventionist is about, bringing in all those different components that create a healthy lifestyle.

I'm so excited that you're here. I hear about you all the time. Erin tells me of all the workouts and all the things that you guys are doing together and how it's all in alignment with the things that we talk about and how important it is and how we can bring a lot of this to our women in medicine who, what you just said, that we can have the knowledge, the intellectual part, but we don't always practice it. And it's good to have someone who can help us even to apply the things that we can teach our patients. But we're, we need the help, we need the coaching. We need that. I, I love that lifestyle interventionist. I, I love it. I'm, I'm inspired already. And, and I wanted to ask you that because. And I remember our conversation the, in the first time we interviewed you and the importance of integrating it all. And I love how you're saying it's like mind, body, spirit. So walk us through that process. From intake to transformation.

So the intake process is going to begin with a questionnaire and a conversation. One of the biggest ways to uncover what someone's blocks are is just having a deep conversation about everything that they're going through. And this conversation we're gonna uncover, you know, mental blocks, physical blocks, what ailments they may have within their body, taking a joint by joint approach, looking at their physical body and then bringing in the laboratory values we can be. We wanna make sure we have a healthy metabolic system. So are we digesting food very well? We're gonna ask questions about that. What are your relationships like, how's the, how's your home life going, wet type of sleep routine are you getting into? And what things can we bring into your program to help you improve your sleep? If we need to incorporate modalities such as yoga, for example, to de stress, we can use those things to de stress as well. And with the lifestyle interventionist is really about bringing all the different things that I'm into that have helped me improve my health over the years. So that could include meditation crystals, sound, sound, bath, sound Therapy, everything that you could think of, because we all are vibratory beings and everything that affects our vibration can improve our health. So that is the first part. Just getting a real deep dive into everything that someone may experiencing mentally, physically, emotionally, and then coming up with a program. So for exercise, if they're experiencing low back pain, we're gonna really work on that and individualize that workout for them to improve their back pain. So it's really about getting down to the root cause on an individual level and then what someone may be going through. And after we walk them through that questionnaire process, we build each component of that program for them. And it may look a little bit different for everyone. Some. Someone may have a similar workout pattern, but one person may be experiencing stress, and that's going to have a real impact on what type of outcome they have. So we definitely want to make sure we're giving that person a little bit more to manage stress. I know Erin is really into the red light therapy and she's been talking to me about it, and that's fantastic for recovery. So some people may need more recovery. So having more tools at our disposal in this role is gonna allow me to be able to really dial into what someone really needs and individualize their lifestyle, because fitness is a lifestyle. You know, people ask me all the time, how can I get biceps like yours, Rod? And you know, odds are they may not get biceps like mine, but what they're really after is how that transformation and how do we get them to transform their life now and then maintain that for the long haul. So that's what I'm all about for that, the lifestyle interventionist.

And so oftentimes people think of somebody that they get their fitness up and that's just one piece of it. And that holistic part, I. I've got so many things here about. It's not just the labs, it's the mental blocks, the physical blocks, the emotional blocks. I know that I coach very capable and smart women and they struggle to drink enough water every day. And it may seem so obvious. And yet you also talked about accountability. And sometimes that's the missing piece is if we're so exhausted, we don't. We can't keep ourselves accountable until we can or rebuild that habit. That's where, when I started working with you a few years ago, I always knew two days a week. And because I was paying for that and I didn't want to waste that investment, I was showing up and I was going to give it my all and really taught me that for a while I need to rely on somebody else's accountability until I build that into my lifestyle. And that was just one piece of it. And then you're adding all of these other layers and then that you're going to create something unique for that individual that wants to work with you one on one, because they're different. It's not a cookie cutter approach. And I think women physicians are so unique in their lives that having that extra added individual approach can be so, so helpful.

Yeah, absolutely. And another thing that's great about it, having so many tools at our disposal. Oftentimes I've found throughout the years that people can feel overwhelmed with getting started to change their life. So if we could start someone with just one simple yoga pose or one exercise to help the ankle, that is gonna plant the seed to get them moving in the right direction. And that's what it's all about, just getting someone started. And to do that, we have to meet them exactly where they are with what's going on in their life again.

I'm like taking so many notes. We take notes for to. To have work quotes, but I'm taking notes for myself. And I love what you're saying because this is important and it's translates to so many other areas of our lives of meet, meet someone where they're at. And that it's not about having this whole package. I think that it's so easy to get overwhelmed. Like you're saying, like that all or nothing mentality that a lot of us have. And then we want to do all the things and the importance of starting that it's not like baby steps, meaning a little bit at a time, but more of creating wins and rewiring our brain for that forward movement that can be so important. And I hear you like I can, I can almost see like your thought process and when you're helping someone. And how neat to have that ability to really connect with someone and where they're at and what their strengths are and where they might need a little bit more help that, you know, this is important work, that it's not just cookie cutter. Like, here's. Let me print you this plan that I give to everyone else. But like you're saying, and that you customize each part. I mean, that's impressive. Thank you for that work.

Yeah, this is what I love to do is just connecting with individuals. You know, that's what I've done for 20, 23 years. And I've tried different approaches, group, group approaches, small class. But there's nothing like being able to connect with someone on an individual level and really evoke some change and see how their life changes. And then it starts to affect the people around them, which is my mission at whole, to help people as well as the people around them and the people around me to improve their life. And it becomes contagious. You know, fitness is contagious. And ever since I got started, just on my own, just, you know, looking to overcome my own personal pain. You know, I started with my own back pain, which was when I was in the military. And they, they wanted me to continue to work out, to stay in shape. And from there, that's where the passion and the fire came from. My own personal story of just getting over that back pain. And then when I became a personal trainer, I realized, man, I could really have a major impact on people's life. And to bring that to more and more people is the next goal of the lifestyle intervention, is to put it in more people's hands. I've. I've had the privilege in my, over my career to work with a lot of physicians, business owners, you know, people who are wealthy, because generally those are the people who can afford personal training. But in my own personal life, you know, I can remember growing up in Georgia and going to what we call feed the kids. Now, this was a place that we'd go on Saturday mornings for people who didn't have much income to feed their children. So we'd go get free food and I could watch the people around me suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure. And I looked at them and wanted to really make a difference in their life, but I didn't really have the knowledge as a 9, 10, 11 year old. But here I am now, decades later, in a position where I can really help change, help change their life and bring some health and wellness to people who are in those situations where they may not be able to afford it. So in addition to just creating this lifestyle interventionist is really about how can I help more people, put more health information into people's hands and walk them through the process of changing their life.

And I'm going to give a little personal testimonial. So when I met Rod and I had never worked with a personal trainer, I was in my 50s, and I said, hey, you sound like somebody that would really be helpful for the people that I connect with through my local medical society and my clients. And so he offered me a session, and I was hooked. And then I signed up my husband for his program and then our son, who was Getting ready to go to boot camp in the military. And as he said that, that was at contagion. And what I saw is my husband, who has fought weight issues his entire life, his genetic composition very different from my own. He's fought tooth and nail to not gain a ton of weight. And with working with Rod, got into the best shape, had lost the most weight that as he had in a very long time. And then he switched careers and was traveling for most of six months away from home, having to eat out, slipping in different places out of his routine. And he gained back as much and more weight as he'd lost and the fitness that he'd gained with working with Rod, the benefit, though, had been he saw what was possible. So with he's in seasonal work, so when his season ended, he was able to get right back to it. And now that he's in his second season, says, now I know how I need to eat, how I need to move, how I need to go, because I know where I want to get back to. And now I want to maintain the gains that I've created. And it took not just listening to me, not just cheering him on, but having an expert with the level of expertise Rod has about not only the workouts, but the nutrition. Where's the mental blocks? And we always joke around. And now he's sending me pictures instead of desserts and things like. And I'm like, this is not Rod approved. I'm going to tell on you that you're cheating. Now he's sending me pictures of his salads and his chicken and his healthy meals, going on walks and moving his body when he has the opportunity. Because in his transformation, imagine, you know, dropping 25, 30 pounds and you're not carrying that around all day. The weight, you know, literally and figuratively, that. That helps him with every day. And I'm like, I want you around into our 70s, 80s, 90s, healthy so we can travel and. And maintain a healthy lifestyle. And, you know, prevention is great, but again, when you have to then have the. The skill set to loop back around and get to a healthier place. And I'm so grateful that Rod entered my life a few weeks ago, not only for my own health, but that of my husband, my son, and also my clients, he's played a great role in that.

Not weeks. Years.

Years. Oh, sorry. Yes, years. Absolutely.

Yeah. You know, patience is key when it's working with people to change their life. You know, people are surprised that I'm patient with them, I guess, because I look like a Bodybuilder, they're thinking, I'm gonna just make them lift weights like I'm. I'm lifting weights. But it definitely takes some patience and listening to people talk about what they're experiencing to be able to get that type of change. And I've also noticed there's two ways you can go about it. You could work on the body, which is what I do one on one with most of my clients. And over time, if we keep showing up, they keep showing up for the workouts, we start to see the mental shift in their mind and their thoughts and patterns. Thought patterns, which is what happened with Mike. But there's another way we could go about it as well, which is working on the mind and the thoughts first. This type of change can be immediate and also translate through the rest of the life. So there's both. What we can work on in both ways. Mind and the body first, they work. You can't separate the two. But with this program, like. Like yesterday, I did my first coaching for this program with my family back home in Georgia. As I mentioned, they're. They're going through so many things. They're getting up in age now. So many of them are 60, 70 years old and starting to really slow down. But we really talked a lot about how we can talk about shifting their thought patterns about exercise. How do you feel about exercise today? When I say to you, go for a walk, what's the first thought that comes to your mind? And those type of thoughts, as we uncover those and we question ourself about why you're thinking the way you are, then we can start to affect the mental change, and that's gonna create lasting change. As you start to view yourself, exercise, nutrition, and all the components that create health, and you start to view them in a different light, it becomes empowering. And that's what was about just empowering someone to show up for themselves daily, weekly, yearly, and for the rest of their life.

And that mindset shift, as Joanne and I, you know, do the coaching all the time, can be so fast and so powerful. Love that we've been talking a little bit more in this holistic approach of yours about the part that nutrition plays in our health and wellness. And so I would love to hear more about your nutrition policy or philosophy and returning food to its foundational purpose, fueling our lives. And I would wonder what some of the more common mindset shifts your clients experience when they begin to see food in this way.

You know, most of us in. Especially in America, we use food for Multiple things. Sometimes it's entertainment, sometimes it's for soothing to get over emotional pain that we may be experiencing. We could also use food for other things, such as, you know, gaining muscle, losing weight, and depending on what you want to accomplish. There's a lot of lenses that you could look at nutrition from. But the one thing that I'm looking to help my clients do is look at nutrition as a source of fuel for their body so that they can thrive and do the things that they want. And with that, it requires helping someone get back to more of a natural approach with food, which is getting rid of the processed foods, getting rid of, you know, soda and all the things that can have a negative effect on our health. And by getting more, getting back to more of natural foods now, you're gonna help improve your digestion, you're gonna get your body more in an alkalinic state. This is gonna help decrease your risk for disease over time. The research is pretty clear. Being more in an alkalinic state, being more oxygenated, all of these things are gonna help decrease the risk of disease. So as we return back to more natural foods, we get rid of the processed foods, we are gonna be better equipped to, to give our bodies what it needs to heal itself. The body is super intelligent. We just need to create a state in which it can heal itself. So that is my nutritional approach. And people find that they can make small changes pretty easily. But just having a know how of where to turn up the dowel or where to push or pull as far as what they're intaking, um, maybe add another snack here. And then before they know it, they're eating in a much different way. And it just, we just try to do that incrementally. I'm working with a young lady now. First thing we started doing with her was just, you know, just kind of tracking her nutrition. And now the next step is we're gonna start tracking protein intake. And then the next step we'll start looking at total macro intake. So in a few months from now, she's gonna be eating perfectly well, as perfect as she can be. No, no one's perfect. Perfectly imperfect. I guess she's gonna be eating more in a way that's conducive to get the results she wants. And I think most of us are wanting to feel better, look better, be better, have more energy. And that's at the heart of what I'm coaching my clients to do with their nutrition. Decrease their heart risk for disease, improve their energy, improve their function, body composition. So they can be healthier.

This is so incredible. It sounds so ideal. And my brain is spinning already. And I'm sure if my brain I might project a little bit in, in this next question. But then also kind of anticipating what some of our listeners could be going through because this is true for many women. But I know that professional, when we're very busy, we end up going through one of the extremes of doing a lot of emotional eating. Or then we go to the other extreme. Like we're saying the perfectionism of that all or nothing mentality. Tell us a little bit more of how you help someone transition from that space space into that more intentional nourishment that you're talking about.

It goes back to what I was saying earlier. Having a real deep conversation about what you're experiencing around your emotions, what type of things cause you to get into a state where you feel like you, you are going to go to food to soothe. And once we start having that conversation about that, then they, the light bulb goes off in their own head. Well, maybe I, and then I start to ask, well, maybe we could shift to a different thought pattern about the food when this emotional stress comes up. This time be aware of what it is that's going across your mind so that we could shift that maybe ask better questions. And when we start to question our own thought patterns and our own beliefs and behaviors, that's when we can start to get into some change patterns. So it really just start with, starts with listening and understanding the whole picture of someone's health. You know, if the, if the relationships are affecting them and that's why they're stressed and eating, if they feel overwhelmed from work, maybe we could look at some ways to shift their work habits. This I know that's what Dr. Aaron specializes in. And helping women and professional women and doctors decrease their workload and charting. So that's one thing that we could look at. Maybe we could add some techniques like breath work when you get in those stress, stressful states. So having all the little tools of, you know, breath work, yoga, exercise, nutrition, thought patterns can help me fine tune where that person may need help. Because it's gonna be different for everyone. People are under stressed for different reasons. So just having that real conversation and the tools then to give someone an individualized program and what they need. And that could, like I said, could include breath work, meditation, yoga crystals, take a walk, do an exercise. So that's why I really like this new role of having all these tools at my disposal to meet someone exactly where they're at. That would be my answer. Like, let's just have a conversation. Let's talk about it. Let's see what you're experiencing and see where we can make a change.

And what I hear you talk about, Rod, is something I think we've talked about in future episodes where we look at what's something that's going to make me feel better now and future me. Right. If you emotional eating, I'm going to eat that ice cream because I had a really tough day at work and asking ourselves, is that going to make me feel better in the future? No. Is that breath work that. That Rod and I talked about, or that movement or taking a walk, Is that good for me now? Is that will be. Will that be soothing? And will that help future me? Yes. And when I think we can, we can ask that question me now and future me, including that future you in the equation, can get us so much better results down the. In the long run instead of just focusing on the now.

Yes. And I think having the future you top of mind always and kind of gearing your body and mind towards that. When I was in the Marine Corps, we had this saying called. They would make us repeat this saying of what discipline was. So we'd have to repeat back to the drill instructors. They would say, discipline is. And we'd say, discipline is the instant willing obedience to all orders. So when we're talking about what it is you want to achieve, you want to take orders from your higher self or your best self, what does that best self want? And then take those orders, like, make sure you're doing actions that are aligned with that best self, that version of you who wants to be great in three years, what type of actions, what type of thoughts are they taking on? And just get in alignment with that. And once you do, that's when the momentum starts to shift. That's when you get the confidence and the ability that the feeling like you could continue on because you're taking orders from your higher self and you're acting on those right away, which is where the faith comes in of what you're doing is gonna work for you. So with my job, it's a lot of just giving people one, the direction of what it is you want to accomplish, keeping them on track with that, and then giving them the hope and the belief that they can really do this. Someone asked me, how do you not make fun of your people who are overweight? And I was like, why would I make fun of someone who's coming to me for help If I didn't see that they could do it first, there's no way I could get them to believe they could do it. So I always instill within my clients, hey, we can do this. You can do this. So that they can believe in themselves, because they're the ones who are going to take the steps for themselves every day when I'm not around. So another thing with the lifestyle intervention is how many touch points can I have in their life? Hold them accountable to that and then get them to believe in the process that we're walking through so that they continue, can continue to show up daily for themselves. Because this is a path to self discovery through exercise, nutrition, food, environment. And as you uncover each one of these components, you become a new person. So you discover who you really are when you're free from all the things that held you back. The negative thought pattern patterns, the sedentary lifestyle, you know, the snacks that you were eating late at night, and when you move those out of the way now, you've really become your true self that you really wanted, you intended to be. And that's that higher self we were talking about earlier that I'm getting someone to walk themselves towards.

And one of the things I love about being a coach is oftentimes as that individual's coach, we can see the future them before they can. And I remember experiencing that when I was working with my first coach and she was coaching me through something called the declaration sessions. And I remember it was January and I was thinking, what do I have to declare? And six months later I said, kelly, now I see the me that you saw. I'm finally getting to that point. Six months later, you saw that me six months before. And that ability sometimes, like you were saying, that we can see that future them and sometimes we, we have to share our belief and share, you know, help them to, so they, they can believe it in themselves as what's possible, such a powerful tool, that belief and vision of the future self.

Yeah, absolutely.

I wonder, Rod, because oftentimes women in medicine can overcomplicate things. Our perfectionism gets in the way. What would be one small, high impact change that you would recommend for someone who wants to feel more energized, more balanced or more control in their health today.

One point, man, it's so many. Let's see, let's nail it down to one small high.

You know how I'm always talking about, you know, we want to set the bar so high, and I say, I'm going to take that high jump bar And I'm going to lower it to the ground. I'm using my hands above my head down to the ground. So all you have to do is take a simple step over that bar that's sitting right on the ground, like an inch high. So something super small, but that's going to move the needle for someone, man.

I think just something super small that would move the needle would be asking yourself what you really want. Because oftentimes we can be confused about what we really want, and that can keep us in a state of paralysis. I know that's been my case, been my story in a lot of cases. Even with this lifestyle interventionist role, I've been wanting to get it just perfect. And I've tried many times and a lot of different ways to bring this about, but it's about bringing my entire self to the table and looking at what I really wanted to accomplish as a total goal. And that will then set you on the course for success, if you can get very clear on what it is that you really want and then seek out the help to get that accomplished. So I think just getting really clear is the first step, and it's easy to do. It's a mental thought process. You don't have to go anywhere. You don't have to talk to anyone. You could just get out a sheet of paper and just start writing it down. What do I really want? How do I want to feel in a year? How do I want to look in a year? How do I want to show up in my family in a year? How do I want to walk in a year? If you're having difficult with that, difficulty with that, if you're not working out at all, what do. Would you like to be doing that in a year and just get really clear on what it is you want? Write it down and then get to it.

Rod, have you been listening to our podcast? I love the alignment. It's like the starting with the clarity and having the awareness and really connecting with that future self. And I have so many notes. This is one of those episodes that I want to. I listen to all of them once they go out, but this is one I want to really listen to with my notebook and pause and take notes because it's so helpful and cannot wait for the future projects that we can have with you. And, you know, in I love again, kind of going back a little bit to what you're saying, because this is true for a lot of what we do. And it's so important. It's important in relationships, too. Of meeting people where they are at and really sitting with that and we might have our ideas and we want to project our ideas and then saying like well this might work for me but where are they? What's important for them? And love how you kind of the health equals living. And those three things of working with someone to help them be healthier and help them with their vitality and longevity. Who doesn't want more of that? And Rylan, we have to put in the work and get the help. And so grateful that you do all of that. The importance of how stress that we sometimes get used to it and we don't recognize how it's really affecting us. And you mentioning that it can affect our outcomes and having that, that awareness and kind of thinking of fitness as a, as a lifestyle and not just like the big biceps but everything the transformation that goes around that even though Erin does have very nice biceps. Thank you for and you do too of course follow Rod in his Instagram and you'll see and you know like the love that idea that you guys are talking about of borrowing belief. I know that I have done that for people but I've been on the other side where someone believes in me before. I believe in myself and seen the importance of that. And I'm go, I'm leaving this here because this was like the mic drop, drop, mic, mic drop moment here. Mic drop. Thank you. My English that you said take orders from your future higher self and get in alignment with that, that I want that. I'm going to print that and have it in a place where I can see it every day because how powerful is that statement? You're going to take orders, take orders from that future self that's in that position where, where you want to be. So my goodness, so many amazing nuggets here. And I wanted to ask you talking about that if people wanted to follow you, hire you, where can they find you?

You can find me on Instagram at Rod Stanley Li Li is lifestyle interventionist. All right. I'm creating a new website rodstanley.com it should go live over the weekend. I had to redo in the website so you can find me on rossanley.com or Instagram rodstanley Li and we can get you started if you want to try the fitness app. I could give you a free trial to my fitness app as well. If you're interested in some one on one personal training. That's where you can find me Instagram and my website rodstanley.com and we'll make.

Sure to add all that in the show notes so it's easy for listener to follow you and hire you. I cannot wait to do more and bring more of you to our audience. And with that, if you haven't, please share. This is such an important thing and make sure that you go and follow Ron and all the greatness. Thank you very much.

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