S4:E3 - Enterprise Power Session - April 4th 2020

Alright, good morning everyone. Good morning. Let's get started into this week's group call. I'm just going to put you on mute for a moment. If you're not talking, just the rules of this, I suppose, group call that we do just to make sure the audio is crystal clear. Keep people on— keep yourself on mute if you're not talking. Keep yourself on mute. If you are talking, obviously unmute yourself. Just reason being for that is that way we get a nice clear recording without any background noise. So yeah, you will obviously all have a chance to jump on and share, ask questions, all that kind of stuff. So before we get into it, one of the things I wanted to just talk about, I don't really talk, I do talk about it a bit, but I wanted to talk about, because I think it's a great resource, and that is the Weston A. Price Foundation. So if you go on to westernaprice.org, I'm just going to do it as I, as I speak, but westernaprice.org. Weston Price was a researcher/dentist in the 1920s, 1930s, and he wrote a book called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. And in that book, basically, he asks the question, what answers the question, I think, in many ways, what is the healthiest diet? What does the healthiest diet look like? And what he did to find the answer to this was he went around the world and studied and looked at 14 different native cultures from the Maasai to the Inuit Eskimos, to Aboriginals in Australia, but really to African Americans, and looked at what, what they ate, what was their native diet, and what made them healthy. And analyzing, you know, these 14 kind of traditional diets, he came to a conclusion. That conclusion was basically a hunted, fish-gathered, and plucked diet, and eating things that were in your environment, and eating things that were also seasonal. Truth be told, he thought he was going to find a vegan society. He didn't find any vegan society, didn't find any vegans. And the 1920s, 1930s was an interesting time. And it was an interesting time simply because one of the things with the 1920s is, and the 1930s, is it was a period where you didn't have the mainstream, I suppose, commercialized— it was just starting that you had commercialized food processors, especially like Crisco oils. They started in 1911 and you had some industrialized hydrogenated oils. Not partially hydrogenated oils. Partially hydrogenated oils were 1947, after World War II. But you certainly had a lot of commercial foods starting to enter the diet. And but you also had what people traditionally did. What were their traditions? What were people eating? People were still eating offal. They were still eating organ meats. They were doing bone broth, slow-cooked meats. There weren't as many obviously like baked goods, there wasn't the 24/7 convenience. So you got a chance and a window in this interesting period of time where people were still and cultures were still very connected to a traditional way of eating too. And then you had the other side where people started eating this modern diet and started getting sicker and fatter. So he looked at what they ate and he went you know, all different cultures, and really came, as I said, came to the conclusion that hunted, fished, gathered, and plucked is best. And also in that, he also correlated, you know, almost every culture had some form of butter, whether they used butter or ghee, and he took many samples of the cultures' different butters and correlated that some of the healthiest cultures, you know, really put a lot of effort into consuming butter and these saturated fats. So, uh, yeah, Weston A. Price, you can become a member. They have an annual journal that they send out, which is great. They've got a podcast, which is also great, on numerous different issues. I actually interviewed Sally Fallon a few years ago. She's the CEO of, um, the Weston A. Price Foundation. But in terms of a resource, it is, it is, it is really a fantastic resource. There's a lot of really good people who are part of this foundation. Another one who I'm actually going to be doing a podcast with in 2 weeks is Kayla D. Daniels. Kayla wrote the book The Whole Soy Story, uh, back in 2005 and did a phenomenal job at just basically ripping apart all the problems with soy from an environmental to a health perspective to even like the ethicalness of, um, you know, sustainable farming. She did a really great job of looking at soy and basically destroying it as a You know, it's a bad food on every level. And you can find a lot of her work on the Weston A. Price Foundation along with Sally Fallon has another good presentation on YouTube called The Oiling of America. That's a, that's a really good one to watch all about saturated fats. And she goes through the political manipulation and also the alternative agenda from food manufacturers, how they basically got in and changed things. And yeah, So anyway, I'm gonna unmute Mohammed. Mohammed, how are you today? What's been going on? Jump on the line. Let's have a chat.

Hey, how's it going?

How are you? Good. How are you doing?

Very well. Glad to be on this. Couldn't wait. Like, as soon as I heard it's gonna be a group, I'm like, let's just join it and see what's gonna go on. Yeah, so pretty excited.

Cool, man. What's been— what's been going on for you?

Um, nothing much, to be honest. Just, you know, firing along these, uh, funny, funny periods in our life, um, with everything that's going on, uh, you know, obviously because of everything that's going on, people try to create new things to do, um, try to focus on more important things, prioritize things, make new habits and that type of stuff.

Yeah.

Um, and that's what I've been doing lately, really. So just focusing mainly on my health trying to be as productive as I can.

Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, and everyone, feel free to put your webcam on. If you're sitting down on your desktop or even if you're on a mobile phone, feel free to put your webcam on. Obviously, if you've got a lagging internet, then maybe not. But feel free to put your webcam on so we can see you and make it more real, I suppose. So in terms of your training, what have you been doing with your training?

Um, with training, training, I've still been training with James. We'll be doing, you know, outdoor sessions twice a week. Um, and, you know, just keeping activity up as much as I can, which is most important as well. But the most important thing for me is managing my food because I've always had a bad relationship with food. Um, and being able to manage that and get on top of it as much as I can is probably the most important thing for me.

Hi, Amy. Amy's waving. Yeah, well, not awesome you've had a bad relationship, but it's good that you're getting on top of it and doing things. So yeah, and I just wanted to take that moment and just say, yeah, that's obviously available to everyone. If you're wanting to do sessions in the park with one of our trainers, you can definitely do that. So in terms of relationship with food, I want to read to you something that I've been working on. It's a chapter in a book that I'm updating at the moment. And it basically— Chapter 1, a short lesson in diet philosophy. And this just pertains to the point that you were talking about. So I thought it'd be fitting just to kind of give, give everyone, give yourself some food for thought on this issue, because I know certainly I had a bad relationship with food for some time. So Chapter 1, a short lesson in diet philosophy. The very word diet implies a temporary fix. And in Enterprise, we don't teach diets. We do, we teach daily practices. These, those daily practices become habits. Those habits form patterns and predictable patterns create success. If you approach your food and nutrition with just the intention of wanting to look good and lose weight, you're setting yourself up for failure as there will one day come a time where you look good and have lost weight. But then what? Instead of diet, instead diet and nutrition should be approached from the framework of identity, who you are and what do you want to become. Example, I am a healthy person. I am fit. I am energetic. Now, to become those things, how would that person eat? Notice there's no endpoint to an identity. It's not about eating, it's not about eating to lose X kilos by X date. Your eating habits are formed based on who you are, not what you're trying to achieve. What you're trying to achieve becomes a side effect of who you are. This is a pivotal point in switching someone from a yo-yo dieter to having long-term success. From your identity, you form your beliefs about yourself and the world. Imagine taking on these beliefs as if they were true. Won't read all of them, but one of the key ones is, I am a healthy person who eats healthy foods that build and nourishes my body. Again, in that mind frame, what does that person eat? From those beliefs, you start to sort information out from the world. I'm just going to jump to a different section, this section here, which is just— I don't know if I've shared this with you, but it's about the pyramid of change, right? And at the top we have identity. Below that, we've got our beliefs and values. Below that, we have our skills and skill sets, and then we have behaviors. And at the very bottom is our environment. And the example I always use is the Biggest Loser hit TV show. Many of the participants on The Biggest Loser get off The Biggest Loser only to put the weight straight back on. So the show is an example of changing someone's environment. Pull someone out of their normal environment and then put them in an environment designed for rapid change. Sure, you'll have long-term success. But if you don't, but if you don't work on and make changes to the levels above the pyramid, a.k.a. your identity, your beliefs and values, your skills and skill sets, you're going to go back to doing what you are unconsciously programmed to do. So if we only make changes to behaviors, we'll find ourselves scrolling on Instagram to try and find motivation, find ways to stick to it. This is why always it always comes back down to making a diet and I suppose a way of living fit your identity and fit in with your beliefs and values, because that's going to determine the skills and skill sets that you actually take on as well. For example, if you identify as a vegan, you're going to find skills and skill sets that support you cooking as a vegan. If you identify as someone who's unhealthy and who's overweight, you're going to find skills and skill sets like smoking, drinking, uh, and practicing bad behaviors that are going to further support that environment of you being basically not where you want to be. So there's some food for thought. Um, thoughts? Yeah, awesome.

Thank you so much.

What thoughts do you have on that?

That's, um, yeah, of course, like everything you mentioned is obviously quite—

it's obviously true.

Um, but the thing that's, that's really changed for me is that ever since I started, obviously, or everything ever since I started, um, on my health journey. Um, it obviously did start—

well, the—

when you do start, you're not as wise as obviously as you go through the whole process. Um, when I did start, it was more about just, you know, me looking better and all that type of stuff, and, you know, whether it was like fitting in or whatnot. Um, but it started to move into more, um, obviously doing it as a lifestyle. I didn't look at it as a diet anymore. And there was certain— there were certain, um, points in my life that reinforced me to make it a lifestyle and to know that what I'm doing is actually very beneficial for my entire life and for my kids when I decide to get married and all that type of stuff. So it wasn't just something that I had to do, it was something that I wanted to do because obviously of the benefits that it that it produced. Um, and I've been— by the way, thank you for giving us access to the Wolfpack content. I was watching one of, um, I'm not sure if I get his name correct. Is it Dwayne?

Yeah, Dwayne. Yeah, yeah.

I was watching, I was watching one of his, um, or one of the, one of the casts that you guys done with him, and it was talking about, um, you know, the, the process. What is the, the reward all achievements, and there was a CEE as well. So it sort of became— it wasn't something that I had to do, or something that I wanted to do. So every time I'd, you know, make sure I was eating properly, make sure I was, you know, looking after my health, I'd reward it. So it was sort of like a positive reinforcement for me. It wasn't something that I had to do and I felt annoyed and I had to, you know, neglect things and deprive myself of doing things and stuff like that. So just sifting out things that made sense to me and that would help my process become easier along the way.

Yeah. So I suppose you said challenges, right? You don't want to slip into any old habits or bad patterns. What, what challenges are still lingering for you? What, what are you, what are you struggling with?

Challenges, I guess, for everyone is obviously a lot different. I hear people's stories and they talk about the challenges they face and you try to apply it to yourself. It is hard because everyone lives in a different circumstance and environment. For me, living in a quite tight-knit family, Mediterranean, heaps of people always around, food all over the place, all that type of stuff, it is hard. And I've adapted to it and created new strategies to not necessarily avoid it, but whether it's swap something or avoid something or do something more productive.

In that sense, the biggest challenge for you is living it basically with, with your family and having that constant influence of, of their, their way of living rather than your way of living. Yeah, of course.

And I guess you can't really change that because obviously their age is a big factor. There's people that have habits that are just like that. You can't really change as much, but I try to work as much as I can with people or like relatives my age and friends my age and even younger to change habits. Do you feel people definitely notice? Sometimes, like, I don't make it a priority to change them, but they see the results that I've produced for myself and they come to me, approach me and say, hey, what are you doing? How do you do this? 'How do you stay so consistent?' All that type of stuff. I just share simple things with them.

Yeah.

Um, yes, so, well, I mean, that's, that's good. That's good. Um, yeah, I suppose my always frame point is, um, when you stop trying to make people change, that's when they actually change. Uh, when you— yeah, of course, pushing against and trying to make people change, they usually resist and you get frustrated because it's that they have to walk through the door. But yeah, I think your challenge probably is one that's somewhat temporary because when you move out, you know, whether you move out by yourself, get an apartment, move in with a partner, whatever it is, you'll have a lot more— that just won't exist. It won't— you won't be pushing each other.

A lot more freedom, that's for sure.

Yes, yes, you'll have your own sovereignty to make decisions and not have to explain the decisions that you make. Yeah, quite freeing. Yeah, but I guess—

yeah, sorry, go ahead.

No, sorry, you go ahead.

Yeah, no, but I guess everything that, that does happen within this stage obviously happens for a reason. I guess it helps me build a bit of resilience towards, um, you know, like negative talk and, and those certain environments. So like when I'm confronted with such environments, I know how to deal with it. So I guess everything happens for a reason and you're put into a position that you can handle whatever that environment is.

Yes, that's correct. Like when you work at a, you know, wherever you go for work, let's say, for example, David would always tell me in his corporate job as well as many clients, you know, people would constantly, why are you eating that? Why are you doing this for? Why don't you put some sauce on it? Why don't you have a slice of pizza? One won't hurt you. Just have a piece of chocolate. Like just constant barrage and you know, you got to get, you got to get clear. I remember once I was actually out to lunch and my cousin was like, you know, I went, went, ordered what I ordered. I was like, I asked for, you know, I said to the waiter, like, do you have fish? Can I get the fish with just plain? Can I just get it with some salad? And my cousin turned around and said, why can't you just be normal? I'm like, well, what do you mean? Why does, why does what I eat affect you? Like, I'm eating it. So why is it any of your business? And she kind of, you know, shut up, you know, took a step back and was like, oh, well, I'm just saying. I'm like, well, it is normal. Like what you're eating isn't normal. And yeah, I mean, you're going to constantly get— it doesn't matter where you're going to constantly. And obviously since that was years ago, but since that time, like it's like, well, you know, you got to, you got to stand up and shout what you believe in because it is going to get challenged. And a lot of the time people just like, you know, I wish it wasn't challenged. But the truth is like the challenge, you got to see the challenges as good because it further makes you be planned and like question why are you doing this? Because like, why are you doing it, right? Like, are you doing it for you? Are you doing it for someone else? And this is where, you know, the difference between intrinsic and external motivation is so important to understand because if it's constantly relying on external motivation, it's gonna, it's gonna get fleeting. You're always going to be looking for that next hit. You're going to be scrolling on Instagram and you're You're also equally going to be affected by other people who may be having more success than you, or their success looks easier than yours if it's external. Where if it's internal and you know that this is a part of you, this is your identity. You know, the rabbit doesn't need to wake up and remember to eat grass. You know, the cat doesn't need to remember to chase mice. It just does it because it's a cat. And when you come from that framework, it's like, oh, I eat these foods because I'm healthy. Why else would I eat anything else? It becomes an automated response of I'm not going to be putting this crap in my body because why would I? That's such like I don't, I don't have to force myself not to think about McDonald's. Like McDonald's is just not a food that I eat. I don't view it as food. It's not something that like it enters into my mind. I don't wake up one day and go, oh, you know what? I really feel like I'm missing out on my McDonald's because McDonald's just doesn't fundamentally fit in with my identity of who I am or my beliefs and values. So that's where you like, if you map this out together, like with your family and that, it's like you've got to understand their position of their identity, their ethnic. Okay, so as ethnic food, what is food about? Food is about, you know, union. It's about showing that you love someone. It's about connection. It's about family. And to not accept food is also to say that, you know, you're basically not accepting family. You're not accepting accepting that communion. So then it's also like takes that lag period of explaining to your family that it's actually not that at all. Like you do, you are with your family and like what are the other ways that you can show your family that there is union and connection and community and all those things without like without them and helping them understand that this food isn't like it's not the only way to show love, which in ethnic cultures often that's what it's about. It's not about the actual food. It's about their way of showing love to someone. And then if you understand that, it actually gives you a lot more freedom in the sense that, well, like if I say no to the chicken wings tonight or, you know, the Lebanese bread or whatever it is, they're not like— they're not offended. They're not trying to make me fat. They're trying to show me love. How else could I show them love? Well, maybe I get up and give them a hug, give them a kiss, whatever it is, you know, draw them a picture or whatever they want, like write them some nice words on a card. So they feel loved because it's a thing of like giving and receiving. How do you give love? How do you receive love? And, you know, often with particularly like, you know, your grandmother, your mom, maybe dad, whatever, the way they were taught was to show love with making food and giving food. So that's also another powerful point to keep in mind as well.

Yeah, definitely.

Jump in. Yeah, jump in. Hey, I want to, I want to see you jump though.

Um, I understand what you're talking about as well. Like, I guess similar to Mark in the sense that like my family's Italian, so I get where you're coming from. Um, in the sense of that whole the way they, you know, there's a certain way and what Mark's talking about, the way they show love and things like that. Um, I don't think it ever gets easier, to be dead honest. Like, I've been been out for 7 years eating the way I eat, and it's still a surprise to my mum that I don't have dairy and gluten. Like, every time it's still the same conversation. Every time I might go to my parents for dinner— and I don't live with my parents, so it's a little bit different, um, but it's still that same conversation. And you can't really— like Matt was saying, when you stop trying to change people, then they'll try and— they'll start to change on their own. So you can't really force your family and things to change. You just have to, I guess, march to the beat of your own drum and know why you're doing it and be okay with that and not get frustrated or upset or whatever if they're still questioning you or trying to challenge you because they're always going to do that because they're not you. They're not going to live the lifestyle that you live. And even if they do start to, they're probably not going to live it to the level that you do. So it is always going to be there. It's never going to go away. With family, that's always difficult with family, they are just what they are, but yeah, I guess it's changing the way you go about it and the way you react to their reactions or their behavior about it. And I know I go through times where I can get quite snappy and frustrated at my family when I'm just like, why are we having this conversation again? Like, why are you saying, oh, you can't have dairy? No, it's not I can't, I choose not to, like, It's the same conversation every time. But then it's, I guess, yeah, taking a step back and going, well, no, I have control how I choose to react to it. I can't control how they think about it, if that makes sense. So, your headspace and how you behave rather than, you know, they're always going to be like that.

And you can always choose not to talk about it or choose to change the topic. You know, you don't have to have that conversation and you feel like, oh, why don't you have dairy? Hey, did you see that football game?

Oh yeah.

Like, it's what? Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, I just don't feel like that today. I feel a bit full anyway. What car do you drive? Like, I don't know, you think of a thousand different topics, just conversation switch. You know, to be honest, that's one of the ways like I started doing with a lot of people. Because I just couldn't be bothered explaining myself. And they, you know what, they don't care. They actually don't care at all. They just, you know, a lot of the time trying to make conversation, it's like when someone does a bodybuilding comp or a figure comp or bikini, like as soon as that person gets off stage, the first thing that they get asked is when you're doing your next one. Now, does that person who's asking really care about their next show? No, they don't give two shits. It's just they don't know what to say and they're just trying to make conversation. Because it's interesting. It's like you probably got it, Amy, when you did your fight. Oh, when's your next fight? Well, I just finished my first fight. Let's just talk about how I did in the first fight, and then we'll talk about if I want to fight again. Let's not assume that I have to fight again because I've just done my first one. Like, I don't have to keep going on this. It's like, you know, when people are— when you still get that now, hey, when you're fighting, when you're fighting. Well, it's the same thing.

No, it's not for you as a job. Yeah.

And it's the same thing when you're in a relationship too, yeah? Like when you're in a relationship, or when you're getting a girlfriend, you get a girlfriend. Oh yeah, when you guys getting engaged, you get engaged. When you guys getting married, you get married. When you guys having kids, you have kids. When you're having your next one, and then you have one, and then when you're having your next one, it's like, fuck, settle down. Like, there are other things to talk about. You know my kids' names? You want to know their names? Like it's, There's other things. And also another thing that was kind of when this topic comes up, I'm a big Simpsons fan, as some of you know. There's a great like kind of skit that they did in The Simpsons where Lisa becomes a vegetarian and she basically has a spaz at Homer, obviously, because Homer keeps eating bacon and pork and he just eats everything. And she thinks that her dad is like this monster, basically. And anyway, she meets Abu in the, in the Kwik-E-Mart. And she goes, she says that like she's doing this type of vegan. And Apu's like, oh no, I don't consume any animal products. And she's like, you must think that I'm a monster. And he's like, very much. She's like, but why are you still talking to me? And then he like kind of goes on to this thing around like how he respects people's beliefs and it's not about trying to change people. And, you know, always kind of like it's comedic, it's always like wisdom. But yeah, I mean, it's absolutely like in terms of a kind of comedic visual, That scene in The Simpsons where Apu speaks to Lisa about, and like, you know, you must think I'm a monster. Absolutely. But you still treat me with respect. Well, why wouldn't I? Kind of thing. Like, it's always one of those things. Anyway, what I'll say now is everyone, if you want to whip out your trusty iPhone, put your webcam on if it's not already. We do this thing each group call. We take a photo of where we're at. So I'm just going to take a photo. Photo for their Instagram and I'll upload it a little. Oh, there's Laura.

I'll upload—

I'll do that again. You're able to, Lewis, chuck your webcam on. Let me take that off because I didn't get Laura's face on it. There's Lewis, Christina, and Carol. You can pose, you can do whatever you want. I'm happy with this one. There we go. Christina and Carol maybe don't have access to a webcam where they're listening from, but if you do, chuck it on. What other questions? Anything else?

I have mine on.

You got yours?

Yeah, I'm in the car, but I have it on. I can see me, but maybe you can't see me.

No, we can't see you. We can't see you.

Oh, okay.

That's all good. All good. Maybe I can send you— yeah, I can. There it is. Send webcam request. I can't send one to you. Anyway, other questions, Muhammad? Other things, thoughts, other questions?

Oh, there's—

I mean, there's definitely plenty. Um, I think just as we go along, you just kind of come up with questions. Um, one thing, one thing I've, I've noticed lately is obviously the, the power of reading things and, and looking through other people's experiences and, and kind of relating it to your own. Um, and I think that's very powerful to to understand because you won't know how to solve things or find solutions to— not necessarily solutions, but new ways to do things for challenges or problems unless you see other people's or read other people's experiences. And one thing that's definitely helped me— it was funny, when I came back from overseas at the start of the year, it was sort of like a moment where I walked into this bookstore um, and, you know, I was just sifting through books. Like, I've never read a book in my life. Um, sifting through this book, open, open up to this page, and there was like quotes about nutrition. And I, I started reading through, I was talking about fasting and all this type of stuff. And it, and I really enjoyed it for some reason. It was like a paragraph, I totally forgot what it was about. Um, but this was, this was overseas, this was in Saudi. So by the time I got back, I took a picture of the book Got back, I'm like, I'm going to buy this book from the bookstore. So as soon as I got back, bought the book, had no idea what it was about. The book's called The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma. And it basically talks about this billionaire that bumped into two people during a seminar and he invited them to his secret island in the middle of the the ocean somewhere. And he's basically— he takes him through his process of optimizing your day through waking up early in the morning and doing everything early in the morning. He has a quote. It's called "Own your morning, elevate your life." And obviously, the more I was reading through it, he puts all these methods and rules in place. And I started following a few, you know, waking up early in the morning, you know, doing a bit of praying, meditation, exercising, you know, just planning out my day. And I found out, or like saw, that these things actually really do help. And just obviously the more you read about, you know, these, all these amazing quotes, and the more you reinforce the beliefs and ideas in your head. So that was definitely one thing that I really enjoyed, or something that I've been doing lately.

Yeah, yeah, he wrote, I think, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari as well. Okay, I'm on the website now looking at it. Um, yeah, good, good man. Good. Uh, definitely stories, stories certainly help, um, to cast yourself as that hero and live it out in a third-person perspective so you can see, uh, how someone else is doing it. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, let's bring Carol on the line. Thanks for your contribution today and questions, Mohammed. We'll circle back around. Thank you. We get a bit of time. But yeah, Carol, you've been on the line for a little while. What's going on? How are you? How are the kids going? How's it back in the US?

Oh, hey, Mark. Hi, everyone. You can't see me? I can see you, but I guess you can't see me.

No, we can see you.

Okay. Anyway, thank you for another Good call. Um, I— so last week you guys, you and Dave gave me some suggestions about, you know, with my kids in the US and, um, things that I can talk to them about. And the thing with like the fear versus the danger, and it was really great to kind of put in perspective. And, you know, when I did my FaceTime check-in with them, I realized like they're, they're not in danger of you know, like dying of starvation. They have enough food, they have money. I can send them money for food and like they're actually cooking and, you know, they're, they're fine. Um, that way I talked to my— the one son who's alone in our house about the master class and for cooking because he really enjoys cooking. In fact, he's showing me, he'll send me pictures of these amazing dishes he's making and He thought that was a great idea. He's slammed right now with his classes. He's almost done his first year of uni, so he doesn't have time now, but we're gonna relook at that in a few weeks. But what I thought was kind of funny was about an hour later after we hung up, he texted me and said he got an ad for MasterClass. Like, his phone heard us talking. It's so bizarre. He's like, I got an ad for that. But, uh, but that was a good suggestion, and I feel more settled and at ease with, with my kids being over there. I mean, it's a disaster with COVID-19 in the States, but you know, they're doing what they can to keep safe. They're staying out of everywhere. They're just going to the grocery store when needed, and like, they're doing what they can. And, um, I don't have that fear right now of like, you know, they're gonna die of starvation or some awful thing. I mean, they could catch the disease like anybody else, but I have less worry about them right now since we talked last week. And so that's been great.

That's really positive. It's great to hear.

Well done. Thanks.

Good.

Yeah, it's very helpful. Um, the other thing I was going to mention was, um, in terms of like my training and stuff, this week I started my first session with Luke at the park, and that was really great. Yeah, it was just, you know, fun, like, to do something different out in the park, and I brought my 3 kids that live here with me. I brought them along, and we— and they played basketball, so they weren't near us because you can only have 2 people together, but they went and played basketball. So I got them out exercising, which was nice. But, um, and then we did our check-in yesterday evening, which was good. One thing that he was telling me about was the, um, the wolf PAC, you know, and Mohammed or someone was pushing it a little while ago with all the, you know, the information and nutrition stuff on there. I couldn't get on though. He gave me my username and password and it didn't work, so he suggested that I email Amelia, so I did that. But I'm looking forward to getting on that. I don't know what— something like whatever was not working, the username or password unfortunately wasn't right. But, um, once I get on that, I'm looking forward to looking you know, into all that, looking at the podcasts and the whatever videos and all the info you have on there, because I just find that I'm learning so much. That's why, like, these calls are great, just hearing what other people are doing. And, um, and just the more I am around the environment, your environment, and the people, the trainers and Luke and everybody, I'm just learning so much. So I really looking forward to hopping on that once that's working and, you know, just kind of making myself more knowledgeable about it because, you know, like, just can't— it can't hurt the more you know about it. It's been great.

So I think I know what the issue is. Um, yeah, I'm just on there now on the back end. Um, what I'll do, I'll do it actually after the call. Um, I've just put in the chat just so everyone knows, like, so, so, uh, firstly, all the podcasts that we have are actually free and you can get access to them even without the site. So all the podcasts are either on iTunes or YouTube or SoundCloud. So the best place to get— I'll put it in the chat— the best place to get the podcasts isn't actually the Enterprise website, it's actually the Personal Trainer Mentoring website, which is a site I put together as a resource for personal trainers. This is a site I put together as a resource for personal trainers. I'm gonna listen— feedback, I can hear myself talking. Um, feedback, I can hear myself talking. Um, maybe I'll just mute you, Carol. Is someone else on the line? If someone's just caught— no, it's Carol's phone. That's why. All right. I've just muted you, Carol, just so I don't get the feedback in my ear. But I'm going to— if you go to this link here, in fact, what I'll do, just one second, folks. One second while I do this. Share my screen with you. One second. Oh, there it is, of course. Applications. Alright, so I'm just sharing my screen just to show you some— where are we? I'm going to show you some links and things that you can have a look at and just show you through the site as well. So firstly, if you go to this website here, which is personaltrainermentoring.com, if you click on podcasts, this is probably the best place to get access to all of our podcasts. This is the website I put together for, for personal trainers. The podcasts are sorted in all podcasts, obviously nutrition, business and life, training and lifting. So there's always like, let's say you click into our latest one, which is this one here. It will give you the— this one we haven't transcribed, but most of them we have transcriptions for. But you can listen to it on iTunes or SoundCloud. So if you obviously click the link it will take you to the iTunes link, which you can listen to on your phone. Subscribe. Always appreciate if you can leave us a review. It really does help our rankings and for our message to be heard. So if you can leave us a review, that would be awesome. The other place to go is YouTube. So this you can play directly through YouTube, but instead what I'll do just to show you, if you click on our YouTube hit subscribe as well so you get all of our updates and all the videos. But we've got heaps of stuff on YouTube. If you go to— the internet's a little slow, but this is the iTunes, so you can leave a review. That's always super appreciated. That has all the episodes there. You can listen to it in your car if you've got the podcast app. If you've got an iPhone, definitely check that out. This is just the same of what I was doing. Oops, this is the SoundCloud, so you can listen through SoundCloud as well. All our episodes are there, and on the iTunes, if you click on or search Enterprise Fitness, there's two Enterprise Fitness pages on YouTube. You want this one. So as I said, hit subscribe. We have a few different playlists. These are all the Wolf's Den episodes. These are our exercise tutorials. There are our Meet Our Trainer videos. These are our stories of people who have trained with us. You got Helen and stuff there. More interviews. These are some real old school ones that I've done. So these are fantastic. You can check these out. Yeah, they're really good. But I did those in 2011, 2012. We've got some old school interviews, but they're evergreen content. And obviously we've got what, like 400 or so videos? 300, 400 videos. So there's heaps of stuff that you can use. So yeah, to get access to that, you don't actually need the website. But then obviously we've given, I think, almost everyone access to this site here, which is enterprisemembers.com.au. Your one will look a little bit different to mine. You won't have these two tabs, but you've certainly got the nutrition tab and you've got the training tab. And then there's something in the coaching tab too. There's nutrition mastery in— I'll go to it my way. There's nutrition mastery in your tab. If you want to learn nutrition, I would recommend doing my Nutrition Mastery course. There's about 7 videos. And just FYI, like, this is the type of training that we get our enterprise staff— like, this is the type of training that we put our enterprise staff through. So they, they do like the online modules as well as they do like the face-to-face stuff that we do as well as regular, and we assess them too. So if you want to see like insight into the way we like train our staff, this is, this is a really great place. But do it in order, like there's module 1, Understanding Your Client, Module 2, Art of Compliance, 3, Resetting Normal. Actually, you could like, if you don't want to understand like the psychological stuff, these two are on like psychological tips and how to coach someone. This one is getting into like, you know, what to actually do. Resetting Normal, Creating Meal Plans, Supplement Foundations. So there's all that you can listen to. One of them, or one of my mentors, Bob Guel, he taught me muscle testing. These unfortunately aren't edited that great. I mean, like they're 6 hours, you know, one video is 6 hours. So you've got to watch, pause, watch, pause kind of thing, come back to it because let's face it, no one's going to sit down for 6 hours and watch the whole thing. So but just the way they were edited, like if they had been edited as one block. Bob's probably my most influential mentor when it comes to supplements and nutrition. In this course, he goes through every vitamin, mineral, vitamin, mineral, amino acid. It's called the Human Alphabet. He goes through everything and explains like, what is taurine? What does taurine do? What is tyrosine? What is tyrosine like? It is a phenomenal course. I'm forever grateful that I was able to bring Bob out to teach it, and he's been teaching me stuff for many years. So that's a really great course that you can look at, and there's lots there. We've got some stuff on like understanding blood markers with Christine, which you can look at there, like what do bloods mean? And it's quite technical, but obviously if you're interested in that, we've got kind of my lighter stuff, which is like a behavioral approach to nutrition where I talk about, you know, like mindset hacks, I suppose. Some, some of these duplicate in that Nutrition Mastery course. This is also very good, this section here. This is with Rhys talking about how to figure out macros. Just one thing on this, if you can watch the latest stuff, like for example, this is 2017, I think, 2018. Yeah, always watch the newer stuff rather than like the oldest. Like so if you can get a 2019, this is Rhys 2019, watch that over watching Rhys in 2017 or '18. Or even that goes for my stuff as well. Like the newest stuff is more up to date. So just see if there's the more up to date stuff. And then, you know, in training, there's heaps of stuff in training that you can, you know, screening and assessments, presentations by me. Let me close that one off. Yeah, there's quite a bit like this is, this was from a course that we just did in February. So that will teach you about training. Yeah, there's lots here. We've got some stuff with Andrew Lock as well, some powerlifting stuff with Sebastian Oreb. Heaps and heaps and heaps of stuff to keep you busy for probably all of lockdown, really. So yeah, to get access to this, it's enterprisemembers.com.au. And then if you don't have logins, reach out to me or Amelia. And yeah, that's that. Questions? I'll unmute Carol again. Not sure if you saw all that, Carol, but—

Yeah, I did. Thanks. I will get back to— you know, I'll just see what Amelia comes back with, and hopefully that'll work soon.

Yeah, I think all we need to do is delete you and then put you back on. So what will happen— I'll actually be able to do it now. What we'll just do is I'll delete your file, like your account, and then I'll make it again. And then the site, just so everyone knows, the site will send you an email that basically says, you know, you've got— this is your password to the site. So that's what that is. It sometimes goes to your junk, so just check that out in case it goes to your junk. Yeah.

Okay, awesome. That's great. Yeah. And just one last thing, like in terms of my— the training and stuff, I was— well, I was training for a comp, which obviously was canceled because of everything. So instead, um, we just, uh, Luke suggested a photo shoot. So I kind of scrambled together one quickly and with a couple days' notice did a photo shoot. That was last week. So that, that was good. That was my first time, and, um, it went, it went well, I think. But since then, I've been, um, I've been like still training and, and focused on the nutrition, but not to the extent I was. And I talked to Luke about that, and so I'm not like weighing every morsel I'm eating. I'm taking it like a little bit of a break from— not from eating well, but just from like the strict, you know, like where you measure everything and all that. So just to take like a little bit of a break before I kind of regroup and maybe get ready for one in the spring. So, um, that's kind of where I am with that. But I'm trying to just keep up my training and nutrition, but not at the level I was, you know, when I trained for the comp. So I don't know if you think that's a good or bad idea?

I think it's a great idea. I just remade your password. It's just your— the site's going to send you something in a second, so just FYI.

Thank you.

That right then. No, I think that's a great idea. And one of the things I would say is like, you really got to look at— you are a healthy person who eats healthy foods that build and nourish your body. In that place, what decisions do you make? And it's not going to be a decision of like, you're just going to start shoveling crap into your face because— and look, a lot of competitors do that. They get caught up in this idea that Oh, I don't have to compete anymore. I don't have to do anything. I'm just going to start eating ice cream. It's like, well, you didn't eat ice cream every day before you tried to compete. Why would you do that now? That's just silly. So, you know, you keep your diet hunted, fished, gathered, and plucked. If you want to weigh things or don't want to weigh things, that's, you know, completely up to you. But, you know, I think that's a great approach. You want to loosen, loosen the belt a little bit psychologically, but keeping that framework I'm a healthy person who eats healthy foods that build and nourish my body. Okay, from that perspective, what do I eat? For me, I'm quite liberal with how much fats that I have, and it's never a problem in terms of like, I don't get super fat or anything like this. So I'm able to do that. And I like to weigh my meat. I like to be consistent with my meat, but everything else in my diet, I'm quite liberal. So I think, yeah, you find it's kind of like you're gonna get a few things wrong, And that's also okay because you're going to figure out like what kind of routine and foods that you want to include versus you don't want to include and what foods fit with your body. Like for me, the only dairy I really include is butter. I don't include anything else. If I do, it's like really quite seldom, you know? And then if I include it too much, I find that it doesn't really sit well, that well in my gut. And also sourcing really high quality dairy sometimes can be like like milk and stuff, you know, you got to get delivered, all that kind of stuff. It's not something that I— it's not a regular part of my plan. Um, now you might say, oh, I want to, want to keep it a regular, and you know, it fits, fits fine with me. Well, you know, it's going to take some figuring out. But let's say, for example, gluten. Gluten, you know, the minute you eat it, you know, you kind of break out in skin irritation and rashes, or, or you feel bloated, or really like, like, you know, mental fog. And you're going to have those foods where there's going to be that working out period. But often, like, people, they just want to go back to what, like, kind of they were doing or what everyone else was doing. And yeah, this period is great because it's almost like a comp prep diet is an elimination diet. So, so for a lot of people, like, you know, there's been foods in their diet that they should have eliminated a long time ago, but they weren't aware. And then everyone— what happens often is people bring everything back in but really it's like that, just that one food or one food group that they shouldn't ever bring in because not from a perspective of body composition, but from a perspective of inflammation and health. And like, for example, that for a lot of people would be gluten. You know, keeping gluten out of their diet, they'll be healthier, they won't get inflamed. But when people bring the food back in, like it's kind of this thing of super restriction. So yeah, just do it slowly and understand there's going to be a bit of time figuring it out. I know for me there's some foods that like I just don't eat because I just don't feel good eating those foods. And if I eat them, I know about it the next day or, you know, the next hour because my digestion gets thrown off for a fair while. So, questions?

Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks. That's great.

Yeah. Like for me, another thing, like in terms of desserts and stuff, like there are a lot of like vegan desserts and stuff that are really quite nice and like I can, I can eat as many of them as I want, but I just get fat. Um, so like, also there's like things like that, like you got like portion control is important as well. It's not just, um, you know, like cut out gluten and dairy and you'll be fine. Like, you still got to be aware of these things. But yeah, you can still certainly enjoy a lot of things without having to cut everything out altogether.

Yeah, it's been a nice like little break sort of just to kind of eat um, like just eat without being super strict and weighing everything and, you know, but still being healthy and doing the all the like what Luke kind of had in my comp prep plan, like all the different types of things I was eating. I'm still doing that but not at the level I was. But yeah, yeah, thank you.

The only other thing I would say and suggest is make sure you don't bring your calories too low in this period. That can also be super negative because a lot, a lot of people do is they like, they try not to eat too much. Or instead of having like, you know, comp, they're having 5 meals, and then when they get off comp, they have 3 meals. But then like, actually by having 3 meals, they bring their calories really low, lower than they were in comp, and then they want to like get lean again. And then it's much harder because, um, like the calories are now like, instead of it being like 1,600, they're now like 1,400, and then they want to diet again. So then they have to go backwards. So it's like, well, we actually need to get your calories up again to then diet you down. So yeah, that's the other thing is just make sure you're at least hitting a baseline, if not a surplus at this period, so that when you do want to compete, you're actually at a higher level. And it's one thing with like Reese and I always talk about, like it's so much easier to get someone lean who's on like high calories than bring someone's calories up and then get them lean. So like it's easy to get someone like, like, you know, if you're on 5,000 calories a day, let's say for example, like if we change that to let's say 4,700, you're gonna, you're gonna probably lose weight from that. And you know, you're not really gonna feel like you're dieting. And if we just make those small changes, it's not gonna feel like a diet at all because it's still so much food. And you make those gradual changes where if someone's on like 900 calories, the first thing you do is you actually bring up their calories to then diet them. And we want that number to be as high as possible before we actually start an aggressive diet. Or I shouldn't even say aggressive, start a diet process. And it's always like, the trick with dieting is like, if you always want more food, like, it's, it's eat people into a show, not diet them down. So you should be eating up as you get leaner, and then from that high point, then you pyramid off. We kind of like, there's a couple presentations on this, and we refer to the calorie mountain, which is kind of a concept that I came up with a long time ago, which is like you have baseline and then you bring people up. And then once you get to that peak of that, that calories where they don't put on weight, or that you actually want to see a little bit of body fat go up. So let's say for example, Carol, like right now you're, let's say 12%, right? And you eat, eat, eat, and your body fat goes up to like, you know, we keep increasing every week, and then your body fat goes up to like, you know, 13% or like say 13.5, no big deal, like, but it stays there consistently. Where you've increased your calories by, let's say, 1,000. That's an awesome place because that means like, that's that— like, you're not going to get any fatter, but your calories have increased by, let's say, 1,000. Um, that's like the peak of the mountain. Then you can start to drop down the mountain, but you don't go like— you don't— when you scale down a mountain, you don't like go like, uh, bobsledding down it. You slowly progress it. So you don't go from like, you know, 2,000 to then 1,000. You go like 2,000, 1,800, 1,600. 1,400, and then you'll find like those little jumps, like at 1,800, you'll actually be able to lose weight at 1,800 for like 2 weeks, 3 weeks. But people, people make like, they always want like rapid change. They make rapid changes, but that's not, that's not sustainable. It's not. You're also going to look worse and it's going to feel hard. So that's one thing that's key to keep in mind is you bring yourself up the mountain and then you slowly diet people down. So there's more food, they don't feel tired, they have better energy. There's no like withdrawal or like backlash in terms of like putting on a bunch of weight really fast because you've increased someone's calories really fast either. So kind of as conceptually, that's how you want to think about it.

Okay. Yeah, that makes total sense. Great. Thanks.

Cool. Awesome. All right, let's move. And I'm sorry if I butcher your name, But Shadee, Shadee, I'm just going to admit that I don't know how to pronounce it. Please correct me and give me the correct pronunciation. We just get you on the line. How are you doing today?

Yeah, good, thank you. Yeah, you pronounced it correctly. It's Shadee. So good.

I have been pretty good this week.

Last week was a bit of an adjustment for me. I have issues with eating, so a few eating disorders and body dysmorphia. So last week it was just trying to get myself into a routine and work out how to deal with those kinds of issues and getting used to working from home and stuff. So it's much better this week. I've got a routine in place. Lewis, who's my trainer, sent me a really good plan to do from home and help me make sure I tend to over-exercise a lot as well. So he kind of made sure I wasn't implementing too much of that in there as well. So that was good.

So did you see the new podcast that we did just recently on self-sabotage with hypnotherapist, uh, what's her name? The Forest?

No, I haven't actually.

I'll chuck it in the group chat. It's just here. There it is. I've just whacked it in. You can get access to that group chat on this. Yeah, yeah, I can. Yeah, yeah. So you can go on YouTube. It's also on iTunes as well. I'll send you this link too. But yeah, definitely kind of the first thing, like we'll talk more, but the first thing I would say is like in terms of just like quick reference is, yeah, we did a whole episode pretty much about like this kind of stuff and this topic. So yeah, definitely, definitely check that out. Have a listen. It's a really good show that I did with her. Right now, like, one of the things I would say is if you have had issues with that in the past, you know, it definitely is a matter of replacing that, replacing that old identity and realizing that's who you were. It's not who you are and who you are can change and it can change just like that. So a good example of this is like smokers, right? So when someone decides not to smoke anymore, they become a nonsmoker just like that, right? But the buildup to become a nonsmoker usually takes a couple of years, or more importantly, it usually requires a significant event. Now, that significant event can come in the form of like, you know, their best friend dying, or, you know, they go to a lab and they see these like horrific images, or they see, you know, the scientists pull out someone's lungs. And they pull out the tar and the ooze and they say, you know, by smoking 3 cigarettes a day or a cigarette a day, this is what you're doing to their lungs. And they have a shock and they're like, oh my God, I didn't realize that's what I was doing. It makes it real for them. So realizing that that's who you were, that's not who you are, and that you've changed and taking on a new identity. But that's not in itself enough. If you just say, oh yeah, I've changed, it doesn't really allow the conscious mind any groundwork or frames to actually kind of insulate you from making that change positive. Because you can say, well, that's who I was, but now like instead of being an overeater, I smoke, right? Which what you've done basically is change one negative habit for another negative habit, which a lot of people do. So instead, you need to take conscious control of that framework and look at, all right, well, who I was was this person, and it's okay, like I was that person too, right? But now this is who I wanna be, and this is what I'm gonna work every day and this is where I'm going to make changes from. It's this place as my identity. So for an example, like, you know, write down on a piece of paper in full sensory detail, like, who is Chade? Who are you? Like, what are your beliefs around food? Consciously create them, put them up, you know, on your bedroom mirror. And all this might sound like hokey pokey kind of like self-development stuff, which it absolutely is, but it also absolutely works. So, you know, I'm an advocate for things that work. And I can say from personal experience, it works. And then that also helps you sort your mind for the information. So like, example, like if you, if you say, if your, your modus operandi is I am a healthy person who eats healthy foods, what you're going to— when you go shopping in the supermarket and you have that, like let's say in your wallet, let's say for example, or like, you know, something on you that reminds you of that, when you go shopping, it's like, well, am I going to buy ice cream? Well, no, I don't. I'm not having any friends over. Like, I don't really need to buy ice cream. I'm a healthy person. Yeah, the healthiest version of me just wouldn't buy ice cream just to watch Netflix by myself. Like, it's not really something that I would do. Okay. Yeah, well, that's what I would do. And it kind of is this little step of like, act as if. Act as if you are that person because then you will become that person and then it won't be acting. A saying that I've adapted to myself that I would highly recommend for you to adapt to yourself as well is I acted like Mark Ottobre for so long that I became Mark Ottobre. So then the question is, well, who is Mark Ottobre? Well, he's whoever I want him to be, really. Um, you, you can consciously create these things, but it does take focus, and it does take, um, changing your environment and getting rid of things in your environment that no longer serve that identity. Um, again, for example, like, people have their fat genes. Well, why do you need fat genes for? I don't— you just have normal genes, like are you, do you have your fat jeans in your cupboard because you might get fat again? Like that's the remembrance of the old you. The old you trying to say, well, it's okay, I'm gonna go back there. But the new you is just accepting of, well, this is who I am. I'm this way and I'm gonna eat this way to support my lifestyle and I'm gonna get rid of things that ultimately don't support that and only have things in my, that do. Like the fat genes person, they're gonna have foods that obviously are the wrong choices. The person who's becoming the person they wanna be is gonna have foods in their house that support the person that they wanna become. So it's kind of like reverse engineering in a lot of ways. The other big thing is like really plan out your mealtimes. If you're getting hungry between mealtimes, speak to Lewis and keep active because, you know, people eat, I think, mainly for like 4 big reasons, which is what? Boredom, loneliness, anger, boredom, loneliness, anger, and frustration. I think I've said that right. Let me just make sure. But yeah, if we look at that, like they're the 4 big reasons why people eat often. So, you know, a lot of the time it's about controlling, you know, stressful situations or getting control of stress and also understanding that if you are stressed or finding yourself bored or whatever it is, trying to compensate for an event, a lot of the time it's getting that piece of food and like kind of like trying to rub it on your head. And I mean, I mean that in both a psychological sense and a physiological sense, because in a physiological sense, what we're doing is we're trying to dampen the dopamine and bring up serotonin. And what are the foods that do that? Well, you know, hint, it's not steak. It's not broccoli, it's everything that contains sugar. That's where you're going to get that hit of serotonin, which is going to relax you and make you feel kind of de-stressed. This is exactly the reason why people drink. It's to basically get that physiological hit, which then translates to a psychological hit, what we do consciously. And the other thing is you always need to keep in mind that you're always going to fall to your level of training. What I mean by that, like, if you're in the army, they train, they train you, like, and they train you under stressful situations so that, like, if you're ever exposed to such a stressful situation, you, you don't, you don't falter. It's, it's just normal because they're training you like that. And it's the same thing, like, if you're, how do I say, like, if you get stressed, you need to have your plan, but you don't create your plan when you're stressed. Because if you do that when you're stressed, you're just gonna, you're gonna fall to your level of training, which is no training. You want to create that plan when you're in an environment where you're thinking clearly. Okay, I'm going to be stressed at some point. How do I deal with this consciously? All right, this is what I'm going to do. And if I still feel like eating that tub of ice cream, okay, I get to eat the tub of ice cream, but I have to go through steps 1 to 7. And if steps 1 to 7 don't solve my problem, these are my defaults. If they don't solve my problem, then I can result to eating an ice cream. And look, sometimes you might eat the ice cream, but at least you've got those steps in place which don't, I suppose, falter. So the 4 things, I just reviewed it, the 4 things, the reasons why people, you know, basically, this goes for eating or really making bad choices in life in general, is hungry, tired, angry, and lonely. So, you know, look at those 4 things. Like if it is hunger, you know, have a boiled egg, have another piece of chicken, whatever it is. Like if it is actual hunger, hunger, won't go away. If you go for a walk, you're still going to be hungry. You have a proper meal, it's going to be satiated. If you're tired, be really— and I spoke about this on last week's call— is tired is going to affect your willpower. So everyone thinks that willpower is this infinity source that we all have. It's not. It's really not. And when you really realize that, you realize that you want to front stack your day and get to bed early because you want to replenish your willpower so you have the maximum amount of spending points per day and you're not making decisions when you're tired and you're relying on willpower to stick to a plan because it's not going to work, right? So this is where like if you're tired, if you pre-plan your meals and it's like, well, this is like, all right, this is what you're going to eat, then you can stick to that. You don't have to make another decision to that. But if you're tired and you're asked to make a decision, well, you're like, yeah, I'll just get Uber Eats. What will I get on Uber Eats? Yeah, this looks good, let's just get that. All right, you know, 5 minutes or 10 minutes later it gets delivered. There's gluten, there's dairy, there's, you know, all these other crap in it and you kind of like, you feel really bad and there's a little bit of snacks left in the fridge. So you have that as well because what's the point? You're already off and all of a sudden this kind of decision that was made out of being tired spirals. So really being conscious of like, well, I really am tired. Maybe I should go to bed or I am tired. Maybe I shouldn't call that person and, you know, because I'll probably say something dumb or whatever it is. So having an inventory of that and angry, obviously like understanding if you're angry, You know, they say that depression is anger turned inwards and anger is obviously just turned outwards. But yeah, noting what are you angry about and, you know, having someone to talk to and writing it on a piece of paper and really like understanding where that anger comes from and doing personal development. And then obviously lonely, you know, that's a big one. And one thing in this time, a period of lockdown that I've said to a lot of people, there's a big difference between being lonely and spending time alone. They're not the same thing. I spend a lot of time alone, but I'm not lonely, um, you know, and there's nothing wrong with spending time alone because spending time alone actually gets you clear on who you are. So yeah, that's also something else, uh, to keep in mind, um, with, with this as well. Uh, questions or thoughts?

Uh, no, I do agree with a lot of that. Um, I mean, the thing I stress a lot when I don't have a plan in place, like I'm one of those people, I, I need to know what's what's going on and what's happening. And having a plan in place this week's really helped me. So I've done kind of what you've mentioned, you know, I have mapped out what time I go for walks, what time I go, like, eat my meals and things like that. Because for me, that just helps me a lot more. And trying to also pinpoint, you know, what's causing the stresses and why am I feeling that way. Because It's taken me a while to realize, you know, that it is actually just me not being able to control my situations around me, and that actually causes a lot of my eating disorder issues and body dysmorphia issues. So trying to kind of rein that in while things are so uncertain, it's definitely a learning curve. So yes.

Yes.

Well, I mean, yeah, look, eating is the one thing that everyone has 100% control control over, you know, you get to decide, but you also get to decide not to, which is also a form of control. Because if you put discipline over that, then you actually have more control. It's like, because I mean, what is the definition of discipline? It's giving yourself a command and following through. That's the definition. So, and this is why I always say with people, don't ever give yourself a command that you don't follow through with, because ultimately if you do that enough times, your word won't mean anything to you. Like, you're going to tell yourself to do something and you're going to be like, oh, well, I don't have to do that. Well, then your discipline muscle is weak and you want to avoid it being weak. So I would say as well, like, in terms of advising, just ensure like everything that you tell yourself to do, like, don't over-suggest things to yourself, don't over-prescribe prescribe that you have to, you know, not eat anything bad at all. Or like, if you're going to eat the ice cream, like, yeah, if I do X, Y, and Z, I can eat the ice cream. Would be better than I'm not gonna eat any ice cream, because if you're going to eat ice cream, then you're going to feel bad about eating the ice cream because you told yourself not to do something and you did it. And you want to get back that discipline muscle as much as possible. So yeah, I think really, like, depending on where you're at, small incremental changes, small rules that you can stick to yourself. And those small rules might be just like, you can eat whatever you want today so long as you eat them at this time, or you can do whatever you want today so long as you do, you know, your exercise. And, you know, usually what ends up happening by these small little adjustments and changes is like, let's say the exercise one, if you exercise first thing in the morning, it's like, well, I don't really feel like eating any of those foods. So you don't, but it wasn't a thing of like, you forced yourself not to eat those foods. You just, you, you decided that you want to eat those foods from doing positive actions that built momentum forward in your plan. So I would encourage, you know, as I said, front stack your day. So what that would look like is, you know, get your exercise done earlier in the day, you know, like before 11:00 kind of thing, if it's possible. That way, you know, you're already like, yeah, I've done something for me. This feels really good. And like get those hard decisions out. Like if working out or building up the motivation to work out is, is a challenge, like get it done as soon as you can, like when you wake up, within an hour. Because once it's done, you will be on that high for the rest of the day, and you've paid yourself first energetically, which then translates to making more good decisions at the end of the day. One of the other rules that I also like to say for people, or principles, is if you are going to eat bad, that's fine, but you have to do food in your last meal. And the reason for that, this one really actually quite changed my life in a lot of ways. And it's so simple, right? So it's like, alright, I want to eat pizza. Okay, well, if I want to eat pizza, I have to eat all the food that I would normally eat in a day. And at the last meal, I can eat pizza if I still feel like it. So like, I'd eat all my food or whatever it was, like let's say ice cream. I'd eat my ice cream. Okay, great. And the thing is, I eat it and then I'd go to bed. And then tomorrow's a new day. But if you did it at the start of the day, let's say, you know, I want to eat pizza, you have it for lunch, well then you're still hungry, you're not hungry for dinner, and then you end up, you know, getting Uber Eats and binging on whatever is left in your fridge, which is a very negative eating habit. So, so yeah, end of the day also very good to do. And the other thing, implement a one-sitting rule. So the one-sitting rule is basically after you've had it, you know, you basically eat a proper meal first. So let's say you have, you know, your chicken and vegetables And then you say, okay, well, I want to have cookies and ice cream. All right, well, one sitting rule basically is you have to eat it in one sitting. So you put the ice cream on the table, the cookies, eat what you want, you dish out how much you think you want to eat. Once your bum leaves the seat, the meal's over. So what this does is it reinforces that you're having a meal, this was planned. And the other thing, it doesn't go, right, well, I'm just going to eat and binge and see everything that's in the fridge. It's I'm consciously choosing the chick— the ice cream, and I'm consciously choosing the cookies, and I've had it and I enjoyed it, and there's nothing to feel guilty about. And now I'm going to go back to doing what I was doing, which was being fucking awesome. So, uh, yeah, one sitting rule and also end of the day, um, can be really little, little things that actually make a real big difference in in terms of just your— and what we're doing there is we're really working on a behavioral change, which actually is very effective. I found it very effective with a lot of people. So that's another one that you can implement as well.

Yeah, that's really helpful. I've never actually thought of it in that way. So it's a really good idea to kind of implement that if I feel that way. Yeah, it's really good.

Awesome. Awesome. Reach out if you need anything else. Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you.

Cool, cool. Alrighty, let's move on to Christina. How are you, Christina?

Hello.

Hello.

I'm not sure if my mic is working at the moment.

It is, it is working.

It is?

It is.

Okay, cool. Hello.

That's good.

How are you? How have you been?

I've been well. I've been well. I've been working on this EUA to Abs book, which will probably be released as an ebook, and then I'll release it as— I'll get some feedback from the clients. Potentially we'll get it printed out and give it out to folks and get feedback on it, and then potentially write more, write all the things that I missed, and maybe one day get it published. I know the average book is 70,000 words. I'm at about 15,000 words now, so there's a bit of work to do. A lot more to add to it. So I don't think I'll get 70,000 out. I think I'll probably get to about 20,000, maybe 25,000, and then yeah, I think probably 20,000, 25,000, and then we'll edit it up and get it out as an ebook and print it and get more feedback of all the things that we missed. And yeah, it'll be cool. That's what I've been doing. Yourself?

Pretty well as well. Um, yeah, I was just going to say before, I'm actually really excited for the ebook to come out and also to read it.

So yeah, awesome, awesome.

Um, me, I'm trying to keep— I'm trying to find ways to keep myself occupied. So I've been getting into a loose routine every day, obviously trying to eat healthy and things like that. Um, also trying to make the most of this unique time, I guess. Obviously it's not the best time on a global scale, but trying to learn how to spend quality time with myself alone. So whether that be learning something new or getting myself to read a bit more and then doing each day, so doing home workouts and things like using a stand-up desk. Also listening to some of your podcasts on YouTube. So now every day when I wake up, I make breakfast while listening to your podcast podcast. So that's— yep. Um, awesome. Also, one thing is, um, I'm trying to work on improving my relationship with food because now that I have so much time with myself at home, I've done a bit of, uh, quite a lot actually of self-reflection on my past self, especially like my past eating habits and my past relationship with food, things like that.

So yeah, so One thing that I heard you say about 7 times in all of those sentences was the word try. So the first piece of advice that I would give to you is eliminate that word try completely. Don't— when you're doing all these things, you don't try and do them. Trying to do them, like if I said to you, can you try and hang up on me right now? You wouldn't actually hang up on me. You would try and hang up on me. You would think about hanging up on me, but you don't. You couldn't actually hang up on me, right? If you say try, it's like I say, I try and stand up. I'm going to try and stand up. Like, it's not— it's 50% of the way there. It's stand up. Okay, now, like, you know, it's going to be more direct in the way you command yourself. And when you look at these things, so you're not trying to eat better, you're eating better. Okay, I'm going to eat better. What does eating better look like? Because then you bring it out of the, the thought process, because trying is part of the thought process. It's the first initial phase. You need to go from just thinking about these things to actually implementing these things. And that jump is obviously the way you relate to it as well. If you relate to it as trying, you're going to give it a go, see how it goes, but not really commit to it. The word decision means to, to cut off from, to kill. So when you decide something, you've killed all other options surrounding, surrounding that, right? So you're deciding, you're not trying. It's completely different. It's a completely different way of taking something on. So yeah, eat better. Okay, you're eating better now. What does eating better look like? What were you doing? It's a lot more matter of fact. You were doing X, Y, and Z. Okay, X, Y, and Z wasn't working. Eating better. What does that look like? It looks like this. Okay, now to make this real, what do I need to do? I need to set meal times. I need to stick to them. I forget my meal times. Okay, well, what I'm going to do to compensate for that is going to set alarms on my phone. I'm going to get alarms on my phone, or I'm going to make the meals before I go to bed. Um, I'm going to work on relationship with food. Okay, well, why is my relationship with food not where I want it to be? What do I need to work on? Um, because again, if it's, if it's try, it's still in thought process, it's not in implementation process, and we want to bring it out of that thought process into implementation. So everything that you've said so far, like, that's the first thing that I would say, um, that stood out to me. Um, questions?

That makes sense. It's something that I haven't thought about before, but yep.

Yeah. Um, so yeah, I suppose in terms of other things that you're, you're you're struggling with at the moment, what are other things that you're struggling with, like specifics?

In terms of nutrition?

Yeah, well, you said, you said you've been, you know, your, your relationship with food, I think you said, hasn't been great.

Yeah. Um, when I say eat better, I, I kind of mean intuitive eating. Um, because in the past I've gone through a lot of, like, I think it's what you call conscious cognitive dietary restraint, where I felt like I was you know, constantly making an effort to limit what I ate and also demonizing. So, you know, labeling food as either good or bad and making things really black and white, like, this is— I can either have it or I can't, like, it's either good or bad. And, um, yeah, like, in the past I would be really conscious of just everything that I put into my mouth, like counting calories in my head, like even when I was out with friends enjoying a meal, I would, I guess, subconsciously be like, like, um, focused. Yeah, like I was focusing a bit too much on the vanity, so wanting to look good physically.

And, um, looking back, why, why focus on the calorie counting? What, what is it for you?

Um, wanting to look good, I guess, was a really big one. But that was all in the past. Um, yeah, it was part of the whole self-reflection that I've been doing.

And you don't want to look at it anymore?

Oh no, um, as in the whole, the whole mentality, I guess, the whole dieting mentality that wasn't really— wasn't healthy. So yeah, because there's actually like, there's so much more to life than just food and eating well and looking good and having a good body in order to fit in or be accepted or whatever the pressure is that society puts on us, especially females. Um, yeah, like initially I wasn't willing to admit it, like even to myself, that, um, I guess I was going through all of this mentally, psychologically. But I've come to realize that it's actually something that a lot of women go through and it's pretty normal. So Yeah, I'll say something people don't think through.

One thing that you got to keep in mind is that boys are marketed GI Joe dolls that are all ripped. Like, I don't know if you've seen the Luke Skywalker doll, but Luke Skywalker has abs. In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker doesn't have abs. Mark Hamill's quite overweight actually, and skinny, but his toy, the toy of Luke Skywalker, is jacked. You know, every toy is jacked. So I say like for people in general, 100%. And look, in social media, people constantly, which is millennials, I think they're really, I would say more than males and females, is, well, millennials I think are gonna cop it probably the worst. And that's because of social media, because people are putting up their highlight reel and comparing other people's highlight reel to their backstage. And you have all these influencers who get the right light, the right filter, or the right Photoshop and really putting up these images that are, I'm not gonna say unachievable, but snapshots in that person's life of I looked this way once. And for the most part, a lot of them didn't even really look that way. They just got the right lighting and saw it. And when you consider that there's so many millions of people on social media able to put up these images, it really leaves you feeling dissatisfied at your own. So one of the things I always recommend with this is that get rid of the comparisons completely. So again, I'm going to refer back to at the start of the call, Weston A. Price. Weston A. Price was a dentist/researcher in the 1920s, 1930s. Now, he studied multiple native cultures and looked at how they lived and wanted the diet that was, was basically the healthiest. And longevity. Now, when you approach it like that, it goes to approach it without a vanity, right? It's the framework of searching for a diet that is healthy. So the way I like to frame it, and I'd frame this to you and everyone else on the call, is again, you are a healthy person who eats healthy foods that build and nourish your body. What does that person eat? Because healthy people look good, but there are a lot of people who look good that aren't healthy. So if you go on Instagram, you'll see shitloads, millions of people who look amazing, but they're not healthy, they're not happy, they don't have mental health, they don't have— they, they, they're missing out on so much. Um, so you don't want to be that person because you don't want to be the person who looks good and you're still insecure. I've been that person. I've been the person up on a bodybuilding stage looking great, you know, ripped, and, you know, more insecure than everyone else. Like, my most insecure I've ever been because I've been obsessing about my body, right? And as you said, that is absolutely no way to live, nowhere to live for anyone. Um, so the— I suppose the question and parameters is, is how do you, how do you do that? And I think really it's coming from like, your body is a vessel. And I mean, this is quite philosophical of me, but, um, your body is a vessel, right? And inside your vessel contains your spiritual essence. So as the Egyptians would say, where basically we're having a physical— basically everyone is having a spiritual experience in a physical body. We're not having a physical experience as spiritual essence, for example. So that means that our bodies contain our spiritual essence, which to me wisdom would be ensuring that our vessel remains as healthy and I suppose as pure, if you want to use that as a word, to be as connected to our spiritual purpose as possible. So in other words, the vessel really is only to live the life that we want. Now, when we look at our lives, our lives are going to be predominantly determined upon our values. So what do we, what do we value in life? Because that's what we're going to go out and seek. So if we value, like, and there are lots of people who value connection, right, or they value physical performance, or they value looking a certain way. Now, I'm not going to Like values are basically flavors of ice cream, right? You can say strawberry is the best. I can say vanilla is the best. Someone else can say chocolate's whatever, chocolate's the best, right? Or choc chip. And people go to war, right? No one's right, but people ultimately go to war for their values and points of perspective of, you know, I'm right, you're wrong. Chocolate is the best, not vanilla. But really, like, you know, whether your thing in life is, you know, building the most magnificent or medicine or whatever it is. It's always going to be like one of those things. And then your body and your training is going to be about supporting that. So for me, you know, training and being healthy and sharing, more importantly teaching, that's a big part. So in my training, in my nutrition, if I'm doing things that take away from my spiritual experience of being able to do those things, to me fundamentally they don't fit in. But at the same time, like for what I'm teaching, I need to experience that. So I put myself through, you know, dieting, training hard, all that kind of stuff because I actually need to experience those things and I'll push myself harder because I want to experience those things to then be able to share those things. So you got to look at what is your, like, what is the value? Like what are the main things in your life that are recurring? And if your food and nutrition and your training, they should be around supporting that, not taking away from that. Because if it takes away from that, then you're missing the focus. And again, for a lot of us on the call, training nutrition is going to be part of that. It's going to be a big part of that. So you want to honor that, you want to do that to the best, and you probably are going to be quote unquote more obsessive than someone else because that is actually in your top 3, top 5 values in life. Um, with this said, if you also look at the definition of like obsessive, obsessive or like, uh, addict, addict if you will, is sometimes just a matter of doing it outside of someone else's values. So let's say, for example, right, I don't drink at all. Like, I might have one, one drink, like, you know, once a month, if that, right? Um, you know, I remember thinking, like, if someone drinks every night, like, even one glass, like, wow, they're an alcoholic. Whereas people like, well, you're not alcoholic if you just have a glass of wine every night. Like, I know plenty of people have a glass of wine every night and they're not an alcoholic. But, you know, back in the day, like, that was my, wow, that's so much alcohol, like, because it was just so so foreign to me. So like, oh, they must be an alcoholic. But, you know, really, like, someone else who is an alcoholic, or like, depending on where they're at, they could be drinking a bottle of wine every night. And someone else is like, oh, that's nothing, I drink 3 bottles of wine every night, 4 bottles of wine, that's alcoholism. So, um, you know, if someone's only drinking a bottle, they're like, oh, you're— that's nothing, I drink 4 bottles. Um, so sometimes, like, our frames of references need to be matched. So I know there's a bunch of people out there who think, like, I'm obsessive, or they saw my Instagram that I did for Enterprise the other day, and like I showed my supplements that I had, and people are like, wow, you take so many supplements. I'm like, really, do I? I don't, I don't really think I do. I just take, you know, a little bit of vitamin C, this, this, this, this. Like, yeah, so many supplements, wow, like you're, you're really obsessive about your health. Like, no, it doesn't feel like obsession. It's just something that, that I optimize because it's, it's still within my values, if that makes sense. So it's not— I'm not trying to achieve anything. I don't know if that kind of speaks to what you're going through, but I feel like that's some of it, the piece at least. Thoughts?

Yeah, I think it's a lot about the mental aspect as well, so focusing on changing your mindset as well.

Yeah, questions on any of that?

Yeah, I also know that because during especially during training periods, so doing a lot of anaerobic resistance training, weightlifting, it's also quite important to follow not a strict diet but more of a food plan. So I'm not sure how much you, you think that eating intuitively is something that you would suggest to females.

Well, I don't think it's gender-specific. In intuitive eating, Look, if you have a goal, intuitive eating isn't like, okay, so intuitive eating suggests that— what does it suggest? It suggests, well, I mean, you can certainly intuitively, but like, what are you trying to achieve? If you have— it suggests that you should know what to eat. And I think a lot of the time, like, we need to challenge that on a fundamental level because do we actually know what to eat? And the more I learn, the more I realize like, well, actually no, it's better that I have a plan, um, especially if I'm like looking towards like, okay, for example, if I intuitively eat, I will put on weight not because I eat too much but because I don't eat. So my calories will be bumped down. My recovery won't be as ideal and I'll get fatter and I won't feel as great. And that's me intuitively eating. Or like, I'm intuitively eating, I'm going to eat a bag of nuts.

Why?

Oh, my body. So like, intuitively eating is a real— like, it's a real kind of slippery slope of like, where does intuitive eating like what is the application? Where does it begin? Where does it stop? I don't think it's a good approach if you're looking for a clear outcome. And let's face it, most of us on the line are looking for a clear outcome. We want to get leaner, we want to get healthier. So there almost needs to be a stage of— because like our brains also in many ways, they're not set up for like this environment. And what I mean by that is like intuitive eating can be like, oh, go, wow, this sugar really feels really good. This is my body telling me I need sugar. Well, you're probably not. Um, like, what does intuitive eating look like? I mean, are you waking up and going, well, I really crave steak today. Um, well, I, I knew I needed tyrosine. Um, look, oh gee, you know, I really need some oysters because I've been really craving some zinc. Like, I don't, I don't think our brains are hardwired to know when we're nutritionally deficient, um, or even be aware of what nutrition, what, what, um, nutrients are in the foods that we need to eat. There is, with that said, there is like, if you get a healthy food, like let's say for example cabbage, right? I've had this before with purple cabbage, right? Which is like, oh my God, purple cabbage is amazing. Um, and just, I just want to eat purple cabbage. What, what is that craving out of? Well, usually it is like increasing dopamine in the brains because there is a nutrient in that food that your body does want more of. But the thing is, if you follow the process, you can— like, once you've done that, it's not a case of that— like, and the dopamine response from that food should be dulled down over time, um, and, and not, not as, as high. So yeah, I, I think, I think, I think it's a slippery slope. I, I wouldn't recommend it, um, because you do have goals, and it's built on the premise that you know what you're supposed to be eating. But if that was true and everyone knew how to intuitively eat, then everyone would be eating exactly what they're supposed to be eating. But again, it's not, it's not like— I don't think anyone is advanced enough. I mean, look, I've been doing this for, for over a decade. Um, I don't— like, if I intuitively eat, I know that I'm going to undereat because eating is a pain in the ass and I've got other things to do. But if I want to maintain a body weight of where I want to maintain or hit my physique goals and train hard, then actually to case of me getting more food in every time. Like, I get Reece to actually do my nutrition. Every time he calculates it, he's like, more food. I'm like, yeah, but this has to be a surplus. He goes, no, man, it's your baseline. Like, oh, fuck, really? He's like, yes, this is your baseline. Eat. Okay, it's, it's, it's the same thing. Like, you know, if I, if I program my own training, right, you go, I can intuitively train. Well, yeah, sometimes. And, and the problem with intuitive training, which is probably a fair analogy to Intuitively Eating is with intuitive training. I know for me at least, if I feel really good, I'll overtrain. If I feel not so good, I'll undertrain. It's not consistent. And relying on like intuition for things that are actually quite mechanical, and especially in the environment that we live in, yeah, and if we're really serious about achieving our goals, I don't, I don't think it's, um, I don't think it's smart. And yeah, on the topic of demonizing foods. I think there are some foods that we do need to demonize, to be perfectly frank, like vegetable oils. Vegetable oils don't belong in anyone's diet. Trans fatty acids, they've been— they're known carcinogenic, they're known to cause heart disease. We can confidently demonize trans fatty acids and vegetable oils. Uh, canola oil, definitely demonize. Genetically modified food, definitely I'm going to demonize that. Um, you know, overly processed chocolate milk, which is basically the the, how do I say, the remains of the blood and pus that are in milk because it's easy to color. Why not demonize that? That's absolute crap. So it's kind of like, well, when we talk about intuitive eating, like, yeah, it's such a, such a hard one to put, put a pulse on because your, your version of intuition, like, how do you know you're not lying to yourself? That's, I think, the question that ultimately definitely all of us are going to be plagued with if we go over that.

And yeah, I think the way you're, you're talking about intuitive eating, as you're kind of describing it as eating, like eating whatever the hell you want. But I think my version of intuitive eating is more like, rather than eating what I want and what I feel like, rather eating, eating when I'm hungry and then listening to my body and stopping when I'm full. So I'm not sure if that's, that's something that's better, I guess.

Um, well, okay, like, so you're just eating, eating. Again, I think you're still, you're still in the bucket of, um, so the only problem I have with that, right, is this: if you change your diet to things that are hunted, fish gathered, and plucked, and you pull out— let's say you're adjusting to someone's diet and you pull out of someone's diet a lot of the refined carbohydrates, even fruits for that matter, and carbohydrates in general, right? What tends to happen if you look at it from a blood glucose standpoint, and also one of the questions you need to ask is with that, is your body reliable enough to give you those messages to basically, are you at a point where you can rely on those hunger signals? And I suppose what I mean by that is if you look at someone's blood glucose, right, some of the blood glucose should be around like 4.2 to like 4.8, right? Above that, let's say like 5.5 or something like this is like pre-diabetic really, or like definitely 5.8 is pre-diabetic. So if we look at that, if someone's blood glucose is off, if we pull out of their diet a lot of refined carbohydrates and their blood glucose is off, they're going to crash with their energy, right? So they're going to say they have their breakfast and then they're going to feel really good for a while and then they're going to crash and they're going to get the signal from their brain that they need to eat themselves out of a hole. Now that's not going to be a subtle signal. That's going to be, hey, you need to eat. And when they eat, what they're going to search for in their brains is high refined carbohydrates, which is then going to bump out their blood glucose super high, which is then going to cause insulin to be secreted from the pancreas to then bring that back down, and then their energy is going to crash. So this is where it's like, well, if you're eating healthily and then combine combined with that, if we actually look at your macros and we look at like what is your baseline, this is very much like what I was saying about myself, right? If I rely on myself and go, I'm just going to eat intuitively like when I'm hungry, I'll go from, you know, 7 in the morning, I'll have breakfast like 7:30 to like 1 o'clock without eating because work keeps coming up, right? And I have other things to do. So in saying that, like for me to actually get in enough calories to even baseline, I'm not going to hit it if I rely on intuitive eating because like I have other things to do. So yeah, I think really like it does. Now look, is there anything wrong with that? So this is the other thing we need to talk about as well. If I was just wanting to be in maintenance mode and not really like put focus on it, is there anything wrong with that? No, because I do believe like as a number one principle, the foods that you select is going to certainly, uh, be like foundational to everything else. So like, it's what you eat, not just like when you eat it, right? What you eat is far more important, but, and, and more foundational. So, but in saying that, like, if I'm then turning around and saying I want to optimize my body composition, well then eating when I'm hungry isn't the approach that I would use. It's an approach that I would use if like I'm not really that focused, if that makes sense. So Can you use it? Like, sure you can. But I think probably the thing, if you like document everything that you're doing, I would hazard a guess, and it is a guess, that there's probably only two sides that it's going to be on. You're probably chronically under eating or you're eating a lot more than you thought you were. And both of those, you're not going to hit your goals. And I suppose, as I said, like if we want optimal, if we look at this in the And it depends what lens we look at this in, right? If we're looking at it from the lens of optimal body composition, then really to get you to optimal body composition, we want to get you to baseline. We want to get your calories up as high as possible, then start dieting you down. If we, if we like one day you eat, you know, 3000 calories, the next day you eat 1200, the next day you eat 900, the next day you eat is 3000, the next day you eat is like 2000. And it's really like kind of scrambled over the day, then, you know, it really— you're not going to get your goals. You might just flounder, you know, you're going to stay in the same state, you're going to adapt. So yeah, it really, it really depends, depends on what you're trying to achieve, what your goals are. I think for most people who are on this call particularly, is optimal body composition is the lens, and health is the lens we're looking at it with. And if you're serious about those goals, hit those goals. Say for example where Carol is, she was talking before about now she's taking the pressure off. So she might like, you know, go into intuitive eating, eat when she feels like. But again, the thing is, the only danger I see with that is that people start to under-eat. And then if they want to get back in shape, then we need to bring their calories back up and all this stuff. And you know, there are fundamentally like the fuel and food that you're eating. It's not going to help you get to your goals in the long term, if that makes sense. So, yeah, to answer your question, eat when you want and rely on hunger. I think hunger is good. It's a good sign. But yeah, there does need to be some, I suppose, objective science behind what you're doing as well. Because just to say I should, I should know how to do this, I don't think— yeah, I don't I don't think we— we want to get, again, that optimal body composition. I don't think humans, the way we are designed, like, we're asking our bodies to do something that fundamentally is hard to do. So that does require planning.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. No, all good. Thank you for sharing.

Yeah, awesome. Um, let's Let's get Amy. Amy, I know you've been on the line for a little while. We heard from you before. Let's head over to Amy. Was there anything else, Christina? Or you're—

No, all good.

Hello.

Hello.

How have you been?

Yeah, good.

Yeah, good. Just, you know, listening in and cleaning the house while I'm doing that.

Awesome.

Multitasking.

Cool. How are the sessions in the park been going?

Yeah, good. Well, I've done, I've got one client that's doing a session in the park, and then I'm doing quite a few, well, a couple of other clients online. So I'm taking them for their sessions but through Zoom, so that's going really well. They're enjoying that, it's keeping them accountable, which is good. So yeah, all going well.

What type of workouts? Tell us about the workouts.

Yeah, so I'm mainly doing bodyweight with my clients. I have some weights available, but I've just chosen to just stay bodyweight just so it kind of eliminates me having to clean everything. But yeah, doing mainly full body. It changes. Sometimes I'll do lower body. You kind of, when you do bodyweight training, you have more, you have less, I guess, access to doing upper body because otherwise it's just a lot of push-ups. But, so a lot of lower body stuff, but we're going to share some of them next week for you guys as well, so you'll be able to see some of them. Do you want me to give an example of a program? Sure, yeah, give an example. Okay, so one that I showed you yesterday, Mark, that I'm doing, I've done with a couple of clients is, we did everything for time, so we did a pyramid format. We did 5 different exercises, did 20 seconds for every single exercise with no rest until the end of all of the 5 exercises. And then we did the same thing again, but we worked our way up in time. So we did 20 seconds for the first round, 30 seconds for the next round, 45 seconds, 60 seconds, and then we worked our way back down the pyramid. So it worked out to be 7 rounds, and then we just finished off with some core work. With the exercises that we did, we just alternated between a lower body and upper. So it was like a step-up into a push-up into a squat into— we had a bar, so we did an inverted row. And then at the end was a run. So it just changed it up for them. It was a little bit different to what they're used to doing, but it was pretty tough. So I'm actually going to do that one this afternoon and film it. So we'll get a good insight of what it looks like.

Sounds like fun. And, um, so you're training—

it's actually fun, my training. Yeah, I've been doing similar stuff. So, um, I've got a few things at home, so I've got a couple kettlebells and, um, like a box for step-ups and things like that. And I've got a boxing bag, so I'm just kind of doing what I feel like. It just— I'm not following a set program. I'm, um, yeah, just doing like— some days I feel like doing lower body, sometimes I feel like doing upper. Some days I feel like just boxing and skipping. It's really just dependent on what I feel like doing, and I'm enjoying it. I used to, when I first got into personal training, this is how I sort of fell in love with training initially, was by doing outdoor training. So for me, it's not uncommon, like, you know, I'm used to this style of training. I just haven't done it for a long time. And yeah, I'm loving it. I'm having to push myself mentally in a different way. Which is testing me. So I might not be able to lift anywhere near as heavy as what I would normally do, but it's testing me mentally. So I'm excited for when we get back in the gym because I know I'll be mentally stronger from it.

So testing you, when you say it's testing you mentally, like what you mean, like reps? Like, I just said, when you say it's testing you mentally, is it like with the reps?

Yeah, with the reps, because the reps are a lot higher, or like the time that I'm doing it for is longer. Like I might be doing, you know, squats squats for 60 seconds rather than doing it like for a little bit less, and it's a massive lactic buildup. So it's, when you're in it, it's hurting a lot, and then I'm just thinking I just want to stop, but you have to just fight everything in your head to be like, keep going, keep going, keep going. And because there's not, I'm not giving myself as much rest because I'm doing a lot of bodyweight stuff, again, it's testing me cardio-wise as well, which I haven't had for a little while. Lots of, yeah, different new things that are testing me. So, and mentally as well, I think I'm currently training on my own. So again, not giving into like thinking, like I think everyone thinks as a trainer, it's really easy for us to just train on our own all the time, but we're human as well. And some days I don't want to do it, but I just do it anyway. And Sometimes it's harder than others. Sometimes I'm excited to do it, sometimes I'm not. And so especially when you're on your own, and I usually have a coach, and I don't have my coach at the moment. I'm pushing myself. So it's teaching me to be tough and have to really, you know, switch on in my own head without having someone there to egg me on and guide me. So yeah, it's good in that way as well. I think it's important to be able to do on your own.

So what advice do you have for those who, you know, they're trying to get up out of bed and, you know, like, oh, it's really hard to get training. Like, the same things go through your head. Like, what gets you up and training?

Well, I am much more of an evening trainer, so I've been just making sure I go for a walk. So I'm trying to, I guess you could say, intuitive, but I'm now with working to what I know my body works best at. So I'm just getting up and going for a walk first thing. So a walk's not hard, a walk's easy. So I'm starting my day with an easier task, so then that gets me moving. And then I guess by the end of the day, which is when I'm setting my training to be at about 4:30, 5 o'clock, I'm itching to get outside and to train because I've been working all day or studying or something like that. So for me, that works well. So I've made it that I'm, I'm so desperate to get outside that there's no way I'm not going to train. Whereas if I flipped it and did it in the morning, I probably would struggle a bit more. But I guess even if you can only train in the morning and it is a tough time for you, can't necessarily train at the ideal time that you'd want to, my advice would probably be just to You just gotta get up and do it anyway because you're not always gonna feel motivated. It's just that discipline and you know the feeling that you're gonna have once you do it. You're gonna feel a hell of a lot better. So trying to think of that end feeling and switch into that mindset when you're having those negative thoughts of staying in bed is a lot easier. Just trying to flip your head into that, oh, well, I'm gonna feel really good, so I just need to get up and start.

Yes, staying in bed is always a lot easier. It's always easier to do. Oh yeah, yeah, always, always.

Yeah, and when, when it's cold or rainy, like, of course you want to stay there. Like, this morning I woke up, I was like, oh, I could just stay in bed, but I was like, no, get— it's just rain, like, it's not going to hurt me. So I put my jacket on and I went for a walk.

Like, it's just some water, it keeps everyone else away as well, which is always sometimes helpful.

Yeah, that's exactly right.

So, and I felt 10 times better for doing it. So if I hadn't have done it, I knew that I'd probably, you know, not be as happy and bubbly if I hadn't have gone for a walk. So I just reminded myself of how good I would feel if I did it, and I just got up, put my jacket on, and off I went.

Yeah, 100%.

Yeah, but it—

yeah, reality is it's gonna be easy. Like, it's, it's the same for us. Everyone's in the same boat, but you just gotta just got to do it anyway.

Yeah, I think that's the key, right? When you realize actually, you know, it's not easy for anyone, they just do it anyway. Like, I remember looking at like Jenna Cain, who's done like 50 shows, pump shows, and the diet, and be like, oh no, you know, sometimes I think, oh, maybe it's easier for her. I'm like, no, it's not. It's not easier for her at all. Like, it's still really fucking hard. Um, she just chooses to continue doing it. Like, there's nothing easy about what she's doing. And She makes it because she's so good, she can make it look easy. And then you can be fooled to thinking, oh, well, maybe it is easier for them. It's not. It's not. I think that's really crucial to keep in mind for everyone. It's like when you actually realize that everyone is starting from exactly the same position and, you know, it's that thing of that daily decision. They decide to get up, wake up, eat their food, get on their bike, in their car, get up, drive, train, even though they don't feel like doing it, they do it anyway. And then the question is, well, why aren't I doing that? They felt exactly the same way as me. And it actually gives you hope. It gives you hope to go, well, if they got up and they felt like that and I get up and I feel like this, well, really, I don't have any excuse anymore. They just avoided all the excuses that I could come up with because they actually felt worse than I did and they still did it, or they had more going on and they still did it. So yeah, that's a really good takeaway and something to keep in mind.

I think it's one of the biggest misconceptions that— I mean, I used to— we've all been there, I was on the other side of the fence when I was a client and not a trainer. And you do, you just think for some reason for trainers or people in the industry, it's just real easy for them. But we're all human, you know. It just means that, you know, you know, we maybe do it more regularly. So I don't know, maybe the way we just can switch our heads around is a little bit quicker, but that comes with practice. There's no reason if you're not a trainer that you can't have that same headspace. So, you know, it's just putting yourself in that situation and making sure you stay disciplined and you can get to the same level. But yeah, everyone's in the same boat, like you said. So yes, you just got to get it done. 'Cause in the end you feel good.

100%. 100%. Well, let's— any other thoughts, words?

No, I think it's been good this morning. Some interesting topics.

Good.

So, yeah, I think it's great. It's helping a lot of people and I think it's good to hear like Christina, how she was talking about her stuff, like the fact that she's, you know, was confident enough to come on and talk about that was really good because it will help a lot of other people as well as help her.

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, did I do it justice? I don't know if like I said what I was trying to say. I do like really think about this intuitive eating thing, but—

Yeah, I think actually I agree. I think it's dependent on, if you have a goal and you have a body composition goal, intuitive eating is not gonna get you to that goal. Like it's just not how it works. But, Yeah, it's a tricky one. It's a tricky one.

Most of the time people under-eat, and that's the thing. It's like, you know, how many clients come to us and they're not eating enough and they're like, oh, but hang on, this is more food than I was eating. It's like, yes, correct. Yes, you need to nourish yourself and you actually don't know how to nourish yourself. So if we say, all right, just, just eat what you want, you're going to go back to eating not enough, which isn't, which isn't what you want. Like, and it's not you want to overeat because if you're you go the other way, then— and there is a fine line between that as well. Like, you know, you don't want to be under eating, you don't want to be overeating. You need to be just right and optimizing. And in that balance, it really requires a lot of analysis and consciousness to be brought out. And if you leave it in terms of this, you know, how I feel on a day-to-day basis, it might be good at putting less effort into that area. But if you put less to do other things, let's say, for example, But if it really— the focus is achieving in this area, like probably the best example is that before we had to lock down and that I was dieting and I was really building my calories up and manipulating things and Rhys was doing my body fat and helping me out. And then when, you know, kind of we had to lock down and all that, I said to Rhys, this is, you know, this isn't going to work in this period. I don't want to diet during this period because I don't think it's sensible. Let's just, you know, what's my maintenance? And he figured out my maintenance and it's like, all right, this is what you're going to eat. All right, cool. But, you know, I've left it to a little bit more of intuitive eating, but I've certainly noticed that, like, to put more effort into other areas, but it's not what I'd be doing if I was trying to push the needle or move the needle, so to speak. And for those who don't know what I mean by move the needle, it's a race car analogy when moving the needle is like, you know, going into the red. Obviously you get that, Amy, but I had someone the other day say to me, I said move the needle, and they're like, what's move the needle? I've never heard that saying before.

Never, I definitely agree with that. Like, I think, I think intuitive eating, like, obviously it depends on what your level, people are meaning, like, their understanding of intuitive eating. But the way I look at it is I'm the same. Like, if I was to just, and it's not, when I follow a plan, I'm not following a there's a few ways to go about it. You can follow a plan and be extremely strict because yes, you want your body comp goal of maybe a photo shoot or a comp or a fight or whatever, so you have to be extremely strict and follow exactly what's on the plan. Or you can have a plan that's a bit more of a guide that's, like you said, like what you're doing at the moment and what I'm doing. Like my food's gone up to baseline, but I'm eating things like rice cakes pancakes, peanut butter, oats, maple syrup, things that I wouldn't normally have if I was trying to get a good body composition result. So it's giving me more freedom to have other things, but I'm still not, not following anything. So I know how much of what I'm eating, and I know I'm not going over into a surplus or I'm not under eating. And I think in order to like You can completely do intuitive eating where you don't follow anything, but you just know. That takes a lot of time and a lot of knowledge and understanding, and I think it also takes a lot of experimenting and going through processes. So if you've gone through a big body composition transformation a few times, if you've eaten in a surplus, if you've eaten in a deficit and dieted hard, then you know how much of what is going to affect your body. So I think then maybe you can do it better if you've got a lot of experience and knowledge. Um, but still I have that, but then I still, if I intuitively ate, I would definitely under-eat. I would probably pass the day and end up just eating fruit and 2 meals and that would be about it. So yeah, I think as someone who's new to it and new to the game, it's not a wise move at all.

Yeah.

Yeah.

If I was to intuitively eat, it'd just be like, what meats? I'd probably just start eating like meats and not vegetables because I don't like vegetables. So it's like just cut out my vegetables and just eat, you know, like— What was that, Amy?

I would just eat acai bowls and peanut butter. I'd just eat acai bowls, peanut butter, and dark chocolate. And one main meal, like, and I would think that I'm eating so well or whatever, but I would have very heavily under eaten.

This is what my body— and then the risk is this is what my body wants me to eat. Um, and it's very, very fine line. It's like, is it, is it really what your body wants you to eat? Is it? Um, you know, it's, it's a hard call. Um, you know, there's a fine line between, uh, nourishment and I suppose bias.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. But yeah, all learning, all learning.

Um, final thoughts, final questions?

Sorry, I've got to sign off because I've got to train Nathan now.

All right, Naomi, thanks for sharing. Alrighty, folks, that's, uh, it's almost 12:30. If there's any final thoughts, final questions, feel free to unmute yourself and ask. So, and if there's anyone, I mean, at the moment we've only got Christina, Shadeh, and Carol on the line. If there's someone who's phoned in and I can't, because I can't see anyone who has phoned in, if you phoned in and you want to ask a question, feel free to unmute yourself. Likewise, Christina, Shadeh, and Carol, feel free to unmute yourself and ask any final questions. Um, I have a— we lost Carol just as she was about to ask something. There she is. She's back.

Are you still there?

Yep, we're here.

Oh, I just lost you for a second. Okay, uh, was anyone else—

No, no, you go, go, go right ahead.

I cut out for a second. Okay, so there's two other girls on here, right? Yeah, yeah, looks like. Okay, so maybe, um, I don't know them, but maybe they, they would have some insight on this too. Um, this will sound kind of odd probably, but it relates to something you talked about last week. Yeah, I'm on the call. Intermittent fasting. I think that's when you brought up something. Well, you said it wasn't a good idea for her. I forget who it was, but you mentioned something about, um, when females get too, uh, late A, sometimes it's a period.

Lost Carol again. Intermittent fasting.

Oops, I'm back. I got— I lost you. Okay, can you hear me now?

I can. So you're saying about intermittent fasting when people get too light, when females particularly get too light.

Yeah, and then they, um, their period stops. Do you remember talking about that?

Yep.

Okay, so I kind of was thinking about that, and then I, I keep track of mine, so I was— went back and looked at my calendar and realized that, um, I'm in that boat right now because I got like really late for— I was starting to get really late for my comps, and then I did the photo shoot like I said, and I It was the lightest I've been in like 30 years. So I am about 10 days late for mine. So I was telling Luke yesterday on our call and he said, I told him you talked about it in the call last week. And he said, you know, that might be, that sometimes happens when you just, cause my body fat got like really low and it might be because of that. So I don't know if you have any thoughts. Um, so he said I should up my calories a bit, you know, during this phase where I'm just maintenance. And do you have any other suggestions?

Definitely increase your fats. Um, I'd probably be aiming around like, uh, like what is it, your, your body weight. So like let's just say like you're 60-odd, 65 kilos times, uh, 0.8 would be around 52. So around 52 grams of macro fat per meal. So probably around like 15 to 20 grams of food weight fat meal. So like 20 grams of butter, 15 grams of butter, like, uh, 15 grams of olive oil, stuff like this per meal depending on how many meals you're having. So it's quite a— it's quite a— it's a bit of fat, right? Um, is what— actually, you know what, I'll put it in the chat right now. Give me one sec. Some examples of like, uh, let me just put this right in the chat. All right, so you can have a look at that. Um, Sorry, it's a bit of a chunk of text. I might just also Facebook that. You're on Facebook, Carol?

I am not, no.

You're not on Facebook. All right, well, I'm going to email it to you because I know once we get off this chat, the stuff will disappear. But let me see.

Oh, okay. Got it.

Might need you to email me your— I know I got it before, but have you got my email, Carol?

Yes, and you emailed me the thing. Yeah, I do have it with my ID.

Give me, give me one second.

So just my name@gmail.com.

Yeah, I'll get it. I'll get it. I'll get it. One second. All right, I'll find it and I'll get it. Um, thanks. Um, so I would, I would, I would definitely increase. There is certainly supplements supplements that you can take as well. Probably the absolute best person to speak to on this is our resident naturopath, Christine, who basically specializes in all this stuff. So, you know, definitely you can reach out to her. But first point of call, I would say, is certainly increasing your calories, as Luke said, because often, you know, the reason why— one of the common reasons why why? Well, I mean, obviously stress is a big factor, but, you know, simply, simply, uh, under eating, um, not having enough calories, it's, it's a big thing. So, uh, particularly, particularly fat. So I would certainly look at, you know, and, and I'm going to say like it is, is somewhat normal and it's good. Like it's only been like once and it's, it could just be a bit late. Increase your food, put your body fat on. And that's the other thing as well, like if you don't have enough body fat, that can also affect, um, your cycle as well. It's kind of like, you know, this inverse kind of paranoia that people have towards cholesterol. But, you know, the truth is, if you didn't have any cholesterol, then you'd be very, very unhealthy with a lot of chronic issues. So you certainly don't want your cholesterol levels at nil, and you certainly don't want to be not consuming fat, because if you're doing that, then you're going to have health issues as well. It's like this joke in medicine where it's like, oh, the cholesterol is low, but they died. Chino oil, you don't— yeah, what good is that? That's just silly. So you want to, you want to make sure that you've got enough good fatty acids in your diet, you know, in the form of like saturated fats like butter, coconut oil, olive oil, which is polyunsaturated, eggs, avocados. Yeah, these fats are going to be crucial. So just making sure that you're having enough and putting them in your diet. And yeah, so yeah, definitely, as Luke said. And then the second point of call, you can definitely speak to Christine, um, about that, and she could potentially put you on like a supplement protocol if, you know, issues persist, um, to bring it back online. Um, yeah, that's what I would do. Okay, look, there's some things you do—

like, great, thanks. I won't be too worried.

Um, like, she's got access to a whole bunch of different herbs that she could, she would formulate, which I know, like, she's had a lot of success with, with a lot of females who've come to see you with this, um, like a lot of success. So yeah, there's heaps of stuff you can do.

Okay, thanks. I'm not like super worried yet. It's only been— I'm about like 10 days late or so, but, um, it's very unusual for me. So I just thought, um, when you were talking last week, that's probably why.

That's the only thing you've changed. I'd say it's probably, you know, due to diet, um, being in a calorie deficit.

Okay.

Yeah.

All right, cool. Thank you.

Cool. No worries. All right, well, another great call, folks. Uh, thanks everyone who participated. I will speak to you all next week. Uh, yep, awesome. I'll speak to you next week all at 10:30 on Saturday. And yeah, till then, take care of yourselves and each other, and remember to train hard, eat well, and Supplement Smart. Bye for now.

Thanks.

Bye.