Whether you are new to fitness, coming back from an exercise hiatus or looking to take your fitness to the next level, Nikki Ray has some great ideas to help you reach your goals. From pantry makeovers, to choosing a functional, fun workout program, this episode will help you up your game and get more fit.
“Nikki Ray is a Fitness & Nutrition Coach whose main focus is on strength & conditioning training and weight loss. After a 15-year career as a corporate lawyer at international law firms and global corporations, Nikki decided to pursue her passion for fitness and got certified as a Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. She also got Muay Thai and High Performance Training in Thailand. Originally from Turkey, Nikki now lives in Boca Raton, FL with her twin daughters and toy poodle. In addition to coaching clients in Boca Raton and surrounding areas, Nikki also helps people all over the world achieve their health and fitness goals through her online programs.”
See all episode artwork, links and notes at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Find episode links, notes and artwork at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Whether you are new to fitness, coming back from an exercise hiatus or looking to take your fitness to the next level, Nikki Ray has some great ideas to help you reach your goals. From pantry makeovers, to choosing a functional, fun workout program, this episode will help you up your game and get more fit.
“Nikki Ray is a Fitness & Nutrition Coach whose main focus is on strength & conditioning training and weight loss. After a 15-year career as a corporate lawyer at international law firms and global corporations, Nikki decided to pursue her passion for fitness and got certified as a Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. She also got Muay Thai and High Performance Training in Thailand. Originally from Turkey, Nikki now lives in Boca Raton, FL with her twin daughters and toy poodle. In addition to coaching clients in Boca Raton and surrounding areas, Nikki also helps people all over the world achieve their health and fitness goals through her online programs.”
See all episode artwork, links and notes at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Find episode links, notes and artwork at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Welcome to the show. I got a freebie for you today. Before we jump into the episode, we've created a mini course called nutrition and fitness for busy professionals. Chances are that's you. And one of the challenges we all have in our health and fitness journey right now is life is super busy and complicated, and oftentimes we want to work out what to eat right, but it just takes time. It takes time to learn how to do that. It takes time to hit the gym. It takes time to do everything. In this mini course, really, we'll tackle three of the biggest areas that keep busy professionals from reaching their fitness goals. And it includes the three steps of fix, a broken diet, how to stay in shape when you're busy, including a really sweet minimalist workout. And finally, the all important power of sleep and important tips on how to get more sleep. We all know that that's kind of the, um, overlooked secret of health. A lot of people ignore to their peril. So go to[inaudible] dot com it's advertised right there on the homepage and get the mini course. I think you'll really like it. It won't take very long to read and yet it is packed with really great actionable information and now on with the show. Hello everybody. Welcome to the podcast today I've got Nikki Ray if Nicki Ray fitness, she's a fitness nutrition
Speaker 2:coach whose main focus is on strength and conditioning training. She's also got expertise in weight loss and she was actually a 15 year career corporate lawyer at an international law firm. She worked with global corporations but after that she decided to pursue her passion for fitness and got certified as a personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist. She also got Mt high and high performance training and Thailand and if I said that completely wrong, I'll have Nikki correct me here in a second. She's originally from Turkey and she now lives in Boca Raton, Florida with her twin daughters and toy poodle. And Nikki, thank you so much for taking the time and coming onto the podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you Dave for inviting me. Happy to be here
Speaker 2:and let's just make sure, how do you say it was M U a Y
Speaker 3:mostly potty. It's really tight.
Speaker 2:Moitai well, maybe we should start with that cause I don't even know what it is. Let's just put a definition. What's Moitai?
Speaker 3:Um, it's, it's a type of martial arts that's mainly practice in Thailand and um, it's something I honestly didn't know much about like until a couple years ago when I started, um, taking kickboxing lessons and I really got into mixed martial arts. Um, and then my coach at the time was a muy Thai fighter, so he was a professional and we typewriter and he was always telling me about it. And then we slowly started changing our training styles from kickboxing to when we tie. And I found that, um, I enjoyed it a lot more than I did kickboxing, which led to the whole journey to Thailand and then the trainings and the camps and everything. So it's basically, um, a martial art. Um, but it's more traditional. It's like a little lower than MMA, but it's like, um, there are some technical differences, but it's, it's just amazing. I mean, um, one of my favorite things to do.
Speaker 2:Huh? It sounds awesome actually, but let's back up a minute. You were for 15 years a corporate attorney. Some people would consider that living the dream. You obviously had to get a lot of education to do that. You must have sacrificed, spent a lot of money, got into what many people would consider a dream job and then decided that you want to do your real dream job. Talk to us about that.
Speaker 3:Exactly. So, um, um, that's where I, I was a corporate attorney for almost 15 years and don't get me wrong, I loved what I did on the network, very fulfilling in a lot of ways, but it was also very stressful, very demanding. Um, crazy hours. Like no personal life, no family life, nothing. And, um, at the end of almost like 15 years, I found myself thinking like, is this what I want to keep doing? Because, um, I love my job, but like in the long run, like it's, I don't really see myself happy as I continued doing this. So I stopped practicing law and around that time, um, I got into fitness and nutrition more and more and it basically became my life. And, um, after a couple of years I thought to myself, you know what? This is my life now. This is all I do. And I was already training friends and helping with nutrition. Um, but I wasn't certified so I thought, you know what? I think I'll take the next step, get certified and start doing this as a professional. So here I am now I'm a personal trainer and a fitness nutrition specialist and I tried to help people reach their fitness goals and I can't even begin to tell you how rewarding it is and how happy it makes me to see the way people are changing their lives and to be a part of that whole journey. I think it's the most rewarding thing, one of the most rewarding things a person can do.
Speaker 2:Where along that path where your twin daughters born.
Speaker 3:Okay. Oh my twin daughters were born there. They're about to turn nine. So I was still a corporate lawyer when I had my kids. Um, and they are like one of the main reasons why I decided to quit practicing law because, um, on most days I had to leave before my kids were even up. I would come home, literally spend maybe like 15 minutes with them before they went to bed. And then I had the weekend. But then like, you know, the phone was always ringing and I always had something to do on the computer and this and that. And it was taking away from the time that I wanted to spend with my kids as they grew up. So, um, yeah, a huge part of the reason why I quit practicing law and, um, decided to get certified as a fitness and nutrition coach was my kids. And it's so much better now that I don't work a full time job. Yes. I still work long hours sometimes, but I can arrange it. Um, so that I also get to spend time with my kids and do things with them and I feel like I am a much better role model for them now as a fitness coach than I ever was as an attorney who was always tired and stressed out and you know, running around. I feel like so much better now.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I kind of read between the lines and wondered how much the birth of your twins played into your story. That's a beautiful thing that you would make that a sacrifice for them. That must've been scary. To leave a solid position where you knew what was coming in and then to venture out on your own and kind of have to eat what you kill and survive by your own efforts. I imagine that was huge.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Exactly. I'm not saying it was easy, but at the end of the day it was so worth it and I couldn't be happier that I decided to pursue my passion and do what I really love doing. So in the end it was worth it, but yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't really easy.
Speaker 2:Okay. And like me, you're a dog lover. I mean, anyone who has their, their dog in their bio obviously really loves their dog. Tell us about your toy poodle.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. She's, she's a character. She's, we've had her for almost two years now and she literally walked in the door, like we brought her in the house and she was literally like, she belonged there. Like it was just amazing. Like not every dog is like that, but this one was like, okay. Like, yeah, I was made to live in this house. She's, she's awesome. She's a part of our house. He makes everything and every day like more fun and you know, the kids love her and she's, she's just amazing. I mean, having a dog and it's like one of the best things in life. It's just amazing.
Speaker 2:Love it. Love it. Well, let's jump in with some, some, uh, actionable stuff here for our listeners. One of your expertise, uh, areas of expertise is weight loss. And of course, that's of interest to the majority of people in first world countries at the moment. It can be very difficult for people to shed those pounds, but it's something you've really focused on with your clients. Talk to us about some of the main lessons you've learned since you've become a professional coach about weight loss.
Speaker 3:Um, this, one of the first things I learned is, so when you're into this like fitness lifestyle and your eating queen for the most part in working out in this and that when you start working with people who are not where you are or who were, where you are, where you are, and then relapsed and they want to get back, like the first thing I learned was that you need to have empathy. Like it's you, you can't go to someone and say, Hey, like how could you not do it? Like it's just so easy. No, it doesn't work like that, that are certain psychological processes that everyone goes through. And as a fitness coach, as a nutrition coach, like you have to be aware of what they're going through, where they are, how the process works and this and that. And, um, as you work with people you learn more and more and more. I, I always say I learned more from my clients than they ever learned from me because every single person is different and that teaches you a lot and that experience is just priceless. It's um, and overall, like I said before, I just love being part of people's fitness journey, the weight loss, the weight maintenance. I mean everyone has different goals but obviously mostly weight laws. It's just so rewarding to be a part of it. I learned so much from every single person I work with.
Speaker 2:Okay. And what are some of the toughest challenges you see people going through? Are the main things are having to help your weight loss clients through?
Speaker 3:Um, I think the biggest challenge for most people and lack of time or I should say perceived lack of time because a lot of people tend to think that exercising and eating healthy are too time consuming and they find it a challenge to fit these into their daily lives, which is understandable. We all have so much going on. Like, we have jobs, we have kids, we have houses, we have cars that break down. Like so much stuff happens during the day. It really sometimes feels like it's impossible to live a healthy life. It's always like easier to go through that drive through and you know, like pick up some food and to skip the gym and it, but in reality, what I try to teach people is it's really, I mean it's not easy, but it's not as difficult as it looks. It's all about planning ahead. If you know on Sunday what you're eating that week and which days of the week you're trying to work out, that's like 50% of the work done. So it's all about planning and um, and then all you really need is a couple of hours per week to put maybe two, three hours at the gym, a couple of hours of planning your food or meal prepping or ordering, whatever you decide to do. Um, so once you have a plan, it really isn't that difficult or time consuming, eat healthy and to work out. And this is what I try to show people. I mean, there are studies that show that the average person has about, I think like five hours of free time every day and over 50% of this time is spent on screens of some kind like phones, TV, computers. So it's really just a mental barrier. And I try to help people, you know, see that it's really just in their head. They, they do have the time, they just have to learn to plan and use it. Right.
Speaker 2:Okay. You personally are, so, go ahead. Go ahead.
Speaker 3:No, no, no. Um, yeah, I was just going to say another huge challenge in, in my opinion, uh, for people that are trying to lose weight is the all or nothing mentality that is, um, being incredibly strict with your diet for a few days, eating rabbit food, getting sick of it, and then giving your self permission to indulge and ending up overdoing it. So it's, it's a terrible cycle, but a lot of people go through. So it's strict deprivation, overindulgence guilt repeat over and over again. And then I try to show people that it really is all about moderation. So we need to stop labeling food as good or bad. It's not always black and white. I mean there are everyday foods, there are sometimes foods, but I try to show people no codes are ever this allowed her for bed in, yeah, some foods we want to avoid eating too often or in large portions, but at the end of the day, food isn't only fuel but also enjoyment. Um, I mean it's not right to say kale is the best food, but cake is the worst thing ever. I mean, obviously it's better to eat kale than lots of cake, but we shouldn't be demonizing food. So, um, part of my practice is trying to teach people to practice mindful eating, to learn to enjoy food without guilt, have everything in moderation and stop when you've had a sensible amount. So I would say these are the two main challenges people face when trying to lose weight.
Speaker 2:I love that. I mean, you personally practice what you preach. The image you sent me for the podcast artwork, you look very athletic and lean. You look like you're ready to run a a college, um, track event of some kind. Um, have you always been lean and fit or have you had your own struggles along the way?
Speaker 3:Of course I did. I mean, I struggled so hard, like I struggled so much with food, um, where I am right now like this, this is such a happy place, but I, I've been through, um, all these like phases that I see my clients going through right now, which really helps me to connect with them and you know, to understand what they're going through. No, like I didn't always know what I was doing. I actually have been regularly, consistently working out and you know, trying to eat clean for like the last five years before that I will completely cool, um, yo-yo diets, working out for a month, quitting six months of doing nothing. Um, so no, I would, it's a process you learn and um, yeah, it takes time. But like sooner or later you realize that it's all possible and um, you don't have to deprive yourself of anything. You don't have to be at the gym every day. It's all about like learning to prioritize things and planning. I, I can't stress this enough signing. That's the number one thing.
Speaker 2:Okay. I love that. Now your next areas of expertise and things you really focus on with your clients after weight loss, our cardiovascular health strength and postural issues. I really like those. I want to dive into each one one at a time. Talk to us about cardiovascular health.
Speaker 3:Okay. So, um, cardiovascular health is generally considered to be one of the main components of fitness. So, um, the higher person cardiovascular endurance, the more physical work here she can perform before getting tired, which is important because we need this for everyday functioning. Um, if, if you're climbing up the stairs and two minutes later you're hyperventilating, like you have a problem. This is, this is especially important as we get old. It might not be a problem now, but as you get old, if you don't have the cardiovascular health or strength or endurance, it leads to a lot of issues. So you need to take action to improve, um, your cardiovascular health. And I'm speaking of cardio. I tell everyone, you don't need to spend an hour. What I mean is not spending an hour on the treadmill every day. That is not like what you need to do to improve your cardiovascular health. Like I don't even remember the last time I stepped on a treadmill. You can build your cardio endurance by increasing the intensity of your workouts. Interval training, circuit training. There are so many ways of doing it. Like I know like walking somewhere instead of getting in your car, I'm using every opportunity to keep your body moving and you know, to get your heart rate elevated. Like there are so many things you can do and it's so important. I can't even stress it enough.
Speaker 2:Okay. And then after cardiovascular health or along with cardiovascular health, I should say, you're also focusing on strength. What type of strength, uh, exercises or training are you working or are you recommending to your clients? Right now,
Speaker 3:my workouts are usually a combination of, um, exercises that focused on both cardiovascular health and muscular strength. So we already talked about what cardiovascular health is. Um, muscular strength is the strength that we need. Like that's essential for everyday functioning, like lifting and carrying groceries, getting up out of a chair, walking up the stairs, and pretty much everything else we do in real life. And um, you, you need both. Like you can't just be doing cardio or you can't just be lifting weights. You need a little bit of both. Um, because these are two main components of fitness and like one without the other, it's pretty much meaningless. So my workouts are focused on both of these. Um, it's, it's a lot of, um, five volume, heart rate, elevated, um, his circuits. So we're targeting the cardiovascular health, but we're also working on the muscular strength and endurance in addition to the strength. So, um, it's a lot of compound movements and um, yeah, so, so it's basically like I, I'm a strong believer that you can't have one without the other. Like if y'all want to not the other, it's a problem. So I try to focus on both.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I became a huge fan of combining cardio and strength and all of them, some of health. Uh, after I left doing endurance sports, running, biking, swimming, and went into CrossFit. One of the things I loved about CrossFit, and I'm not doing it right now. I, I'm kind of an experiment or I'll, I'll do a few years of one thing in a few years of another thing, but I had four or five years of CrossFit and that was the biggest appeal to me is I could just, I just dumb it down to what know what time the classes show up in my exercise clothes and just follow along. And I got strength and I got cardio and we got, you know, Tabata training and we got endurance training and there was a combination of every different type of movement. And I think that's why so many people are absolutely enamored with CrossFit, but whether CrossFit or anything else, I personally really love that concept of doing a workout where your heart rate is elevated. One of the coolest things I heard, we had a bodybuilder in a gym that I worked out with[inaudible] for awhile and um, uh, he, he had a cool statement that I believe is true. He said, the heart is dumb. It doesn't know or care what it's doing to raise the heart rate. But as long as the heart rate is elevated into either the fat loss zone or the cardio zone or whatever heart rate zone it's in, it doesn't matter how you get it there. All that matters is that you get it there and keep it there. And so if you can get it there through weight training or get it there through kettlebell training or through CrossFit or through fill in the blank, you get those same cardiovascular affects. You agree with that?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Absolutely. That's so true.
Speaker 2:Now talk to us. Uh, what, what does the gender break between your clients? You mostly work with men or women or both? Do you have a focus?
Speaker 3:I both. I
Speaker 2:don't really have focus. I think though, like I would say probably 60%, I'm guessing. Oh, my clients are probably female. But I, you know, I, I work with folks, um, men and women. I've lived long enough that things have changed in my lifetime where it used to be that if you went to a gym, like if you went to a gym in the early eighties, the percentage of men to women was, you know, off the charts, maybe sometimes no women in the gym. Uh, at least, you know, where I grew up, that was quite common. Um, things like, uh, Jane Fonda workouts she was making, working out really cool and popular. I mean, I'm going back a long way, right? And, and now of course everything's changed and it's homogenized and women's sports has come a long way and, and we've learned a lot through science as well. Um, about the importance of strength training for both men and women. It's slightly different, right? I mean, one of the findings we're finding out right now is the importance of strength training for women in, in, uh, staving off osteoarthritis. You're probably familiar with, with some of these studies. So it's cool to me that we've seen this, this kind of gender disparity that used to be in place kinda go away to where now, um, you know, we, we don't have so much a certain way that men work out a certain way that women work out. It seems like, you know, everyone's figuring out that we all need cardio. We all need strength. Right? So that's been a cool kind of development in my lifetime. Do you want to, do you want to talk to that or any of the gender differences that you see in your coaching?
Speaker 3:Um, so, um, as I've, you said like for the longest time a lot of women were under the impression that lifting weights is going to make me bulky because they were seeing pictures of oldies, you know, female like bodybuilders who compete and this and that. Um, and they were somehow worried that they would end up looking like that. Um, but you know, over the year, I'm so happy that women have finally realize, including myself. Like I, I was on that team. Um, I'm, I'm so happy that women are finding, realizing that you do need to work out. You're not going to end up looking like those female bodybuilders. Like that's, that's a whole different story. Um, unless you absolutely want to look like that. So you are right. Like working out, lifting weights, all those dumbbells like they used to be for men only. And now when I walk into the gym, like you said, a lot of days I see more women than men working out. Um, and, and I love it. I love that. Like women are finally lifting those weights and not just like, you know, doing the, I mean, I don't mean to[inaudible] like that. They're perfect exercises. It's like, you know, they're not just doing the plotting. These are Zoomba and they're actually like lifting the weights and doing strength and conditioning training. I think it's awesome. But then again, when I work with people that you can really see the gender difference because, um, women are usually more worried about the lower body. We want to, you know, we want to work on the glutes. We want to work on those inner thighs. We want to get that, you know, healthy, you know, strong core and a man on the other hand are generally more focused on upper body. Um, so it's a difference. I, I try to keep it balanced. Like, um, we do a lot of leg days and we don't accord days with the male clients as well, but everyone's focus is different. A lot of women don't really want that upper body definition. They, they'd rather just tone up with the upper body, but they really put in a lot of work in the lower body and the core. So yeah, there are still some differences, but at the end of the day, I'm, I'm so happy that women are finally lifting weights without worrying that they're going to bulk up or look like a bodybuilder. It's, it's perfect because they need to. We need to.
Speaker 2:Okay. I love that. And then the last area that you're working a lot with your clients on is postural issues. Now, this is a really interesting one to me because it's something I really have to focus on. I've had injuries because of postural problems and I tend to have naturally bad posture. I don't know how else to say it. I, I don't think I ever really as a kid developed good posture and didn't even realize how important it was till I got older. I liked that you're making this a focus. Talk to us about postural issues, what you're seeing. And first of all, before we go into some of the solutions you offer and how you're dealing with this, talk to us about some of the problems you're seeing posturally with people.
Speaker 3:Okay. Um, so first of all, posture means, um, basically means the alignment of the body segment. In other words, it's the position in which we hold our bodies walls standing, sitting or lying down. And it's super important. It's a lot more important than most people think because it's your bones and joints aren't in the correct alignment. You're not using your muscles properly. And um, this leads to a number of issues from chronic back pain to blood vessel construction. And believe it or not, even increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Like it's a long list. I mean over time, if you don't have good posture, poor posture can literally change the shape of a person's spine over the years. And um, I think the number one postural issue I see on a daily basis has to be slouching, also known as the hunchback posture and obviously the main cause is sitting with poor posture for prolonged periods of time, especially at the office doing computer work. Um, and obviously this increases Tencent tension in the muscles and causes a lot of issues that go going forward over the years. And the number one set, the fixing this postural issue is obviously it doesn't even have to do with exercise. It's getting into the habit of sitting in a chair without slouching or exceeding your back straight. And you know, I'm trying to lose that hunchback posture. But then there are also a lot of corrective exercises I incorporate into my workouts for clients that have that problem to correct a slouching posture such as on bridges, back extension, plying prone, wide tension and um, regulars test stretching and upper box foam rolling. These also help a lot. So, I mean, obviously some postural issues are structural and they don't respond to corrective exercise. But for the most part, for most of the people I work with, um, good posture is really a skill that can be achieved through repetition and practice and you know, like working on it on a daily basis, it's something you can fix.
Speaker 2:How often do you have your clients foam roll?
Speaker 3:Um, I, I try to do it, um, pretty much like after every session and I encourage them to get their own foam roller because it's not something that you necessarily have to do before after you work out. I encourage them to get their own foam rollers and you know, when they have a couple minutes at home if they feel soreness or even if they don't, um, to try to do it because I find that it helped a lot.
Speaker 2:So I have a foam roller and I, I use it in spurts, right. Like I remember about it. And so I use it for like a few weeks and then it develops dust in the closet for months. And then I remember it when I do like an interview with someone like you or I remember that I have it and I start using it again. And every time I'm using it, it makes a big difference. And for some reason I have a tough time developing the habit of foam rolling and I doubt you can kind of magically fix up. But if you've got any ideas, I bet I'm not the only one who has a foam roller gathering dust in a closet.
Speaker 3:Oh no, you're, you're the honed on. Here's definitely not, it's just, you know, making it a part of your daily life. Like just, just like stretching. That's the other thing. I can't stress enough. And that's so important. I tell people like even if you're not, I mean before and after workouts, by all means, of course we're stretching. But even if you're not working out that thing stretched a little bit like you're, you're going to be amazed by the difference. It made just a couple of, a couple of minutes of stretching every day, how much it improves your flexibility and your posture and everything. And I'm literally talking maybe like five to 10 minutes a day. So yeah, foam rolling, stretching. These are things that anyone can easily, we forgot about it, but these are things that we can easily incorporate into our life and wouldn't take any more than maybe 10 minutes a day. But they're game changers. They just, um, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, well I'm gonna, I'm motivated. I'm going to pull my foam roller out of the closet and tomorrow when I work out now it's interested that, that you, uh, have them do it afterwards. Typically I do it as part of my warmup. Um, but you also mentioned it doesn't really matter when you do it. What are your thoughts on doing your foam rolling before you workout versus after you work out versus while you're watching TV at night or whatever?
Speaker 3:I actually, um, because of, um, the nature and the focus on my workouts, I usually prefer to do, um, dynamic stretching before the workouts, you know, to, you know, get the buddy kind of like prepared to what we're about to do. That's the kind of, um, stretching that I do as part of the warm up. So I don't really use the foam roller before the workout. It's mostly dynamic stretching. I am for like more advanced level clients. There's also some ballistic stretching, but for the most part it's dynamic. But, um, you know, there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that before you work out depending on what kind of workout you're doing. For mine, uh, for the kind of workouts that I do, which are mostly, you know, circuit training and hit, um, I find it better to do a dynamic stretching before I'm starting to work out.
Speaker 2:Okay. I love that. And defined ballistic stretching or what did you say? Ballistic. What is it?
Speaker 3:It ballistic stretching. It's so, it's like, um, a more aggressive form of stretching, so to speak. And it's like, I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. It's only if you're a professional athlete or have a very high level of fitness and, um, you're, you know, into some sort of like special training or a sledded training or high performance training for everyone else. Like, I would recommend dynamic stretching, which is basically doing, um, getting your body kind of warmed up and you know, used to what you're about to do in that workout as opposed to static stretching, which is like, you know, sorta let, holding a yoga pose for 15 seconds or 30 seconds or whatever. Um, yeah. So there's, that's the kind of stretching that I prefer to do before workouts dynamic.
Speaker 2:Okay. One last thing I want to talk to you about before we let you go. One of your concerns is the amount of people who get that motivation to get fit and then they just want too much too quickly. They have all or nothing thinking this is one of the things you found with a lot of your, a difficult thing to overcome. So from your experience of, of dealing with people, how many people do you think you're seeing who have this attitude of maybe being a little too motivated in the beginning, wanting to go too fast and then burn themselves out and then corollary to that, maybe the same thing. Is this all or nothing thinking? How do you help people through that? And, and maybe before you dive into that, one of the things I've noticed is that when I'm dealing with somebody who has all or nothing thinking, I find it almost impossible to help them understand they have it. It's something that's very difficult to self identify that this is a problem you have and they really can't see it. And so they're, they're really stuck on this certain, um, way of exercising as is the best or the certain way of eating or, or, um, they, they get this mentality that's, that's brittle. Uh, the, the, the, there's, everything's gotta be a certain way and sooner or later they kind of break and then you don't see them again. So this is an effect. You've seen quite a bit. Talk to us about that and how you're dealing with that with people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's, that's a major problem. Um, both, um, about nutrition and also for exercising. So like when it comes to nutrition, unfortunately a lot of people have the dieting mentality. So they think of dieting as a temporary thing rather than a lifestyle. So when people come to me and say they want to lose 20 pounds in a month, I tell them, I'm sure I can certainly help you do that, but are you okay with regaining those 20 pounds and possibly even more once you stopped dieting? Because that's, that's what's bound to happen. And this is not about willpower. This is not about self control. It's just that these quick fixes are bound to fail unless you turn it into a lifestyle. When you, when you follow a very strict diet in an attempt to lose weight very fast, certain biological changes take place. Um, the, the first is neurological. So when you're dieting, I'm sure we all know that you actually notice and think about food more. So basically your brain becomes overly responsive to food. Everything begins to look more tempting and this triggers all sorts of mental challenges. And um, yeah, so you can lose those 20 pounds in the short drawn, but the short run isn't the whole store. You're messing up your metabolism and an effort to get past results. The biggest challenge isn't losing the weight, it's keeping it off. And it's only possible if you're following a nutrition plan or a diet, whatever you choose to call it, that you can do every day for the rest of your life. I mean, there are no quick fixes, no magic pills. Um, and it's the same for exercising. So when someone who hasn't worked out a year, it comes to me and says, I want to get in shape and wants to start training four or five times a week. I tell them, walk before you run. I mean, when you change things too, like when you go from not working out for a year to suddenly working out like four or five times a week through body's adaptation, do more harm than good. So, um, for people who haven't worked out consistently before or who had to take a break due to an illness, injury, pregnancy, I always recommend starting with two days of resistance training a week, a little bit of light cardio, some flexibility, wards, stability, mobility, just, you know, focus on improving your function first. Then incorporate strength training, keep it up, see if you can keep it up for at least a few weeks. And then start training three times a week, then four, but like one step at a time. Um, I think it all comes down to the difference between progress and achievement. Today as a society, we're all obsessed with achievement. For some reason we think that starting easy and you know, going up slowly is a waste of time. We want results and we want them fast and we have all these ads and everything we see online. It'll get shredded in a month and this and that. And it's not the way to go. I mean, people try to make up for being inconsistent by going harder. Again, it's the all or nothing mentality, but longterm progress doesn't work that way. It's not sustainable. The results that you get like that are not sustainable. So you need to take one step at a time. If you haven't worked out in three years, your first step should always be building the habit of getting in the gym and not missing workouts before you get into a schedule where you're doing[inaudible]. So it's a, you have to be patient with your body and you have to know what you're doing. So, um, when, when someone comes to me looking for a quick fix or looking to get like, you know, lose 20 pounds in a month or get shredded in amongst, I have to turn them down. Like I try to explain a lot of times people understand. Um, but you know, if someone is choosing to go down that road, like if I tell them I'm not the coach for one,
Speaker 2:okay, that's some great stuff. You've got a lot of nuggets in here. You know, we, we create what we call quotables on our podcast artwork and you said a lot of stuff. We're going to be able to turn into really great quotes. I'm excited about this good stuff. Well, before I let you go, have you got anything else you want to add or maybe something we haven't touched on this important to you?
Speaker 3:Mmm, let me see. I mean, um, I, like I said before, like one thing I always tell people is that planning is 50% of the work done. Like, knowing what you're doing, you know, setting goals, knowing what you're eating that week, knowing what days they're going to go to. It's all about planning. And I tell everyone it's really not as difficult as it seems to stay fit to maintain a weight. And, um, it's really doable. Like I tell them if I can do it, I show them like, you know, pictures of, I mean, I wasn't extremely overweight or anything, but I was totally clueless about nutrition and working out and everything. I always tell them, if I can do it, you can do it. Like there's, you don't have to be super human, you don't have to have any sort of talent or athletic skill or anything. It's all about planning and staying consistent. Anyone can do it. So, um, yeah, I, I'd like to tell everyone that it's really not as time consuming or scary or, you know, forget to bottle those, like no pain, no gain. Like, you know, stickers and everything. It's, it's really doable. Like I tell people, if I can do it, you can do it. So, um, yeah. Now that like, you know, December new year's upon us, like I think it's a perfect time for everyone to actually like turn those resolutions into reality and to actually like make it back to the gym chains that died a little bit. It's all doable.
Speaker 2:Okay. I love it. And you work with people remotely as well as in Boca Raton. Correct. So how do people get ahold of you
Speaker 3:on so they can reach me through my website, www.fitnessbynicki.com all my information is there. Um, like you said, I do online nutrition coaching and meal plans as well as online, um, workout plans and programs or both. So all my information, all my packages, um, the email address, everything is there and I'm more than happy to answer any questions anyone might have or to customize any of my packages based on what, um, everyone's fitness goals are.
Speaker 2:Okay. I love it and thank you so much for taking the time to be on the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me. This has been great.
Speaker 2:I really enjoyed it. It's been a great interview. You've, you've given us lots of nuggets, great stuff to think about and to act on and I've really appreciated it. For those of you listening, we're going to create show notes with links to uh, everything Nikki Ray has, her Instagram and Facebook and website, et cetera. I'm also for you ladies listening, you might want to just go there just to grab her picture and print it and then cut off her head and put your own head on there. You could put it on your mirror and that could be your motivation to look like Nicki. She's done a tremendous job in her own health and fitness and so a Nikki, again, thanks for being on the show.
Speaker 3:That is so sweet. Thank you Dave.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate that. Okay, thank you. And you can find all that information. Those of you listening at blog dot[inaudible] dot com or just go to dire Robbie DIR obi.com. Click on the blog. Nicki Ray is N I. K. K. I. Ray
Speaker 1:is R a Y. And till next time, this is Dave Sherwin wishing you health and success. Well, thanks again for listening. I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did, and just reminder that that course, the mini course, health and fitness for busy professionals is available for free download at[inaudible] dot com so check that out. D I, R O B[inaudible] dot com see you next time.
Speaker 4:[inaudible].