Proven Not Perfect
Proven Not Perfect
Health Hacks Beyond the Hype with Dr. Eva Asomugha, Fitness Business Owner
Ever feel overwhelmed by conflicting health advice? One expert tells you to track your sleep while another warns that tracking causes anxiety. Someone swears by protein supplements while others caution about hidden metals in those same products. With so many voices claiming to know the "right" way to be healthy, where do you even begin?
Dr. Eva, an orthopedic surgeon turned personal trainer and sports nutritionist, cuts through the noise with revolutionary insights about fitness after 40. The game-changing revelation? Your body can't tell the difference between work stress and workout stress. That high-intensity exercise class you're forcing yourself to attend might actually be working against your goals if you're already maxed out on stress from career demands and family responsibilities.
The conversation upends conventional wisdom about exercise intensity, revealing why "comfortable cardio" in Zone 2 (where you can still hold a conversation) may be far more effective for fat burning than the punishing HIIT workouts many of us have been programmed to believe are necessary. Through her own body composition testing, Dr. Eva demonstrates how high-intensity exercise during periods of high life stress actually increased her body fat percentage while reducing muscle mass—the exact opposite of what she was working toward.
Beyond exercise, we explore the truth about protein sources (hint: whole foods trump supplements), the importance of including adequate carbohydrates and healthy fats (especially critical for hormone production after 40), and practical strategies for prioritizing nutrition in impossibly busy schedules. The simple act of planning and prioritizing your own nourishment isn't selfish—it's necessary.
For those seeking the fountain of youth, Dr. Eva's prescription is clear: lift heavy weights three days a week to increase muscle mass and boost metabolism, combine with Zone 2 cardio for heart health and fat burning, and eat balanced meals featuring whole foods. This approach works with your changing body rather than fighting against it, creating sustainable results that actually improve with age.
Ready to transform your relationship with fitness and nutrition? This conversation might just be the permission slip you've been waiting for to work smarter, not harder, on your health journey.
Drive, Ambition, Doing, Leading, Creating... all good until we forget about our own self-care. This Village of All-Stars pays it forward with transparency about misses and celebration in winning. We cover many topics and keep it 100. We are Proven Not Perfect™️
https://www.provennotperfect.com
Follow me on Instagram at: shontrapowell_provennotperfect
Follow me on Facebook at: Proven Not Perfect™️
Watch and listen on YouTube: Proven Not Perfect™️
Join the community for ideas and events at www.provennotperfect.com.
I'd love to hear what you think!
Hi Dr Eva, Hi there, how are you? Oh, I'm doing so good. I'm doing better now because you and I are going to have a power moment right here, because I have some stuff on my mind and I was thinking about who is a great person for me to talk, to have a conversation like we do, to just unpack a couple of things. So here it is. I'm just going to put this thesis out there. So we are living in this time where so much is happening, it's so dynamic, and many of us have had minor and major health scares, right, just because that's what's happening in this dynamic thing called life right now, and we all then say, okay, we're on the health journey, we're on the health kick.
Speaker 1:Well, where does one start? Question mark, because you read one report and it says you need to track your sleep. You read another report. It says don't track your sleep because that stresses you out.
Speaker 1:You read another report that says you need to add protein and a lot of protein, and you need to supplement with a lot of supplements throughout the day. You read another report that says all those supplements have metals and steel and all sorts of things that are not good for our bodies, naturally. Then you read something else that says, no, you need stretching, you should only be doing the stretching. Something else says you should be doing the weight training. Girl, I'm confused the people have to be confused because I'm confused, because I believe that I'm not necessarily you know, I'm not, I'm not that clueless to not really know all this stuff is. You know you can't take it all grain of salt. So that's what's happening on your door. Today we're going to have a conversation about all things health, all things health trends and the real real. The real real on how we should be thinking about this.
Speaker 1:So, dr, Yuma, tell me why you are the source that I believe is the right person to talk to.
Speaker 2:Yes. Well, yes, there's a lot to sift through right and people want a recipe. Yes, well, yes, there's a lot to sift through right and people want a recipe. Yes, and they want a recipe from someone who they can trust. Yes, so let me tell you why you can trust me, okay.
Speaker 2:So I'm in my mid-40s, I'm 44. And my background is in orthopedic surgery. I'm an orthopedic surgeon, so I already am obsessed with kind of getting people better. Yes, but in like a functional movement way, you know, not like you know, I'm taking out your gallbladder way, but I want to fix your legs so you can become active again. So that's kind of my foundation is taking care of people. So that's kind of my foundation is taking care of people.
Speaker 2:But over the last decade I've sort of made that look a little bit differently, because I myself am obsessed with my own wellness and fitness and it in that I've become a personal trainer, I've become a certified sports nutritionist, I've owned a gym now Kettlebox Fitness in Sterling Virginia and so I'm just trying to take a more holistic approach rather than like a body part approach, like I used to do, to helping people. And I really feel like I've found, like I'm in a sweet spot, because I understand what middle-aged people are going through and it's a different type of approach you have to have from when you're in your 20s and early 30s, because our bodies are changing, our life is lifing, we have all this stress and cortisol. We need to simplify things. We have aging parents, children, and so it's like what is the least amount that you can do to get the most bang, and that's what I feel like I've kind of figured out.
Speaker 1:So I know that you're the right person to talk to, and I know that your journey is one that is not only inspiring but it's holding folks accountable, and this conversation right here we just got to this is going to be the magic of it all. So tell me what your thoughts are about all the messaging that we're getting, and you said something very interesting, and that is cortisol levels.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I've recently learned is your body knows stress period. Your body doesn't discern stress from the office, stress from tug of war, stress from staying up all night excuse me, last night with a dog. Your body does not know the difference. It's stress, the difference, it's stress. And so when Chantreau has been in her seasons of religious like got to get up five in the morning, go do the thing, the hard thing the HIIT class, the workout on top of I didn't sleep the night before. On top of I'm working at max capacity level, you know, serving leadership, um, in my corporate assignment or my business assignment or my extracurriculars, whatever it is, but I don't need no stress. Girl, when I started learning that part, it helped me to understand how, by choosing to not go work out that morning was probably the best decision I could have made, which is counterintuitive to what I've ever been taught, which is counterintuitive to what I've ever been taught. Please tell me that this is a thing.
Speaker 2:It is. It's a real thing and even with our current gym, I'm trying to educate people, people who are highly motivated like you to work out, like they don't. They want to sweat, but we have to like change that. That sweat is not the mark, is not the marker, right? Having a heart rate in the zone five is not the goal anymore, especially as we age. So let's break it down, right. So we're talking about, like their big boxes. There's cardio, the cardio box, and then there's the diet nutrition box, right, and then there is like the, the what's the best type of workout box? And then there are supplements. You know, that's like kind of like I love do it that way.
Speaker 2:So the, the, the cortisol, the cortisol goes under, I think, the cardio box for us, and then all the other things like sleep and rest and work stress. So when it comes to the workout, especially in our age group, we came up when it was like hit, was like in on trend. Research shows that you lose more body fat with hit workouts. Right, that's what it was a decade ago. But now we know that as we get older, like you said, the body can't differentiate from from the stress, from a good workout, because you feel good after it, right, your heart rate is high, but really all of that cortisol is actually not helping us burn body fat.
Speaker 2:So the way that I am teaching people now is that you have to think about what the body use to fuel your workouts. Those are your macros, your carbs and your fats, and then we never want to hit protein. So when we're doing these really short bursts of high intensity exercises for a short amount of time, we're using carbs. Right, that's stored in our muscle and our liver. When we do high intensity 85% of our heart rate max for a long amount of time, we're using carbs again. So what is this? Where's the fat burning zone where you're using? You're burning fat for fuel and that's like steady state, zone two, zone three heart rate. So that's like 65 percent of your max heart rate. That's when you're burning fat for fuel.
Speaker 2:So that's cardio that you can talk through. You can be on a walking on a Stairmaster at an incline. You can talk to your girlfriend next to you. You can be on the phone. You're not winded. That's when we burn fat. That's when our stress levels stay low. So that's where we want to be. So I actually love a Zone 5 Stairmaster for 60 minutes, let me tell you, I'll put on my headphones and I'm in the zone. But I have to tell myself that that is not the way to go. And I've seen it, because now I do regular body composition scanning because I'm in this bodybuilding world and when I'm stressed already and then I go to the Stairmaster to relieve my stress, because I want to be on there for an hour Literally, my body fat goes up.
Speaker 1:I see the numbers.
Speaker 2:I lose muscle, I lose skeletal muscle mass on my body composition and my body goes, my body fat goes up. I'm talking about from week to week Jesus. So I see hard a number evidence that, okay, okay, this is a problem and but for me I'm like, this is, this is like feeding my soul. No, it's not. It's really not. My body has responded the best, now that I'm 44, by just doing low intensity, steady state cardio. I have my, my apple watch, I I try I make sure I'm staying in zone two because the music beats make me want to go faster. I hold my. You know, I track it in real time what my heart rate is doing. But then the cortisol issue. We're not sleeping well, we have work, stress, we're taking care of aging parents, we have children. All of that is contributing to us holding on to body fat. So it's just counter to what our goals are.
Speaker 1:You know and you know what I think. You hit on something that is magical and that is when that cortisol is clinging. It's everything in this spiral that's out of control. So even the acknowledgement of the type of workout you do and the shift that's required when you get to a certain point in your life Because probably Chantra at 20, late 20s could be in the HIIT class five times a week and see all value for it, because it really went with even where I was in life, because I was, you know, that young girl in New York city and finance doing the thing, working all night, partying all night, hanging out. Yes, I did say that. Yes, proven that. Perfect. We're going to leave that on the side.
Speaker 1:But the point is this at that season, that sort of flywheel effect of the energy that I was putting out served me. Then you start the next phase, which starts to unravel it a little bit because I'm getting a little older. There are more factors outside of me. The cortisol now is just not me influenced. It's influenced by all these factors. And then you get to the point where you're on the back end of this thing, and why would you choose to add more stress when you are now queen of stress, sitting on top of all the stress Like girl. When you break it down that way, I think it really does reset our thinking.
Speaker 2:Let me add one thing too, because that's targeted for people like us who already are hit minded. But it also gives people who are starting their fitness journey or you know earlier on in it that you don't have to go to the gym and kill yourself, like you can just walk on an incline treadmill and you're still doing work. You know you don't have to feel like you have to do the most. It's like you know it's kind of comfortable cardio, and cardio is not just for fat burning, cardio is for heart health.
Speaker 1:Comfortable cardio Girl. You got to coin that. That's awesome. Have you ever heard anyone say comfortable cardio? I haven't heard that.
Speaker 2:I haven't heard that. But it gives people permission who are just starting that they don't got to go and like try and like kill it and then you can just start your journey by walking on an incline. You can get on the stair master at a three and just do as much as you can do and you know you don't have to compete with the lady next to you who's at a 12, 14, you know. So it's okay, just to like go at your, at your pace. You can do zone two cardio. We recommend like 150 minutes a week just walking in your neighborhood, you know, so yeah it makes it less intimidating for people to just start.
Speaker 1:So we're going to say we're just starting. We are acknowledging that it's the movement that wins more than anything. Yes, yes. Now I want to ask you where does the food equation come in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so food is complicated especially because food is the quality is just so bad and it's so expensive. Now, well, let's just start by saying if your goal, what are your goals? If your goal is fat burning, no amount of cardio is going to make you lose weight. Right, you know what I'm saying? Cardio, I talk about fat burning, but it just augments whatever you're doing. From the diet side. You can't outrun a diet, so you cannot outrun a diet.
Speaker 1:You can't outrun a bad diet. So let's be honest, there was a time where maybe even I thought I could have all the extra stuff. I'm just going to work out all week, I'm just going to go to that hard class, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, food is so complicated. So to that point I say and I even tell my kids this don't get into the thought process of let me work and then I'll go take a walk or go for a run, because you can start to develop this disorder thinking around food. So we want to have healthy thoughts about food. I'm going to eat this carrot cake and that's it, because I like carrot cake and it's for balance, right. But most of the time I'm eating in a smart way. I'm eating whole nutritious food in a smart way. I'm eating whole nutritious food. If you're eating whole nutritious food that you're cooking, it's difficult to really like go to, to be for that to go left, you know, um. So that brings up right now the the supplement issue. Because before I started this current bodybuilding thing that I'm on, I was taking a protein supplement every single day. It made it 200 calories, you know, minimal sugar, 30 grams. It was a good supplement. Had to find the right one that didn't drag up my stomach because they all still have all types of stuff in it. And now I've shifted. I just I eat, I eat my protein, that's what I've gone down. I'm purging people Just told someone yesterday.
Speaker 2:He said he has a Greek yogurt for breakfast and a pea protein shake. I said why don't you just eat more Greek yogurt? Why don't you just have 20 more grams of Greek yogurt? And let me tell you, my body has changed so much since I started just eating whole food from my entire protein source. Because the body that's what it does. The bioavailability of the protein in whole foods is so much greater than what you're getting in this processed supplement. You might get 30 grams of protein, but your body only sees maybe. I'm just making this number up 15 grams because the availability of your body to absorb it is not as efficient. So just eat whole food. Just eat whole food. You can get your protein from vegetable sources lentils, pilaf, bulgur, pilaf.
Speaker 1:Okay, I got to speak for the Keep it Real section. Okay, yeah, keep it Real section is saying but, dr Eva, I am a businesswoman, I am a mom, I'm running with active kids, I'm a wife all these things right. I'm a caretaker. Whatever lane it is, I know that the people listening to this are in those lanes. How is it that you position yourself for success when there is no time Proper planning?
Speaker 2:I have a luxury because I work from home, so I realize that I can go to my refrigerator and grab something to eat every three hours. So the number one thing I'm getting from women they don't eat enough. They eat at lunch. They eat a coffee and a banana for breakfast. They eat a chicken over greens for a salad for lunch and then they have a protein maybe not a carb, maybe a little bit of carb for dinner and they are grossly under their protein goals, just for regular body, just maintaining. So first I'm encouraging people just to eat more, like I'm very food focused, so I'm waiting for my next meal and I realized that everyone is like that. So I would just say, on a Sunday and I'm trying to uncomplicate meal prep just poach six chicken breasts, put it in some boiling water with some chicken stock, protein sources that you can just grab very quickly Whole food, protein sources, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, whatever your jam is. You just have to prioritize it and plan it, because these same mamas are prioritizing food for their student athletes. Yeah, hello, hello.
Speaker 2:I have a mama that came into the gym gym spending three hundred dollars for her son's personal training. He was asking me about protein supplements for him what he should eat. I was like, girl, what you, what are you eating? And then, once they see you eating, you model it. I'm telling you, my eight-year-old asked me for avocado toast and greek yogurt with blueberry. They model it, wow. So if not for you, for them. But I would just say, just plan. I'm eating in my car a lot like I'll have a tupperware. You don't have to be this extreme, but you just have to just be a little bit more present and thoughtful and, what's more important, like I have people who just work, work, work. Like why, why can't you eat lunch? Like your job is so you can't eat? You can't tell you can't eat breakfast.
Speaker 1:But Emma, that is like. That's so the point. Like we somewhere in this, I'm going to say it like the old folks said it in Mississippi and Louisiana the country part right, you that impotent.
Speaker 2:Right, right, that's the thing I tell you. Shosh, I reached a point, ain't? No, ain't nothing more important than myself. I told my boss the other day sorry, I can't start this. Log on until 9.15. And guess what? They say okay, because we're valued. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:So it's okay for you to step away for 20 minutes take a 20 minute break to make your lunch and to eat it. That's the thing. Now we got to talk to the girlies that work from home, because this whole work from home culture really has twisted us around, because people who say, oh, you work from home, you have so much flexibility. I think there's two things that makes that not true. One it went from mommy guilt to work from home guilt. Yeah, so work from home guilt has you believing you can't get up to go to the bathroom. Work from home guilt has you believing that every single minute of every calendar moment of the day has to be packed with a meeting. Yes, I'm not even doing work. Hello, it has to be a meeting. Because work from home guilt says if you're not seen, then maybe you're believed to not be working. I dispel that myth. I need to take it back, take it all back. You can work from home and be healthy and still take breaks. Somebody needs to hear that.
Speaker 2:Put a 15-minute block in your calendar every three hours. Go eat, go to the restroom, go take a walk. Yeah, go, go get some vitamin D.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, yes, I, your boss, cannot. Either you're the boss, so you definitely can build in the flexibility, or you have a boss and I dare your boss to say, no, you can't take a 15 minute break to go and eat lunch. I dare like, like, so it's just about prioritizing. It's really the cultural shift I just posted on this about like. We live in this culture where it's just so self-sacrificial and we start to choose it and feel like we want to like. Just fill up all of this, you know, just choose yourself, yeah just you have to, you just have to.
Speaker 2:It starts with a decision. It starts with a decision, I agree, oh my. But decision, I agree, oh my.
Speaker 1:God but.
Speaker 2:I do. You know, if you some people like, if you like work in a hospital or something, and you just can't sit down, then in that situation a supplement is not a bad idea. I just think your first source should go to just all get moving.
Speaker 1:Number one get moving and think about your moving with intention right, because if you are already operating on 10, choosing a workout that keeps you at 10 and maybe even going toward 20, is not helping you, short-term or long-term. You're ruining the cells in your body, you're depleting your muscles, you're depleting your bones, especially when you get to a certain age as a woman. All important. The other thing that I just want to just double click on when you think of those boxes, that notion of food and thinking about all the things that we need, our protein and, in particular, anything that we choose to eat cannot and it will outwork the workout is said right way you cannot outwork the eating, but you can out eat the workout 100%.
Speaker 2:Yes, you can out, yeah, you do out. Eat the workout just by yes, yeah, yeah. And let me say one more thing on workout just by yes, yeah, yeah. And let me say one more thing on this Please yes, we talk about protein.
Speaker 2:Protein's important. You know, I don't even want to give numbers because people feel like I need to hit 150 grams of protein a day, but there's a certain amount of protein that's based in your body weight that is important to hit. But carbs and fat are also important. I was in a situation where I was avoiding fat like the plate. The only fat I would eat was olive oil and avocado, just because it just wasn't like. You know, I get fat-free Greek yogurt, I eat egg whites but turns out as we get older hormonally, our hormones actually need fat to make them right.
Speaker 2:They're fat-based hormones, so you need the full spectrum. You can't cut out carbs. Yeah, you know, we have to eat carbs.
Speaker 1:Isn't that our fruit? Our fruit are carbs. Right Food are carbs Fruit. Yeah.
Speaker 2:People have permission to eat sourdough, bread, rice, potatoes. Eat your carbs, especially if you're working out. I was working out six days a week before not eating carbs or protein and I was so exhausted Literally told my husband why am I? I do all this. I'm supposed to have more energy. Why am I so sore? You need the carbs to power to fuel your workout. If you're a girly like us, you need the carbs to power to fuel your workout if you're a girly like us. So many of us are under eating on carbs and we need healthy fats. We need omega-3s. That's important for heart health. So you need the protein, the carbs and the fat. You know proteins are like the star right now because they're on trend, but we really need the whole thing.
Speaker 1:What is your favorite diet right now? They're on trend, but we really need the whole thing. What is your favorite diet right now?
Speaker 2:I don't diet. What do you mean? Like a named diet?
Speaker 1:girl, okay, like carnivore keto. Yeah, like, let's hit on that, because people are talking about mediterranean, well, I'm mediterranean diet. Well, I'm carnivore. Well I am, am vegan vegetarian. Like, is there a favorite diet? Like, how would you break that down? How would we? How should I think about which diet is the right diet for me?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't, I don't even, I don't even use that word diet, it's just lifestyle, right? So first of all, what doesn't jack up your gut? So that's where you start, right? So I'm not going to do a carnivore diet if red meat tears me up, I can't. I personally I love vegetables, but as I've gotten in my forties, I can't do leafy vegetables, can't, you know, can't do broccoli, because it bloats me. So I couldn't do a vegetarian diet, even if I, you know. So start with gut health. What makes you feel the best, what your body can process and I don't cut out anything anymore, I'm a little gluten insensitive, but I used to be very restrictive and then my gut health got worse.
Speaker 2:So, now I expose myself to dairy, to fermented foods. Those have been shown to be very helpful for gut health. I do a little red meat now, lean bison, lamb every now, and then chicken, poultry, seafood I don't cut things out. And I think when you think about a diet it feels very short term. So what can you maintain for the next five decades? Which just goes back to any food from the ground that God has made for us. That's healthy I do.
Speaker 2:Now I'm more macro minded. So our macros protein, carbs, fats I try to make sure that I'm balanced, so I'll have one of those, I'll have one meal has to have all of those. That's how I think about it. Has to have a lean protein, has to have a carb and has to have a healthy fat. And that's how I think about diet. And you know and it simplifies it you know we don't have to like do all the research. Just eat food, have a plate with a fist size full of protein, equal portions of carbs and veggies for fiber, and then that's it. Eat every few hours, and that's how I do it.
Speaker 1:All right. So, look, I know you got to get back because I know you got things to do. Let me ask you this what's your most fun workout to do right now? What are you, what's trending for you and like, not just the norm, just the fun workout thing you like doing?
Speaker 2:I'll tell you, Stairmaster is my jam.
Speaker 1:Like the whole one where you're actually walking up the stairs.
Speaker 2:Just a Stairmaster.
Speaker 1:Okay, just a Stairmaster.
Speaker 2:That's my jam. But I lift heavy, every single. I lift heavy six days a week, four, five days a week. So that's, if you could choose one thing, you have to lift weights. Okay, one workout, lift weights, that is what. That is literally the fountain of youth. Okay, when you lift weights, you have more muscle mass. Literally, when you have more muscle mass, your basal metabolic rate goes up. It goes up. You burn. You're just burning more calories at rest the more muscle you have. So number one thing that you could do one thing three days a week, it would be to lift heavy weights three days a week.
Speaker 2:Heavy weight yeah and then my fun thing that fills my heart with joy because of my, my, my jams, is the stair master at a zone two, zone three, stair master zone.
Speaker 1:Two or three, all right art and fine walk yeah, this is. This is wonderful. Hope that helps a little bit this is absolutely so good, busting all the myths and giving us really good stuff to think about. All All right, so folks can actually follow you and your bodybuilding journey, because you're killing it there too.
Speaker 2:I don't hurt the folks and give a flex.
Speaker 1:Show us the flex. No, no, no, no, no, no, you got to show the flex.
Speaker 2:I'll show you a little bicep, just a little bit, a little bicep flex.
Speaker 1:Yes, that part, that part. I love that. And a 44-year-old woman who is not only killing the game for herself, but you're doing it for your family and you're sharing it with others, and that, I think, is what makes this proven. Maybe not perfect, but it's proven. I love it and I'm so excited for what you've shared with so many. I know it's going to bless, because, look, I'll tell you. You that middle-aged slide is a real slide, and if you're not here yet, just know what's coming, because we didn't.
Speaker 2:And we didn't even talk about the peri-menopause situation. First of all, that's another conversation. So look, but let me say one thing who lied when we were 20 and said that it was I? So let me say one thing who lied when we were 20 and said that it was the? I can't wait for my 40s, like you remember that, like we look fabulous. But the 40s in the early 50s, like this, is a yeah this is interesting.
Speaker 1:This is interesting it's a whole trick stuff just shifting and pivoting and changing and yeah, all the things. So I actually want to have that conversation on menopause, perimenopause. So can we please book a date and get that on the calendar, because that's the part two. We're going to talk about Perry, miss Perry, miss Perry, who's like knocking on a lot of people's doors right now?
Speaker 2:Kicking the door down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she kicking, and she seeps into the place you work, she seeps into your family, your bed, your bed. She's a girl everywhere, can't sleep, can't sleep. She's in your marriage. Yeah, miss Perry, just be everywhere. So we just need our girlies and our guys, our guys, who listen to this. They need to know about Miss Perry too, because they need to be looking at their wife and their significant other and not thinking, no, she's legit crazy, she's not crazy, she might look crazy, but she's not really crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, yes, I'm here for that conversation, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:All right, that one we're booking. Thank you so so much for being generous with everything that you know and have shared. Really appreciate you, god bless and keep doing what you do.
Speaker 2:Okay, love you, bye.