063: Simple Lifestyle Changes to Become Healthier

This episode discusses the importance of cultivating healthy habits throughout the day to improve overall well-being, rather than relying solely on a dedicated workout hour. The hosts share various strategies for integrating movement and mindfulness into everyday activities, emphasizing the need to be conscious of one’s health in all aspects of life, including diet and physical posture. They explore unconventional methods to stay active and maintain mental clarity, while also highlighting the impact of these practices on physical and emotional health.

Connect with Mike Chang:
- Instagram: @mikechangofficial
-Youtube: Mike Chang
- Website: www.flow60.com

Connect with Stephen Yeh:
-Instagram: @iamstephenyeh
-Twitter: @iamstephenyeh

Transcript

Mike: [00:00:00] If somebody wanted to be healthy in their body and mind, there's 24 hours in a day. There's eight hours of sleep. That leaves about 16 hours of awake time. Even if somebody was to be consistent and they were to work out for an hour a day, that still leaves 15 hours left throughout the day. If this 15 hours is filled with habits that are unhealthy, that one hour of workout time can only do so much.

So the thing is more about getting those 15 hours of time to create healthy habits. So today I want to talk about that, healthy habits. Because over the years, I, , went from what I just gave, you know, I was working out, , one hour a day, sometimes more, but I had really unhealthy habits across the board.

So many different things, [00:01:00] and over the years, I started to change things one by one. And this was starting in my, maybe, early 20s. It's like, oh, maybe I shouldn't do this anymore, or maybe I shouldn't do that. I started changing things. For example, I would go to the gym and work out, and then afterwards, I would go to McDonald's.

And then I would buy me, like, five Big Macs. Post workout meal, I'm bulking, right? Get the calories in, it's cheap. You know, random or, to get a better workout, I would go in and slam down a lot of pre workouts and get really, really jacked. So there's a lot of these habits that I obviously do not do, not even close, but there are more.

And I think if people recognize all these things that they're doing, that's actually earning their results physically and mentally, emotionally. They would start to change those as well along with, , incorporating daily exercise, you know I think daily exercise is like a [00:02:00] foundation but after that foundation is set There are so many things that people can do that can increase their health.

How about you? Have you seen in your life where you changed certain things to become healthier, that you felt just like gained you more clarity , or increased your energy?. 

Stephen: For sure, I do my best to integrate the hour or so workouts into the day. And then after that, it is one of those things where I find very important.

Where you set your intention to have a healthy lifestyle, because when you have that as a foundation, then everything that you do in your life, you start to pay closer attention. Like even, uh, sometimes when I'm watching TV, I don't sit down so much anymore. Sometimes I also stand up and watch it. And then I stand up, I focus on my posture, and then that way at least I'm getting some experience of still paying attention to my body [00:03:00] compared to just being super, quote unquote, comfortable and lazy.

Mike: Yeah, let's dive into some specifics because today we've got a short chat. So when you're watching TV, instead of just chilling on a couch, you stand up, you notice your posture. I remember you even telling me about how , you train sometimes, , like light training when you're watching TV or watching shows.

Stephen: Yeah, so like the TV's on, sometimes I'm standing, I'm focusing on my posture. Other times, , I'll move my shoulders around and feel if there's any stiffness. And that way I'm not really exercising, but I'm still, paying attention to the body while doing something that kind of just relieves some, just some cheap entertainment, just to relax the mind and body from time to time.

Mike: How about if somebody really, really wants to engage in this show where they really want to watch this movie and pay attention. What do you think? Do you think somebody can, do what you're doing and still enjoy what they're watching? 

Stephen: Maybe not. I mean, if [00:04:00] you really want to just pay attention, especially if there's like a lot of details, chill out, just watch.

Yeah. Right. But there's sometimes when I just want to put something on where it's not that in depth or, it doesn't need that much brain power , to get it. 

Mike: Would you say it's more about I want to train and let me watch something to entertain me when I train or is it the opposite? I really want to watch this thing and I'm just going to do something , to move around a little bit, but it's really about watching this thing.

Stephen: Um,

uh, if I'm going to watch a show, usually, I just want some type of entertainment factor in general , if I wanted to train, really train, I wouldn't really be watching shows, but yeah, I would say it's, it's more so entertainment factor. And then I'll, I'll throw in some more exercise in there. 

Mike: So you're watching more for entertainment.

And then when you're moving, it's just, it's more of the entertainment part. There's not so much training. Yeah. I 

Stephen: mean, yeah. [00:05:00] Like I've also seen videos of you where, , when you're Cleaning the house or mopping the floors, like you're moving, you're like training. Yeah, but it's still getting stuff done around the house.

Mike: So let's go back and forth. I'll share one and then I do it and then you can go in. So then we'll go with that one. Cleaning up. Cleaning up. I've made a lot of videos where I'm wiping the floors and I'm doing these side lunges there. And I mean, I could have just used a mop. But I purposely do that just so by the time I, I wipe that whole area, I did maybe one or two minutes of kind of side to side lunges.

My hips are open. I've challenged my cardio a little bit and it's so short and I don't feel like it didn't interfere my day and I would just drop down and just do it at any time. Sometimes it'll just be, you know, we've got some on the ground and instead of coming down and just wiping really quick, wiping, we're looking for a mop.

I just grab a paper towel and just grab a rag and just drop down right there. It's so fast and so efficient. [00:06:00] It's clean. And that's my little go to, to get a little energy pickup, you know, 

Stephen: some benefits there as well. I mean, another one that I do is just throughout the day, I just sit and meditate in general between work periods as well.

And ideally I would be doing it every certain amount of period. but , it's not as strict. It's just sometimes I'm working. I could feel a bit of a low end energy And then sometimes I'd go and exercise, but then other times I'd feel meditation is more needed and I'd just sit down and then get my nervous system back into it.

Mike: How long would you say you meditate in the middle of the day?

Stephen: It depends. It depends. I mean, fortunately, my schedule is pretty flexible. And so there are days where not much is needed, just like 5 minutes, 10 minutes. On average, usually I like to go around 20 minutes. That's kind of the sweet spot. In the middle of 

Mike: the day or as like a real [00:07:00] meditation practice?

Stephen: I mean, for me, I'm in the stage where I like to do as much as possible. So 20 minutes is like just a average, just like good session. And then there's other days, like even earlier today where I felt more low. And so like I would need to go in for 20, uh, it was more like, , around 40 minutes, it was.

Two sets of 20s and then I could see that it started to get me back into center. So, 

Mike: okay, something I do. I've been doing this now for going on, I don't know, seven years at least it's standing on the toilets when I take a poop. 

Stephen: How do you do that? Ah, okay. Okay. squat. Yeah. 

Mike: I could sit in here all day.

Yeah. You know, you know what really started it? Was van life, I traveled around in the U. S. for about a year and a half, and we didn't have a restroom because I didn't have like a, customized van, I mean, we just [00:08:00] threw some things together, pretty much had a bed and everything else, , just scrapped it together, but there was definitely no toilet, so then I had to go ahead and poop outside in nature, and so by default you gotta just squat, and I remember I always can squat, But I don't sit there and just squat for 20 minutes.

Sometimes I'll be taking a poop for 20 minutes out there. And I remember this one time I was there for maybe at least, at least 30 minutes because my feet was asleep. And when I got up, I realized, when I stood up, I realized I could barely even walk. And I was like, Oh, you know, I need to get away because I got a pile of crap right here, you know, and I don't want to step in it.

And so I covered up the leaves. But after I stopped doing van life, I'm like, okay, well, I really enjoyed, you know, it felt really good. And I remember I sit in the toilet and it's just not the same, , you don't get the same leverage, you don't get the same pressure, so you don't have to push so hard.

It just naturally flows out. So since then, [00:09:00] every day, like even just earlier today, same thing, I just stand on the toilet and you got to be really careful when you do that. I've seen people, they, they kind of just like step on there, , without being graceful, like you've got to be very graceful because well, it's going to fall over or the toilet seat is loose and then the toilet seat will move it, breaking the toilet, you know, , and there's all these signs about don't stand on the toilet, don't stand on the toilet because people are, sometimes they're too heavy, you know, I'm 180 pounds, give or take.

Yeah. But I mean, I'm sure sometimes there are people who are much heavier, who can't handle the weight, , but every single toilet I've used for the last seven years, I go everywhere. I'm not like, you know, some people go, I don't poop outside, doesn't matter, wherever it is, , I'll go poop in the grass if I need to.

So. Every toilet I've stood on, never broken any seats, never broken any toilets, but I've just always been safe. So, for anybody who wants to ever want to try this out, you gotta be really safe. That means you gotta be graceful, you gotta, get [00:10:00] on there gracefully and then get off of there gracefully.

You can't just, you know, if you don't have the range of motion and mobility, you gotta work on it. But that has helped me a lot. Not just in using the restroom, but just being in that deep squat position every single day, because they go every day. 

Stephen: I mean, not even just helping you get into deep squat, but it's actually really helping to eliminate as much waste as possible as well.

Yeah. Because that's the natural position that you're supposed to go in, in order to actually get it out. Yeah. This is actually, I first learned about this from, my teacher. He's a 70 plus year old yogi. Super fit, super agile, and his, whole system was just working so well. And that was one of the main things that he was talking about is to go and do that specifically.

And then, of course, there's that hot product that came out. There was that stool that people would use. I forgot the name of it, but they also have that. Poop stool, I [00:11:00] don't know. Something like that. Anyways , I had to do it, I was forced to do it consistently when I moved to China and I was training up there because , they didn't have proper like western toilets.

They just had a hole on the floor. Oh, and then the rim. Yeah, they got a little rim there. Yeah. And so I remember it stuck in my head that I think there was a shower or something because I remember in the beginning my, my thighs and everything was so stiff. So I couldn't properly squat. Yeah. So you're like, and so I would tip over.

Yeah. But I remember I had, I had to hold on to like this handlebar or something in order to get into semi comfortable position and over a bit of time, I was slowly, slowly able to get down more and more. 

Mike: Yeah, can you imagine like somebody who's pooping like that their whole life? Even in old age, they gotta poop and so they never lose the ability to go in a deep squat.

Stephen: It's true. Yeah, 

Mike: it's just it's just like a [00:12:00] lifestyle thing. 

Stephen: I might actually have to incorporate that. 

Mike: Everybody poops. Everybody poops. 

Stephen: Yeah. 

And when we were in Europe and seeing the public transportation there in Switzerland, how everybody walks, everybody bike rides. Like that's like an example of like a place that just incorporated.

Healthy living now. I know they're trying to go zero carbon and all that stuff. They're doing a great job. Air is fresh, but to be able to depend your livelihood of getting around your bike and walking and taking public transportation automatically, you get an exercise without even trying. You're just trying to go from point A to point B.

And And it's like, by default, and I think that's the type of thing, except they implemented it citywide now, or like, imagine they get rid of all regular toilets. Everybody has to go ahead and go into deep squat now. And then, you know, maybe they can implement some type of bar in front of these that you can hold for those that can't.

But imagine somebody who can't even get down really low because they're just, [00:13:00] they're sitting there squatting for 10 minutes trying to, I mean, they're going to get really, really sore for a little while, and. But it just forces people to become healthier because of lifestyle. 

That might actually give some people heart attacks.

They're trying to go, and they're like, I can't get down! I can't go! I 

Mike: remember my mom used to tell me, , like, in China, we didn't have regular toilets. And we had holes in the ground. And I remember, and everybody was sitting there and just and pooping in a hole in the ground. And honestly, you know what I imagined?

A giant hole. Like just a giant hole and everybody's sticking their butt, like, you know, there's like all these people and everybody's sticking their butt in there and she's like, if you don't be careful, you'll fall in. So, that's what I imagined in my head. I'm like, terrible. 

Stephen: Oh, you've seen them before, right?

Mike: Yeah, yeah, now I know, but when I was a kid and she told me, that's the visualization. She didn't, she didn't really describe it. So, she's like, there's a, it's just a big hole in the ground and, and if you don't be careful, you'll [00:14:00] fall in. So, I imagined. Giant hole as a kid and then you stick your butt in there and I didn't think much of it until now I understand what she's saying, you know, now we see them.

Stephen: So we'll go, maybe we'll go with one more. Last one I'd say. Is, , just playing with the kids, you know, if you have some kids play different games and move around and crawl on, on all limbs and, yeah, I mean, even just playing tag with them. Sometimes I could feel my cardio working and they're running around the house and you're chasing them.

And so, 

Mike: and for people who don't have kids, dogs. Yes. Yeah. Or yeah, 

Stephen: cats, maybe not so much. 

Mike: Okay, I got one more. Sitting on the ground instead of chairs. Sitting on the ground, automatically, our body has to be a lot more, mobile. We got to bend our body more. Our body accustoms to the pressure of the [00:15:00] ground and wherever we sit on, whether it's tailbone, you know, seated position, we get to engage with harder surface.

That sometimes people will be like, oh, let me grab you a chair and I'm like, no, no, I'm good. They're like, Oh, are you sure? As in like, , they're inconveniently because sometimes, there'll be like a couch area and then a couch area will be filled and I just go and sit on the ground. People automatically think like, Oh, I feel bad you're sitting on the ground, but they don't realize like I sit on the ground all the time.

I prefer sitting on the ground. I don't prefer sitting on the couch and having it to be soft and floating because to some people it feels comfortable. For, for me, I can feel comfortable sitting on the ground or sitting on the couch. The difference though is that when I'm on the ground, the pressure of the ground actually releases tension for me.

It's like massaging, so it feels better to be on the ground. Oh, and then we'll do one more to speaking of the ground. Barefoot. Speaking of the ground. That's another [00:16:00] thing. You know, people will look at me and somebody even told me the other day when I was at this hotel, I was there for like four days already.

And I've been in this in, we're in the restaurant in the hotel and I've been barefoot there the whole time. Like literally, I walked in the hotel with slippers and afterwards, sandals and I took them off. And that's it. I've been the whole time there barefoot. And this, and this one employee that worked at the hotel told me I had to wear shoes.

I was like, no, no, no, I don't need to wear shoes. And he was like trying to make up reasons. You know, he's like, oh, you know, for the safety of the guests. I'm like, no, no, I'm, I'm very safe. I have good balance. Oh, well, you know, uh, it's, uh, uh, the floor is dirty. That's okay. I've been walking everywhere else.

Trust me, this is the cleanest floor. Oh, well, uh, you know, it's our policy. I go, I've been here for over three days and have not, you know, it's, it's fine. And then somebody else told him, hey, he's, he's okay. You know, we've seen him. He's like, oh, okay. I'm sorry. Okay. So it's fine. That has been probably a really, really, really big game changer.

So many nerves and connections of organs and pretty much our whole [00:17:00] body is within hands and feet. Without having to do anything extra, I'm always stimulating that. So, our feet connection to organs, connection to all the nerves. That has been a really big game changer that I stopped wearing regular shoes over 10 years ago, and I went from thin soles to now to then now just barefoot and sometimes the ground is hot and I've had times where I walk outside.

It's too hot and my feet feels kind of raw, you know? Oh, yeah, but. , it's not very often. Once in a while when I know it's going to be hot, I might carry some shoes around, you know, like, or some sandals around. But I would say about 95 percent of every day, you know, barefoot. That's been great.

My feet has Strengthened so much. I was at the waterpark the other day and, we were barefoot and I was running around catching all the rides. We rode all the rides in one hour because we were there kinda late. And I was with this kid. He's [00:18:00] like 14 years old. He plays football, soccer. He's like, his cardio's really good, but he doesn't train barefoot.

And we were both barefoot. Mm. He had a hard time kind of keeping up and, but it felt easy, you know, and everybody there is barefoot, but most people weren't capable to go and jog around or you see them walking slow. The strength of our feet is everything. Strength of our hands is everything. These two areas are the areas that expresses our strength, 

all expression of our physical movements eventually come from our feet and hands, almost all of them. Doesn't matter how strong our arms are, our hands is what expresses that power. Same if you want legs, core, it's our feet that expresses it. If we have weak feet, weak hands, we are weak no matter how strong we are in the gym or something.

So, that's a lifestyle hack that I think everybody should move towards. Thin sole shoes to start, , they don't have to go extreme, you know, thin sole shoes and then afterwards eventually moving to thinner and thinner and then being [00:19:00] barefoot. And always exercise barefoot, unless they got some special crazy injury or some type of chronic health issue with their feet, then thin sole shoes.

And one last thing, most people aren't going to be able to do the same thing when they are in thin sole shoes or barefoot versus being used to thick soles so, I would say, well, sacrifice the amount of things that you could be doing, like the exercises where you're so strong and you're a little more weaker now, kind of like somebody wearing, , straps when they lift weights.

You can't lift as much, but you develop a lot more grip strength and then over time you'll be able to lift exactly the same, except your grip strength also increased as well. So I would recommend that. 

Stephen: All right. Well, hopefully you guys got some tips on how to become and having a better, healthier lifestyle.

With that said, thanks for watching another episode of Body Over Mind and we will see you on the next [00:20:00] episode.