Spandex & Wine
Spandex & Wine is a podcast for finding balance between being healthy & living a happy life. Hosted by Robin Hackney, a 23-year veteran in the fitness industry & wine consultant, this is a place to be our authentic selves as we have real conversations exploring wellness and all things wine! Subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.
Spandex & Wine
Why Your Diet Isn't Working and What to Do About It
Ever find yourself hyper-focused on one aspect of health while missing the big picture? In this eye-opening episode, I share a conversation with a client who couldn't understand why she wasn't losing weight despite meticulously counting calories. The solution wasn't about eating less—it was about eating smarter with adequate protein and fiber.
I reveal my own nutrition blind spot from years ago when I became so fixated on being vegetarian that I'd skip nutritious animal proteins while happily eating brownies because they were "technically vegetarian." This tunnel vision prevents many of us from making truly beneficial choices for our bodies. Instead of temporary restrictions or arbitrary rules, sustainable wellness requires a lifestyle approach focused on what your body actually needs.
The episode dives deep into practical nutrition strategies, including how to estimate proper protein portions using visual cues like your palm or fist, finding fiber sources that work with your unique digestive system, and most importantly—healing your gut. I share my personal transformation through gut health improvement, which helped me reach my premenopausal weight while dramatically boosting my energy, mood, and focus. My husband even eliminated his seasonal allergies through the same approach! Whether you're struggling with weight plateaus, low energy, migraines, or other health challenges, this episode offers a fresh perspective on creating sustainable wellness habits that serve you for life. I also introduce my VIP Lounge community and upcoming gut health events for those seeking additional support on their wellness journey. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our Spandex and Wine community to continue the conversation!
Thanks so much for listening!
Get all the info here: LinkTree
Instagram & Facebook: @spandexandwine
Web Site: www.spandexandwine.com
Hello and welcome to the Spandex and Wine podcast. I'm your host, robin Hackney, and I'm so happy that you're here. This podcast is a place for conversations about balancing a healthy lifestyle and being happy more specifically, happy hour. Together we'll explore all things wellness and wine. I hope you learn a little, laugh a lot and, along the way, know you're not alone on this balanced wellness journey. Ready to jump in? Pour something in your glass that makes you happy, because it's time for spandex and wine. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast. Thanks so much for being here.
Speaker 1:As I'm recording this, I'm just kind of pacing around my oldest son's house. It sounds kind of creepy, doesn't it? I come over and I let their dog out at lunch. I never thought I would be that person, but here I am. But it's kind of a nice little break too. I get away from my laptop, I get away from teaching classes, I get away from distractions and their dog can run around outside and have some free time and I can have just some quiet time for me. And today I have chosen to do my podcast episode here.
Speaker 1:So I just got off the phone not too terribly long ago with a client that was saying that she can't lose weight. Everything just is stuck and she's head of plateau and I was like, okay, send me three days of your food log. And so, as her pictures and everything were coming in, I'm like, okay, all right, this is starting to make sense. All right, I've got this. So we had our call today to kind of go over everything, and she was focused on calories and not eating too many calories, but what I was seeing was a lot of it was empty calories, there was not enough protein, there was not enough fiber, and I feel like we can sometimes get focused on the wrong things. Gosh, I don't even know how many years ago it was Probably 10 years ago, I don't know, maybe even more I had decided that I was going to try being a vegetarian.
Speaker 1:I thought I can do this. Everyone says how healthy it is to just eat plants and blah, blah, blah. Like I can totally make this work. And so I started out okay. I had days where I was a little, I don't know. I didn't feel quite right, but as I went eggs or I mean animal-based, but because it had to have eggs, but anyway, I remember some brownies I'm like, okay, I have some hamburger and some tuna packets here, but I'm a vegetarian, I'm focusing on that, so I can't eat that, but by God, I'm going to eat that brownie.
Speaker 1:That doesn't make sense, right? Even you guys listening, you're probably like, yeah, okay, duh, but you get so hung up on one certain thing, and that can be in so many areas of life that we don't see the bigger picture. So, when it comes to your nutrition and your diet and when I say diet I don't mean this is temporary, I mean what you put in your mouth on a daily basis okay, so I would like for everyone to focus on this being a lifestyle exercise and not just something that you're going to do temporarily for your class reunion or for your son's wedding or whatever it might be, for an event, a vacation, whatever. It should be something that you can sustain. So it needs to be something realistic and I would highly recommend that you focus on getting 20 to 30 grams of protein in every meal, and you may not know what that looks like and you know what I'm not even going to tell you. I want you to look that up yourself as you're going through. When you look at three ounces of chicken, I want you to know how much protein that is. And then when you see that, maybe use your hand as a guide, Once you know how many ounces of protein are in that chicken breast and you can see the size like is it your fist, is it your palm, is it your entire hand? So you can kind of get that visual image, so you always know if you're getting enough protein. If you're someone that tracks your macros, that's fantastic. Continue doing that if you like to do that. So enough protein and enough fiber, and you have to find the type of fiber that works in your body.
Speaker 1:All right, I have another friend that like broccoli. She can't do broccoli. It tears her stomach up. So don't eat the broccoli. Find something else that works for you. Oatmeal would be a great thing. You could do overnight.
Speaker 1:Oats and you can have that for breakfast. So you'll have the oatmeal. You'll have some Greek yogurt. I don't put any liquid in mine. Some people put milk in theirs. I just mix it up and I put my flax seeds, my chia seeds, now my basil seeds, and then a little bit of honey and fruit and that sustains me until I can get home and I can have a snack or another meal, but making sure that you get enough protein and fiber is really going to be a game changer.
Speaker 1:It's going to help you so much, and you know that I'm going to say we need to focus on your gut right. We need to get your gut healed, because until you do that, you can do so many different things and it may not make a difference. It might, at least in the beginning. It might absolutely do that, but I am here to help you. If you need help, I have some health coaching time slots open not very many, because I do offer my Plexus customers free health coaching, so I don't have too much time, but if you're someone that really needs help, then please reach out to me and I'll still be doing some more challenges and things like that along the way. That will be helpful also, all right, and so another thing that I have going that might be helpful for you is my Spandex and Wine VIP Lounge that just started. It's only $12 a month and you can start anytime. You can hop in. I send, oh, probably three to four text messages a week and then we do a monthly call and on the monthly call, we just talk about whatever you guys want to talk about.
Speaker 1:I typically have something that I want to make sure that I tell or I share, because I want my VIPers to get some inside information, so something behind the scenes on the podcast, some type of special recipe or something that's happened to me that I haven't shared on the podcast and we share as a group as well. So it's not just me, it truly is. I want you to feel like a very important person. That's why I called it the VIP lounge. I would love to see you there. You can reach out to me at info at spandexandwinecom and I can send you an email. I can link that to you at spandexandwinecom and I can send you an email. I can link that to you. I can DM you if you DM me first so I know you're interested, or you can text me at 913-392-2877. So that's my VIP lounge.
Speaker 1:I have also put that in my newsletter, which, if you're not subscribed to the newsletter, you need to be, because I do lots of helpful information there too. I typically have a section on the podcast. I have a section where I talk about healthy swaps, some fitness and training tips and then just whatever might be happening that week that I'd like to share. So the VIP lounge is something that you might really enjoy as well. And then, lastly, I have a gut health sip and see coming up on May 27th and I'm doing two different options a 1230 and a 6pm. Both are in Central Times and I can send you the link if I have not already sent that to you or if you've not seen it in my newsletter, and this will just be a laid back call. It will be me telling you how I got started on this gut health journey, why I think it's so important, my results, some of my clients' results, and just answering any of your questions.
Speaker 1:I feel I mean I can't even tell you guys I've said it so many times I feel so much better than I have in years and years and years. And you heard me say a couple of weeks ago that I'm down to premenopausal weight and I'm keeping it off. I'm keeping the inches off. It feels so good. You don't have to live with that menopause fluff. Are you going to get down to where you were in your 20s? I don't know who really wants to right Just to feel better, fit better in your clothes, your mood oh my gosh, I have so much more energy and focus and drive.
Speaker 1:If you've been following me the past probably two or three months, you had to have noticed that, right, because I've just been doing so much more and I feel like I'm accomplishing so much more. Or if you're someone that suffers from migraines, if you are wanting to balance your blood sugar, if you need to work on your blood pressure cholesterol my husband, dave his seasonal allergies went away and we started focusing on his gut health. I'm going to be sharing all of this. Actually, I probably just shared everything, but I'll be sharing this in the call on Tuesday and answering your questions as well. And if you're interested in the business side of this, at the end of the call, you can hang around and we will talk about that, because it's just been such a blessing in my life and I have no doubt that God sent this my way and it is just the right fit.
Speaker 1:And, like I've said before, I just want to help people be healthier and happier and I truly feel like that is what I am doing for those that will listen and be open-minded and be ready to make that change. I mean, a lot of it has to do with your mindset. You have to be ready, but anyway, that's really all I wanted to share today. I hope that you have a fabulous rest of your day, no matter what you're doing, and I will see you soon. The plus sign or follow button. This is one of the best things that you can do for the podcast. If you'd also be willing to give a five-star review, that would be amazing and much appreciated. Lastly, please share an episode with a friend or five to keep the love going, and join the Spandex and Wine community in our private Facebook group by searching Spandex and Wine. Feel free to reach out to me at any time by emailing info at spandexandwinecom or text me at 913-392-2877. I appreciate you, thank you.
