Embracing Health After 40: Philip Pape's Guide to Fitness, Food Freedom, and Mindful Living

Imagine embarking on a transformative health journey that reshapes both body and mind.

That's exactly what Philip Pape did, and he's here to share the wealth of knowledge he's accumulated on fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle changes that can lead to a healthier you.

With Philip's guidance, this episode peels back the layers of confusion surrounding diet and exercise, offering practical advice for those seeking to conquer their wellness goals, especially as they navigate the complexities of life after 40.

We've all been handed diet myths and one-size-fits-all fitness plans that promise the world and deliver little. That's why this conversation with Philip is so refreshing – it's a no-nonsense look at how the principles of energy balance and progressive overload can revolutionize your approach to weight loss and muscle gain.

Add to that the golden nuggets from Philip's Toastmasters journey, and you have a recipe for communication that can motivate and inspire change. It's not just about the physical transformation; it's about understanding that mindset and consistency are the true cornerstones of success.

At the heart of this episode is the concept of food freedom – a liberating approach to eating that moves away from restrictive diets and towards mindful, enjoyable nutrition.

Philip offers actionable tips that can be fitted into the busiest of schedules, ensuring that personal growth and health advancement are always on the menu.

And with a touch of Mr. Rogers' wisdom, we delve into the importance of empathy in coaching, reminding us that every step towards better health is a personal and unique journey.

So join us, and let's explore these empowering strategies together.

Connect with Philip at

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter (aka X)
• YouTube

Transcript

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Transforming Physiques and Lives

Dai Manuel 0:06

Welcome to the 2% Solution Podcast . I'm your host , diamond Well , and today we've got an absolute powerhouse of knowledge and inspiration joining us Philip Pape . He's a man who wears many hats a high performance nutrition coach , physique engineer , family man , podcaster with a mission to change lives . His unique blend of scientific understanding and empathy makes him the go-to guy for transforming physiques and lives . From battling with his own health and fitness to becoming a beacon of hope and guidance for others , philip's journey is nothing short of remarkable . So to lace up your sneakers , grab your water bottle , let's dive into a conversation that's all about turning tiny shifts into massive gains , both in and out of the gym .

Philip Pape 1:02

No problem for him . It's more about what can you do , what can you stick with , and then what serves your goals in that moment , and it's going to change over time right , I love it .

Dai Manuel 1:10

I love it , man . Well , listen , I appreciate you being here today and your willingness to be on my show , especially in the early days . It was fun reading your application too , because I was like man . We have a lot of very similar parallels and also some similar ways that we've come into fitness and doing what we're doing today . I'm excited to just sort of shine a light on you and ask you some questions . I will do the intro outro later . Sure , I don't have to worry about wasting our time right now , because also , I like to make those relevant to what we talk about . All that being said , man , I loved it when you said forever student and teacher . I liked how you sort of just said that . Right , I'm curious , where did all that begin , that focus on that intentional journey of always being a student but also the teacher in the fitness and nutrition space specifically ? Just sort of take it away . I think it's a great place for us to start .

Philip Pape 2:03

Yeah , definitely started being a student because I couldn't have ever claimed to want to be a teacher until I knew the foundations . A combination of curiosity and frustration can really drive a person being frustrated for years and years and years with my lack of results and then being constantly curious about well , if it's not working , something's got to work . It's not working , there's got to be something out there . As I just mentioned , you've seen others achieve something in their 50s . When I was 35 , thinking okay , it's possible , physically , rationally , scientifically which is where my mind goes as an engineer led me to just keep searching , keep searching . After 20 years of flailing around in the gym doing CrossFit and I have nothing against CrossFit , it introduced me to barbells what I didn't get from CrossFit was necessarily training and progressive overload , at least in the context that I was in . I just wanted to get bigger and stronger and improve my physical health . In that way , I came across a bunch of resources , books and podcasts , like the Muscle and Strength Pyramids , the evidence-based strength in the nutrition community . Once I started lifting heavy with progressive overload and actually tracking my lifts and seeing them go up over time , I knew that there was something there . I started to fill out . The shirts started to feel stronger , but I also gained a lot of weight . I had to learn the nutrition side before long as well . Anyway , that was throughout 2020 , 2021 , when it was very hard to do that because of COVID we had the gym shut down ended up building my own home gym , but I kept just sucking up the information and the teacher part of it came in .

Philip Pape 3:42

When , late 2021 , I was just so excited with what I learned and the progress I had made . Personally , I had to share it and , being that I had been in Toastmasters , you're very familiar with that organization . One of their advanced projects is create a podcast . I said why don't I just do that One Saturday , literally in a Saturday , and anyone who wants to start a podcast ? It can be this easy . I figured out what equipment do I need , what software am I going to use , and it was all free , free , free . What could I do ? Bare bones , to test it out . I just banged out 12 episodes of all the basics , like how to get strong , how to pick a program , how to set up your home gym , those kinds of things . Got it out there .

Philip Pape 4:22

Before long , people started connecting with me saying , hey , this touched me , this made me think differently . I never understood why this worked that way . Why is my trainer telling me to eat a lot of protein ? Why is my trainer asking me to do deadlifts , whatever ? Ultimately , a powerlifter who listened to my show , who happened to be a co-worker , she came on as a guest and after the show was done , she said Philip , I need a new nutrition coach because the one I have is okay , but I never understand why I'm doing what I'm doing and you make it so clear . Please help me get that clarity . We started working together and I got my certification , and the rest is history .

Dai Manuel 5:03

Dude , I love that . I love that it spawned from a Toastmasters pathway project .

Philip Pape 5:09

Nick cool .

Dai Manuel 5:10

I think it's great . I'm almost on my second DTM right now , because I'm like old-school Toastmasters too . I did it in the original day when they had manuals .

Philip Pape 5:18

Yeah , me too . Me too , that was my DTM manual-based .

Dai Manuel 5:21

Wow , yeah , Now I'm going through pathways , which I think is awesome . It is a big improvement , but it's got its limitations as well . Dude , I absolutely love that , Philip . I really do . It also shines a light on something that's obviously part of your character , and I don't know if this comes from your upbringing or whatnot . But where does this desire for continuous evolution of Philip you know what I mean this desire to constantly want to sort of ascend Mazel calls it self-actualization , or us trying to unlock that greatest amount of potential . But where does that come from ? Was that inspired by your parents ? I'd love to know . Where does that come from for you ?

Philip Pape 6:02

Yeah .

Philip Pape 6:02

I would love to know as well what are you Because you're such a high-energy guy I know some people ascribe to the big M meaning I heard Alex Ramosy say in his mind there's no big M , there's just the little M , meaning the things that drive us on a regular basis , that we choose to do . I think part of it is not accepting convention , not accepting that you have to need to , should , must do certain things , that there's another way . I always want to be right and I always want to do something different . That kind of you combine that with curiosity that I think has ingrained in me . I took a survey . It's called the VIA survey . It's part of Applied Positive Psychology .

Philip Pape 6:43

I forget what book it's associated with Authentic Happiness . I think it's based on the idea that there are something like 24 strengths and most of us , our top five strengths , change very little throughout our lives , no matter what we do . One of those for me is curiosity , another is energy enthusiasm and another is optimism . I'm like , yeah , that's me , that's me . All right , I'm trying to match your level of energy , which is why I really like chatting with you . I don't know if I answered your question of where it came from . I had loving parents , I had a great upbringing and I'm an engineer too , so that could be part of it . I always want to solve and build and fix things in that respect .

Dai Manuel 7:21

Well , I appreciate that because I know , listening to your podcast , but also just listening to some of the social content that you published , you really do speak to the scientific backing and data , because you and I both know there's a lot of , let's just say , misinformation perpetuated , especially through social media , right , you get these self-proclaimed people that are experts I'm not going to throw down any names right now to publicly oust anybody , but we see some very interesting content being thrown out there , like maybe just the liver all the time , right ? I'm curious because you mentioned something about you really taking active interest , but you love being able to show people where not only misinformation lies but , more importantly , the myths in our space , especially when it comes to fitness and nutrition

Fitness Myths, Mindset, and Change

Dai Manuel 8:06

. And I'm curious , in this journey that you've been on with your podcast and connecting with audiences , what are the myths that you see popping up all the time ?

Philip Pape 8:14

Oh , there's so many , right ? Yeah , I think the most maybe top three We'll stick with top three for now .

Philip Pape 8:20

Yeah , because the premise of my show is a skepticism for the industry . Anything that's extreme is a myth . So I would say the fact that calories , that all calories are equal , is or no that calories count . What am I trying to say here ? I'm fumbling over my words . You can edit this out if you want . The myth that calories don't matter , like the myth that , for example , eating carbs versus fat is worse for you in some way . So it ties into a bunch of other myths that ultimately lead to the restrictive diets , whether it's keto , carnivore , high-fat , high-carb , whatever , the idea that eating , the different composition of things is going to cause you to gain or lose weight , when really it does come down to energy balance . And the composition affects many of the other things not related to energy balance , like your hunger , like your metabolism , things that ultimately then come back to energy balance . So that's the big one that ties into all of the other myths , I think .

Dai Manuel 9:14

Well , actually , this is probably a good stepping off into your philosophy , which I've seen elsewhere as well and it's one that I do , especially when I turned 40 , okay , it became something very evident because as I modified my own training , it just lifestyle choices , right , but that idea that less is more , and I worry , do you want to speak to that , especially around workout routines , maybe a nutrition ? Just give your own philosophy on that , because I think you have a really interesting perspective on it .

Philip Pape 9:40

Yeah , that is true , I think we do too much . I think , when we talk about training , a lot of the clients that I have coming in , especially female clients , are doing . They might be doing the F45 or CrossFit or some mode of movement in addition to playing tennis , in addition to doing their peloton , in addition to yoga and Pilates , and they're in a low energy availability state . And when you combine those two lots and lots of movement , which is stressful in your body , with not enough energy coming in it's a vicious cycle that feeds on itself because your body will compensate . People don't understand . The more you try to run and burn yourself out with this cardio and you're not eating enough , the more the body says oh , I got to shut down and survive , I've got to preserve those calories , and you burn fewer and fewer calories . And then you wonder why you can't lose weight . Eating 800 calories a day and running two hours a day , right , so the less is more is really important .

Philip Pape 10:33

I've had female clients come to me like that . Their hormones are out of whack , they're on thyroid medication and all we do is we say let's drop everything . Let's drop everything . We're going to train maybe three days a week . We're going to lift heavy . You're not going to be doing all those reps necessarily . You're just going to lift heavy and then see what happens , and oftentimes what happens is just the reduction in stress and the extra carbs and calories . They feel like a million bucks , you know . They all of a sudden can sleep , they have energy , they feel less stressed . And then physiologically it does improve hormones and you find either a reduction in these medications or at least a better regulation of those hormones , especially for perium penamide , postmenopausal women , but also for men testosterone . So yeah , less is more often .

Dai Manuel 11:16

Well , I like it and I know that you have your own little story about that journey to fitness after 40 . But I'd love you to touch on that . But , more importantly also , how do you inspire , motivate and , more importantly , educate people that are maybe over that 40 ? And they don't know or feel ? Maybe this is part of the better way to sort of frame this .

Dai Manuel 11:37

You know , I know people get to that sort of place in life and they can feel really low , right , like you know , in our 20s , well , we've got metabolism , we've got that youth on our side , right , we often have lots of just natural energy output and it can often offset all that . Well , it's just called alcohol calories , extra food calories , you know , just all the other excess stuff . But then in our 30s we get into sort of family mode and we often put our fitness on the back burner . And it's almost a cliche , I mean , we hear this all the time . I've lived that portion of my life for a period and so I know it's very real .

Dai Manuel 12:08

It's this sort of conundrum that sometimes people find themselves in . And then they get into the 40s and already feeling lethargic , they're feeling a bit poofy , puffy , you know , like they're just feeling low energy , but also the belief in themselves is also very low and the idea that they can change and I was hoping you could speak to that , because this is really talking about the mindset of the change . But also , as we age , it doesn't mean it's a real instant verdict that we can't get healthier than we were in our 20s , as an example , you know . So please speak to that . I'd love to hear your thoughts .

Philip Pape 12:41

Yeah , it is a mindset thing , and where my engineer hat comes in , and you know I- call myself a physique engineer .

Dai Manuel 12:47

I love it . I love it .

Philip Pape 12:50

Is if we can create massive awareness of what choices we are making that lead to these feelings , that lead to our training and our eating and our diet and thinking that we don't have enough time in our schedule and whatever else . Rather than try to unravel the psychology , which is very difficult and I'm not a psychologist either I'd rather say why don't we just measure or track to measure the things we want to measure ? What do we want to measure ? We want to measure what's going in our mouth of how it makes us feel . We want to measure our stress and we want to measure our training and kind of just measure these things . You know , whether you're doing this by yourself , with a coach , it doesn't matter , it doesn't have to be very complicated . We can talk about the 2% of your day . How to carve that out , to do that Within a week or two .

Philip Pape 13:33

Dai , when you , for example , just track what's going in your mouth , a whole bunch of revelations and insights start to pop out for yourself . I'm not even asking you to eat so much protein or calories or whatever . I'm just saying track it . And you say oh , now I see I eat the chicken nuggets for my kids plate all the time I drink an extra few glasses of beer than I thought . On Saturdays I'm eating the appetizer , the chips of the Mexican restaurant .

Philip Pape 13:59

It turns out that that's like 400 calories , and I didn't realize it and they might say no , but my week is very routine , monday through Friday . I'm a good boy , I'm a good girl , whatever the labels people use for themselves . And then Saturday things go great . Hey , wire , you can do the same with your biofeedback , the same with your circumference measurements , and I get very data driven , but I don't make it complicated . And then that awareness allows you to own your change and to have the agency with you and not think that it's just some feeling or some emotion that's been buried in there since childhood causing you to do this . It's like right in front of you .

Dai Manuel 14:36

So what was your journey like as you sort of approached 40 and beyond ? I'm just wondering how did that show up for you ?

Philip Pape 14:42

You mean with the awareness side of things ?

Dai Manuel 14:45

Yeah , and just coming to this place , where you obviously wanted to become more aware of your own health and well-being and I know that's a big driving factor for you but also the engineer aspect of who you are and that ability to just dissect things right and get into those little logical steps , I guess is also figuring out the roadmap in a way . And I just wondered is there an actual journey that you've had to navigate for this ? Because I find that the way you speak is very empathetic but also relatable and accessible , and that's not always the case , especially in our space , let's be honest .

Philip Pape 15:23

Yeah , yeah , I've been told that and I appreciate that and I guess it comes from the seeing the people around me how their choices over time especially my older folks in my family how it catches up to you over time and gives you poor health , whether that's metabolic disease , heart disease , stroke , diabetes , alzheimer's , just obesity and wanting to change my genetic tree , as they say . So I can't

Achieving Food Freedom Through Flexible Approaches

Philip Pape 15:48

say . There's one point in time it probably took from late 2019 to like 2021 , two years of just experimenting . But experimenting is probably the thing that's going to get anyone listening to figure it out , right , yeah Is test , test , test , retest , track and measure . The first thing for me was my training and I firmly believe , dai , that the root of obesity or the solution to obesity probably starts with muscle mass and not so much weight loss , right , and so if we can just lift something heavy , that's going to go a long way .

Philip Pape 16:24

And when I started doing that regularly that's another problem as I wasn't consistent with it . Even with CrossFit , I wasn't necessarily consistent when I started doing it . Consistent because I enjoyed it and saw the progress of that form of tracking , gave close the feedback loop , right . It's like in Toastmasters you close the feedback loop , you get the observation , you incorporate it , you do it again , you get more observations . And then nutrition came later and it was the same thing . I started tracking what I ate . I then said , well , now I do care about calories , now I do care about fats and carbs . It used to be forced on me , but now I kind of want to know , because I find that when I eat more carbs I perform better , I find that when I eat more protein my hunger signals are better , right , et cetera , and it just kind of built from there . And then finally , I guess , education for myself , with my nutrition certification , kind of capped it off with the full monty of information .

Dai Manuel 17:12

I love it . I think it's great , phillip , and also I know there's lots of different concepts and those listeners watching you got to go check out Phillip's podcast , because every episode is just a gauntlet of information but also very useful and easy to implement . To be quite frank , it's not like you're talking about someone having to reinvent their lifestyle to now accommodate fitness into their lives . It's like no , how do you do what you currently do but also start to reclaim some of your health and fitness is just one of the modalities , right . And I understand because also we're sort of skirting around that idea of the confidence piece that comes with it , right , that feeds right into the mindset and that you sort of talked about when you were starting to get consistent .

Dai Manuel 17:54

You started to notice the gains , notice the improvements , probably felt exposed energetic changes too , which is in itself very motivating to keep going , right . But there's one thing that you say and I like this sort of just the phrase of this , because I think it's let's be honest , man that the diet industry is like a trillion dollar industry , right , if you look at it globally , it's ridiculous , right . There's so much marketing going into weight loss , weight loss , weight loss and yet you're speaking to food freedom right and this idea of becoming free from that rat race of weight loss diets , et cetera , et cetera , and so I'd love for you to speak about what the heck's food freedom and how do we get it . I love it .

Philip Pape 18:38

Okay , if you're listening to this or watching this , I want you to think about what you ate yesterday . Just think of the meals . Recall what you ate yesterday . Was there any moment there where you felt like you couldn't eat something or felt like you had to eat something ? I couldn't , or I had to or I shouldn't ?

Philip Pape 18:59

If you ever felt , if you ever feel like that once during the day , then you don't have a liberating , free relationship with food at the moment . That's it . Like that is the premise of are you eating things that satisfy you ? Are you eating things that you enjoy and are you doing it guilt-free ? And if the answer is no to any of those things , then 100% of the time then you don't have food freedom yet . And do you want it ? The question is do you want food freedom ? Die ? Do you want it ? Does the person listening want that ? Food freedom is not eating whatever you want , whenever you want , without consequence . It's eating in alignment with your goals , knowing what those goals are and knowing how what you eat contributes to those goals .

Philip Pape 19:39

So if we again put the science hat on and go back to say the 90s , I think a lot of the research picked up on comparing rigid dieting to flexible dieting . Rigid dieting , being either a meal plan where you have to eat these foods or a rules like this , is good . This is bad , compared to flexible dieting , which is just eat whatever you want . It has to stay within this window of targets for calories and macros . And guess what they found ?

Philip Pape 20:04

They found that a rigid approach led to disordered eating , led to inability to maintain weight loss and led to a lack of adherence . You would just get off the diet , you'd fall off the wagon , so to speak , whereas a flexible approach is sustainable . You can keep going practically forever , the rest of your life , because , guess what ? The foods can change the seasons , change your goals , change the principles , stay the same . And so , when I personally have been through the rigid approach Keto , I did slim fascia a long time ago , I did weight watchers , I did atkins , I did paleo for a while because I was big in the CrossFit community Something was missing , because I would be successful for a while , and success being measured by number , on the scale , which is not success , in my opinion , listically , and then eventually I'd say man , I really want oatmeal or I really want a sandwich , or I really want a cup of rice , and if you're constantly telling yourself you want something , you can't have it , that's a recipe for disaster , right ?

Philip Pape 21:00

So it's as quote unquote , simple as that . But then the challenge for people is understanding how to make that shift , that belief shift , and then the practical shift to how to do that . So we can get into that if you want . But that's my idea of food freedom . I love it .

Dai Manuel 21:13

I really do .

Finding Freedom in Nutrition and Exercise

Dai Manuel 21:14

I enjoy that description and explanation because I'm a big fan of just . You got to own your choices and if that choice is taking you further away from your intentional goal , well , just got to ask yourself why am I making it ? And I'm the first person that says to clients , you know , I'm like listen , you want the cheesecake ? Yeah , I do . Well , then , choose to eat it , but I never want to hear you complain about it . You shouldn't give it one extra thought . And I make choices all the time . I'm like no , I'm having desserts tonight . I don't care , I'm having it , I'm choosing to have it . I'm like oh , you know , because I didn't crave it every night , I just , but there's special occasions , I'm going to eat it and I don't think about it . I'm like done , moving on , you know , and I think that's really what you're alluding to here because once you get to that freedom space , it is liberating .

Dai Manuel 21:56

You know it's liberating because you're not consumed by this constant thought about what's my next meal , you know , or what did I eat before ? Oh gosh , how many calories am I going to have to burn now in the gym today to make up for that extra thing I had last night ? You know , it's just like , oh my God , it's exhausting , and I've been there and I've done that and the anxiety part of my brain lights up like a Christmas tree . You know it's just money .

Philip Pape 22:19

Yes .

Dai Manuel 22:20

And it's not a very positive place to be . You know , it's really , really tough and I think your explanation is just wonderful . It is wonderful , you know . I know that you and I have also discussed this idea of this 2% solution , this idea of helping people implement something that's as little as just 30 minutes a day for themselves . That's very intentional in an area where they want to see growth or improvement . And I guess , based on what we've been talking about today , what do you think would be the best exercise someone could really , you know , just latch onto and commit to doing for seven to 10 days so they can start to appreciate but also experience a little bit of what you have been talking about today ?

Philip Pape 22:56

And if you indulge me , I'm going to take it to one next level . Okay , you go ahead man Do it up .

Philip Pape 23:01

And that's going to be . If 30 minutes is 2% of your day , I'm going to give you a five minute approach , a 15 minute approach and a 30 minute approach Great and you can build on these over time . So , starting with a five minute approach , it's super easy . It's five minutes spread throughout your day . Every time you eat , make sure that you have a protein and a fiber on your plate . That's it . Choose something with fiber , protein , something with fiber .

Philip Pape 23:23

Notice I'm not telling you what to eat , how much to eat , that you can't eat anything else . This is an additive approach to nutrition . This is what I love . I don't like cutting things , I like to add things in , because guess what inevitably happens ? It crowds other things out that don't serve you . Why is protein and fiber so important ?

Philip Pape 23:39

I love protein for three reasons , right , the first reason is maybe the obvious to us it helps build muscle , helps preserve muscle , one of the most beautiful tissues in the body that I think everyone should have and everyone should shrink-train . But we'll get to that . Number two it's the most filling macro . It's more filling in carbs and fats . I find that when clients just increase their protein , not to a number , just add more they start to eat less and their appetite signals self-regulate . When we talk about intuitive eating , that's an aspect of it is helping your appetite signals self-regulate with hormones . The third reason I love protein is and a lot of people don't think about this if you go to the grocery store and I say , okay , I want you to fill up your cart with enough protein for the week , you're going to stick around the edge of the grocery store .

Philip Pape 24:24

You're not going to go to the processed foods in the middle because there's very little protein there that doesn't sell and it doesn't make money for big food . Right , but what does All the animal products like lean meats , shellfish , fish , eggs , egg whites , cottage cheese we go to dairy , we've got cottage cheese , greek yogurt , milk , and then we have all the plant sources of proteins , all the grains like oats , even just plain old pasta and bread have a protein . Beans , legumes , all of the vegetarian , vegan options like peitan and tofu and tempeh you see what I'm getting at . These are wonderful . And guess what ? You eat more protein . You're going to just skip full . You're going to have more whole foods in your diet and then you combine that with fiber . Well , what does fiber do ? It unlocks nutrient density . Fruits , vegetables , seeds , whole grains , more long . You're now adding in all these wonderful things that you're probably missing right now from your diet , but without meal planning , without counting calories , without cutting anything out . So that's the five minute plan , right there .

Dai Manuel 25:21

Beauty . Well , are we going to get into the 15 and 30 , or what ? Yeah , I will , I will .

Philip Pape 25:25

Okay , I'm going to stay tuned for the next part , part two coming out next week the 15 minute plan . So this is an extra 10 minutes . I'm not saying an extra 15 just to get you to 15 . Is to now track your food . So track your food . And I'm not talking about hitting targets either , I'm just saying track it some way . Track it either in a paper log or in an app .

Philip Pape 25:45

My favorite app is called Macro Factor , but I don't want to pitch a specific app . There's reasons I like it over others because it's by the guys at Stronger , by Science . It's based on evidence-based targets . If you use the targets for protein , fats , carbs and it will calculate your true metabolism based on your change in body mass and how much you eat . So , instead of using a calculator or using your activity device , which can be off by hundreds of calories , it'll just say hey , how's your body changing based on what you eat ? That's pretty accurate .

Philip Pape 26:14

Track your food in addition to the protein and fiber . And now you're going to get a massive level of awareness . You're going to understand when you eat , your eating habits , how much you eat , how you graze , things like alcohol and indulgences you may not be aware of . You'll understand your timing of your food . Is it supporting your workouts ? Are you fasted training one day and then training fed the other and performing better one day versus the other ? It allows you to correlate all this stuff with what you want . Even we can get down to the nitty-gritty . You can track fiber and minerals like magnesium , iron , et cetera . I could go on and on , but just tracking at whatever level . Die is an extra 10 minutes a day , that's all it is . People think it's very tedious , but it's all it takes .

Dai Manuel 26:56

Well , it can be tedious , but I think it's the old journals that people used to have to write down .

Philip Pape 26:59

Oh yeah , it's what you enjoy .

Dai Manuel 27:02

There's so many apps now that help with this . I think that's one that you recommend . I think sounds great . That's one I'm going to have to go check out because I haven't seen that one yet . So thanks for the tip today . Yeah , Go ahead 30 minutes now .

Philip Pape 27:09

I have a code I'm not going to share unless you want me to , or we could put it in the notes . Pass it my way . I'll put it in the show notes for everybody , for sure . And then the last 15 minutes . It's going to sound well . I think you're not going to be surprised and I think the listener is not going to be surprised . But if you go to the gym for about 30 minutes on a beginner strength training program three days a week , if you spread that out over seven days , that's about an extra 15 minutes a day . So there's your extra 15 minutes .

Philip Pape 27:33

Die is simply working out and that might sound like a bigger leap . But frankly , if somebody came to me and said what should be my top priority of all the things in my nutrition , I would say strength training . So I'm that guy that says , yeah , I'm a nutrition coach , but I think everyone should be training and I'd rather you dial that in before going to all the optimization of your nutrition . Besides the simple things like protein , fiber and tracking that I already mentioned , I would rather you be lifting weights and getting the mental benefits , the energy benefits , the hunger appetite regulation from lifting and then the natural desire to eat better . That's going to come from lifting , and then you can take the next steps . So there you go .

Dai Manuel 28:16

Beautiful and I I got to really also just speak to the fiber piece because I thought that was just wonderful that you you referenced that because it's it's one thing I try to harp on , without harping you know what I mean . Because it's one thing to just keep unique fiber and people just don't want to be pointed at , right , but I usually say I need more fiber . Well , that's how I started . You know , there was a Dr Scott Connelly . He wrote body Rx .

Dai Manuel 28:39

Like this is like way back in the late nineties , right , but I remember him going on a show and he challenged Bill Phillips , sean Phillips , all of these guys you remember , like they were doing body for life and all that and they were big into like cutting it and all this stuff . And he was the guy that was like in his late fifties , early sixties and he basically on the show you know he's saying I'll challenge any of those guys to come out here and take the shirt off and he pulls up his shirt . Guys , in his sixties he's got an eight , right , and he just a stupid fit dude . But his big thing was protein and fiber , yeah , and working people up to like 50 grams of non soluble fiber a day , right and it was incredible . And when I started to adapt that into my own training and my own nutrition , it was incredible . Some of the results all of a sudden I started to see plus , a lot of the bloat goes away . You know , you find that your levels regulate better .

Dai Manuel 29:28

Yes , Everything , and it's been one thing that I've maintained for gosh now , you know , going on close to 25 years . So it's I love that you referenced those two points I mean you're throwing down today and it's like truth bomb after truth box . So thank you for that . And you know what I got to ask you because I know people are probably wondering . All right , and they're wondering . They're like because you know , during the intro I make mention of just you have a very full life , you know , you and I both , but your kids are at a different stage and what my kids are now like . I'm an empty nester now , right , so I don't have the same daily demands . But not only are you an entrepreneur , right , not only are you a family man , not only are you a podcast I mean , you are , you are all these hats . So what is a typical day ? Look for Phillip .

Philip Pape 30:14

Oh yeah , it's pretty full

Training, Scheduling, and Family Life

Philip Pape 30:16

. It's pretty full . I always train in the morning , so that's , I train first thing in the morning .

Dai Manuel 30:19

Do you fast it or unfast it ?

Philip Pape 30:21

No , no , no . Okay , I can tell you a quick story on that . I fasted , trained for many years . I intermittent fasted and trained when I was doing CrossFit and I felt fine , like my body adapted to it . And then when I started to introduce a little bit of protein and carbs ahead of my workout , the performance went up , mainly of feeling like I could get a few more reps and not getting drained by the end of my workout . Especially when you're doing like 89 , 100 minute long strain training sessions where you're lifting heavy because the glycogen just gets drained Right . And I've had clients who want to train fasted and I'm like give it a shot , and what you could do is a quasi approach where you drink some like liquid carbs partway through the training to get going and then it sustains you before you get to your next feeding . But yeah , no , I don't train fast .

Philip Pape 31:05

I have a banana and a protein shake half an hour before I read a book . That's like my one time of just reading fiction usually Books in the dark , in the cold , northeast , reading my book Usually it's an ebook and then I hit the weights and that gets the day started and I know that . So here's where science says lifting in the afternoon is slightly higher performing than lifting in the morning . But there's a lot of other science that says lifting in the morning and other benefits for mood and mental health and a lot of other things . Cortisol regulation , because it sort of burns down some of that cortisol that we are jacked up with all the time . So I lift weights . Then usually the next hour , hour and a half is the business that I want to give the most quality to , because in the morning is when I'm sharpest . So I make sure to have .

Philip Pape 31:54

I don't know , it could be anything on any given day , but it's usually like putting together the email for my email list . It might be prepping the final touches on my podcast for the next day . It's something that requires intellectual energy that I want to get right . The rest of the day it's kind of fluid for me .

Philip Pape 32:09

I don't like to be too rigid with that , but I'm going to have a lot of calls and check ins and I leave my calendar open every day for breakthrough sessions , for client calls , for me giving people feedback and for social media . Social media takes up more time than we'd like sometimes . Yeah , no , and then throughout the day I work from home , so my wife teaches the kids we homeschool and I absolutely love that , like I'm grateful that I can do that because I have so much time with them throughout the day , like little Spirits here and there of time that add up , and then at night we eat at the dinner table together . The kids always , have always eaten what we ate from the time they were babies , which that could be its own episode about like getting your kids to eat , right ? I ?

Dai Manuel 32:56

I talk about this all the time . Even in my book I talked about that . You know , people like what ? What don't you guys make multiple meals ? I'm like , yeah , that , no , they what are they doing ? We have it when you tell people what if they don't want to eat what we're eating . Philip .

Philip Pape 33:09

Then you give it to them again and you give it to them again and guess what hunger will take over . That's it . It's simple . I mean there's , there's nuances , but that's that's pretty much what it is . And they , you know . Then they look at the kids menu . They're like I don't want that , I don't want the real foot , I hate to say it , that's what they'll say sometimes like I want the adult food , you know . So , yeah , we eat at the dinner table together . I think that's really important because that's the one time for sure no devices , no distractions . I'm not listening to a podcast , we're just talking , and that might be my only social time . And by even though I've talked to a million people during the day online , it's not the same . It's just sitting and reflecting with your family , and then at night I have what I call daddy time . So this is about an hour with my kids , just them and me , and then my wife wife time with me , which is the final , the conclusion of the night , and that's just relaxing , watching some Netflix and other activities .

Dai Manuel 34:00

Beautiful sounds like a very full life , but also a very rewarding life . And the best thing , I love it You're engineering your days , you know , and you know charge of those days , and I think I mean , we all have that ability to some extent , and and so it's great . I'm so happy that you're just a wonderful role model , but also modeling the habits , right , that help you sustain this version of you but also attain the version you're always working towards , right , which is pretty freakin awesome , man , yeah and I'm not perfect .

Philip Pape 34:30

I could , I could easily list all the things that are that I'm working on right , but I guess what ? One final takeaway is Many clients that I have have trouble with their schedule coming in right like that is the one thing . They're busy , they're busy , I don't have time , I'm too busy . Very simple hack or suggestion for that is just take the one thing that is the most important for you that you are not yet focused on , and then this could be strength training , and that has to be the first thing you schedule for the week or not . Has to be , but you can choose to schedule that first , before anything else . And If the answer is I still can't do it , then that that's a different problem with your schedule . You're scheduled way too far . And then you get into a different discussion about time management and blocking and cutting things out , eliminating yeah .

Dai Manuel 35:14

I know it's like , and I'm sure you do this too , but I ask everyone , and even ones , listen . This is no shaming , you're no blaming , but if you look at those smartphone devices nowadays , there's an actual screen Tracker where it looks at all the apps you use . It allows so how much you're on your phone in a day . And that's just one device , one device of multiples that we all are either consuming from and and I always just challenge people . You know people don't want to be challenged sometimes . I'll invite you to take a look at that , because you'll realize you can probably Reallocate some of that screen time on your phone to some of the things that you and I've been talking about today , phil , and and trust me , the things that we've been talking about . He's just gonna have more fun .

Philip Pape 35:55

Okay , you just the end of the day , you're gonna be smiling more . Yes .

Dai Manuel 36:00

Online , right like when you start to feel more confident because you're taking charge of your own health and that health Destiny that we're all born into . I mean . I believe everyone's entitled to help . They really are and and .

Dai Manuel 36:11

I gotta commend you . You're making it so accessible for us , phillip , and and just , it's very refreshing to hear your take on it , and it must be that engineer brain , but also the fact that you yourself have also been a great student and now are the teacher . So , yeah , I'll just to sort of riff on what you've been sharing and and I gotta say one thing and then I'm gonna let you have some closing remarks here before we go . But I am my applications and for those that know I am a big fan of memes and gist and I've got probably a test that he's filled out my application like a lot of other people . And but I have a question in there when to ask people . If you could have a 2% chat with anybody alive or dead , who would that be ? And Phillip chose Fred Rogers , you know , and , and I'm curious , you know , if you had that opportunity , what would be like the one question you love to ask him ?

Philip Pape 36:54

Oh , I had , I had thought about that . What is the question

Mr. Rogers and Empathy in Coaching

Philip Pape 36:57

?

Dai Manuel 36:57

I know I didn't prep anybody . I never prepared anybody . There's always one question I throw it and I know no one's prepped for it , so it's just . It's okay , you can take a second to think on it . I'll play the Jeopardy theme song .

Philip Pape 37:07

That makes it even worse .

Dai Manuel 37:10

I know worse .

Philip Pape 37:11

Oh , what would I say ? Well , first , I mean , why did I pick Fred Rogers Rogers first ? Yeah , yeah , yeah , because when my girls were little my wife had pointed out that she watched mr Rogers growing up . It was back to back with Sesame Street . This was in the 80s . I mean he was on for like 40 years and I I never watched him . I watched like once or twice . I remember thinking as a kid , oh that's boring . That's probably why I didn't watch it . You know , everything is so stimulative when you look at kids shows and so when the girls were little I would watch it with them like on Streaming , and started watching .

Philip Pape 37:42

I was like this guy is genius , like he is compassionate and understanding of what kids are going through , like he talks to them as if they're not kids . First of all he talks at their level and Then he empathizes with very concrete , little you know , problems or issues or challenges kids face , and it they could be big ones , like death right , or they could be just little ones , like bullying or friends , or you know not what to do with your anger , right ? He made a very famous speech to Congress that anyone can find on YouTube . That swayed Congress to continue funding PBS Based on a song in his show about what to do with your anger , like what to do with the mad that you feel . So it's just it's like as an adult I could almost appreciate it more , but I was glad to expose my kids that . So what would I ask mr Rogers ? Oh man , I don't know . This is so hard . It's such a hard question .

Dai Manuel 38:38

Okay , you know what . That can be a follow-up for a tweet or something . So we'll figure it out later . But I just think I love the fact that you just bring him up because , yeah , I grew up watching Fred Rogers and mr Dress up and if anyone's seen the new mr Dress up Documentary , it's on on Amazon , on prime . It's great , we got to go see it . It was here at the Vancouver Film Festival . That's where I got to see it earlier this year and it's just phenomenal .

Dai Manuel 38:58

But what a lot of people realize is those two came up together and Fred Rogers went you United States , where you know , mr Dress up went to Toronto and but they were both American , but you know they had both defected up to Canada at one point . And then Fascinating story , yeah , mr Dress up , and because they both started around the same time , they actually worked together on an initial show that they did before they went off and did their own shows . Yeah , they're both very iconic and one's a Canadian icon , the other one's American icon , but just it's phenomenal when you look at the backstory , the origin story . So I think it would be something that you and your kids would love to watch as well . I know we watched it with our family and everybody was there . Wasn't that a dry eye in the audience ? Let's just put it that way .

Philip Pape 39:39

Yeah , yeah .

Dai Manuel 39:41

But listen , I want to give you the opportunity for closing remarks today . Is there anything you'd like to say or any question that I should have asked you that I forgot to ?

Philip Pape 39:49

I should have an answer . I'm ready for this , because that's the question I always ask , like what should , what should you have asked ? I mean , I think you just briefly touched on the idea that , even though I come from a science and engineering perspective , one thing that surprised me the most like I guess what surprised you the most about being , you know , being in this space and working with people is how it really is about people . It's about . Everyone is so individual , like everyone is just so unique in so many different ways . And , and Even though we're talking about being teachers , at the end of the day , I don't want to be telling you something because I think I'm right and I know what's good for you .

Philip Pape 40:27

I want to be able to listen and hear what you're going through and what , why you think this is a problem and you have , if you have , assumptions about Carbs or anything else , that's fine . That's what you've heard . It's okay . I'm not , I'm not here to correct you about that . I'm here to understand why is that important to you and what's your goal . So , like anybody listening , just empathy , empathy and communication to me skyrocket right to the top of of anything . And we're talking with humans , but especially with coaching and in this space Well said .

Dai Manuel 40:55

Well , said I like I love it and you know , before we go today , because I know you're just as connected online as I am and I know everybody is nowadays , but but we all have sort of our favorite platforms where we we tend to show up more than they others . For you , what's the best platform for people to connect with you on ? If they're new to fill up , new to Whitson weights , you know , like just just to get started with you on the day-to-day what's the best platform for them to check you out ?

Philip Pape 41:21

I would go to Instagram at Whitson weights .

Dai Manuel 41:23

Well , quick and easy , awesome , awesome .

Dai Manuel 41:25

Well , all your links will be in the show notes , of course , and and obviously I'll be linking also to the great podcast , which I feel very grateful I had the opportunity to Check out and and I just gonna say thank you , you know , thank you again , as Y'all learn through two main methods , and that's modeling and mentorship , and you Wrap up both of those very , very well , but you also tie the bow on top with empathy , you know , and and I just got to say thank you for that , because it is a refreshing voice in this space yeah , I've been around the space for 28 years and I can tell you there's I've seen it all , man , I've seen it all and I'm and I'm sure there's much more I will see yet , but thank you Honestly , thank you for everything that you do .

Dai Manuel 42:06

Philip , I'm super stoked for this conversation and I can't wait to have you back because I know we just covered the tip of the iceberg today , but there'll be follow-up series and I'm just gonna throw this down for everybody that's listening , watching . If you have any questions for Philip , anything specific , he's got a great Facebook group and go check it out you . He takes questions once a week and he has a dedicated episode re-inserts just those questions , and I'm totally riffing on that too . I'll be doing the same because I think it's just an awesome way to to really give people what they want and support them where there anything else you like to say before we say goodbye , philip positivity over cynicism Will prevail in this space .

Philip Pape 42:42

I am grateful for the opportunity to come on and I absolutely love your energy . Anyone listening ? Just just just put them up , put die on your podcast feed and listen first thing in the morning and it'll get you going . So , thank you so much . Uh , we'll talk soon .

Dai Manuel 42:56

Wow , and that's a wrap on an incredible episode with the amazing Philip paid . His insights on achieving fitness over 40 , the liberating concept of food freedom , power of empathy and coaching have been nothing short of enlightening . Remember , it's not just about lifting weights , is about lifting each other up . Philip's journey from engineering to empowering others is a testament to the fact that , with the right mindset , the right tools and a sprinkle of empathy , transformation is within everyone's grasp . Be sure to check out Philip's podcast at Wits and Waits for more wisdom bombs , and don't forget to tune in to the 2% solution podcast for more episodes that fuel your journey towards becoming your best self . Until next time , keep pushing that extra 2% and remember it's the small steps that lead to giant leaps in life .