Why I Joined Orange Theory (even though it’s “Bad” if you’re over 40)

A few months ago, my exercise routine stopped working for me. I’d been focusing on strength training for years, but I just didn’t want to go to the gym anymore. I felt super apathetic.

At first, I chalked it up to bad sleep and low energy. But then I realized that some sneaky Menopause 101 messaging was actually holding me back from doing what felt right for my body.

In this episode, I take you behind-the-scenes on how I noticed I was falling off track and the method that helped me return to movement again.

Tune in to hear about:

• How to bridge the Knowing-But-Not-Doing gap
• My experience with Orange Theory as a cardio-skeptic
• How to find the triggers that get you off track
• Polarity lessons I’ve learned from HIIT classes
• The results I’ve noticed with my sleep, my energy, my mental health, and my weight since reintroducing cardio

Mentioned in this episode:

• Next Level by Dr. Stacy Sims
• Listen to Dr. Stacy Sims on Insatiable podcast
• Try a free Orange Theory class
• Get my free Masterclass: Untangle Your Food Triggers: Catch Yourself Before You Fall Off Track
• Learn about the Truce Coaching Certification
• Special thanks to Juliet for her expert guidance. Learn more or work with Juliet here.

Connect with Ali & Insatiable:

Transcript

Ali Shapiro [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Insatiable, the podcast where we discuss the intersection of food, psychology and culture. Knowing myself, I like to be challenged. And this is when I started to question if what I was told to do, I needed to trade that for what felt good. And this is how you bridge the knowing but not doing gap. You have to double down on satisfaction, not discipline.


Ali Shapiro [00:00:28]:
I'm your host, Ali Shapiro, an integrated health coach, 32 year and counting cancer survivor, and have radically healed my relationship with food and my body. And for the past 17 years I've been working with clients individually in group programs and in company settings to do the same. Welcome. The information in this podcast should not be considered personal, individual or medical advice. 


Ali Shapiro [00:01:00]:
Hello, I am back. I have missed being behind the mic, but I'm back for the foreseeable future. I have so many great episodes coming up for you all, including we're going to return with body stories with SaaS. I know all of you have been loving those. I have a great interview with Elise Loehnan who has been on the POD last year around this time, and a lot of great minisodes to share with you guys and some other great interviews that I can't wait to share with you. And today's episode is I think gonna be really helpful for those of you who are struggling with the knowing but not doing gap.


Ali Shapiro [00:01:36]:
So if you've ever found yourself doing all the right things for your health and again, if you're in midlife, that's lifting, heavy eating, protein walking, you know, and you still feel off, right? So either of those things, you know what you're to do and you're not doing it, or you're doing all the things and still feeling off and not getting the results that you want. That's what I came up against here this summer. And I'm going to walk you through how I got through it because that was me, right? If you guys listened to my series on perimenopause and menopause, you know, I'm a big advocate of a lot of what people are talking about out there, getting your protein, getting your sleep, walking and lifting. But a couple months ago, at 46 post menopause, after lifting for four years of strength training, I was doing all the things consistently, but I stopped wanting to do them. Not eating, eating. I'm locked in. That's not really that challenging for me anymore, unless when I'm tired and not sleeping, but exercise, right? So I again had drank the conventional menopause Kool aid, which is really important when you're first getting started and I was doing all the things consistently, but then something started to shift and, and I just didn't feel like going to the gym to weight train. And I wasn't just plateauing or maintaining the exercise benefits for me, which are really good moods, really great energy and weight loss or maintenance like before.

Ali Shapiro [00:03:03]:
So I was just feeling really lethargic, feeling really uninspired, and I was starting to gain some of the weight back that I had just lost over the past three and a half years. So in this episode, I'm gonna walk you through why I actually transitioned from focusing on strength to, to prioritizing cardio, specifically Orange Theory. It's a national chain. I know many of you have probably heard of it. I had already always heard of it before, but was kind of like, I'll explain to you why I was like kind of anti initially. But this isn't because you need to do Orange Theory, right? In my work, I'm always about what works for you, when and how to figure that out. And this episode is going to really help you start to think about that for yourself. But, but I want you to understand that when you stumble upon a knowing but not doing gap, right, the shoulds.

Ali Shapiro [00:03:50]:
I should be walking more, I should be strength training. I shouldn't be emotionally eating, I shouldn't be falling off track. What you really need is more self awareness. Not more scrolling on Instagram, not more trends. Not thinking there's one magic bullet out there that's going to like fix you. You don't need to be fixed. Rather, I'm going to walk you through what's really going on underneath and why it makes sense. Okay, so just for those of you who are just joining us, my health backstory really quickly for newish listeners.

Ali Shapiro [00:04:17]:
I'm 46, like I said, and I'm post menopause. My menopause was most likely brought on early by chemotherapy I had as a teenager. So about four and a half years ago, I went to the doctor for plantar fasciitis and I stepped on the scale for the first time since giving birth. So I also gave birth at 41, so I was 42 years old. I stepped on the scale for the first time postpartum and I was 30 pounds above my pre pregnancy weight. So in addition to plantar fasciitis, I just learned I was still 30 pounds above my pre pregnancy weight, which is essentially what I gained during pregnancy. And I had terrible insomnia, which I had just chalked up to new motherhood. And it was also the pandemic.

Ali Shapiro [00:04:57]:
So I was walking outside, I was more active than I had ever been because that was the only thing there was to do. So I felt really in the dark about what was happening to my body. I wasn't emotionally eating. I didn't think my eating had changed that much. And this was again, coming off just a year before. I had overcome an infertility diagnosis naturally, okay, I had a really easy, healthy pregnancy with normal weight gain. And I had a really empowering birth at 41. So to have not only my health, but my weight and my entire body fall apart on all levels a year later, it was really like the contrast was so disorienting.

Ali Shapiro [00:05:36]:
So about a year after getting on that Dr. Scale, so by the time I was 42, I realized I was in the final stages of perimenopause. And that hormonal shift explained a lot. It explained the weight gain, it explained my poor sleep and my rage and anger. So I had this, like really complex and brutal soup of being postpartum and menopause at the same time. So that was about four and a half years ago when, believe it or not, no one was talking about menopause like they are today. I can't believe, like the explosion in information. And so I had found Dr.

Ali Shapiro [00:06:09]:
Stacy Sims book, Next Level. And it really explained to me what was happening with my hormones and my body and that, oh, by the way, hormones are more important than just whether or not you want to get pregnant.

Ali Shapiro [00:06:21]:
Right.

Ali Shapiro [00:06:22]:
And so it really spoke to me like an adult to teach me how my body works. So she really recommends strength training, as she says, lifting heavy. So I got a. I had to get a coach to help me because I had never strength trained the way that she had recommended, and I was injuring myself a lot. And so over four years, I lost about 30 pounds. And I really built consisting lifting habits and walking habits. And this is the most active I've been in my 30s and 40s. Okay.

Ali Shapiro [00:06:50]:
And yes, I ate more protein. One of the things I discovered through my insomnia was I thought I was eating kind of paleoish, but it was more keto. When you eat whole foods, it's really easy to eat a high fat, low carb, low protein diet. And that's what I was doing. So I shifted my nutrition, of course. And the, the beauty was I wasn't triggered by the weight gain. I mean, I wasn't happy about it, but I didn't do the shame spiral that used to happen when I struggled with my weight for 20 years, right from the time I was 8 to 28, I've done so much of the emotional work through my work that I. That I help other clients with.

Ali Shapiro [00:07:25]:
So my weight wasn't tied to my worth. So what this means is I didn't think my life was going to be limited because of weight gain, right? I wasn't. Again, I wasn't happy and I was not comfortable in my body, but I was able to track food and not be triggered because I didn't think it meant I was a bad person if I, you know, had overeaten or didn't hit my protein goals. Like, like I had really worked through my perfectionism and I could just approach my health like a logic puzzle as a result of my own truce with food. Cuz I didn't see this as a personal failure I should feel shame about. And this also meant I was able to allow it to take the time it was gonna take, because my insomnia really threw a wrench in whether I could like, tackle anything above my baseline, which was caring for an infant, surviving a pandemic, and running a business.

Ali Shapiro [00:08:10]:
Okay.

Ali Shapiro [00:08:12]:
And so for me, like, weight loss just wasn't as high of a priority as those other things. And for me, I hate tracking my food and it takes a lot of energy. And so that's why it took me three and a half years to lose 30 pounds. Cause I would care and then I would just kind of maintain, gain a couple of pounds and then lose more, like lose another 10, maintain for a while, gain a couple, and then, you know, go back. So. But I did lose 30 pounds over about three and a half years by following all this expert's advice. The probably what's coming through your Instagram feed and what you're listening to on other podcasts like this, right? And for me, that was the strength training advice that Dr. Sims had talked about.

Ali Shapiro [00:08:49]:
The gym I went to really helped me with it. And then the sleep coach I hired who is a functional nutritionist, and she really helped me address the root causes of my insomnia, which is in part because I wasn't getting enough protein or enough carbs. So that was the expert expertise advice. And that was like, really solid, right? Really solid. It's kind of like base camp, right? If you're hiking a mountain. But as I tell my clients, those experts can only get you halfway up the mountain. Okay, but that next half where, as the inspirational quotes say, the most beautiful views, right? And that is really the keeping it up path, right? The knowing but not doing Gap bridging that, that's where you have to find your own path. And you need a Sherpa.

Ali Shapiro [00:09:29]:
So Sherpas, right, are these skilled mountaineers who don't tell you do it like I do it. They know strategy, they know, they've worked with so many people, they know how to help you find your own path.

Ali Shapiro [00:09:41]:
Sherpas don't give formulas or rules to follow. And they're certainly not telling you that one magic bullet, whether that be lifting or protein, or an energy green drink that shall be named Nameless, it's going to fix you, right? They're going to tell you it's a little bit more. You need to do a little bit more of, of. Of something else, right? And it's, it's not just one thing, but they guide you on your own path. So that's the backstory. Now, I want to transition into this next part, which is about the knowing but not doing gap. And if you don't know how to bridge this gap, which is what my work is all about, so I do know how to do that, this can easily turn into a downward spiral, okay? If you don't know how to bridge that gap and you think it's just about willpower or discipline, you're probably going to end up in a downward spiral. But if you know how to bridge that gap, you can spiral up.

Ali Shapiro [00:10:32]:
Okay?

Ali Shapiro [00:10:33]:
And so I'm going to show you how I did that. But this is going to give you a lot of clues because I'm going to tell you what was working underneath. Because it wasn't about Orange Theory, in some ways, it was. So from about December through March of last year into this year, I had a ton of stress, okay. I was launching some programs. Carlos, the year before, had lost his job, right? And so that's a big deal. He contributes to half of our income. And he was trying to figure out his.

Ali Shapiro [00:10:59]:
His way in the world, right? And then there's lots of behind the scenes stuff happening in my business, which is all wonderful and amazing stuff, but it's a lot of moving parts.

Ali Shapiro [00:11:09]:
And then we were trying to decide where to send my son Essa, to school. We were wondering, should we move to the suburbs and be able to just really feel comfortable and happy about the public schools and, you know, have a lot more financial security? Or do we say in the city and go to private schools? And it was, it was really existential, city versus suburbs. If you're a city person, you might understand that. And we were trying to decide what to do and then you have to apply to these schools. We ended up going the private school route, and it's like, oh, my God, what is the right one? And, you know, all this stuff. And it really became a lot more involved than I was like, bargaining for, because I went to public school, Carlos went to public school. My parents were public school teachers. This was a very big learning curve.

Ali Shapiro [00:11:52]:
So anyhow, my insomnia came back those four months. So I was able to still adapt my workouts, which for me, I had to drop off the cardio sprints that I was doing, and I was just lifting and walking. It was really like a maintain era because I was so tired, I was eating well. But when I don't sleep, it's easy to get some extra food every day because of your decreased satiety. That is like physiologic, right? Your, your satiation hormones go down, your hunger hormones go up when you're not sleeping well. So I essentially had gained about 10 pounds over 10 months, which when I did the math is like a little over extra, like a hundred calories a day, which is very easy to do when you're not sleeping well. And it was also the holidays, you know, and I don't really go crazy during the holidays, but I'm certainly like, having exactly what I want. So by the time April rolled around, there was a real loss of joy around my exercise and just my overall health.

Ali Shapiro [00:12:47]:
Okay.

Ali Shapiro [00:12:47]:
I wasn't just plateauing, I was going backwards. And I just couldn't motivate myself to go to the gym, which at this stage of my life over the past four and a half years, I've developed such a habit. And I love it, right, Because I've connected it to these mental health benefits, these energy benefits, and yes, the weight loss and to feel comfortable in my body. So that was very unlike me.

Ali Shapiro [00:13:07]:
Okay.

Ali Shapiro [00:13:07]:
I was just mentally, mentally and physically tired. And then the compounding of my sleep issues was really starting to take a toll. And I was also feeling really emotionally drained.

Ali Shapiro [00:13:18]:
Even in parts of my work. And I recognize this as a falling off track trigger that I teach my clients when they're falling off track with food. But in this case, it also applies to exercise. It really applies to anything. But I was really tired. That's one of the main triggers why we know what we need to do, but don't do it. And that wasn't just physically, but like kind of existentially and emotionally. And what I knew I needed then come April.


Ali Shapiro [00:13:46]:
Well, so now we're April of This year, when I didn't want to go to the gym, I needed self awareness. Why is there this gap? I actually like moving my body. It feels good. It gives me great benefits immediately and long term. And I was like, oh, I need to change it up. I need novelty, right? Our bodies need novelty. That's why if you eat the same foods forever, maybe you're like, oh, like I go crazy when I go out to eat on Fridays. But maybe it's because really you're eating the same thing during the week and that's novelty, right? Or the weekends or on vacation.

Ali Shapiro [00:14:18]:
And knowing myself, I like to be challenged, okay? And so I was like, I need a new challenge. And this is when I started to question if what I was told to do, right, lifting heavy, like, I needed to trade that for what felt good. And this is how you bridge the knowing but not doing gap. You have to double down on satisfaction, not discipline. Or another way of saying is you have to stop trying to do what looks good to others and rather feels good in your body and life.

Ali Shapiro [00:14:50]:
And this is after clients have worked with me for a while, they're like, oof, I get it now. Like, this is actually really challenging to trust in satisfaction. Like, I can actually trust that where my body's leading me is safe and going to get me the results I want. Yes. So in this case, I knew I needed to mix up my workouts. The old workouts weren't meeting my needs anymore. For the current season of my life, I was bored, right? After four and a half years of lifting. All right, so this is now what we know.

Ali Shapiro [00:15:17]:
The new, the knowing but not doing gap is your needs are not being met, okay? You're feeling emotionally unsafe some way. I was bored. I needed novelty. And it was showing up in how I felt in my body. Not about my body, but in my body. Lethargic, uninspired. And yes, I was gaining some weight. It motivated me a little bit, but it was really the, like, apathy that.

Ali Shapiro [00:15:39]:
That scares me. Apathy of. Of certain things that should bring me joy. So the second step here is, okay, what are my needs?


Ali Shapiro [00:15:47]:
So for me, as I stopped wanting to lift at the gym, I found myself, when I would go there, I'd be like, oh, I feel like doing some HIIT workouts. HIIT is high interval intensity training where you basically go really high in your heart rate zone, like 80 to 90%, and then you recover.

Ali Shapiro [00:16:05]:
And I was starting to do that a few times a week, and I was really loving it, which is I'm not always loving running, right? But I was really loving it. I love the endorphin high. And it gave me a real charge in my system.

Ali Shapiro [00:16:17]:
It really kind of snapped me out of that, that inertia, and that was trickling into feeling really energized and having more agency in my life.

Ali Shapiro [00:16:27]:
And I also realized I really missed working out in community. I had done that for three years. And that was, I know, part of why I continued to show up. I'm very social. I mean, I have a podcast, but I work by myself, right? So, you know, I love the gym because it was social. Carlos would be like, oh, I don't like the gym. It's so social. So this is, again, self awareness.

Ali Shapiro [00:16:48]:
But I needed that. And as it so happens, when you're rooted into your body's wisdom, when you actually understand what you're falling off track with food, with exercise actually means, and you know what those needs are, right? What those triggers are and what your needs are, I find the universe or God or the life force, whatever you want to call it, it starts to bring you things that are aligned. So for me, this was my awesome neighbor, Charlay. She had been doing Orange Theory for a while and had suggested it to me, like, about a year ago. And I was like, ah, too much cardio, right? I had dismissed it. I was like, it's not enough heavy lifting. I mean, I was drinking the menopause one on one Kool Aid, right? But she was like. I was telling her about how I was like, I just don't feel like working out and it's affecting my mood.

Ali Shapiro [00:17:34]:
And she was like, try Orange Theory. They have lifting. And I was like. I was like, they do. And she was like, yeah. So I researched it, right? So I was like, all right, let me. Let me go research this. I'll get back to you.

Ali Shapiro [00:17:45]:
She's my neighbor, so I see her, like, every day. So I researched it, and when I went on the website, the messaging had shifted to include strength training. It was like, build muscle strength train. Now me being me, who is a healthy skeptic, I was like, oh, are they really adapting and evolving, or is this just a marketing message they slept on because of the menopause gold rush happening, right? Is this. The health and wellness space in general is just so much more rooted in capitalism than any sense of sanity anymore? So anyhow, I was like, all right, I'm just gonna first see if I like it, right? And to my surprise, I loved it.

Ali Shapiro [00:18:19]:
The community, the intensity, the Music going with charolay. They had 6:15 in the morning classes, so I could be over and back. Not a lot of traffic during the day. At that time, you don't have to pay for parking, right? And I could be over and back before Essa and Carlos even got up. So it met all of these needs, right? I was like, yes, this is my new workout. So I was like, okay, this meets all my needs. Yay. But as I do in my work with clients, I had to understand the protective resistance to change or trusting in what feels good.

Ali Shapiro [00:18:50]:
So for me, I was accommodating the Menopause 101 info. And it's like, you need to do strength training or you'll fall and live a frail life. Messaging, right? That was so loud. As my clients and I talk about, like, all that noise and when we feel overwhelmed or in the dark, like I did four and a half years ago. And it's really natural to turn to experts. And again, they can be a very stabilizing, stabilizing force. They can get you kind of where in the right direction you want to go. But at some point, and I know how to do this, you need to learn how to discern what will work for you in the current season of your life.

Ali Shapiro [00:19:26]:
You need more flexibility. You need a flexible structure to replace perfectionism. You need a flexible structure that's going to feel good rather than trying to be good. So I could see this pattern of mine, and I knew I wanted to challenge it. Okay, so how did I kind of bust these myths around orange theory and menopause, right? How did I, like, trust that I could trust in what's feeling good? So now that I knew what I really liked, I googled it. I googled orange theory and menopause, and I got wildly conflicting messages on Reddit, right? So I don't. Not a regular user of Reddit, but you. Most people know Red Reddit can be really great or really terrible and awful.

Ali Shapiro [00:20:05]:
And I saw that even Dr. Stacey Sims was being misrepresented in clickbait articles, right? Not just in Reddit, but everywhere. And I was like, ugh. So I was like, I have to call someone who can, like, be a Sherpa, right? Not tell me what to do, but really explain to me what I need at this stage or how to think about this. So I called Juliet, who was my former co host here on Insatiable. We're still really close, and I just wanted to get clarity. And she helped me reframe everything. And she was my.

Ali Shapiro [00:20:32]:
Sherpa on this one, because she won't tell me what to do, right? She'll teach me how to think so I can figure out what works best for my needs. I got to learn how to learn about what I need. So I want to share what Juliet shared here so that if you are in the same situation I am, or even if you want to start really focusing on needs versus habits and behavior change, which doesn't allow a lot of flexibility, this can help you. So here is Julie's muscle and cardio wisdom, and she said that I could share all of this. So the first thing I said to her is like, okay, I'm supposed to lift heavy, but what does that really mean? Like, okay, like, when I was doing, like, the CrossFit style workouts, I was confident I was lifting heavy. But what does that really mean? Because when you can get to the essential nature of what you need to do, you will see there's a lot of flexibility. So what she was saying is that basically, you can do lifting heavy anywhere, right? This is what I'm talking about, the needs. What you need to do to lift heavy is lift heavy enough that you only have one to two reps left in the tank at the end of the set.

Ali Shapiro [00:21:37]:
So you can do that with barbells, you can do that with dumbbells, or you can even do that at Orange Theory if you adjust your reps and weights accordingly.

Ali Shapiro [00:21:45]:
So sometimes at Orange Theory, they might have higher reps. So if they're going to have higher reps, right, I will do a little bit of a lighter weight, but I should still only have one to two reps left in the tank, whether it's 6, 10, 10, 12, right? Or if they offer that. Sometimes I just do heavier weights because I'm like, I know what weight I can do. If it's six to eight reps, I'm doing that one. So I am there with the community, challenging myself with everyone else. But I know how to make it my own, right? I don't have to be good with what Orange Theory tells me is the workout, right? And then if it's heavy, if they're going heavier, I will make sure that I'm lifting heavy enough that after one to two reps, I'm, you know, it's like, okay, that's. That's it. And this takes some time to figure out.

Ali Shapiro [00:22:26]:
And I am now almost two months into Orange Theory, and I'm still figuring this out. But this, again, is the glory of working through my own perfectionism. I can Feel safe not having a plan, but trusting I can live into it, that I can figure it out as I go and experiment, rather than thinking there's some perfect way to do each class. I'm also fully aware that orange theory is not going to give me the strength grains, or as Juliet calls it, muscle hypertrophy. Hypertrophy. I think I'm selling that.

Ali Shapiro [00:22:55]:
The trainers are probably, like, cringing, like, oh, but basically you're stimulating the muscle enough that you're going to get gains.


Ali Shapiro [00:23:02]:
And so what I'm really focused on, my goals are shifting to muscle, meat, muscle preservation. Now, I have been lifting for four years, okay. So I can do that.

Ali Shapiro [00:23:13]:
And Juliet said that orange theory can help with muscle, muscle preservation if you're lifting heavy. Like, I just talked about it with the caveat that you can't exclude nutrition from the conversation. Any resistance training needs. Needs you to eat enough calories and protein.

Ali Shapiro [00:23:27]:
So that's what she relayed. And she also emphasized that muscle gains take time. So to give you perspective, sometimes in our culture, the idea is more and more and more and more unlimited growth. It's never enough. It's like always five more pounds to lose. It's never. You have to optimize your health now. You have to work at aging.

Ali Shapiro [00:23:45]:
You can't just.

Ali Shapiro [00:23:46]:
It's never frequent enough in our cultural conditioning. And so sometimes you might think, like, I can build unlimited muscle, so I'm losing out if I don't lift all the time. But actually, muscle is really slow and takes a lot of time. So the good news is, if it's really slow and low, you're not going to lose it overnight.

Ali Shapiro [00:24:04]:
So Juliet told me she trains harder than 99% of the people, and I know that. And she said that she was intentionally putting on muscle and she didn't want to, like, gain fat in the process. So she could have gone a little bit faster. She was willing to gain some weight, but she didn't want to. But in five months of working out harder than 99% of people, she only gained one and a half pounds of muscle.

Ali Shapiro [00:24:27]:
Juliet is also 10 years younger than me, Right. And she is not in menopause. So bringing some context to that, I was like, huh, I wonder how much muscle I actually gained when I was lifting really heavy at my old gym. And so I went in because I would do the in body like, once every, like, three, three, four months. And it showed. After three and a half years, I had only gained one and a half pounds of Muscle.


Ali Shapiro [00:24:53]:
Even with regular lifting. Now, granted, I lost about £30 in that time. And you're going to always lose some muscle with weight loss, right? But if you're lifting and eating well, obviously that muscle is going to be as minimal as possible. So I was like, oh, my God, one and a half pounds over three and a half years. And again, that is within the context of weight loss. But it's like, okay, so this isn't an overnight process. So this is all working for me right now. And then I'm not stressed that I'm going to lose massive amounts of muscle in a few months.

Ali Shapiro [00:25:25]:
So I can really enjoy what my body's craving, what my mood is craving, which is the feeling. I want to do more cardio right now. And I'm still doing the weight floor. I'm starting. So for those of you who aren't familiar with orange theory, essentially you start on the weight floor or the cardio or. Or you can start on the treadmill and the weight. And I always start with the weights first, so I can really maximize that workout and then do the cardio. So I'm focusing on just muscle maintenance for a while.

Ali Shapiro [00:25:50]:
Okay, that's what. That's what I'm craving. But I bet in winter I might want to do more strength, right? Once I've had some time away, I make it bored with the cardio. But the important thing is I'm not going to lose all my muscle just because I take a season or two and do other things. And I'll share in a second. I'm doing a lot of other things, so I'm still using my muscles. The other thing that Julie and I talked about, cardio isn't the enemy. We talked about how in our culture of extremes, right, we kind of went the other way and made women think, like, oh, my God, cardi cardio is going to, like, spike your cortisol.

Ali Shapiro [00:26:20]:
And a lot of women are afraid of belly fat with cortisol or gaining weight. I was really afraid of sleep because when I was first working with my sleep coach, like, like emotional stress and just having so much going on without enough downtime was causing me to sleep overnight. And it's really hard if you've never struggled with insomnia over several years to understand the anxiety. I ha. I get around sleep when I'm in a bad place with my sleep. So I was so worried that cardio was going to make me not sleep. And Juliet was like, look, it's fine two to three times a week of hiit isn't going to spike your cortisol in a harmful way, especially if your life stress is managed. Okay, so we have gone too far the other way, thinking we don't need to do any cardio at all.

Ali Shapiro [00:27:04]:
And I was doing cardio. I was walking and, like, biking once a week, but I wasn't doing the intense stuff that I'm really, really loving right now. The other thing Juliet was saying was that you can ignore the heart rate monitor at Orange Theory, and this is really important. Even the trainer came over to me when I was, like, first starting, and she's like, look, I know it says that you're in the orange zone, which is what you want to aim for, but, like, can you talk to me?

Ali Shapiro [00:27:27]:
And that's what Julie said too, right? What you want and what Dr. Stacy Sims is saying is polarity. You want to go really hard and you want to go really easy. So you don't need a bunch of gadgets. You don't need to go to Orange Theory. You don't need to go to a specific workout. What you need to do to do this kind of hit and sit training that is really good in perimenopause and menopause. And if you're not familiar with what that is, I'll link to my episode with Dr.

Ali Shapiro [00:27:52]:
Stacey Sims, who I adore and I had on the podcast. But what Juliet was saying is what it. It's not specific workouts. It's that your heart rate is in a high enough zone that you can't say more than one to two words. Okay, so that's really important. And so what that means is she said it's a talk test. True. Hiit is when you basically do the talk test, where if you can only spit out one to two words, you're in the zone.

Ali Shapiro [00:28:18]:
That's hiit training. If you can do a full sentence. Nope, you're not pushing yourself hard enough. And I will say that even though Juliet said, like, those heart rate zone monitors are, like, all marketing, it does help me to know a heart rate range for my specific heart rate training so often because I'm new to it and I'm. I am making important cardiac gains, which I'm thrilled about. Is it. It'll say I'm in the red zone, which I'm too high, but I can act. But that's actually like, me doing one to two words.

Ali Shapiro [00:28:47]:
So I'm actually in the right zone, even though they may say, like, oh, that's too high. And I've just figured it out using Juliet's guiding principle. And again, the trainer at Orange Theory was like, you, you don't want to be able to say one to two words. That's how you know you're pushing yourself enough, okay? So it helps me know what my numerical range is right now for target heart zone training. And if you're. And Juliet was saying, this is so important because if you're new to cardio, your heart rate may only be at 50% of your max, but you can only say one to two words. You are doing hiit training then. And this is just the right amount of stress, no matter how in shape or outta shape you are.

Ali Shapiro [00:29:24]:
One to two words, right? And again, that's the need. The need is it doesn't matter if you're walking up a hill, if you're biking. If you're at orangetheory, the need is one to two words. And do that for as long as possible, and then go easy. And I just love that because it. You can do that anywhere that gives you the flexibility. And so we all need to start where we are because we're all getting the same workout, right? I used to say this about yoga. Like, even though some people's poses look beautiful, they're going just beyond their comfort zone, right? In yoga right now, if I don't stretch a lot, I can just touch my toes.

Ali Shapiro [00:30:00]:
We're both getting the same workout, okay? So it just makes this very simple. And Juliet said, as a pro tip, most people go too hard when they're supposed to be training easy or go too easy when they're supposed to be training hard. So this polarity of hit, when you rest as much as you push, that's what you need to do, right? So Dr. Stacy Sims recommends, you know, sometimes, like, go a minute and hit as fast as you can for a minute. But again, if you're just starting, maybe 15 seconds, and then recover for up to, you know, two, three minutes, right? And so for me, I know how to do that for myself. And it may be different than what the Orange Theory workout is for the day, But I'm not trying to be perfect with what they're telling me to do. And the workout doesn't count. I know how to push myself and challenge myself and then make sure I'm going really slow to recover, okay? Cause I'm there for the community, the time.

Ali Shapiro [00:30:54]:
My neighbor Charlay, who I love, she's like, such a great coach. She works for Nike. She's, like, super sporty, and it's like, you know, I just love having her. I'M so grateful to go with her when we can go together. And I'm there to like, push myself.

Ali Shapiro [00:31:06]:
Right.

Ali Shapiro [00:31:06]:
And at that time. So that's what I've been doing many times. I do do the same workout as what orangetheory is recommending, but I know how to adapt for my needs and I know that I don't. I'm not comparing myself to the 25 year old or the college kid next to me.

Ali Shapiro [00:31:21]:
Right.

Ali Shapiro [00:31:21]:
They need something different. So again, orange theory is working because it's meeting the underlying emotional and physical needs that I have right now. So if your body is under a ton of stress, right. These two to three days a week of high intensity training might be too much. I think this would have been too much for me December through February when I was super stressed.

Ali Shapiro [00:31:45]:
But now it's working for me and I'll. I'll share what I mean by working for me and the results. So what we talked about, the knowing versus doing gap is needs not being met, actually.

Ali Shapiro [00:31:55]:
And you having to find what works for you in this season of your life. Point two is what are the triggers that are making you fall off track, whether that's with eating or food. And then three is what are the needs that are gonna satisfy those triggers.

Ali Shapiro [00:32:09]:
So this is. I'm finding all of this very energizing, very fun.

Ali Shapiro [00:32:14]:
So that's meeting my tired trigger. We'll get into how the tired trigger a little bit. Misconceptions around that in a second. So what's working now for me? So I do orange theory twice a week.

Ali Shapiro [00:32:25]:
Love it.

Ali Shapiro [00:32:26]:
Don't feel like I need to do three. I can see myself maybe wanting to do three once I get more into it. I bike twice a week and actually last week I biked three times a week. I freaking love biking. I'm obsessed with it. I do trail and mountain biking and now I'm still walking twice a week. Then I'm taking. Usually I take like one day off, but I still try to be a little bit active because if I don't do anything, I'm more tired and my main focus is energy, energy, energy.

Ali Shapiro [00:32:52]:
So what are my results so far? So sleep overall has been the best since pregnancy and my insomnia. And an interesting discovery for me as I focused on what my needs were is that this has sh. Shift has helped me get to the root of my sleep issues in this phase of my life. So four years ago it was cortisol from just too much emotionally and physically going on. It's so physically demanding to be postpartum and to be menopausal and then to do it at the same time. And then anyone who's had their first child knows it completely blows up your life. At least it did for me. It rearranges your relationship.

Ali Shapiro [00:33:27]:
We were in a pandemic, right? So but now it helped me realize I wasn't getting enough calories and that's what was waking me up. So like I said, I don't like to track my food, but I found if I don't track often I wouldn't eat enough and I would wake up. And so it helped me realize like, oh, I don't have to worry about cortisol from exercise, I just need to make sure I'm getting enough calories. And it's also helped a lot because I do want to lose weight, but I can't. I can only cut a certain amount without sleeping cuz I won't sacrifice my sleep. So being more active, I can get the base minimum of like 1900-2000 calories I need and then I'm just more active so I can still lose, lose some weight. So mental health, I have much more resilience and joy. And I also need to note I did start testosterone.

Ali Shapiro [00:34:11]:
So I was doing estrogen and, and progesterone hrt. But I, when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my sleep issues, I did some blood work with a functional nutritionist and she said your testosterone is like so low and that can affect blood sugar metabolization, which might be why you're waking up overnight. But anyways, the testosterone is really helping me with energy, sleep and just my overall drive in life. So it's not only exercise, but of course, you know, nothing is one thing. And if you are doing all the things, HRT is like a supplement, not a magic bullet. So that is also helping. My energy is back and most importantly, I feel really motivated. Not just, hey, going through the motions, right? Then again, some of that is a little of the testosterone too probably.

Ali Shapiro [00:34:55]:
And then joy, right? And I don't want to dismiss how hard the world is right now. That's a whole other podcast because it is really hard and I can get in funks because I did not vote for what is happening right now in our country. And I have found though that for in order for me to show up with my community and my people in the way that I want to do, I really have to fuel myself with joy and remember what's worth fighting for, right? And what's worth Showing up for. And we need to stay resourced, right. To help those who aren't as resourced as us.

Ali Shapiro [00:35:29]:
Right.

Ali Shapiro [00:35:30]:
And so Juliet reminded me, she's like, movement is medicine and life is too short to be perfectionist around movement.

Ali Shapiro [00:35:36]:
Right.

Ali Shapiro [00:35:37]:
And that was a great reminder for me of like, oh yeah, I've been so stressed about my sleep and losing muscle that I forgot the point of all of this is to enjoy your life fully. So this has all been helping me just show up for the people in my life, do more things for my community, call my representatives, of course, donate, been doing some mutual aid donation. Just feel like I can stay in the intensity of what's happening.

Ali Shapiro [00:36:02]:
Right.

Ali Shapiro [00:36:02]:
Because if we don't have that joy, it's so easy to withdraw and just kind of spread spiral. And when you participate in all the ways, you start to realize everyone, there's so many wonderful people out here doing really great things that are going to be more sustainable than the chaos that's happening now. I'm biking more and the hills feel easier and I'm faster and my heart rate used to spike really high on certain hills and now when I look at my Fitbit, it's like, oh my God, I'm still getting a good biking workout, but my cardiac health is getting so much stronger just in like a couple months. And that is so important. Women again, heart disease is the biggest killer of women. It doesn't get quite as much press as other things, but those are the evidence based reality. And as someone who had chemotherapy and radiation in my chest, I just don't know how that's going to affect my heart. So I love the peace of mind that I'm really training my heart with this cardio stuff.

Ali Shapiro [00:36:55]:
And then my weight, it is down. My weight is down about £4 in about six weeks, I think, which that is actually fast for me because of my sleep issues. I was previously only able to really do one to two pounds a month and that's if my sleep was on point. But I'm, I'm losing a little bit faster now because again I'm more active and I'm able to just eat more. So then my sleep stays. So really reconcile the tensioning of wanting to sleep and lose weight. The cardio has really helped with that. And again, it's also easier to be active here in the summer, even though it's been so freaking hot and sweaty here.

Ali Shapiro [00:37:31]:
So orange theory is helping me burn more baseline calories so that I can again still create a deficit and lose weight. So those are the Results. I'm thrilled. This is what's working for me now. It may be different in six months, but the important thing is I know what my needs are and how to meet those needs so I can bridge that knowing but not doing gap. And for me, that was with exercise. So some final takeaways. You do not have to do workouts you hate that are boring to you.

Ali Shapiro [00:38:01]:
Or if like me, you get bored of what you're doing, that means your needs are changing. Not that you should feel guilty over imperfection or not listening to all the things the experts tell you or have to torture yourself. If you have a knowing but not doing gap around exercise or food. It just means that there are needs that aren't being met.

Ali Shapiro [00:38:22]:
And what you need is more satisfaction, not more discipline, right? You don't have to stick to rigid plans to be healthy. In fact, I would say those rigid plans aren't sustainable and don't work in the long run. Start with what feels good. Now meet yourself where you are now, okay? Because you're going to feel differently. If you do that in three months, you don't know what will. That's why I say this is working for me now. Who knows, in three months, maybe I'll be going three times. Maybe I'll start lifting here at home again a little bit.

Ali Shapiro [00:38:50]:
I don't know, right? But I'm in tune with my needs because of that self awareness and needs based approaches. Meet you where you are, they're flexible, you can't fail at them and they're sustainable and they are the key to bridging that knowing. But. But not doing gap.

Ali Shapiro [00:39:06]:
And that gap is really pointing towards the second half of the mountain where you don't need another perfect plan. You need a Sherpa or a mountaineering guide to show you how to find your own way.

Ali Shapiro [00:39:18]:
And one thing I want to say about this, most women, hands down, just aren't even walking enough. So don't let this perfect.

Ali Shapiro [00:39:26]:
I gotta do hiit training, I gotta do strength training. Don't let that be the enemy of getting started. This is what why I also wanted to do this episode again. Most women aren't just walking enough. So start walking three days a week, right? It's. You don't have to change into workout clothes. You don't need special shoes. You just need a safe neighborhood and some time.

Ali Shapiro [00:39:47]:
If you're struggling, just really start where you are and reignite joy and movement. And if you've never had that, that's part of what I can help teach you with actually in why am I eating this now? Even though it's called why am I eating this now? It could be why am I not exercising now? Okay, so if you want to meet your emotional needs through food and movement so you have a no fail, flexible structure to get to your goals, I really want you to consider this program which is starting in the ball.

Ali Shapiro [00:40:14]:
We start September 17th. Early bird registration is open right now. And with early bird registration, not only will you save $100, but you will also get the your emotional eating blueprint course that I ran in May complimentary so you can get started right away. And that course helps you start to connect how food is about safety and belonging, falling off track makes sense and you're going to identify your main trigger. And in that course I give you all the needs that what what the triggers are and the needs that how you satisfy those. Okay, so I'll give you a link in the show notes for a free sneak preview of why am I eating this now? Then how to get that savings. Once you watch that masterclass, which is the free sneak preview, you'll get all the details on how to join now so you can get started. There's also some live calls with me in July and August so that you can build momentum and get support for when we officially begin in September.

Ali Shapiro [00:41:14]:
And again, that course will teach you what needs you need to have satisfied to bridge that gap between knowing and doing. And if this approach makes so much sense to you and you are a health coach or a therapist or a nutritionist or a healing professional, my Truce coaching certification which teaches you how to facilitate this needs based approach for your clients begins in October if you're interested.

Ali Shapiro [00:41:44]:
A lot of people who are professionals, a lot of nutritionist coaches who are just kind of tired of feeling like they can't help their clients sustain their results. That's when people tend to come to the coaching certification, the Truce coaching certification or they want to help their clients really up level and get sustainable like transformational change. This is for you. There's also a link in the show notes for a free sneak preview of that and about why smart goals are sabotaging most clients. Because hint, they're not needs based. They're actually expecting clients to dig into their perfectionism, which is the problem. You can also email me@ali alishapiro.com to just chat if that's the right certification for you. And one last thing I wanted to say, I forgot.

Ali Shapiro [00:42:26]:
I said I was gonna talk a little bit more about the tired trigger. But again, for me, the trigger was tired. That's why I was not looking forward to working out. And one of the big things that was surprising to people that they learned in the your emotional eating blueprint, because tired is one of the main triggers for emotional eating, but also falling off track with any type of food or exercise, is that tired is not from just not sleeping and needing a nap. Tired is not just from doing so much. Tired is from not having agency or choice in your life. Not enough of what you want on your plate. Think about, like, a buffet where you're like, ugh, none of this is really satisfying versus, like, a beautiful, like, curated, gorgeous plate of food that has just everything, right?

Ali Shapiro [00:43:10]:
So I call it in my work, being in choice. When you don't have enough of things to look forward to in your life, that causes exhaustion as well, when there's not enough stuff in your day.

Ali Shapiro [00:43:20]:
So think about that. Movement is a way that we can have agency, can't have choice. Okay? And I understand we all have constraints with time and budgets and all that stuff, but there is something that you can find, especially with YouTube, with the great outdoors. I know those of you listening in the southern hemisphere, you're in winter, starting to come out of that. But there is a way that you can move your body that feels good and is accessible.

Ali Shapiro [00:43:44]:
And that can be one way that you can start to feel a little bit more energized. All right. Thanks for listening. This was supposed to be a miniso, but it turned into 45 minutes. But remember, feeling good helps you do good, both for your own personal goals and to be able to show up for the people in your life. And we need all of us being willing to show up for ourselves and each other right now.

Ali Shapiro [00:44:07]:
Like, really in it. Prioritize joy where you can find it. Tune into your needs. Yes, you have them, even if you don't know what they are. And trust that your body and heart know the way forward.

Ali Shapiro [00:44:20]:
That's really the work. Including that knowing but not doing GAP might just be an invitation into discovering more about yourself and what works for you. Now, I'll see you back here for our next insatiable episode.