The Chain Effect Podcast
A Physical Therapist and a Registered Dietitian discuss health, fitness, kiddos, and fun in practical ways for real people and families.
Dr. Taylor Pope and Caroline Pope founded Chain Effect, a comprehensive wellness and fitness studio combining physical therapy, nutrition counseling, personal training, and active recovery services under one roof in Raleigh, NC in 2015. Their mission is to show people how every link strengthens the chain of health to feel better, move better, get strong, and increase health span.
Learn more about Chain Effect at www.chaineffect.com
The Chain Effect Podcast
Boring? Yep, because it works.
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In todays world of latest and greatest, we discuss why the old boring stuff is still the best and why your time should be spent with the fundamentals, not the glitz and glam of instagram.
Welcome to the Chain Effect Podcast. Hey Taylor, how are you? In this moment, in this second.
SPEAKER_03I'm doing good.
SPEAKER_00Since we lived together.
SPEAKER_03It's been a long time.
SPEAKER_00We work together. Yeah. Haven't seen you in forever.
SPEAKER_03Oh. Things going well. It's been minutes.
SPEAKER_00How's your family? Our family's good.
SPEAKER_03Our family's good. Our family's good. One's uh watching some cartoons, rarity for him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, the Olympics are on.
SPEAKER_03Boring.
SPEAKER_00And it reminds me, yeah. A couple was that a couple years ago?
SPEAKER_03I mean, y'all, the Olympics are really cool. I've watched zero minutes of the Olympics. And mainly that's because I fall asleep at 8 30 after reading some Harry Potter with Bennett. That's it.
SPEAKER_00We're we're busy, we're busy people going to jujitsu and piano and all these things. Yeah. However, this podcast makes me remember Tali. We were doing watching the table tennis and fencing and archery and all this stuff we were slipping through. Yeah, Summer Olympics. And we thought it was so cool, and our oldest was like really enjoying it. And then Tali was young at the time and he was like, boring. This is boring. We're like, but today we are talking about something that may be considered boring. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03For some.
SPEAKER_00What doesn't excite you makes you stronger. That's right. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But what doesn't excite you? We're here to break down the hard truths.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean things we live by, but they are hard sometimes.
SPEAKER_03These days, everything needs to be exciting, right? If it's not exciting, if it's not like grabbing your attention right away, then people aren't about it. People need novelty when really or people think they need novelty, but really what they need is consistency.
SPEAKER_00Right. For sustainability to be sustainably healthy.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_00And so that's really what we're talking about today. How can you meet your goals in a sustainable way that actually works?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And usually most people are looking for the 5% edge, like the cold plunge, the red light sauna, the supplement stack, the seed oil, no seed oils, like these little things that they think are going to change their lives while completely ignoring the 80% that actually changes their life. So you know, the consistent exercise, the eating well most of the time, not eating out a lot of the time. Keeping healthy stuff in the house.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00Keeping healthy stuff within your kids' reach. You know, health isn't sexy. It's repetitive, it's quiet, it's boring. Yeah. And it's kind of like the how people go after the bad guy, because they think that he's exciting, like in dating life, like ooh, I'm gonna go for the bad boy, which I don't really ever did that. I don't think I ever did that.
SPEAKER_03You're saying I'm not bad?
SPEAKER_00I mean, maybe you were a little bit, but you were less a little less straight edge, but you know, it's exciting. And they might date the guy on the motorcycle who has all the tets and like not really a job. And they're like, oh, it's exciting. He just is a vagabond, and then it's like not really sustainable to have a family with.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, not really a long-term play.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, maybe not goal-oriented, or having that growth mindset which I, you know, actually need and build a family with someone like that. So it could relate to a lot of things, but you know, we're gonna talk about the 80-20 rule. We live by that, like 80%, you know, stable, consistent health routine, doing things mostly in a healthy way, and you know, mostly, you know, having a set schedule and structure. But 20%, you want to enjoy life too. That's where you might go out to eat. That's where you might go on vacation and eat differently or move differently, or you know, leave room for treats and things like that.
SPEAKER_03Now, this like chasing novelty, this is not this is biological. So, I mean, we're kind of hardwired to be noticing things that are different. You know, that's that's what mice do, right? Like they they like wander around the kitchen and they have the entire thing mapped, which is why the mousetrap works. Because it's like, oh, that's new. Let me go, let me go see what that's about. Yeah. But uh we're we're kind of hardwired to be looking for things that are different. And when it comes to our health, it's all about routine, consistency, stacking consistent things over and over and over again, which is why it's boring.
SPEAKER_00Boring. Like the quick fix health trends are like the fireworks, and then the everyday stability is like our sunlight that we need. But yeah, so yeah, I mean, dopamine hits are are very real. That's how we get our high, that's how we that's why we go towards sugar sweetened foods and sugar sweetened beverages, and that's a quick dopamine hit. Um, so it is hard, but I think once you get in a routine, you feel better, you want to make those choices. Like there's a lot of things nowadays where I'm like, oh, I don't even want that anymore. Because I remember how it makes me feel or how it didn't lead me to my goals um as well. So it doesn't even sound as exciting anymore.
SPEAKER_03And why do we need this in America? Why do Americans need this right now? Well, 70% of US adults are overweight or obese. Yeah. 70%. That's not a lot. That's almost all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And then only 24% meet the combined guidelines for aerobic activity and strength training. So not quite the 30% who are not overweight and obese, it's even less than that, actually exercise. Over 90% of Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables.
SPEAKER_00I believe that.
SPEAKER_03Average American fiber intake is 15 grams a day, and recommended is 25 to 38, so almost half. And then one in three adults sleep less than seven hours per night. Not sleep. I've been crushing sleep.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But I mean, you think about it because the technology is more exciting, the screens are more exciting. It's giving us that dopamine hit and giving us a lot of blue light, which is not healthy, yeah. Uh, to get some good sleep. So a lot of distractions all over the place.
SPEAKER_03I'm not gonna lie. There's there's some good shows.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. But the blue light right before bed. Yeah. But that's why, you know, the fiber intake and the lack of fruits and vegetables, it's like that's why nutrition counseling seems so boring.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because it's like, oh, some of the goals might be working with your dietitian about well, how can we add more color? That's that's one of the major things I always talk about with people. So it's like, there's no color in your meals, or there's no fruits and vegetables. Yeah, that sounds boring, but once you start adding that produce into your diet, you see how much, how much healthier, how all the nutrients you're getting, um, the fiber, how much more full you are, how it can satisfy that sweet tooth if it's fruit instead of like processed food. So it seems boring, but but that's the stuff that really works.
SPEAKER_03And people will spend so much money on a supplement. They'll spend so much money on a supplement, but they won't they won't eat broccoli, you know, twice a week.
SPEAKER_00Right. I mean, the I'm not gonna call it any names, but like these greens powder supplements, the greens drinks, like you know, people might eat out lunch, eat a bag of chips in the afternoon, skip breakfast, order in dinner, and then have a greens powder at some point and be like, ooh, let's fix it and get me my fiber, getting all my nutrients I missed. Y'all that stuff is expensive. Yeah, get some broccoli in there, get some frozen vegetables, get I can do things real cheap. Right. Some canned beans to get your fiber in. And we add beans, you know, to several nights a week dinner.
SPEAKER_03I wish there was a better way to like if someone cracks the code on taking frozen broccoli and then actually making it good, that would be good.
SPEAKER_00Well, more people are starting to roast it from frozen.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that's interesting.
SPEAKER_00So it gets rid of some of the moisture. Because it gets so soggy. Right. Yeah, right. We just like the I mean we do the fresh, yeah, but it's so pretty cheap, especially depending on where you're at.
SPEAKER_03And it's got more it's got more nutrients, right? Because it was picked closer to harvest than frozen, less frozen.
SPEAKER_00Now we can go on and on about the like marketing and misinformation out there and all the ads and stuff that really gets in our head because uh, you know, eating healthy does not make money necessarily for people that want to promote that stuff. So supplements, there's a big industry for supplements. There's a big money-making, you know.
SPEAKER_03Weird. Facebook isn't isn't uh giving me ads on eating healthy.
SPEAKER_00I know. Weird.
SPEAKER_03I'm not seeing the latest thing to just grab some meat and veggies.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but let me try this new supplement or hair vitamins or whatever. Yeah. And it's like really, you know, even our hair. I've talked about this with some clients recently. Like, there's a lot of nutrients that we might be missing that can help with our hair growth and skin and nails. So people have talked about like these hair vitamins and stuff. It's like, actually, let's work on your protein intake or let's work on your zinc or let's work on your, you know, getting real foods in instead of buying a huge expensive supplement.
SPEAKER_03So I mean, you have a lot, uh I mean, I've talked to some of your clients and talked to a lot of clients over the years. They're like, Oh, I, you know, I eat healthy, I do this, I do that. And, you know, they start listing all of the different hacks that they're doing. And then you're like, Well, how much protein are you getting? And it's like, well, I eat eggs in the morning and I have a little bit of meat at night. And it's like, yeah, that's probably like 25 grams. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's just changing the I mean, it's really just a lot of education. Yeah. Um, it's kind of like when, you know, people are oh, eating healthy is so expensive, but they'll spend, you know, they'll get DoorDash delivered like every night for dinner for their family. Like, do you know how expensive that is?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, the yeah, you try and budget like good little.
SPEAKER_03It's almost like it almost like doubles the price when you when you I mean it really does with the delivery and then the tip and all that.
SPEAKER_00So, I mean, really, it comes down to it, it can be done. Food can be expensive, obviously. It's we've seen prices increase, especially with meats and things like that, um, some fresh produce, but it is, I guarantee, the boring, you know, simpler things in life are really gonna save you money than all the hacks.
SPEAKER_03We were talking about this the other day, about kind of how we grew up, the sort of the sort of fashionable thing to do would be to have like a casserole or a lasagna for your family, right? Like someone would spend a bunch of time, you know, preparing this extravagant dish, baking it in the oven, and all the extra calories that really go into stuff like that.
SPEAKER_00You know, if you're gonna have like a some sort of cream of mushroom dish or a lasagna or especially like the southern, the southern stuff that does add a lot, or even things like adding, you know, when you add in uh I know they have protein too, but you're buying and cost to all these extra sauces, but maybe you're having an Italian casserole that's like ricotta, and then you're buying Parmesan, then you're buying mozzarella, and then you're buying heavy cream, heavy cream, and then you're buying you know, basil, which is good, you but you can grow your own pretty easily. But you know, all that's a lot of ingredients to get the protein you need and a lot of extra calories usually.
SPEAKER_03Because the fat is now nine grams, nine calories per gram. Good job. Nice, and then protein and carbs are four.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so it's over double. Boom. The macronutrients are different, yeah, calorie density. So carbs and protein are only four calories per gram. And so these things have those things, those sauces, the cheeses, um, you know, not only is it extra cost, but it's also more calories going in rather than a very basic meal, which we are known to do. I mean, we just eat very plain, very basic, not plain, because you can flavor things really well with seasonings, but without buying in a lot of extra sauces and soups and creams to go in there, you can get a lot more protein uh with like a chicken thigh or chicken breast, your vegetable, your starch. Yeah. Or a starchy vegetable.
SPEAKER_03I would say at least four nights of the week. It is a meat of some sort, a veggie, and then maybe a starch for the kids and salad for us. And I mean, we're not shy on the portions of the meats and stuff like that. And we do tend to mix like grilling slash sauteing slash cooking in the oven, just to kind of add some variety. But I mean, it's basic. It's salmon once a week, it's chicken thighs, we'll roast a whole chicken after doing the airbrine in the in the fridge, which I've talked about before.
SPEAKER_00But super easy and super cheap.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. We'll do steak, we'll do you know, ground turkey, ground beef. Like saute shrimp, super. I'm like, I know. You're I know.
SPEAKER_00I just really crave them sometimes. I don't know why.
SPEAKER_03It's just like no good way. Even in the pan, I feel like with butter, it's just like not even that good.
SPEAKER_00Really? I don't know.
SPEAKER_03It's like I could doesn't do it for me.
SPEAKER_00I like them.
SPEAKER_03But I mean, I can do it. Yeah, I can do it.
SPEAKER_00But so we so we do those things, and then I was telling you the other night, like, because if I have a casserole also, my willpower, like, just because I'm a dietitian doesn't mean I have willpower all the time. But if I have a casserole in front of me, I'm gonna probably eat so many more calories than I would a more filling meal with like a big piece of chicken or a big piece of fish, because I can just scoop it and you eat it so fast and it goes down easier, it may not have as much fiber, which is gonna slow you down, or or that, you know, those cooked vegetables or raw vegetables like salad to break down. So, you know, those sorts of things, they do take more time and they can be more expensive, honestly. Um, but they also can lead to overeating in calories, I would say. Sometimes, depending on what it is.
SPEAKER_03So we're talking, I mean, we we bring up the meat as being really important because of the protein, but something that is very boring, but also probably one of the cornerstones of metabolic health, our sort of routine is protein. So let's just talk a little bit about the ways that we try to get the two grams per kilogram of body weight, right? Two grams of protein per kilogram. And that's you know, not what was taught in in uh nutrition in the nutrition.
SPEAKER_00Which is like a pound, yeah, like a pound per, I mean a uh um gram per pound body weight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean it's well, it's important to get it a lot at each meal. So, you know, for people that are eating just three meals a day, you have three opportunities to get a lot. And not the amount is different for everyone, but like for me, I would need to get at least 30 grams every three for three meals, each of the three meals.
SPEAKER_03And probably like 15 over two snacks. And then more for six. If you need, you know, yes, that's yeah. So that's not even enough.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And so breakfast is a crucial part of doing that, which is difficult because even no matter how many eggs, no matter how many egg whites you're adding in, which is like five grams of protein per a quarter cup of egg whites, you would have to have like a bowl of like that. I feel like I always try and it's like it's still, I count it up. I'm like, this is still only like 18 grams of protein, probably. Um, so it really is important to start your day with protein metabolically for insulin resistance and how your blood sugar levels are for the rest of the day, your cravings, things like that, versus starting with like a more carb-heavy meal in general, but you really have to start your day, you know, your first meal getting a lot of protein in. Yeah. And then we have a lot at dinner too, because we have more, you know, it's easier that way.
SPEAKER_03Now I've been on my protein game, uh like because I've been working out a lot recently, and I've been on my protein game.
SPEAKER_00Wow, you've been working out and running.
SPEAKER_03But um, I've been on my protein game, you know, really diligently recently because of like increasing my activity, and I always want to make sure that my muscles are being nurtured and nourished. But one of the things that's been really helpful, and I I stole this from a trainer I was talking to. I was like, dude, what do you do? Because he was jacked and uh and just like really fit. And at the time I think he was going over to like a taco place to eat like seven tacos, but he did tell me what his morning, how he starts his day, and he does a hundred gram protein shake. So a hundred grams of protein packed into, you know, and so I started doing that. And now I know you can only absorb, you know, uh thoughts vary on what you can absorb, but between like 30 and 50 grams every couple hours. So I make this protein.
SPEAKER_00No, so you don't want to feel sick. Yeah, I'll make this within an hour.
SPEAKER_03I make this protein slurry, which is you know, like three scoops of the of the protein, it's got some milk. I'm using whole milk because that's what we have here, and some creatine, some PB2, it doesn't taste that bad, and it's not I'm making it even like more condensed, so only like 12 ounces of liquid. And I just drink half, yeah, and then wait another two hours and drink the other half. And by front loading, I think front loading the protein in your day is so important. I have almost zero afternoon cravings.
SPEAKER_00Right. Makes a world of difference.
SPEAKER_03I have my sandwich, I try to have it after I work out, so I'm like refilling my glycogen. I'm in my I try to eat in my glycogen window. Yeah. And so I really feel like doing those couple things, I'm I'm like starting the day with like 150 grams of protein, and then I just need like because I'm I'm trying to get 200. Yeah. So then so then at the end of the night, I can have that through chicken or salmon or whatever and get close.
SPEAKER_00And it's boring, but it's cheaper and faster than like going through a drive-thru and picking up breakfast or you know, something like that. And yes, if I felt, you know, a couple weeks ago I was starting to follow my own advice about actually measuring out my breakfast to see how much protein it was. Like, oh, I should be a good patient for myself. These rules I or these you know goals I set for other people. So measuring out the cod cheese or the yogurt or whatever it was quick that I could do getting the kids to school. And when I actually got enough protein in the morning, I definitely I felt the same way. My cravings were way down. I was actually full for like four hours rather than wanting to graze. Um, so that makes a big difference. Not as exciting.
SPEAKER_03Not as exciting, and you're you are like taking out the novelty of it too, because there's no decision to be made, right? You're not like you're you're not approaching lunch, like, where am I gonna go? And what what am I gonna get? And you know, trying to spend 20 minutes trying to figure out like what restaurant you're gonna go to and what you're gonna order, and then all the all the time it takes, but also like the mental load of making those decisions. And we know that decision making willpower is a diminishing resource throughout the day, yeah. So the more decisions that you have to make, the harder it's gonna be for you to make good decisions come nighttime, and so it really does stack. Like you, you know, have a bunch of like a super carb heavy breakfast, and then you have that like really intense hunger pain around 11:30, and now you're going out to out for lunch. Maybe you make a good choice, maybe you don't, and then dinner is rolling around, and you're gonna be right in that same boat again. And so, I mean, you have you talk to people who eat out twice a day, every day, or just don't cook at all.
SPEAKER_00And I don't think people realize how much those decisions and also the nutrients that they're getting and lack of nutrients do make them feel too, and don't sleep as good, which we'll talk about how important that is, and don't feel as good, and then they're constantly having this food noise and this craving like I want something, I want something, I want something, because they're not as satisfied.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So, with that protein, that I mean, we've been talking a lot about that because of metabolism, because of blood sugar, but also with it is you know, it not necessarily with the protein, but the other consideration that's you know, one of our dietitians talks about how protein is having a moment, and he thinks the next moment is gonna be fiber.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, which it kind of has started.
SPEAKER_03Right? Yeah, right. And um, I have another one of my clients calls fiber nature's broom. It just kind of goes through and sweeps up everything.
SPEAKER_00I mean, the colon cancer rates are are skyrocketing, and we know people personally that have been affected by that at a young age, and so I think that's why the younger generations are starting to get a little bit more concerned with it and it's becoming more of a hot topic, but it always has been, it's just been more boring. Um, you know, not something that you really want to think about. But I just had my first colonoscopy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I, you know, I have to take a quick break on this, but I had some of my friends say, Why aren't you just doing the cola guard? And I was like, Yeah, why am I not just doing the cola guard? But then after doing the colonoscopy, and it's like one little polyp and they go in there and they cut it out. If the what I was thinking about is like, if you do the cola guard, it's gonna test whether or not you have colon cancer or signs of colon cancer. And it does have, I think, a lot of false positives. So it will you do the cola guard and then a lot of people end up doing the colonoscopy. But one thing it's not gonna see, it's not gonna see if you have any polyps in there.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03So and just more fear, right?
SPEAKER_00Like if it's if it's false positive or whatever, it's like, oh my gosh. And then you have to go to colonoscopy.
SPEAKER_03So when you get the first one, and maybe cola guard for the next one, but like for the first one, go ahead and get that baseline colonoscopy and don't wait because you're 45. Right when you're 45 for guys in the family history, you're going much earlier. Um, yeah. So I had one one of my teammates just you know passed away, 37 years old. I mean, there would have been there would have been no screening for him, but um, there's yeah, you gotta do it. So do it quick. As soon as you as soon as your doctor's like, yeah, it's time to get the colonoscopy, don't wait. It's not that bad. The prep was I think it's come a long way in the prep. You had to drink like a gap, like some gallon of that stuff. I just had like these two little shots.
SPEAKER_00I oh yeah, yeah. I did one kind of uh be near a bathroom.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, don't try to work. I was gonna work the morning that I had the cold that I had the colonoscopy, and I was talking to one of my one of my patients, and another guy who was in his 50s was like overhearing us talking about how I was like debating whether or not to work, and he was just laughing so hard. He was like, Yeah, I wouldn't plan to work unless you plan to wear a diaper.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I didn't even think about that like the day of because I don't remember because I had one done you know for some for like a health scare a few years ago, and um and everything was fine, but I don't I didn't remember the morning of, I really didn't remember like what was going on. So I had to I had to drink you didn't see patients that day.
SPEAKER_03You were having a rough morning that morning, and and you were like, I need you to take Bennett to school. And I was like, okay, but I'm supposed to be starting this prep right now. And you're like, Well, maybe just drink it in the car. I was like, No, I don't think you understand. Like, as soon as I drink that, I need to be near the bathroom.
SPEAKER_00How fast, how fast it works. Anyways, but fiber is really important for that. So it's boring, but like just adding more produce, more beans, more fruits and vegetables, nothing, nothing fancy and glamorous, but like this is what's missing when we eat out more. Like it might seem more fun, you know, you know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night going out to eat and getting a margarita and chips and queso and getting some Mexican food on it is fun, but I'm saying the frequency that and also that unless you're getting a lot of beans, that is not gonna have as much fiber.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Or, you know, pasta or whatever, whatever your choice is.
SPEAKER_03So as we're talking about fiber, how much fiber, like what's the what are your top ways of making sure that we get enough fiber? What do you tell what do you tell your patients?
SPEAKER_00Well, color, it kind of ties in with what I was saying at the beginning, color at every meal if possible. So that could be like, especially places where there's gaps like breakfast, you know, adding avocado, adding any sort of veggies and the eggs, adding veggies on the side, adding some berries to the yogurt. Um, so adding color at every meal and snack if possible. That's one way. Also adding beans, incorporating meals like chili. I mean, beans are the best way to get fiber, in my opinion. So it's just the because the amount per half a cup or cup is just you can't really compare it. Same with edamame. So edamame, soybeans, beans, so soups, chili. So good. So good.
SPEAKER_03They're like it's a carb, it's got protein and a ton of fiber.
SPEAKER_00I love using it as, you know, sometimes the meals can be too many carbs depending on the person so easily if you're doing rice and beans, yeah, or you know, different, different carb sources. But beans is like perfect because you could it could be your fiber and your starch or your starchy vegetable, and then get protein, you know, with it or in the soup or whatever. And there's also some protein and beans, so it's like you're it's a really good combo food.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and if your experience with beans is only canned beans, you need to get some dried beans, make them in your Instapot, make them in your in your Dutch oven. But there are some awesome recipes, and you know, particularly like a lot of the Central American, South American, Puerto Rican stuff that we've experienced. Yeah, where the pink beans so good, so good, and you can put them in back in the fridge, they're good, chilled, you can heat them up, they're so versatile, and it makes like a really nice accompaniment to your boring meat and vegetables.
SPEAKER_00And thinking about in the warmer months, like a cold bean salad. Like I love my like lintel edamame salad or a chickpea salad to go along with like leftover chicken or something. It's super that could be a super easy high fiber meal. So that's another way.
SPEAKER_03But don't just do the cans, you gotta you gotta venture into the into the dried bean section.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, like the quick, yeah, quick methods of cooking. But that is quick too. It's just one more step.
SPEAKER_03You just have to prep it a little bit ahead of time.
SPEAKER_00And then another way, just to end on this, is you can add this, isn't maybe as concentrated forms of fiber as like beans would be, but little additions like adding flax seeds, chia seeds, basil seeds as edible basil seeds. You bought you bought some.
SPEAKER_03What are those basil seeds? You got some of those.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they're like double the fiber as chia seeds. They've got some good uh micronutrients, they've got good levels of potassium, calcium, but they're kind of like chia seeds. They don't blow up like they do, like when they absorb liquid, like chia seeds, like chia pudding.
SPEAKER_03Um but so you could add not really.
SPEAKER_00I mean, not they don't really have that, like you wouldn't like smell them and be like, oh, this is like basil. Um, so you can add those into things you're already doing. Yogurt, um, some people add them to smoothies, cottage cheese, sturumin. So those are little fiber additions too.
SPEAKER_03Now, a lot of people like me, as of last night, thought that my romaine salad had a lot of fiber until I asked so mad. Yeah, I asked uh I asked Alexa what how much fiber was in a head of romaine. A head not me, Alexa. Yeah, well, that's true.
SPEAKER_00I guess I could ask you while I was sitting there. I'm like, I'm a little bit more than a little bit.
SPEAKER_03How much fiber is in a head of water? A head of romaine lettuce. How much fiber? 1.5 grams. As I was like chomping down this ginormous Yeah, those salads are like this big.
SPEAKER_00Now, you know what you could do is throw in some microgreens and we should gross them again. We or get some or gross some in the windowsill. We have little they have a little easy, but um, those have uh maybe not as much fiber as dense, but they have nutrients more dense than like our lighter lettuces. You know, they're just more um they're they're way you know higher in like vitamin K and iron and things like that.
SPEAKER_03Is it the cruciferous that have the most?
SPEAKER_00Or well, it's just like the darker it is, so iceberg lettuce is kind of like more maybe not as dense. And then when you get into more like, you know, um uh spinach and arugula and things like that, the deeper lettuces, those are gonna have a little bit more nutrients, but then when you get into like the cabbage and yeah, kale, but then when you get into like the cabbage and the cruciferous vegetables, the asparagus, the broccoli, the yes, beet greens, yeah, yeah. Actually, whoa, I forgot about those. When we were growing beets, we were using those.
SPEAKER_03Just blending them into oh gosh, yeah. The purple poop club.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but the leaves are not good, like they are gross, but very nutritious. So not in a smoothie, do it.
SPEAKER_03There's gotta be a way to make them good. Um, so yeah, so fiber, and and then another boring thing. Well, I mean, I love it, but another boring thing for a lot of people is exercise. And exercise by itself isn't necessarily boring because what I tell a lot of my patients is you need to have an exercise anchor. So for me, my exercise anchor is ultimate. Um, for a lot of people, their exercise anchor is tennis, golf, some activity. I know you don't have one, but some activity that they like to do that kind of is social, that they are measuring their performance over a period of time, right? Um, that they can train for. And that exercise anchor can lead you to being able to wrap your head around structure for your training schedule. And some things that are boring but really work is one, scheduling your workouts. So put your workouts in your schedule. If you just try to get to it at the end of the day, I mean, some people only have time at the end of the day, but if you try to just you know find time in the day to do your workout, then you're gonna be first, you're gonna be like using a lot of mental load to try to motivate yourself and like find that time. And two, it's probably not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00And make it less boring if you can meet a friend to do it, you know. That's even better for the accountability and like scheduling it with that person.
SPEAKER_03Right. Um, and second is do a program. Now, there's a ton, I mean, social media has a ton. Like, if you want to be fast, do these exercises. If you want to be this, do these five exercises. If you want a big butt, do these exercises.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say the glutes. If you want to grow your glutes, do these. If you want to grow your hammies, do these. If you want to grow your squats.
SPEAKER_03But the reality is that what most people need is they need some compound movements, the boring stuff, squats, deadlifts, Romanian style deadlifts, lunges, um, step-ups, things like that. They need some really good lower body stuff. You need some good upper body stuff, but what you need is progressive overload, and a program really gives that to you. There's a ton of great apps in there where you can just set what you what you think your maxes are. Obviously, if you're starting out, lower that by whatever you think it is, put it down 20% or 25%. Yeah. And then the app, the app will set your reps, set your weights, so that you're kind of at the end of each um exercise, you're kind of getting closer to your top number, and that's a way to make gains. It's boring because you're doing this repetitiously over time, but it works. And I've had cycles in my life where I was kind of just doing the same weights. I was working really hard in the gym, but I wasn't really I was maintaining, but I wasn't really building a lot of strength and building a lot of athleticism until I started working on a program. I highly recommend there's a ton of like weddler style programs, also known as like the 5-3-1. We can get into that on another uh episode, but those programs work really well. Um, so program, you know, uh put it into your schedule, and that's gonna help you get that consistency.
SPEAKER_00And hey, you may still not enjoy exercise. I mean people just there's some people that do not enjoy it ever, no matter what they're doing. Maybe they haven't found the right little niche yet. But if you don't enjoy it, it it might be in one of those things where it's boring, but we have to have it.
SPEAKER_03I mean, we have to maybe I think for those people they need to, they need they need professional help.
SPEAKER_00Like if you don't wake up, that would be where you pull someone in. Right.
SPEAKER_03If you don't wake up being jazzed to do it, maybe you would just enjoy. Like, there's a lot of times you know, we own a gym and I'll go to a group fitness class because I'm like, I need I need help, I need people, yeah, right. I need motivation, so I'm not just sitting there looking at my phone.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and someone that can help you track stuff too. I mean, that could be it, like if you're like, you know, because a lot of times we are doing something for so long and don't really recognize the progress, but then someone could remind you, oh, well, you were here. Look at your muscles, you know, look at the growth of your you know, muscles now, or look at you can do a pull-up now, or you can do a push-up now. I remember when I was like finally able to do a push-up and I was like, oh my gosh, and now I'm just cranking them out, you know, and it feels empowering, especially for females um building more strength.
SPEAKER_03But I would say one last thing is take five minutes before you leave for the gym and write down your what you're gonna do once you get there. Because if you wait and you're just like, you know, you you can waste so much time at the gym. And that decision fatigue. Exactly. If you don't go into it with a plan, you're getting distracted. So make a plan before you go, put it in your schedule and do some progressive overload. Okay.
SPEAKER_00And it might be starting with if you're not doing anything, long walks and listening to podcasts or making it enjoyable somehow.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, get get moving. Because what is it, 9,000? What is it, 9,000, 8 to 9,000 steps per day is associated with the significantly lower mortality risk.
SPEAKER_00I think some studies have even said 5,000 steps because a lot of people don't even get 5,000 a day. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um but strength training two times a week reduces risk of all cause mortality by 15 to 20 percent.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm believe that. Yeah, and also supplements can't help you work out. I'm sorry, but like there's not a quick fix. You know, it's might be boring, but we gotta do it for our health. We know we gotta do it.
SPEAKER_03Now, sleep. Yeah, gotta get that sleep.
SPEAKER_00Gotta get it. So I have to. I am not a grumpy pants.
SPEAKER_03I am grumpy pants. Not a seven or two. What if you get woken up with the the tapping, the the face tapping? Oh yeah, that was I'll tell you what, our poor dog, he's got he was running after a rabbit like several stream. Several years ago, he was running after a real rabbit in his in the yard. We heard this yelp, and all of a sudden he's dragging his back legs across across the yard. And I thought he was, I thought it was like, okay, I'm gonna have to take him to the vet and put him down. Like, that's it. Pick him up, like he's okay. I think he like freaked himself out, but he ended up like hurting his back. So now I think he's getting he gets like a little bit of like radiating pain, and every night, every night, he likes to lay right next to me. Right next to me, and it just gets his legs actually just gets his leg going.
SPEAKER_00Actually, he he gets himself curled up in my legs, so I can't move. But yeah, then he's kicking, kicking. And in my dream, in my dream, everything just starts shaking, shaking, and then I wake up and I'm like, but one way we we do not mess around with sleep because we both know we need it. And one thing we found that is really helpful is sleep masks. Sleep masks. We we try to keep it as dark as possible and as cool as possible in our house. The two things you gotta do also if you have trouble sleeping.
SPEAKER_03But mixed reviews on white noise, but we love it. Yeah, we gotta have a white mask.
SPEAKER_00But also, if you think your room is dark, there's always light coming in, and that could affect your sleep. So try a little satin mask or a weighted eye mask.
SPEAKER_03I noticed when when I put the mask on, all of a sudden my dreams were so much more, so much more colorful. It was crazy. Like I put the mask on, it's like, I don't know, it's just that little bit of compression. Yeah, it's wild. Wow.
SPEAKER_00So we yeah, we make sure we get our sleeps and and supplements again, like maybe they can help you fall in asleep, but they cannot replace sleep. So um gotta be careful of the caffeine too. Yeah, you know, the half-life of some like it depends on how your metabolism, like how quickly you uh can metabolize the caffeine, but let's say the half-life is even like you know, eight hours. Well, if you stop drinking coffee at 12, that's the half-life at 8 p.m. So that means it has not fully broken down. That's the half-life. Uh so just keeping that in mind. A lot of people I think that I see are like, oh yeah, I actually I I I quit, you know, I cut out the caffeine or I switched to decaf. And now I am, I think I am sleeping better because they were having a coffee like 3 p.m. or something. So it really can affect it even if you don't think so.
SPEAKER_03So, y'all, block out the noise, right? Block out the noise and chase down the fundamentals, the building blocks. You don't need 17 supplements, yeah, $300 detox.
SPEAKER_00Getting rid of one food group is not gonna change your life and get you to your goals.
SPEAKER_03You're probably not gluten intolerant. I mean, maybe you are, but like that may not be the answer. That may not be the answer. And yeah, unfortunately, like people are making a lot of money off of gluten gluten-free snacks right now. Yeah. You know, yeah, and so the supplement, what is it, the supplement market is like $50 billion? $50 billion market. I mean, we should be super healthy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. If that were the answer, then if that was the easy answer, a greens powder every morning for breakfast, then we'd be healthier than ever. But we're not. The fact is now we're not. Now we are not totally against supplements.
SPEAKER_03We've mentioned we're probably not gonna get a greens green sponsorship based on this one.
SPEAKER_00You know, there's some supplements that I think are valuable in different ways, especially when it comes to like, you know, fish oil or vitamin D or things like that that might be a little bit more necessary with your lab work and your uh eating intake.
SPEAKER_03Or if you just like hate fish, then you should probably take some.
SPEAKER_00So there's there are, and that's why meet with a dietitian. Yeah, because we can sort out the misinformation or all the the ads you're seeing, and you're like this, oh my god, what do I need this, this, this? And you're just buying everything non-stop, wasting a bunch of money. But if supplements were the answer, the quick fix, then we'd be healthy. And and we're not as a population. I hate to say it.
SPEAKER_03So now coming full circle back to where we started. If we thought about the Olympics again, and what do people like what do people like to see? They like to see the Olympics because these it's the world's best, and they're standing on the podium and they got their gold medals, but y'all, they didn't get there by doing the flashy stuff.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03They got there by discipline, right? They got there by work ethic, they got there by paying attention to the little things, growth mindset, not even being that focused on the results, which we didn't even really get into today, but that's like a huge part of this. Is like there is no destination, right? For a lot of these things. It is just the grind.
SPEAKER_00Well, it might be the Olympics, but well, it might be the Olympics for these people.
SPEAKER_03For these people, it's it's the Olympics, but for us the average Joe. For the average Joe, it's just you gotta fall in love with the grind. Yeah, and the grinding.
SPEAKER_00And notice how it makes you feel better. Yeah, yeah. I think that's a lot of it. But yeah. So yeah, there's a lot you don't see, and it is boring. I mean, discipline is boring, but consistency is really what's gonna get you to where you want to be long term and feel your best. So you don't need more hats. You need more rest.