In & Out Talks Podcast 65: Dareen Al-Sharif

On this episode of the In & Out Talks Podcast, powered by Tier One Performance, we sit down with Dareen Al-Sharif, a nutrition specialist whose journey began in the country of Jordan before moving to the United States and building a career centered around health, fitness, and performance.

Dareen currently works with MyFitFoods in the Houston area, where she helps athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and everyday individuals optimize their nutrition to achieve their goals. Through her passion for wellness and education, she has become a growing voice in the health and fitness community.

In this episode, Dareen shares her unique journey, the challenges and opportunities that came with moving to the United States, and the lessons she has learned while helping others improve their performance through proper nutrition. We discuss the importance of fueling the body correctly, common nutrition misconceptions, and how athletes can use nutrition as a competitive advantage.

🎙️ Tune in for an insightful conversation about health, performance, discipline, and the impact that proper nutrition can have on every aspect of life.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Welcome back, guys, to the In N Out Talks Podcast, powered by Tier One Performance. Your host, Mitch Metulia here. Today's special guest is a personal friend of mine, Doreen Al Sharif. She is a nutrition expert where she specializes with lifestyle and athletes. So, guys, stay tuned. There's gonna be a ton of great information you can take away from this one. Doreen, welcome to the show and thank you so much for taking the time.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Thank you for having me, and also thank you for working out with me today.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yeah, for those viewers out there, she kicked my butt at the gym this morning. We got out of our comfort zone. At least I did, and we did a uh hybrid style training for you know, high rock style training, and yeah, I was uh the running was not ready for that.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

We didn't even sign up for the hybrid class, we went for the strength, and there was like that part of cardio.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

You felt like it was a good endurance?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

It was a great endurance session, and like of course, we're all about getting out of the comfort zone at tier one and you know, trying new things out and struggling and overcoming, so that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

We're here for it.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

And and so, Doreen, just a little bit about yourself for our viewers out there. I mean, like, where are you from and um what was your upbringing like, and how'd you get into nutrition?

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Um, so I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, it was a very slow life. Um, I didn't play sports before, and also I was an overweight kid. So when I was young, I'm like, hey, I want to be confident and I wanna wear clothes from the mall like the neighbors and you know, people around me. So that's when I decided I wanted to explore like more of the fitness. So I started walking, but I didn't have access to the gym back then. I was still able to lose like around 40 pounds, but I lost it the wrong way, just overdoing cardio mainly. You see? And when I was a teenager, that's when it was a very good thing to build some muscle, and I was like, okay, I want to learn more. So I decided to study nutrition and dietetics in Jordan. Wow where I'm from, and that was a game changer for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

That's so awesome. And so what sparked your interest? Was it just like, hey, I I'm I'm or I guess how did you gain information as a kid? Like, were you watching YouTube videos? Yeah, were you kind of just going like winging it?

SPEAKER_03 2:42

Like, I mean, how literally winging it, honestly. I remember the first set of dumbbells that I got was when I was 16, probably, but I started walking and losing weight when I was around 14. So it took me a couple of years before I'm like, okay, let me buy a set of dumbbells, try it out. There was no structure there.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

And uh, that is what I needed. I needed answers.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Absolutely. And so, going to college in Jordan, what was that experience like for you?

SPEAKER_03 3:12

It was pretty great. I had really great professors over there, and that's when I started officially working out or doing strength training. That's when I started eating more protein. Yes, so I was gaining knowledge, I was gaining experience, and it was really a great start. With every year, I was learning more and more, but I got to a point where I'm like, you know what? I need like fitness background. So I took my personal training certificate just as a background in nutrition, and that even helped me like layer it up and to understand how nutrition and fitness can come together to give results.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

100%. And so in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, I like our sports in general. I know you weren't really into sports growing up.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Are sports pretty prevalent in those countries now?

SPEAKER_03 3:57

Oh, what sports are prevalent? Um, mainly it would be soccer in uh between Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and then horseback riding in the thing in Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

That's cool. Yeah. In the desert?

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Like I mean um like Jordan is not too much of a desert unless you go to Wadiram really for a trip. That's where people like to ride camels, go on like buggies. But no, it would be like in a farm. There would be a huge space. Yeah, like Jordan is mainly green, actually.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

So that is a main thing. In Saudi Arabia, they love uh also like car sports, like motocross or like any kind of like stuff like that. Yeah, there's really big events that they do over there in Saudi Arabia, and a lot of people travel for that. That's true. I'm not sure about the names of them, but yeah. Um, also basketball was a thing, so it wasn't a big thing like in the United States, but you know, like young people were interested in playing basketball.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Really?

SPEAKER_03 4:55

So for a little bit, like I went to the American school in Saudi Arabia and played on the weekend with my friends, but it was nothing too serious. It was just like, you know, shooting here and there.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yes. And so upon graduating from university, I mean, like, what were your goals? Like what was yeah, what transpired from that?

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Hmm, like career-wise or fitness-wise?

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Both.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

Honestly, like I was learning it as I'm going through it. That's the biggest thing. All I knew is uh I wanted to understand my body, and then it became something that I want to help other people, help my family, uh, help my friends. There's a lot of misconceptions um that I saw around me in the Middle East. Like when I wanted to lose weight, I didn't find the support or the knowledge available back then.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Right.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

Um in the Middle East, mainly they focus on fiber and fruits and vegetables, but I wasn't given like, hey, protein is important. So when I moved to the United States, I saw everybody knows pretty well we need protein. Everyone's big on protein.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

You probably notice a lot bigger people here too.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

Yeah, there's bigger portions, more calories. But I think if we bring those two together, high fiber, high protein, like that is pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

That's the key.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

That is the key.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

And what year did you move to the United States?

SPEAKER_03 6:16

Um, it was end of 2022 after Hazm and I got married. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

I love Hazm. He's he's an amazing guy, amazing husband. And I had the fortunate um I met you probably like not long after that, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Literally, yeah. We were in the same interview, and I had zero experience in the United States. I remember.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

I remember meeting you that day though, and just was like, man, like she's got a great vibe. I know she's very, very smart, I appreciate it. Very knowledgeable, and like so I'm super happy that we got to work together as well.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

I don't know if you remember the funny story. So it was me, you, and there was um another guy who's also an athlete. And when you guys brought up your background, I'm like, I'm screwed. I didn't play sports before and all of that, but it was it was a great one for all of us to connect and we're friends.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

I know, and and then you started working at a supplement store, correct?

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Yeah, when I first moved to the United States, especially after that interview, I wasn't accepted yet, so I started working in a supplement store.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

So we were actually like doing an in-body scan, some nutrition recommendations, then we give supplement recommendation.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Yeah, and it was a pretty good experience for a couple of months when that company decided to close down in Houston. Yes, that's when they um recommended me to go to the meal prep company I work for today, My Fit Foods.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Yes, ma'am, and that is where you built so many great relationships and have started working with lifestyle clients and athletes alike. And so, Dorino, my question for you is I mean, there's lots of misconceptions about nutrition out there, right? There's a lot of what I call yo-yo diets, right? There's fasting, there's keto. I think there's just a lot of information, and people, I just want you to inform them on like what they should do based on what their goals are. And so, what's your opinion on like keto, on fasting, you know, any any takes on on those things?

SPEAKER_03 8:10

The biggest thing is some people would go based on the advice they see on social media, what diet is trending, but you have to understand your body first. So I can't give like a general recommendation to a group of people and tell them, hey, this is what we need if you want to like lose weight or gain muscle as a general thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

I see.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

I have to understand exactly what's going on in their body. Like, let's say, for example, when talking to men, I'd love to know, like, for example, what kind of training they're doing, if they're doing any, um, and like you know, their weight history. So if they do have a goal of uh getting to a specific weight, okay, when were you at that weight before? To set clear expectations, if it makes sense, when we can hit that goal, and then from there I map out their day based on the level of training they have, or even the level of activity they have. Some people work like a um what is it called, a desk job. Yes, right, not getting enough steps, so we have to be more intentional on movement now. We might change a little bit in the macros. So I wouldn't go and suddenly tell someone, hey, you can all follow this recommendation, this diet. Any diet that takes away a food group would be a fat diet. That means like that will have consequences, agreed, consequences.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Agreed. And I think that um, like you mentioned, you hit the nail on the head like by saying there is no one size fits all, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:36

True, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Now I'm gonna give you like I'm just gonna give you some hypothetical situations, and you let me know like what diet I should follow or in that situation, yeah. So, okay, I'm a performance athlete. Okay, I enjoy working out, I'm trying to put on muscle, lose body fat, comp, okay, but also gain endurance. Um, I've had people tell me in the past to stay away from carbs, but as a performance athlete, what do you recommend? How should I eat?

SPEAKER_03 10:07

Biggest focus for athletes, let's say, is performance. But he also has a personal goal where he wants to recomp as in gain muscle mass and burn body fat. So if you take the carbs out or you go low carb, you're gonna affect performance. Not just that, that will also affect the body composition goal that we have.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

Sometimes, like a lot of people will plateau when they go on low carb diets because in general they're going also on low calorie diet. Yes, and they end up telling me, okay, like I can I can go with two meals a day, one meal a day, and I'm like, that's not gonna work, especially for athletes. I know they're busy and I know they have some goals to crush, but the biggest thing is we need to get enough of what the body needs first. So, what I would go around that is again map out their day, see how their training is like, and fuel them based on that. So, one of the most important things for athletes is knowing what sources of carbs they need to break that misconception.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

That was my next question. What kind of carbs should I be eating?

SPEAKER_03 11:09

So, before the workout, we need to get like simple carbs because that will give you the glucose, which gives you like fast energy. So that will help with performance. The goal here is to help you with speed, helps you perform. For a lot of, for example, baseball athletes, they want to hit, they want the speed part. So that is important to have simple carbs before, right? For the intra workout, also, we want to make sure that we're not using our glycogen, which is our muscle, or deplete our glycogen. That's why we do pre-workout carbs and intra workout carbs as an example, something like simplified banana, having a fruit, or you can have, for example, like oatmeal an hour before. That's one of the things I've seen athletes enjoy a lot because it gives them like longer energy.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

So, what's the main difference between simple versus complex? And can you give some good examples?

SPEAKER_03 12:07

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Um, along with fruit, of course.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

Actually, like fruits are considered simple carbs.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

And like oatmeal or oats in general is gonna be complex carbs. So complex carbs takes time to be digested a little bit longer than simple carbs, right? And it will have a little bit more fiber. So that's something I would do, like complex carb, maybe an hour, an hour and a half before the workout. As in for a simple, that's something you can have the 30 minutes before, and it's usually in snacks, such as granola bars, right? So if someone wants to take an easy like thing before their workout, would we pick protein bar or granola bar? I would go with the granola bar because that will have more simple carbs for them. Easy to digest, won't be sitting there. The protein bar will take more time.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

So with simple carbs, essentially you can use that for energy right away within 30 to 45 minutes after ingesting.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

And so if you're a morning workout goer, you highly recommend simple carbs before a workout.

SPEAKER_03 13:09

Definitely, especially if the goal here is performance. I know some people who are just training to um gain muscle or lose body fat might be used to doing it fasted. If that works for them, that's pretty good. But if you want performance or we have an athlete, we gotta fuel before the workout.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Understood. Yeah. Understood. Now I'm gonna give you another hypothetical.

SPEAKER_03 13:30

Say it to me.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

I am a mother of three. I work a lot like 70 hours a week.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Okay. Um, I have time to go to the gym maybe three days a week. Any recommendation on how that person would be eating or could eat to I guess we again body recomp, gain muscle, lose body fat.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Also recomp.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

Um, so we want to know their level of activity. We said three days a week. We want to see how their movement is like, and now when it comes to figure out what they need macros-wise, we can basically estimate that based on their BMR and uh activity level. After that, it's very important when we give those recommendations to let them know we want to see how that's gonna work for you the first week. It's not like it's one fit, oh, this is the numbers, this is the options. No, I want to see how that works for you because that's where actually we're able to tweak it or do some adjustments based on their needs. Not everybody can digest everything equally, for example, right? Some people don't know what are the things that um gets them bloated, what certain foods basically make them feel that way. So this is why I wouldn't go just tell everybody do dairy-free, do gluten-free.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

Or like cut carbs out. Because if you do cut carbs out, this can also affect your glands. So we don't want to go that route and say, hey, keto works, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

So you're of the belief system that the human body needs proteins, carbohydrates, fats. You should never cut all any one of those out completely from your diet, correct?

SPEAKER_03 15:05

100%.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

100%. The balance of all of them is important. Protein is the building block for our body. And then you have carbs, it's important for performance, and it's the number one fuel for our brain. It's pretty important for all of us, right? Yes, healthy fats. A lot of people would go, especially for females, go with like a low-fat diet, but that's important for our hormonal balance.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

And I was reading a book the other day and it opened my eyes. A lot of diets honestly do not focus on a female's body, right? And a female's needs. And you would hear a lot about like hormonal imbalance, but why is that happening? Yes, cortisol and stress is the number one thing nowadays, but also not getting enough nutrients. So if we actually like balance your carbs, protein, and fats based on what you need, that will be all good. We'll be able to work on the hormonal balance, we'll be able to lose body fat, gain muscle mass, and go from there.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

But the key is to make sure that your hormones are in place.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

I love that. And so as a pre-re as a prerequisite, so for example, working with yourself or somebody like you that's a that's a nutrition expert, would you recommend that they start with lab work and an in-body scan to see what all their numbers are at? So then you can use that information to then guide them?

SPEAKER_03 16:27

Um, so let's say, for example, we work with someone and the first week we get to see results, there's no issues, we can go on from there without having to do all the background work. But if we have been seeing signs, uh if we have been like plateauing, they come to me saying, for example, I've been trying, I've tried different things, that's the sign, like we definitely need to do the lab tests first in order to have answers. Um, and of course, it's very important for us to have like those background checks before or every year. I do them personally twice a year. How about you?

SPEAKER_00 17:01

So lab work, I try to go three times a year. That is even better. School lab panel, hormones, everything, just to kind of see where everything's sitting at. So then you know how to adjust to your diet, like what you need more of. Add maybe some supplementation if needed. But I'm, you know, I believe that like supplements should be like the last thing you add, right? Like it's like all of it should be food, sleep, nutrition, exercise, hydration, and then after maybe six months of feedback, you go back, get your lab work done again, yep, see what kind of adjustments to make.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

100%. As we said, it can be an obstacle if we are depleted, uh, or if, for example, we don't have hormonal balance, so we gotta work on that first, which also helps us figure out what's the focus. Because with some people who have hormonal imbalance, we can't put them on a big calorie deficit. You you can't, or you can't really put them on calorie deficit because that will be stressful on their body.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Understood.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

So the thing is we might be going around their maintenance a little bit until we solve the root-like issue.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

I like that. I like that a lot. Now let's talk training a little bit too. Now there's a lot of misconceptions out there that I think a lot of females that I've heard from they fear that if they start lifting, they're gonna gain too much muscle. Okay, or they're gonna lose their shape, or they're gonna lose this, that, and the other. What's your take on resistance training specifically for females? And how often should they be trying to train?

SPEAKER_03 18:32

It is super important to have at least two days a week of strength training because that's gonna help us build our muscle mass. And it's very important for us females, whether we are looking to basically have energy throughout the day, uh, whether we want to build strength, really, to if like there's a mom, you know, there's a lot of duties to have.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

Um, and overall, like we want to build these things before our 40s. It's not that it's too late at our 40s, but we want to like take um take that opportunity and start building muscle from now so we can have that higher metabolism, so we have higher immunity. It's pretty important for us to balance strength training, getting enough steps throughout the day or some cardio, especially if someone is telling me, Hey, I want to recomp. So the balance between strength training and getting their steps in or their cardio is gonna be pretty important because we will be able to target burning from the body fat deposits and also building our muscle mass. Um the biggest thing, the biggest thing is people fear, or mainly females fear, to look bulky. But I wish it's that easy to look bulky. It's right, it's not that easy, no, right? Yeah, because especially these.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Biomechanically, I uh I guess just hormonally, right? Like men have more testosterone, women have less testosterone, so it's like you're not going to put on muscle as fast, given all circumstances are the same.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

When I have like these um models, it kind of like gives them a visual to see what a pound of muscle looks like, and they usually have also a pound of body fat and what it looks like. You can see how this looks leaner or toned, because usually I hear females telling me I want to be toned. Men will say shredded, women will say toned. So when you look at how the muscle looks like, it's gonna give that definition, whether they call it snatched, toned, or even if they want to look fit and healthy. For sure. Right? So if we burn from the body fat deposits and increase the muscle mass by doing some resistance training, strength training, I think that will be um the healthiest we'll be at.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Because is it true that like if you don't have much muscle, when you burn body fat, you just look skinny, you don't really look toned.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

No, correct. Yeah, you won't see like body definition, and that is what I like to educate on if they want to build confidence and at the same time strength, it is important. And let's not forget to keep that metabolism kicking.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

So is it true that the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest?

SPEAKER_03 21:06

Correct. Okay, and if you want to see some numbers, you can always see it through like like DEXA scan, the in-body scans. It will show as you gain muscle that you're gonna be burning more at rest. And people notice they have more energy when um they have higher muscle. I'm assuming they have strength trained, they have got enough of healthy carbs and proteins in order to bring up their muscles, and they end up with higher energy overall.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

And also lower body fat, correct? Like, does lower body fat equal usually higher energy levels as long as it's within a healthy range?

SPEAKER_03 21:38

Correct, yes. One of the biggest things is when people like do these body scans, DEXA scans, and they see their body fat percentage, they're like, Oh, it went up, what could it be? It could be one of three things. Number one, yes, the body fat deposit, but number two is going to be our protein intake and our hydration.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

I see.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

Because if you don't hydrate, Enough, you will lose some of your muscle mass, it will show in numbers, and the body fat percentage as a trend will go up. Or if you didn't eat enough, your muscles also will show a trend that it's going down, the percentage of fat goes up. So it basically aligns if we increase our muscle mass and we are on a slight calorie deficit, we'll be able to put on muscle and burn body fat.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Wow. And and how often do you recommend somebody do a DEXO scan or an in-body? Because I know some people who do them too frequently to where it kind of psyches them out.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

I see what you're saying. It depends on their goal with you.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:38

So if someone is cutting down and they want to see how it's working for them, if um this meal plan is working, I would do it like every two weeks at the beginning until we can tell this is working in our direction. We can keep going from there.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Um, as in for people who want to maintain, you don't need to do it for more than um once a month, honestly. I've seen also um it was an article. It was talking about people who lost more than 50 pounds, I believe, and maintained it for more than five years. It was pretty interesting. It was saying that people who maintained that body fat loss were like weighing in just to check if they're maintaining once a month. It's not obsessing, but it's just seeing where we're at.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

So initially, once every other week would be best for, for example, if for you to work with somebody so that you can see that feedback right away.

SPEAKER_03 23:31

100%, yeah. Okay, as in for building muscle, we know like that process does take time. So we gotta be more patient. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Which a lot of people do lack some patience, not naming names, Jordan. And so, Doreen, like while we were on break, obviously we're talking about some other subjects we wanted to kind of bring up on here. One of which was you know, snacking. Is it healthy? Is it not healthy? Is it hard to track? I mean, what what are some healthy snacks that people can kind of get away with? And then I guess like what snacks should people stay away from?

SPEAKER_03 24:05

Oh, that's a good question, honestly. Snacks, I believe, are very important to meet the needs that you don't get sorry from the main meals, right?

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Uh or if you're on the go. So there is healthy snacks that is needed. But at the same time, the well-known snacks, like um sugary snacks, high-fat snacks, these that don't really have much benefit for you if you keep doing them on the long term. That's what we try to kind of not bring home, I would say. And that's the biggest habit I've built like uh our home, me and Hazam, because he liked snacking, but it wasn't the healthy snacks, it wasn't the snacks that will get you some energy, get you through the day until your next meal. No, it was the kind of snacks like I'm craving something, and you know it's sitting there. So you want to go for it. We're we're talking about candy, we're talking about chocolates, we're talking about um chips. Chips.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

I love chips.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

Mainly, I believe people who like to have um chips is because they're looking for that crunch or something salty. You sweat a lot, probably. Sub chips. Right? And if you do get that naturally from like putting some potatoes or maybe carrots in the air fryer and dip it with like your own homemade ranch made of maybe um fat-free yogurt.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Okay. You can Yeah, because I want to clarify like what would be what would constitute as a healthy snack you know, I that's a good question. What constitute as a healthy snack?

SPEAKER_03 25:36

Okay. The number one thing is it to be from natural food.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

Right? So I would aim for natural food if I'm looking for a snack, something that's not processed, um, and number two, something that your body needs. So if you're not getting enough of that from food, we can supplement it through snacks.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 25:55

So we did mention, for example, if you want that crunch, you can get it from making your own like potatoes in the air fryer instead of having chips, let's say.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

Right? Um, and if you're craving something sweet, for example, you can make your own homemade um dessert to make it healthier. You can basically like dress it with some protein.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 26:17

Maybe your own Greek yogurt topping on it.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Maybe you can make your own parfait instead of getting the high sugar ones that already are pre-made in a lot of places nowadays, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

If you put that yogurt with some fruit and clean granola, I think that is ideal to have as a snack. You'll get protein, you'll get healthy carbs and healthy fats at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Understood. So I'll just kind of like put my personal experience out there as far as like I was not losing weight, okay? I wanted to lose five pounds. And my snack on a daily basis was two grass-fed beef sticks, an ounce of nuts, and half a bar of dark chocolate. And I added up the calories, and I realized this is 600 calories. This is not a snack, this is now a meal. This is a meal at this point. So I think um, do you recommend that people track their snack calories?

SPEAKER_03 27:16

That's a good realization. If like that big percentage is coming from snacking and not main meals, yeah. And most of the time, like you're gonna go through a roller coaster throughout the day, right? You eat that snack, it gets you fast energy, and then you need something else. So um focusing on main meals really is important to keep you satiated from one meal to another, and having that one snack in between will help you to get through the next meal, but not it's not the base, I would say. The base comes from the main meals. I would rather like you getting most of your nutrients from main meals and not focused on the snacks. We want to prioritize eating enough throughout the day. So, for example, people who have like a long day shift, some of them cannot like include snacks. I've seen a lot of like healthcare girlies, they tell me like, I'd rather just have like main meals. How can I get my body needs from protein, carbs, and fats and fiber, of course. Uh, and I'm like, okay, let's for example break it down to three meals.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

But if someone tells me I like to have snacks, I'm pretty active, that's when it becomes essential to basically include that snack in or could you replace the snack with another like a fourth meal if it fit for their schedule?

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Of course, yeah. It can work, especially with people who are playing sports, um, people who are trying to build more muscle and they need more calories in general. Like we said, they would need longer hour window and probably splitting those meals into fours and sometimes five, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

So that was my next question. So for high performance athletes, yes, would you recommend four to five small meals per day? Um, is maybe even up to six for some people who are like very large, who have different goals. Um, and how many hours in between each meal should they give their bodies time to digest?

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Enough.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:11

That is a really good question. Like, I can give you, for example, the calories and protein, and there's no one way to do things, I I believe. Yes. So you can split it depending on how um their schedule is like, but I would definitely prefer like giving their body enough every two to three hours, ideally three hours, in order to digest that and absorb what their body needs, and then take their next meal.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Understood. Yeah, understood. And that brings us into our next subject of discussion, Hyrux. Yes, because that's something that you compete in and you've now done two, had extremely great success with it. And um, obviously, you work with Nadine and all the other great trainers over at All Inspired Great Community, and so walk us through that journey, that experience, and what you've learned from not only like you you literally practice what you preach, and that's one of the things I admire about you is like you're not only giving advice to athletes and lifestyle individuals on how to eat, but you're living that lifestyle as well, testing it on yourself and applying it for your clients. So, how that how's that been?

SPEAKER_03 30:13

It's a great experience when I decided I want to do high rocks. It was because I needed something exciting, I needed a goal, I needed a sport, yes, you know. And um, one of my friends invited me to go work out with them at all inspired, so I went and tried it out, and I was like, I love this. Yeah, like they're pushing you. There is a reason why you're training and you're pushing yourself, so you do have a goal. And number three, there's a community with like-minded people who want to grow. I absolutely love that, and I went for my first high rocks last year in March. It was a good experience, and I learned a lot from it. I learned that yes, I do need to plan out my um my day, my week, my month, right? Pretty properly. And I learned a little bit more about sports nutrition specifically for like hybrid athletes.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

That experience really helped me first, and then when I had the trust of my friends to help them out, they also told their friends, and that's how I started getting some hybrid athletes lately to help out with um the nutrition for performance.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 31:22

And it's important for them to plan ahead of time and not suddenly decide, look, I want to cut and I want to do high rocks in a month.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

So that was um something we had talked about earlier, right? Is like there's this narrative about dirty bulking, and it's awful.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

And like I think a lot of kids, especially a lot of kids that Jordan and I work with, they see these Instagram videos about these guys eating ice cream and putting on all this excess body fat. Um, I'm sure you've dealt with it with high rox competitors as far as like they're wanting to cut down in like two months for a competition, and it's like you don't want to give your body that excess fat. And I mean, like, so what are what are your thoughts on dirty bulking? Should you maintain relatively clean, healthy diet throughout the whole entire year?

SPEAKER_03 32:09

I believe when you go for something like dirty bulking, you are eating more fast, you're eating more processed food. It's gonna affect your energy throughout the day, you even your motivation to show up for your workout, show up for yourself in different places in your life, right? Your motivation. So that's the biggest thing. It's gonna affect you in different areas in your life. And it's pretty important for you to eat whole foods in order to be able to do the daily lives without any issues. Yes, such as showing up to work, showing up to school, waking up pretty well, having energy without depending on caffeine. So I tend to see like when people eat more into like eating fast foods, they crash and then they need the next thing. Could be caffeine, could be another fast meal, could be sugar. However, when you get your tasting buds used to eating whole foods, your body will start asking for more whole foods. And I notice, especially in young people, they have to experience it first. Like you can tell them as much as you want, hey, you need this and that, you need to eat healthy food, you need to eat your fiber, your protein. Yes, but truly, when they experience it and see it for themselves, see how they feel, that that is when they will commit to it.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

100%.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

So you can challenge them for one week. I just want you to try it, you know? Yeah, see how you feel, so see how you're gonna show up, see how you're gonna speed up.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

100%. And for hybrid athletes specifically, yeah. What have you noticed is the best types of foods to eat for performance in hybrid training? But also how far out in advance should you eat prior to that style of training? Because you're putting your body through through much more, right? And I'd imagine you'd want at least a couple hours before you start training to eat, right?

SPEAKER_03 33:52

100%, yeah. So basically we want to think of the especially the last month. I think it's important to uh eat enough for performance, right? So I wouldn't recommend trying starting a cut the last month. You got like, you know. Yeah, you got like basically three weeks to cut, and then the last week is where we tamper things, sure, so we can like build up the glycogen and recover, so there isn't enough time really to see that much results. That's why I recommend ahead of time, like hey, if you were looking first to build some strength and muscle, want to be like above your maintenance, around your maintenance, and then start a cut a couple months ahead. I think that would be pretty great. And one of my clients he started his cut in the new year, or even like he started building the habits of easing eating less sugar processed food in the holidays, which is such a great habit, right? Yeah, so when he got into the new year, he didn't have to reset all his life, he started his cut in January and he was able to cut more than 10 pounds of body fat, which got him down to 10% body fat basically.

SPEAKER_02 34:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 34:59

And by the month where we were like getting ready for high rocks three weeks ahead, he was around his maintenance.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

And he did that in how long?

SPEAKER_03 35:07

Um, you mean high rocks or like that?

SPEAKER_00 35:09

The body fat drop. How long did that take?

SPEAKER_03 35:11

So it was in three months. And he's a pretty lean person.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

So he dropped like 10%. So he was below 20% already?

SPEAKER_03 35:18

No, we got to 10% before that. I believe we were probably around that 18% body fat, which is pretty solid, really.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Anything below 20%, I think, for a guy is ideal.

SPEAKER_03 35:29

Because it's in the healthy range. 10 to 20 is in the healthy range, and if you want to be like more on the athletic side, that's where you'll see between like 8 or 7 to 12% body fat.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

I think that's the ultimate window for guys as far as like if you're wanting to look good, like really lean, but also perform well with strength and endurance, I think 8 to 12 is like a really good window to be in.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

Because hybrid athletes they want to be faster, they want to speed up, but they still want the strength when they're doing the stations, they want to build up their endurance. So both keeping their muscle up and staying lean when it comes to body fat is both important. So, what do I recommend for them to eat? As I mentioned, when it comes to how much calories, I would put them around like their maintenance or um if they want to build muscle, like months ahead, and then we can if they want to cut, yeah, that would be at least two months before, not the last month, please.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

Give you at least eight weeks to work with eight to ten weeks ideally.

SPEAKER_03 36:27

Because I know a lot of hybrid athletes they want to look good when they go compete, rip the shirt off, videos, yeah. But performance is our number one goal. Yeah, that's important to um remember. And one good thing about uh training hybrid is like you're able to both build muscle and burn body fat. That's what I saw when I started training hybrid. It was amazing, especially from someone who never played sports before. Yeah, I saw that pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

Um is it because you're just burning so many calories during your workouts that like that itself is putting you in a deficit?

SPEAKER_03 37:04

Yeah, and it gives you a reason to push yourself for cardio, to be honest, right? Yeah, it gives you a reason to um push yourself. Um at the same time, I was able to eat more, right? I was able to eat more and still be able to burn body fat. I was amazed by that. Like, there was a point last year where I was on a calorie deficit and I I couldn't perform well when I was on a big calorie deficit training um hybrid with Nadine and the team.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

I'm like, okay, I need to work on my nutrition. So I bumped it up around my maintenance, and I lost a couple of pounds that month and put on muscle, and I'm like, I'm not even trying to be intentionally like you know, recomping right now.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 37:46

I was amazed by that result.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

That's so awesome. And is it true that like the less body fat you have as a hybrid athlete, the the more efficient your heart would work, ideally?

SPEAKER_03 37:58

Correct. Yeah, a hundred percent. And that again is because of the lifestyle you build for yourself, the kind of food that you're eating. What you you are what you eat for real. So the the quality of food that you're eating is gonna affect your performance, uh, your body functions. That's something important to know. Instead of your body working on all these processed foods, um, or for example, alcohol, your body will be basically efficiently breaking food down when you're focused on eating from Whole Foods compared to just fast food for convenience, for example.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Yes. And one of my bodybuilding idols, uh, his name is Lee Haney, he was relevant in the 80s, um, but very knowledgeable when it comes to nutrition as well. And he goes, if you want to um, if you want to train like a horse, you gotta eat like a horse. But he but what he meant by that was like you gotta eat good clean foods and a pretty good amount of them if you want to perform at a high level, and that's applicable, I'm sure, to highrocks and any kind of hybrid athlete or martial artist who typically burns a lot of calories during exercise, anywhere from you know 500 to 2,000 calories in a class, right? Like you burned like 500 calories a day, I burned like 800 and it was like I was I was hungry, pretty hungry after.

SPEAKER_03 39:11

No, that's true. That's why it's important to um fuel properly before and after your workout. When I go train hybrid, I honestly do eat simple carbs before, and then I do have um a whole meal after because it's important for me to keep going.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

Yes. What does your pre-workout meal look like before high rox training and how long before high rox training do you eat it?

SPEAKER_03 39:37

Oh, like do you mean for high rox or for my training?

SPEAKER_00 39:41

For just hybrid training in general. I mean, what's your go-to pre-workout meal?

SPEAKER_03 39:45

I honestly do like to have like something like a banana, I like to have honey or like some of the gels sometimes when I'm on the go. But if I do get the chance to eat like an hour before, I really like to have an oatmeal.

SPEAKER_00 39:58

Really? Yeah. Do you put protein powder in your oatmeal or is it plain?

SPEAKER_03 40:02

Yeah, I do put protein powder in it. Um in regular milk, so you will have enough protein to carbs where I can break it down before my workout, so it's not just sitting there.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

And you eat it two hours before you work out?

SPEAKER_03 40:16

Around that. It's gonna be around like 20 to 30 grams of protein with around 40 grams of carbs.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 40:24

So that's pretty solid to give you um some energy throughout your training.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Understood. And is there a difference between like hot oatmeal versus overnight oats? Um, what do you prefer? And you know, is there a difference?

SPEAKER_03 40:37

You're saying overnight compared to?

SPEAKER_00 40:39

Yeah, compared to like heating them up in the morning.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Um depends on your preference, really.

SPEAKER_00 40:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

How do you like it?

SPEAKER_00 40:46

I do overnight oats. I do uh kefir and protein powder, and I put it in my protein oats overnight, and uh they're like old-fashioned.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

Tastes like a pudding.

unknown 40:56

Tastes like a pudding.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

And then I'll drizzle, uh, put blueberries on it in the morning and drizzle honey over it, and that's like one of my favorite pre-workout meals if I have time.

SPEAKER_03 41:05

I don't know if you've noticed, but I feel more full like eating it cold compared to having like oatmeal.

SPEAKER_00 41:11

Really?

SPEAKER_03 41:11

Do you do you do you agree?

SPEAKER_00 41:13

I I do, I mean, I don't I honestly don't really eat hot oats. Yeah. I never really eat hot oatmeal. Um, mainly because it takes so long for it to cool down. And I I train in the morning, I train at 7 a.m. I don't have enough time for it for it to like to wait on it to cool down. I'll burn my tongue pretty quick.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

My oatmeal like would have um oats, we said uh protein powder, milk, it would have cinnamon, nuts, over dark chocolate.

SPEAKER_00 41:39

Dark chocolate is like good for your heart. I mean, like with moderation, it can be very, very healthy for you.

SPEAKER_03 41:43

It kind of encourages me also to like have that meal, and the balance of having some cinnamon to prevent sugar spike is pretty perfect in that and the protein.

SPEAKER_00 41:52

Yes. My favorite pre-workout meal as of late though in the morning has been eggs, egg whites, sourdough bread, and butter. So I want to get your take on A, is that a good pre-workout meal? Yeah, and B, what's your take on sourdough bread? Because I know that's like kind of trending right now. A lot of people are making it at home, and fortunately my wife makes it at home from time to time, so she spoils me a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

I need to learn.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

Yeah, she makes a great jalapenure cheese.

SPEAKER_03 42:19

We gotta get you a it's solid if you guys are getting your sauces like from home.

SPEAKER_00 42:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

Uh, compared to like a lot of people when they want to have sourdough, some of them don't even like read the nutrition label. Some of them actually do have a lot of ingredients, some of them that we can't pronounce. So I was shocked when I saw that, to be honest with you. So if you can make it from home, if it's minimal ingredients, pretty solid. Your first question was was that a good pre-workout meal?

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

How many hours ahead do you usually have it?

SPEAKER_00 42:49

Not long. It's probably 30 minutes before.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

How many eggs is in it?

SPEAKER_00 42:54

So it's three whole eggs, four egg whites, two slices of sourdough bread with butter on each of them. Yeah. And then I drink like powdered greens in the morning with some multivitamins and stuff like that. How do you feel when you're training um after having so initially when I get to the gym I feel sluggish, but then as I get going, like I'd say 20 minutes. The more you move. The more I'm moving 20 minutes into my workout, I hit like people are like, dude, like you feel like you're getting stronger as the workout goes on. And I'm like, yeah, my energy levels are increasing as the workout goes on.

SPEAKER_03 43:25

I honestly believe it needs more than 30 minutes to digest, right? Because you have eggs in it and you have butter and avocado, all those together will need more time to process. Proteins typically like need around that four hours to break down, right? So just to help you with better digestion, like that's something better to do at least an hour before.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

Understood. So I guess like for all those people listening who they have to work out first thing in the morning, like say those athletes or those moms or dads who have busy life schedules, that they're they're in the gym at six AM. Right. And they're waking up at like five. What should they be um what's a good I mean, like, do you recommend like just fruit and honey as like a pre-workout meal or like a granola bar?

SPEAKER_03 44:11

I mean, I mean, is that like a good simple breakfast that they could uh um it depends really if they do need that extra source of energy for their workout, right? If they're lifting, I believe it's gonna be important to have a pre-workout meal. But some people tell me like I do pretty well fasted in the morning. Okay, pretty solid. But if it's an athlete, I do recommend eating before. If it's someone who needs that energy through the workout and they feel they've been sluggish at the workout or like um they need the extra push, yes, get your fuel. Eat a meal before, at least an hour before. But if it's gonna be a snack, as we mentioned, like for convenience, banana can be great, right? We said also um granola bar can be good as long as it's like real ingredients in it.

SPEAKER_00 44:59

So, generally speaking, like are protein shakes okay with that fruit first thing in the morning, like if that's gonna be your first meal of the day, or would that upset your gut? Um, does it depend on depend on the individual?

SPEAKER_03 45:09

It depends on the individual. I've seen before athletes who tell me they like to have it in the morning and that worked for them pretty solid, but having your protein post-workout is gonna be pretty ideal to recover.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

Right.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

So that yeah, answers it. Depends on the individual.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

Okay. And I also want to get into supplementation. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 45:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

When and where is supplementation important in one's diet? And if somebody is like relatively new to the supplement world, what are some just basic fundamental needs that they can, you know, start with?

SPEAKER_03 45:43

Also depends on the individual and what kind of uh life they're running, right? We got athletes, we got um people who want to make sure they're getting enough micronutrients, so it depends on that. So if we're looking for performance, for example, around the people that I work out around, work with, um one of the basics is gonna be getting their electrolytes with their water because we sweat a lot. Right? We need that balance between water and sodium um to keep like a healthy water weight, and that's gonna be my number one electrolytes. That also helps with muscle contraction. So if anyone feels like it needs to be improved, double check if you're hydrating enough, if you're getting enough electrolytes too. Um, and I prefer like having it from the packets that are minimal ingredients compared to having um this the drinks or the sports drinks, to be honest. Because nowadays they have a lot of ingredients that are not good on the long term, and dyes and things like that. Dyes, exactly. It wasn't the same thing we had in the past. If you have seen the photos comparing how sports drinks used to be versus now, yes, I would go with the packets over going with the drinks. So that's for electrolytes.

SPEAKER_01 46:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 46:59

Um, for performance, a second one would be creatine to help with um water and nutrients absorption in the muscle. That really helps a lot of athletes with performance.

SPEAKER_01 47:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 47:11

So these are the main two, I would say, like the basics for athletes, and then when we're talking overall, of course, getting enough of your um multivitamins. We were talking about that earlier.

SPEAKER_00 47:24

Multivitamins and minerals, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

100%. And again, we won't just generally take multivitamin, we need to make sure, like, hey, are we actually deficient in something specific? We need more doses off, and that's when you have to do your lab tests and see what you're deficient in.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Do you think that people who intake supplements that they don't necessarily need gives you brain fog and like maybe too much of that can be detrimental?

SPEAKER_03 47:49

Sometimes too much of something, yeah. It can give like an opposite effect. So it's important if you are taking specific um supplements to make sure that you actually do need it. And I'm not talking about multivitamin, but specific vitamins that you're taking in bigger doses than what you need, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:08

Understood. How about vitamin like ADK or like fish oils, omegas, things like that? I mean, do you recommend those in the mix as well?

SPEAKER_03 48:16

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 48:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 48:17

I would say omega-3 is next, and collagen.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 48:22

For the health of joints and ligaments, that's pretty important.

SPEAKER_01 48:26

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

A collagen at the end of our 20s, that's when your body kind of stops producing enough amounts of it, and that's when people in their 30s be like, oh, oh, I have pain here and there. The truth is we need to get enough collagen, so supplementing it can be benefit beneficial for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 48:43

Understood. And I mean, as a as a consolation, it also helps your hair, skin, and nails, right? Yep. Your gut.

SPEAKER_03 48:48

It helps your bones. We say joints, ligaments, hair, skin. Wow. Yeah, so collagen here is the winner.

SPEAKER_00 48:59

Is there any other topics that you feel like that we could cover that could benefit those listeners out there that you like, whether they be fads, whether they be you know, things back and forth that we didn't honestly maybe like learning more about structures than what diets are out there.

SPEAKER_03 49:14

Because I believe, like, if we focus on what structures can we apply into our lives, there's a lot of coaches talking about that. It might be not exciting for some people because it's not restrictive.

SPEAKER_01 49:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:26

Right? I would say invest into um learning how to build structure for yourself. Like, let's focus on these kind of topics instead of like, oh, have you seen this new diet or have you seen this new supplement or have you seen um, for example, this new thing that gets you results pretty quick?

SPEAKER_00 49:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:44

Because we know something quick will not be sustainable.

SPEAKER_00 49:46

100%. So set your foundation straight with seven to nine hours of sleep, gallon of fluids a day, electrolytes, you know, three to five nutrient-dense meals per day with literally going back to the basics.

SPEAKER_03 49:58

Like you said, sleep is pretty important to keep also the hormonal balance on it can affect your performance, your energy, your health overall, uh, your hunger hormones.

SPEAKER_00 50:09

Do you think that some people can optimally sleep like less hours and still perform at a high level? Or do you think that it's like across the board it needs to be seven to nine hours in general?

SPEAKER_03 50:19

I have seen people who adapted on sleeping like probably five to six hours, and I'm like amazed how they can do it because for me personally, if I get less than eight hours, I feel like I haven't got my full cycle of deep sleep.

SPEAKER_01 50:32

Understood.

SPEAKER_03 50:33

So I do believe the cycles of sleep will be different from one person to another to fully finish one, but it should be at least six to eight hours, right?

SPEAKER_00 50:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 50:43

How many hours of sleep do you feel like you need?

SPEAKER_00 50:46

Seven and a half.

SPEAKER_03 50:46

Seven and a half.

SPEAKER_00 50:47

Oh, specifically it's like seven and a half, and it's like I am running strong that day. I don't sometimes have enough time to get eight. Um, in a perfect world, I would. Um, but I definitely need more than six and a half. Like, I th I feel seven and a half is like pretty optimal for my work schedule right now.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Yeah, honestly, I feel amazed when people tell me they sleep less than six hours because like my mom's one of them.

SPEAKER_00 51:10

She goes she goes to bed late and wakes up early, and I'm like, and she drinks maybe like one coffee a day.

SPEAKER_03 51:17

To be honest, I've seen also like a chart that was telling you the amount of hours you need based on ages, and I do agree that um, for example, with babies, you see them sleeping most of the time, so they need more hours, and as we grow older, we might need less and less hours of sleep, but that's not mean it's okay for us to be short on sleep because it will affect overall our mood. Um, it will affect our hormones, our health overall.

SPEAKER_00 51:45

Yes, and now they're starting to figure out like the cognitive function long term of not getting enough sleep, you know, with Alzheimer's, with all these other things.

SPEAKER_03 51:53

So it's like I love that these are the kind of things people are also discussing nowadays because it's gonna be important for us to um get enough rest and recovery. If you're working out hard, you gotta also rest hard.

SPEAKER_00 52:06

100%. And um is there a suggested amount of rest days for athletes to take per week? Because I know some guys, like some gals and girls, they like to train six, seven days a week hard.

SPEAKER_03 52:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

But in reality, what would be optimal?

SPEAKER_03 52:20

That's a good question. I would say it depends on the season, because I can't tell an athlete who's about to like um compete or go right to uh force two days of rest days, but at least give yourself one day of rest day. And let's say if you're around a competition to use the tools for recovery, such as getting contrast therapy, having a sauna and cold plunge, if you don't have enough time to recover, at least use the tools that are helpful for you to get that.

SPEAKER_00 52:51

Understood. Yeah, my rule of thumb is one full rest day per week where you're stretching, doing yoga, whatever, and then one active rest day where it's like for me, it's like either martial arts or um just doing cardio and stretching lifting like five days of hard resistance training a week.

SPEAKER_03 53:08

True, it's important to get, as you said, some stretching so you can get that blood flow.

SPEAKER_00 53:12

Yes, you have to have that. And so, Doreen, just to revisit the topic we discussed earlier, your three top proteins, yes, your three top carbs, your three top fats, and the three top fibers that you would recommend.

SPEAKER_03 53:27

I hope people don't consider me biased, but I'm gonna say, like personally for me, what is my top three? I would go with chicken, turkey, and beef, but protein from yogurt is still pretty amazing, from eggs is pretty important, but these are like my top three.

SPEAKER_01 53:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 53:44

And let's not forget salmon or seafood.

SPEAKER_01 53:47

Let go.

SPEAKER_03 53:48

Yeah. Okay, so maybe also I would say shrimp. I do like to eat more shrimp.

SPEAKER_00 53:54

What is it with shrimp?

SPEAKER_03 53:55

Is it what is it? You can get like a good amount of protein in small amounts, which is really fascinating. So sometimes I get to make like my own shrimp tacos. It's pretty fun to eat too. So shrimp.

SPEAKER_00 54:08

I do love salmon and shrimp, and then I also throw cod in there, but I don't know if cod is as nutrient dense as those other ones, as far as like it's just like a lean protein, I feel like. It's like the chicken of fish. I don't know. That's what I kind of correlate it to. Because I feel like chicken is not super nutrient dense, it's just high in protein and it's lean.

SPEAKER_03 54:28

And it's lean.

SPEAKER_00 54:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 54:29

You're right, 100%. Yeah. So we're talking about micronutrients now. Yeah. So combining macro and micro will be pretty great.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 54:37

I believe also when it comes to seafood, like having it a couple of times is great, but um certain seafood, if you have it more, that can be kind of harmful because of um the hard material that can be in it. The hard metals. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 54:51

Okay, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 54:52

It's just to stay on the safe side. That's why I said chicken turkey.

SPEAKER_00 54:56

Right. Yeah, I I probably sniffed too much paint chips growing up, so yeah. So three top carbs potatoes, potatoes, potatoes.

SPEAKER_03 55:07

No, but seriously, um, I like to have red potatoes and sweet potatoes, so that is my um number one carb, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 55:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 55:17

Um for number two, this goes into fiber too, but I wanted to include starchy vegetables. Like you can you can have carrots, um, and overall vegetables also will go into my top three carbs.

SPEAKER_00 55:30

Fair.

SPEAKER_03 55:31

And number three, and it's very important for athletes to get enough of, is rice. So jasmine and basmate rice.

unknown 55:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 55:40

And preferably before workout, after workout?

SPEAKER_03 55:43

If we're talking about like jasmine and basmate rice, they're great for let's say a lunch, or as you have said, like before a workout in a couple of hours. Um, if we're talking about something maybe later in the day to get more fiber, um brown rice is also ideal. Okay, three top fats extra virgin, olive oil, uh a Middle Eastern, but I don't want to be biased. It's truly is one of the top fats.

SPEAKER_01 56:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 56:10

Um, and then we said avocado to get also the micronutrients, it's pretty satiating as well.

SPEAKER_01 56:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 56:17

Uh, number three, if you'd like to share with me, what is your number three?

SPEAKER_00 56:22

Egg, egg yolk, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 56:23

100% micronutrients. Yeah, we're talking about micronutrients again. So fat is a macronutrient and it has good amounts of um micronutrients, making it pretty rich.

SPEAKER_00 56:34

Yes. The older the yolk, the richer the nutrients. I don't know. I don't know if that's true or not, but 100% broscience. I don't know. And then your three top fibers.

SPEAKER_03 56:51

Ooh, we're going back into vegetables now. So leafy greens is gonna be on the top of my list.

SPEAKER_00 56:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 56:59

One of the things that's gonna be um a combination between healthy fats and fiber is going to be chia seeds.

SPEAKER_00 57:07

Wow, which you would take every day.

SPEAKER_03 57:09

I do like to have chia seeds in the morning uh with my water. I put a little bit of lemon because that gives me enough, or not enough, some fiber with healthy fats.

SPEAKER_00 57:19

Understood. Understood.

SPEAKER_03 57:21

It helps me a lot with digestion too.

SPEAKER_00 57:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 57:24

And my skin. Which I'm working on. Overall, yes. That's all uh the third would be fruits. I'm not gonna specify a specific fruit, but a lot of fruits have antioxidants and it's gonna be pretty important whether for performance or for overall health. Uh, it's rich in micronutrients, and I would prefer having it as a whole compared to having it in a juice where you're not gonna get fiber from it, right? And it's gonna spike the blood sugar. So, yeah, whole fruit over juice. That's the third um fiber source.

SPEAKER_00 57:59

And then the last thing, of course, is we have another visual object. Oh, yeah. So we have the muscle fiber that you brought earlier, but now we have the fat.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

Yeah, and as I said, I like to show this visual for anyone who would tell me like they're fearful of getting bulky. And I'm like, this is one pound of muscle compared to one pound of fat.

SPEAKER_02 58:23

Pretty significant.

SPEAKER_03 58:24

So yeah, you can envision basically like when we're losing a pound of fat and we're doing some strength training, you get to be more toned or like men say more shredded.

SPEAKER_00 58:33

Yes, and that's shape, and that's tone. The fat is not.

SPEAKER_03 58:38

Yeah, and a lot of people are like, okay, so how can I like, for example, lose body fat without losing the shape?

SPEAKER_00 58:45

Right. And I think like to to that point, is like a lot of females, they of course want to build the glutes, right? And the hammies and all that. So it's like they need more muscle in those areas rather than body fat, correct?

SPEAKER_03 58:57

A lot of benefits when we maintain and build some muscle. It's gonna be the metabolism, it's gonna be the immunity, the energy, your strength.

SPEAKER_00 59:06

And just the overall like protection of your bones.

SPEAKER_03 59:08

A hundred percent, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:10

Because I feel like muscular people in general don't break bones as easily as non-muscular people.

SPEAKER_03 59:16

True. If someone is telling me, like, you know, they have some issues with their knees, it's important to strengthen also the muscles around your knees, for example, right?

SPEAKER_01 59:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 59:25

Um, because a lot of people also focus on like, yeah, I lose I need to lose body fat, correct? But you also need supportive muscles.

SPEAKER_00 59:32

100%. Doreen, I can't thank you enough for being on today. I learned a ton. Thank you for having me. Um, I'm sure our guests did as well. Um, and we're we're gonna do this again.

SPEAKER_03 59:42

Yeah, and they can drop any questions they have.

SPEAKER_00 59:45

Please, yeah. And we'll be sure, and where can people find you on social media? Like, are you on Instagram or on TikTok?

SPEAKER_03 59:51

Yeah, I am on Instagram active right now, um, and I have my page Talk Fit to Me or with Me.

SPEAKER_00 59:57

Talk Fit With Me? Okay. Yeah. Is that on that's on TikTok? That's on Instagram. It's on Instagram. When'd you start that? I haven't even seen that.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:04

I actually started it a couple months ago. That's when I wanted to focus on like sharing more with people because I'm like, okay, I'm helping um my clients, I'm helping my friends, but I want to increase that circle and also help people understand there's a lot of misconceptions that we you know need to talk more about. But also, my main focus on that is to support the community if there's any events going on, nutritionally or fitness event, I do share about that on the page.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:35

Well, Doreen, we love what you do for people and for others, and we can't thank you enough for being on. We'll be sure to tag you on every single outlet you got.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:42

And thank you so much, Mitch. I appreciate you guys.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:46

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:47

Five, four, three, two, tier one performance.