29 : Do You Spiral After Ending A Cut? Do This Instead!

Finished your cut and wondering what comes next? In this episode, I'm sharing my biggest tip for avoiding the post-deficit spiral: setting a performance goal that challenges you. We'll talk maintenance calories, training for something bigger than aesthetics, and why building a "Life Resume" may be the missing piece. 

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SPEAKER_01 0:01

I'm your host, Carly Kaikendahl, and this is The Daily Penny, the podcast about building sickening consistency through everyday habits. Being occasionally great does not get you very far, but being consistently good is what moves the needle forward. Every time you follow through for a workout, a meal, and motherhood in your finances, in your business, or in your life, you're putting another penny in the jar of the person you want to become. One penny doesn't feel like much, but those daily deposits compound over time. This show is about fitness, nutrition, motherhood, money, business, and the systems that actually hold your life together in seasons where motivation is gone. Whether you're building habits, rebuilding confidence, or just simply trying not to quit, you're in the right place. Let's add another penny in the jar. Before I even launched this podcast, I sent out a survey. I posted it on Instagram stories, and I think I linked to it in one of my weekly newsletters as well. And many of you filled out that survey, but I was just asking for topics when it comes to ideas for episodes. Like, what do you want to hear me talk about? What interests you? What confuses you about health and fitness? What are you just nosy about? Anything that you could think of that would make for a good episode. And a lot of you asked for guidance on how to not spiral after you end a cut or a calorie deficit. Because when you're in a cut, the goal is very clear. I need to hit my calorie deficit numbers in order to lose weight or in order to lose fat. And so the result at the end of that is very shiny, meaning if I hit my goals or you know, I'm well onto my way of hitting my goals, I will get those results. And you generally will either have a length of time that you have decided in advance for the length of the cut or the calorie deficit, or you will have this goal weight that you are hoping to hit. Once again, the goal is just very clear in your mind. But then once the cut ends, either because you hit that goal weight or because you just needed to bring the cut to an end for whatever reason, then that goal suddenly doesn't feel as shiny. And I plan to create an entire episode on mastering the art of living at maintenance calories, but that's not necessarily going to be our full focus for today. But I do need to touch on that simply because even if you take my advice for the rest of this episode, once I get into our main topic, even if you take that advice to heart, it will not matter in the grand scheme of aesthetics and maintaining the results that you achieved if you throw caution to the wind once you get to maintenance calories, because you must still track your calories at maintenance. Otherwise, you can very easily eat in a surplus and you can undo the results that you worked so hard for. One thing that I have told a lot of my one-on-one clients is that it's very hard to lose weight, meaning it's more mentally hard oftentimes than it is physically hard. But it's very hard to lose weight and to reduce your body fat, but it is very, very easy to gain it all back. I'm gonna say that again because it sucks to hear, but it's the truth that you need. It's very hard to lose weight and reduce body fat, but it is very easy to gain it back. So that is the foundation before you take this next piece of advice. I just want you to commit to staying aware of your calorie intake even at maintenance. This means putting some forethought into your meals. This means still pulling out the food scale. This means hitting your protein and your fiber goals so that you will feel full and not be trying to fill yourself with these empty calories. So all the habits that you practiced in a deficit need to be continued at maintenance, but just with more calories to work with. So now that the foundation is laid, let's dive into the main focus of today's episode. When we end a cut, we can lack a sense of direction because once again, we don't have this specific shiny goal that we are working towards like we do during a cut. So this is my suggestion for you and what we are going to revolve today's episode around. And that is for you to set an insane performance goal for yourself. And when I say insane, I mean something that is going to require energy, effort, sacrifice, and discipline in order for you to hit that goal. When you enter maintenance calories, once again, tracking as diligently as you were during a cut, you have more calories to work with. So those calories can be used during your workouts to increase your strength and your performance. And you've heard the cheesy mantra that food is fuel. You've heard that so much, and that's because it's true. So my challenge to you is to take the same level of energy that you were devoting to your cut and dedicate it to a physical challenge, meaning something that you have to train for. Okay. You have those extra calories to use now that you are at maintenance, and I promise you, as someone who has done quite a few physical challenges, there is nothing like training for an event and then crossing the finish line. Like even if you don't quite hit your goal, because once again, this goal is supposed to be a difficult goal that you aren't even sure if you can hit it, but you are darn sure gonna try. Even if you don't hit that goal, there is nothing like crossing the finish line. Okay. So I ironically have taken on a physical challenge during both of my pregnancies. And then I have taken on two additional physical challenges postpartum since having my second child. So during my pregnancy with Wraith, he's my first son, he's now four and a half years old. I completed what's called a duathlon. So it's basically a triathlon without the swimming. And so what it is is it's a run bike run. So you run a little bit, you bike a little bit, and then you run again. And I was only 10 weeks pregnant when I did the race. So it wasn't like I was pregnant, pregnant, you know, but I was for sure having morning sickness. And listen, I had to show up like a big dog on race day, okay? And then during my pregnancy with Vance, I hiked Manitou Incline in Colorado when I was 30 weeks pregnant. So I was like training on the Stairmaster during my pregnancy to get ready to do that hike in Colorado. And then postpartum with Vance, I have done four high rocks races in one year, with the most notable one being my solo race in Boston, which is still a day I will never forget. I've already talked about it on a few episodes so far. And then in April of this year, 2026, I completed a PR half marathon. So, all this to say, it is hard, it is very hard unless you've been there to describe the feeling of signing up for a race and then getting a game plan together for that race, executing the game plan to the best of your ability, despite, you know, life doing what life does, which is always throwing us curveballs, and then showing up on race day and just leaving it all out there. And last but not least, crossing the finish line. I will say this again: there is nothing like that feeling. And in today's episode, I'm going to highlight a life framework that you may want to steal. And while I haven't followed every single facet of this framework, there are parts of it that I have taken and applied in my own life, which once again, that is signing up for a really difficult challenge that you don't know if you can do. So I've stole I've stolen this framework from someone else, and I'm giving him full credit and I'm gonna talk through what this is. I'm not sure if you are familiar with who Jesse Itzler is, but he's this really, really zany entrepreneur. Like if you Google him, you're gonna be like, no way, this guy is a billionaire, but he is. And he's actually married to Sarah Blakely, who's the founder of Spanx. So if you don't know who Jesse is, then I'm sure you've at least heard of Sarah. And it's funny because they are one of the most strange pairings of husband and wife I have ever seen in my life. Like truly an example of opposites attract, I guess. But they've been married for years and years and years, so clearly it's working for them. So I first learned of Jesse Itzler when one of my former coworkers recommended the book called Living with a Seal, meaning Navy SEAL. So the book is called Living with a Seal, and Jesse wrote the book. And listen to me, if you are remotely into fitness or if you just want like a comedic book, you you've got to read this. It is a true story, and it's one of, if not the only book that I have started and finished all in the same day. It is just such a fascinating story, and it's so hilarious, like I said. And I'm 100% going to ruin the ending of this book for you. But one Google search would give this away, so I'm just gonna say it. So the whole premise of the book is that Jesse Itzler hires this Navy SEAL to come live with him and his family. Once again, he's married to Sarah Blakely. They have a few children at that point. So he hires this Navy SEAL to come live with them 24-7 for I can't remember how long, but it was several weeks. Maybe it was 30 days. I don't know, it might have been longer than 30 days. But he hires this Navy SEAL to come live with him and he said, Hey, I want you to train me like I am a Navy SEAL. I want the next however many days of my life to feel like I am training at Navy SEAL training. And throughout the book, like this Navy SEAL, he wants to remain anonymous. But then at the end of the book, I guess he gave Jesse permission to reveal who he was. And the Navy SEAL that came to live with Jesse Itzler was David Goggins. And if you don't know who David Goggins is, you have to be living under a rock. But the book is incredible. So just like imagine hiring David Goggins to come live with you and being like, hey, train me like you train. Like, can you imagine? So that's how I learned about who Jesse was, is through that book. And since then, I've loosely followed like what he's doing on social media. And one of the main things that he is known for, like he's a serial entrepreneur, yet he makes so much room in his schedule for life. Keep in mind, like you have to be busy generally. You're going to be busy if you are a billionaire, right? I think we can all agree with that. Like he has he has founded and sold multiple companies, yet he has made so much room for life. And so he is most known for his philosophy on building a life resume. So he gives these keynote speeches very often. And I've never heard a keynote speech of his in person, but I've watched a lot of YouTube videos that kind of highlight the main parts of his speech. But like I said, he references his life resume in those talks. And he argues that like many people focus so much on building a professional resume that they forget to build a life resume. And what he means by life resume is like signing up for challenges that take you out of your comfort zone, going on a trip you might normally not go on, facing fears, learning new skills that at one time felt impossible. You know, things that you wouldn't necessarily put on a paper resume, but events that really mark your life in a big way. And within the framework of his life resume are three parts. And I'm gonna tell you what those three parts are, but in today's episode, we're really gonna only focus on one of them in the context of, like I said, this podcast episode and what we are discussing today. So his three-part framework to build your life resume, number one is the Masogi Challenge. And this is what we are gonna talk about more in just a second. So I'm not gonna give the whole thing away yet, but basically it's every year you put at least one thing on your calendar that is so big that it changes you as a person. So that's the one that we're gonna focus on today. But the second one in within the three-part life resume framework is called Kevin's Rule. So Kevin is one of Jesse's best friends. I don't know if he still is, but he often references that he was a cop in New York. I don't know if he's still an active cop, but Kevin was is Jesse's best friend. And what Kevin does is he takes one mini adventure, M-I-N-I, mini adventure, every eight weeks. And so what that ends up being is that's just six days a year if you do it once every eight weeks, but it ensures that you never go more than two months without having something to look forward to. And these don't have to be extreme. Like the point is just bringing in consistent novelty and newness into your life so that it doesn't just all blur into just one big routine, which as you know, I am a routine girly. But sometimes we need to do something, like I said, outside our comfort zone, something that we might not normally do. So, number two was Kevin's rule, and that's including one mini adventure in your life every eight weeks. And then the third one is to implement one new habit every quarter. So Jesse is not a big believer in New Year's resolutions. I personally am. I think there's just something about the first of the year, first of the month, first of the week. I'm a big New Year's resolutioner, I'm not gonna lie, but he doesn't love New Year's resolutions. Instead, he likes to commit to one new habit every 90 days, so like every quarter, so that by the end of the year, you have four what he considers permanent life changes because he's like, look, if you can stick to something for 90 consecutive days, you can stick with it forever. That's his that's his view on things. So that is his three-part framework for building a life resume. One was the Masogee Challenge, two was Kevin's rule, and then three was one new habit every quarter. So, like I said, the Masogee Challenge is what I'm about to go more in depth on. And this is where I want you to really throw your energy into after you exit a cut, but you're still keeping that same edge, if that makes sense. So, one of my favorite fitness entrepreneurs, his name is Michael Smoke, and his his handle on Instagram is Higher Up Wellness. He also has a really popular podcast that he posts on YouTube as well. He actually interviewed Jesse, and he Michael himself has talked about this Masogee ritual a lot in some of his own content. And in one of his recent posts, he talks about the Masogi ritual. And so I'm actually going to play that post. I hope it sounds okay throughout this through this microphone. I'm just gonna play it on my phone. But I want you to hear what he has to say, meaning Michael has to say about this challenge because I feel like he defines it so well.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Four years ago, I discovered the Masogi from Jesse Isler, and it changed my entire life in the way that I view myself. And I hope that it does that for you. So I'm gonna explain it to you now. The Masogi is a Japanese ritual of purification. Jesse is sort of translated and Americanized it to make it more accessible to people by basically saying it is the year-defining challenge. It's something that you probably put on the calendar for every year, every year at the end of the year, you have something that leaves the authority to look back on, or push new challenges, and ultimately the rules of the Masobia are simple. You can do one year it has to be built, it has to be third, and you probably have to be not totally certain that you can even finish it. That's the whole point. And the process that you go through to prepare for that thing and then do it is in essence the purification that is the origin of the Masogia ritual. For those physical challenges. So in 2022, my first Masodia was a marathon. I've never run more than five miles, ever in my life, not even close to five miles, I don't think. When I signed up for that race, and then I decided to take it a step further and get it to that level that scares me that I wasn't sure I could do and run a step four-hour marathon. But for four and a half or five months, I trained for that race in 2022 and I ran a three-hour and 48-minute marathon, first race ever. I was super proud of that. And I remember in that moment, there's a photo of me, I'll try to find it and put it right here if it's not real starting. Of me sitting on the ground like this. And I remember in that moment when that photo was being taken, it was the first time I ever thought to myself, I can do anything. I just did this, I can do anything if I propose. And that is the root of confidence. It is the root of evidence because the confidence. It is the root of believing in yourself because you have done things to call for self-belief. That is the power of the mistake. So if you haven't yet, pull out your calendar, put something to do before December 31st. A physical challenge is a great place to start your first five closes, maybe a mile, maybe it's a half-marathon, maybe it's a full marathon, maybe it's another money, maybe it's something not physical, maybe it's something personal, spiritual, financial, in your business that you don't think you can do. And then go out and do it. And I promise you, the process by which you will go through and endure and how much you will be changed from what you will endure in that process will change your life like it changed mine. It isn't easy, but it is simple. Don't overcomplicate it.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Once again, that was Michael Smoke with Higher Up Wellness. I'm gonna link to that specific post in the show notes. So to recap, the Masogi Challenge is a challenge that pushes you, challenges you, and ultimately changes you. It's one challenge per year. It has to be huge, and it has to really push you to the point that you're not sure if you can even do it. You know, you're not sure if you can complete it or you're not sure that you can hit the goal time. So it has to scare you to some degree because the fear of failure is scary, right? And we're not just gonna put something on our calendar that we know that we can easily complete because that is not going to require us to elevate to another level. And I want you to think about this. When you were in a calorie deficit, when you were intentionally restricting your body of the calories that it needed to maintain the current weight that you were at so that it would lose weight, that was hard. That took intentionality. That took you being meticulous with the calories that you consumed. It forced you to try and eat a higher protein goal, most likely. It probably caused you to try and eat more fiber so that you would feel more full on less calories. It took intentionality. There was no way you were just going to, by chance, hit your macros in a calorie deficit and lose weight consistently unless you were intentional about it. So if you don't sign up for something that's really difficult or that you see is really difficult for the Masogi Challenge, it's not going to require you to make many sacrifices because it's not forcing you to level up enough. It won't stretch you. So please hear me out. And it's funny that Michael mentioned a 5K in his Instagram post that I just let you listen to. But please hear me out and do not take this the wrong way. I am not trying to offend anyone. I truly want the best for every person listening to this podcast because I know that getting your health in order, getting your fitness order can in order can totally change your life. So please don't be offended by this, but I have to say it. Do not make a 5K your goal unless you are someone who is so out of shape that walking is currently hard or painful because a 5K is not going to stretch you enough. A 5K is something that you can train for and complete within a few weeks. Now, I didn't say complete at an eight-minute mile pace, but you can complete it within a few weeks if you just trained for a 5K. So I want you going big. Okay. I want you to sign up for maybe a 10K, a half marathon, a full marathon, an Iron Man, who knows? And because I'm biased and I know how difficult these races are, maybe you want to challenge yourself and sign up for a HIROX. And you might be thinking, Carly, this podcast, I feel like it's going in a lot of directions right now. And maybe this only all makes sense in my brain. But this is truly a stream of consciousness and it's all linking together for me. So I hope it all links together for you. But my point is like, I see so many women exiting a calorie deficit and they've lost like a ton of weight, right? And then they have nowhere to throw that same level of energy and effort into because so often they see maintenance as this boring and wasted phase. Now it's not, it's not a boring and wasted phase at all. You can actually see tremendous results staying at maintenance, but mentally it's hard because you don't have that big shiny goal that you're working towards. You're simply trying to maintain what you just achieved, right? Which is, it can seem a little less boring. It can seem a little less shiny. But signing up for a physical challenge helps you keep that edge. It forces you to stay locked in, but with your efforts, the locked-in efforts, just being focused in another direction. And what happens when you are so locked in on a physical goal is that the training required for that goal, it becomes this keystone habit in your day. And a keystone habit is something that you see as a non-negotiable. And then that trickles positively into other areas of your life. So if we sign up for this challenging race and we commit to that training with the same degree of intentionality and effort, it causes us to want to be on point in other areas of our lives as well. So this means that, like in your mind, you're going to think, hey, I'm throwing all this effort into training and I'm emptying my tank many days during the week because I am trying so hard within these workouts for the training. So why would I then go and fuel my body with all these empty calories that are going to make me feel like crap and hinder my performance? Why would I go gorge on a double cheeseburger every Friday night when I know that I have a long run waiting for me on a Saturday morning? Like, who wants to be on that long run with that cheeseburger sloshing around in their stomach? I know I don't. And like, why would I skip breakfast when I know I have a tough workout in the afternoon that's awaiting me? Like I'm definitely gonna need more fuel in the tank for that workout. So why would I skip breakfast, right? Why would I not start my day off on a positive note? So that keystone habit of your training can help keep you laser focused in other areas as well. It can help you keep that same edge that you had in a deficit. It can keep you from spiraling when you no longer have this goal of weight loss or fat loss as your primary focus. So taking on something like the Masogi Challenge, a challenge that once again pushes you, challenges you, and ultimately changes you, might be just what you need as you exit a cut and live at maintenance for a few or several months. And if this interests you and you're like, okay, Carly, like I need to sign up for a race now. I want you to go and do it. I want you to do it before you have a chance to talk yourself out of it. Because the distance between a desire to change and then actually taking action on that, that timeline, that time lapse is so crucial. Because the more you think about things, the less likely you are to take action on them because you're going to just kick the can down the road. You're going to overanalyze, you're going to suffer from analysis, paralysis, you're going to delay any action because you're spending so much time thinking. So I want you to ask yourself this literally, what do you have to lose? And I'm going to answer that for you because the answer is nothing. You have nothing to lose. Everyone fails at some point, but at least you're out there doing something, right? Like I was so scared and embarrassed to not hit my high-rux doubles goal that I had back in March. But then I thought to myself, I'm like, no one wins at everything they take on. And if you do constantly win at everything you take on, then you're not even challenging yourself enough, right? You are not challenging yourself enough. So ask yourself, what do I have to lose? So go sign up for a race today. And if you need a good strength program to partner with that race that you might be training for, the foundations program in my app is a great solution for that because it has full body strength workouts. It's three full body strength workouts a week. So even if you just did one or two, I would recommend a minimum of two of those three foundations full body workouts each week. You're still hitting both upper and lower body within the same workout. So I'm gonna link to the app workouts in my show notes. I'm also gonna link to that post that I let you listen to by Higher Up Wellness. And I'm also gonna link to a short YouTube video by Jesse Etzler describing the Masogi Challenge or really his life resume all in one. So go sign up for a race today, and in the meantime, keep adding another penny in the jar.