The Identity Architect

Weight Loss Myths to give up in 2024 with Alicia Reitz

β€’ Greg Fearon - The Identity Architect

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πŸŽ™οΈ Podcast Episode Title: Weight Loss Myths to Give Up in 2024πŸ“… Release Date: 19/12/24πŸ”— Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fVSyI3...πŸ”” Subscribe for more episodes! [Your YouTube Channel Link]πŸ“ Show Notes:Alicia joins me for the 3rd time to help you dispel the MYTHS in the nutrition world that keep women stuck.🎧 About the Episode:Alicia & I break down common weight loss myths like intermittent fasting, insulin and menopause diets. We talk about influencers like Mindy Pelz & Mary Haver & Gary Brecka. Then we transition into how changing your health will help you Level up in EVERY area of your life. πŸ‘₯ Special Guest: Alicia Rietz Alicia holds a degree in Kinesiology and now helps women become resilient in mid-life. This is the 3rd time Alicia has appeared on this rare podcast. She brings Passion and knowledge which is as strong as her Jujitsu Game. You find her here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelishfit/Free Links: https://hoo.be/angelishfitπŸ“Œ Connect with Us:Website: www.gregfearon.co.ukInstagram: @greg_fearonLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-fearon/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GregDFearon🀝 Support the Show:πŸ”— Listen to More Episodes: https://gregfearon.co.uk/podcasts/πŸŽ‰ Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more insightful content!

SPEAKER_00

Hello and welcome to the Empowered Body Method Podcast with your host, Greg Feron. And today, for the second time, or is it the third time? Okay, very few people get the free peak. List Yaritz is back. Angel Ishbit is back to drop some knowledge bombs.

unknown

Hello.

SPEAKER_00

How are you? Hello.

SPEAKER_03

I'm so happy to be back. You you're like my first podcast, and I mean, this is a limited edition, I think.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, this is the free peats don't happen very, very often in my world. So no, you know, but technically it's the fourth because you've also come and spoken to my clients as well.

SPEAKER_03

So oh yeah, that was such a great day. I'm still waiting for the recording on that one, by the way. It's probably gone now, but whatever.

SPEAKER_00

I knew she was gonna get rid of that, right?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's all right. That's all right. That's all right. Okay, that's all right.

SPEAKER_00

Let's um, yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_03

I just want I just I just wanted to say, like, you know, I earned this three peat because uh a few weeks back you posted that our last episode together was your most popular episode. Yes, it was. So I don't know, I don't know if it's the accent on my part. I guess because for a lot of your listeners, whenever I listen to your podcast, everybody sounds like you, nobody sounds like me. So yeah, little love letter from Canada.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you want your accent is very distinctive. I've had a few of the Americans on, but none not many Canadians. In fact, you're the only Canadian, so yeah. Do you wanna so do you wanna do a very quick intro? Firstly, just to remind of your awesomeness.

SPEAKER_03

Oh well, you know, um, thank you so much. My name's Alicia Wrights. I am uh a midlife resilience coach, and I was a secondary school teacher for 15 years. Um my background is in um exercise science, kinesiology. I have an honors degree um from McMaster University, and um I've been doing um fitness and health education and dance education for almost a couple of decades now. And about uh coming up on two years ago now, I pivoted from my teaching career to helping women over 40 um really start to shift what they think of themselves, how they speak to themselves, how they behave, and the things that they do to look after themselves. When I started this, um, when I started this project, it was very much just a fitness thing. And um, as I learned more and more and more about my demo, my demographic and who I wanted to work with, um there were way more similarities between um the women I was working with and the teen girls that I was working with previously in my teaching career. And you can't just, you know, throw a training program and a nutrition plan at them and go, okay, good luck, see you. There's a lot to unpack and there's a lot of mindset shift that needs to happen. And so that's I think been the most exciting part is learning how I can best help my clients move forward. And especially I find the the biggest thing is that toxic diet culture of the 90s that we all came through. Um, and it was just about anything you could do to be smaller. It didn't matter how unhealthy you were, whatever. You know, I think about Cheryl Crow and and and her, you know, her caffeine and nicotine diet, right? Like it's like I don't think she was actually on that. That was just in one of her songs, but it would that that's when I think of the 90s, it's like whatever you need to do to be as skinny as possible, that's what you do. And it's unbelievable how many of us are still carrying that and still struggling with that. Even um, I know on one of my group calls, we were talking about um very close relatives, parents, um, aunts, uncles who would comment on our bodies as young teens and tell us how fat we were and tell us, you know, what we needed to do to look better. And it's it's it's kind of crazy. You think it's just you, and when we all get together and start talking about um shared experiences and this the similar experiences that we had, it's um it's been a a very special evolution of um what I'm doing with these women and it's it's incredibly rewarding, and I'm super excited to see what uh the next year brings because we're just our community is growing and expanding. And I'm um I'm actually planning a uh an in real life retreat, step into your power retreat next year. What are you pointing at you for? Oh, the invite. You can you can you can you can help my partner because he's he's gonna be there too making sure everything runs smoothly, but he's gonna have to, you know, um disappear for some time. So you guys can go disappear and uh go stand up paddleboarding or something.

SPEAKER_00

Perfect. We can go to the gym. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

There's two of them. So so that there's two of them on the property. So it's it's very cool. It's it's in a blue zone in uh Costa Rica. So we've been talking a lot about that too, about what that means and um and looking at what it what what it is that makes these blue zones, especially in Costa Rica, so special and so um sort of health promoting and wellness promoting. So it's it's it's it's been an interesting year. So I'm super excited to get into it with you and wrap up this year and talk about some of the craziness that you and I have discussed over the last 12 months or so. Oh Lord.

SPEAKER_00

Oh Lord So and this is why we we get on so well, because we're so aligned in our thinking and what we've experienced and seen. And you know, hey, yes, I'm a man, but I've seen the damage that uh just the world capitalism puts on women about their health. And this is why this is why we jam so much because we see exactly the same things. Um, so this is why I love it. So we're gonna break down some of the crazy we've seen over the last year. Um, just to help the ladies listening to this podcast hear the right things.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, this is the this is I I I love your ability to cut through the noise. There's just so much noise, and I I think uh let me do an attempt without sounding too stupid. Static that there is it's like static.

SPEAKER_00

I love it, I love it.

SPEAKER_03

How did I do it? Yeah, um, it's it's it's it's so insidious because there's like this little kernel of truth in this stuff, and you go, okay, yeah, that's right. And then the next step is complete bullshit, and it's so hard, it's so hard to chase it all down. There's a there's a uh a podcast that I listen to. Um it's called conspirituality, and it's it's fantastic. I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but it's fantastic, and they they do they do sort of call out um, you know, conspiracy theories, but also a lot of it has to do, it creeps into the wellness space. And they talk about something called gish gallop, where these people spout bullshit so fast, people that are trying to explain the bullshit just can't even keep up because by the time you've explained one thing away and given your evidence and your your citations and your receipts, they're on to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, and you just can't outrun it. So I'm you know, but we're gonna do our best today.

SPEAKER_00

No, we're gonna do great because we are good people, we can do this, all right. So do you want to go first?

SPEAKER_03

No, you go first.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, okay, okay. All right.

SPEAKER_03

Age before beauty, that's how that goes.

SPEAKER_00

But you win in both categories, so what happens then?

SPEAKER_03

Uh yeah, that's true. So that means, you know, as the winner, I'm gonna let you go first.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, cool, got it. All right, so here's the here's the really big one um that I'm hearing so much is insulin. And that insulin is gonna make everybody fat, um, and that you need to manage your insulin and all of that stuff. And although there's a there's a small kernel, as you said, of truth in what insulin does, like there are no such thing as bad hormones unless there is a problem with the hormone. It's too much. Right. And it's used as a way to scare people, I think scare women. Because when we mention things like hormones, it means it's something that we can't fix. So rather than teaching you how to fix it, sleep, protein, fiber, exercise properly, don't overeat, they give you this random insulin fixing solution, which actually is diet, sleep, exercise, rest, right, but wrapped up in this magical solution.

SPEAKER_03

And that only they have.

SPEAKER_00

That only they have, of course. Yeah, and so that's probably the big one for me this year is being insulin. I listened to um a an influencer who said this is his words pretty much, you need to manage insulin, it's not about calories. Then he said in the next line, you've got enough calories on your belly, and you're like, hang on a minute, you just said calories don't matter, but uh I was just like, Wow.

SPEAKER_03

Wow, and and this is the thing, you know, this is what I mean when I say static and noise, where that's all just they don't even know what they're talking about. Um and you're right, this it's it's so to listen to the way people scare women into you know paralysis, essentially. They're so afraid to make a mistake. Um and and the insulin thing, you know, when you say insulin, the next thing that pops up into my head is cortisol. Oh cortisol makes you fat independent of energy intake. No, nothing makes you fat independent of energy intake. Nothing. Yes, there's yes, have you cortisol can make you eat more. Has anybody ever heard of a stress eater? Of course you have. Stress means that there's cortisol in your bloodstream. And if and if stress makes you eat, then yes, you need to manage your stress by sleeping and eating well and exercising, and like, but it's just it's not sexy enough. We're sexy enough, but the the concepts are just too like commonsensical. And I say that knowing that there's no such thing as common sense on the planet anymore, but you know, you're so right, and you and I have had numerous conversations about that. They'll go way off into left field about insulin, cortisol, you know, that but it all comes back to the same thing, the same things to manage it, but they can't make money on that. You can't make money on people going for a walk. So it has to be the supplement. Like it's it's so infuriating. It's so infuriating. I, you know, um my thing, the another thing that bothers me is um if you walk too fast or too much, you'll get fat.

SPEAKER_00

What?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, if you walk too fast or too much, you'll get fat because cortisol. And you know, yeah. So you need to make sure that you're walking slow enough to take these supplements that they're selling. It's uh it's so insulting. It's so insulting. But this is what I'm saying. Like, I I you know, I sent you a message the other day where I was like, am I wrong? Like people are getting fat independent of energy intake. Like, am I am I wrong? And and you're because it it starts to make you think like am I so many people are talking about how is it me? Yeah, that's what you that's what I start to it's them, right? Like, and this is this is why we have to we talk regularly because it's like wait, this did you see this? Like, it's insane, it's insane, and we know, we know this, we know what the thing is, the thing is not the thing, but um, there's just so much of it out there, and this is the thing with your background, with my background, with your experience, with my experience. If we are seeing things and going, wait, imagine how everyone else feels. People that are are asking us and looking to us for the the real shit, and this is and you know, we were talking about this being a 2023 wrap-up and going into 2024. So I want to revisit this, but just a little teaser, you know, I think in 2024 and beyond, real shit is gonna make a comeback.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yes, hell yes, hell yes, because people are tired, people are confused, and I think truth tellers will prevail, will prevail, prevail even. Um, because people need to hear truth right now, and all of this hormone stuff often what they do is they play on the fact that most of the people who listen to this podcast aren't gonna be like us. We're not gonna we're not gonna whip out the the the big textbook that we got when we've got degrees. We're we're we're gonna be we're gonna be the people that will spend five hours going through 20 research papers to make sure they all align and we've got a meta analysis and we've got peer-reviewed studies, but they know that you know uh Diane, who's working hard every day, is gonna go, oh, that sounds like the solution. I'm not gonna read the scientific paper behind it. So then she's like, Oh, it must be my cortisol.

SPEAKER_03

Right, right. It's you know, it's it's really upsetting to see that because people are, you know, when the women that I work with are all afraid of the wrong things, they're afraid of carbohydrates, they're afraid of too much food, they're afraid of like not doing enough to earn that food, but they're not afraid. But but they what they need to be afraid of is alcohol. What they need to be afraid of is not getting enough sleep. What they need to be afraid of is not lifting weights for their bone density, for their muscle tissue, for their confidence, for their mental health, for the like on and on and on and on and on. And it but I blame the industry for doing a really bad job and people that um you know that they think they're a fitness expert because they have a nice body. Great. What the hell? That's have we seen every professional athlete? Does that make them a good coach? Not automatically. Some of them, yes, but the vast majority, no, they have no idea how the sausage is made. They just do what they're told.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, by a coach who's normally qualified.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. That's that's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00

Funny that. Um, I'll tell you who's the latest one. There's a guy on the internet now, Gary Brecker.

SPEAKER_03

Oh god. Is this the one? Is this the one? Is this the one who says that you run out of carbohydrate in like 20 minutes or something like that? You run out of glucose in 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you run out of glycogen in your muscles within 20 minutes of of you working out. I'm trying to work, I'm trying to work out how these marathon runners are alive today.

SPEAKER_03

Like how did they not how did they not dissolve into a puddle of goo? That was the other thing. Your muscles turn to liquid in like three minutes or some bullshit. Just like, what?

SPEAKER_00

But here's here's the thing. If you break down a lot of these videos, he's very clever. So one of his videos, he's like, he does this thing where he says, he tells all the women, women, you are smarter than men. So all the women are like, yes, this is true. And then it becomes this like, you know about these churches, especially in America, where it's like every word the preacher says, everyone just says yes to. So it's a very yeah, praise the Lord, hallelujah. Um I used to go to church, I I know all about this, but once you've got one yes, and this is a bit of psychology for everybody. Once you've got one or two yeses, people are more likely to keep saying yes. So then he's got so he's got this thing, you know, women are smarter than men, you have bigger brains. Yes, hallelujah, praise the Lord. Your muscles are gonna turn into goo within three minutes of you working out. Yes, that's what happened to me. I was doing too much here. No, you weren't, you weren't you were eating too much food.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. Yeah, I know, and and and you know, people this is why this is why I don't spend time breaking these things down because people like Lane Norton, um, Alan Aragon, people like that are the best at breaking this stuff down, pulling up the citations, looking at the studies, looking at the difference between rat studies and human randomized control trials, right? Which people do not understand the difference between those things. We are not rats, we are not, you know, like our bodies are different than rat bodies. It's crazy, like and and so I don't pretend to be able to do what Lane does or what Alan does or what Bill Campbell does. And um, I have to tell you, I was uh in Orlando in October at um the NCI summit, and I I enjoyed the privilege of seeing all three of them speak and share their latest research and uh latest insights and stuff. And it was amazing to be able to look at their process and how they do stuff and what they found, and it's like you can't you can't package this up and br and bring this to the masses in this way. Like you can't. People are just like, what? I don't even know what you're talking about. And so, you know, I feel like you and I, we boil all that down and go, do this. I want to be your Google from now on. You're not allowed to Google anything ever again. When when someone when I have a uh a new client that that I work with, the first thing I tell them, you're not googling anything anymore. You're not googling if this is true, if that's true. Do I do this? Does fat make you fat? Do carbs make you fat? Does walking too fast make you fat? Does like, no, you ask me because we are the information gatherers, we are the synthesizers, we are the people that read all that boring shit and bring it to you. Package it up really nice. It's still not sexy, but it's packaged and bring it to you without selling you some bullshit supplement or making you so afraid of food and movement that you don't even know what to do anymore. It's so um, but it's it's I think one of the best things about going to that conference was the confirmation to sit there and know, like to that that that gets rid of all the gaslighting from the rest of the industry, the well, the the wellness grifters, and you go, yeah, that's right. I fucking know that. That's right. That's exactly what that's exactly right. You go, thank God. Like the people um in the industry doing that are on the ground doing shit, finding exactly what you would expect them to find, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Oh Lord. So now you've mentioned rats.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

I need to talk about I need to talk about fasting.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yes, please let's talk about fasting.

SPEAKER_00

Autophagy. Yes, and yes, intermittent fasting is the only way. Like, let's just sum it up. If you miss a magic if you miss a meal every day, you are restricting your calories. Oh correct. Now, I think what's happened is uh and I do

SPEAKER_03

it a lot of women have had trauma with overly restricted diets yes yeah beyoncΓ©'s can pepper and honey diet you know the the we're gonna find out about her one day i'm just saying i i i don't believe in beyonce at all one shape i don't i don't i do not trust her jay-z no shade there's something going on there but anyway anyway but yeah rianna though love her oh yeah every day yeah yeah every day every day every day all day but yeah the thing about the whole fasting thing is this right like some people work really well with it some people don't the literature is is clear that there is no significant difference between someone who exercises fasted versus someone who exercises in a fed state as long as calories are equated if the goal is fat loss many people don't perform as well if they are not in a fed state so if you want to fast fast but for the women that are listening this is one thing I will say to you if you have a problem with snacking in the evening I guarantee you're probably gonna be an intermittent faster because you will be like I'm gonna just survive on coffee till 12 o'clock because those are the rules and then you will try and compensate for it throughout the day with other food just wake up and have some breakfast seriously like nothing's gonna happen to you I promise yeah there there is no magic in intermittent intermittent fasting it is another way to create a calorie deficit that's it and I have I have people that um are in businesses or doing jobs that have super super busy times and then not as busy times in the day and you know if you have a super busy morning up until you know noon or 11 o'clock in the morning and you want to shift people that say I'm really not hungry in the morning I don't really feel like eating in the morning great hydrate make sure that you have something um something with a good amount of protein and some carbohydrate ready so that you don't grab there's nothing worse than starting your day with a muffin or some shit like it's it's the worst it's the worst. So make sure that you have something ready for you when you are hungry but like if you're not hungry in the morning don't eat until you're ready. Make sure you're hydrated if you're if you're someone that likes you know three squares or you know you like it you enjoy breakfast it gets you going it's great but there's no advantage one way or the other doesn't matter when or how you get those calories there is one thing though people that that have an entire giant I hate this word but bolus of protein like when they have it all at once it doesn't it doesn't work as well as when you spread it out 30 to 40 grams at a time you can only take up so much at a time so try and spread that out at least over you know three meals optimally about four four times a day but other than that if you like bigger meals have bigger meals if you like smaller meals have smaller meals at the end of the day you're right when you equate for protein intake for calories it's all the same shit whatever you like whatever works for you whatever's going to work for you today tomorrow next week next month next year because you know I what the you know the what I find the sexiest thing about everything that people that people are doing and that we're trying to get people to do the sexiest thing is consistency.

SPEAKER_00

That's the magic sauce that is the magic sauce that's gonna bring you where you want to be anybody can do anything for a week for two weeks for the this these fucking 30 day challenges a flipped sick and it's happening already right like this time of year I I don't know about you I know that like from a from a I almost hate this like I don't know about you but the the the part I like least about my business is marketing that's the part I like the least because it's like I just want to zag when everybody zigs right I'm just like no I don't want to do that I don't want to do this I don't want to do this I don't want to do this and my inbox is just flooded with Christmas stuff and all of that shit and I'm just like no I just want to hang back until but you know it's already starting the resolution stuff the 30 day challenge stuff the jump start the this the that no just start get some momentum I think this is why and I'm just gonna be out there and honest I like to work with women that are pretty much self-led already because they're not in we they've evolved past the the 28 day kickstart the the five day challenge I refuse to do any of that I refuse to do any of that marketing because that's what it is that the kickstart is an appeal to your lesser self it's saying you know you need something to to bump you I I refuse to do it. People have come to me Greg you should do a five day challenge well no we know that in you know if a hundred people go into a five day challenge one percent will actually continue it afterwards and they'll go and hunt for another five day challenge and you see it all the time right you sit I've seen other coaches out there sorry coaches who do five day challenges yeah I ain't sorry really they do a challenge every and it's the same people it's the same people just doing challenges and not get anywhere I can't work with that anymore I I refuse to I only want to work with people who want to make a change so they can show up in their business and their life the way they want to 100% it's gonna be inconsistency so you will get no quick fixes here. Sorry.

SPEAKER_03

No and and this I love that rant that was that was phenomenal because immediately no to the quick fix to the jump start to the challenge to the like absolutely not it's because that already sends a message to everybody's brain that this is temporary. And it's not it needs to be incorporated into your life this is just a thing you do now until they dig a hole for you and I know people don't want to hear that they go wait a second wait a second are do you mean to tell me that once I get into shape I have to stay in shape yes yes Joey yes but you wouldn't you wouldn't start a business and then stop after 30 days would you no on my next relationship I'm gonna do a 30 day relationship challenge I'm gonna be in a relationship for 30 days and I'm gonna stop like seriously it you wouldn't do that in any other avenue of your life and if the health is the the foundation of everything you do why are you treating yourself like that bro we have enough inconsistency with relationships like stop already like I've had some of my some of my clients are like you should you should do a dating course and I was like oh my God I don't think I I don't think I have the strength. I honestly don't I it's like I thought about it I was like no you know what I can't I can't I just can't I can't with people these days it's awful um and and you're right like in any other place in your life a 30 day challenge is the dumbest thing ever you would never do that in any other aspect of your life but for some reason we are very comfortable playing fast and loose with our health and and you know the other thing you and I talked about I know that I know that I should I know that I should pay attention to my health but A B C D E and I'll you know as soon as I get this settled I'll start as soon as this happens I'll start as soon as I'm done with this and this is people have so many things in their life that they prioritize ahead of their own health and fitness mental health physical health especially aging 40s 50s 60s and the ironic thing is you have all these other things in your life but if something goes wrong with your health there is only one thing reach and I don't want I don't want people I'm trying to prevent as many women as possible from finding that out the hard way yes it's just it's not it's not worth it to to play that game to to play that Russian roulette game.

SPEAKER_00

What day is it going to be I was listening I was listening on the radio this morning um I'm sure you're aware of Celine Dion very famous Canadian singer I know she's going through some ill health right now horrible and and I'm not sure about the origins of this syndrome it's it's called uh uh oh my gosh it's like a stiff condition it's like a stiff body condition yeah stiff person syndrome she's lost all control of her muscles at this point yeah I know and and the thing is like it's I don't want to you know bring bring bring the mood down but there are very very serious things that happen to people that once you're in that space it's very difficult to get out prevention is I mean that things are a saying for a reason an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and if you can and of course we can't control everything we can't control you know things that just happen because of genetic predisposition or or you know acute whatever like no we can't but wouldn't you want to control the shit that you can control the the data is very clear right when you exercise and you have an aerobic fitness and you have the right level of strength and you can get up the floor the data says it very clearly your length of life and your quality of life is going to be exponentially better and this is going to lead me on to a really controversial point and I might upset people I might even upset you I'm so excited I've stopped talking about menopause in my content and here's the reason there are so many people out there right now there's a oh there's a Dr Mary Haver I've heard that's the one oh my god oh who um she's awful but she's up in lights now she's recently on um Stephen Bartlett he's diary of an entrepreneur he's like the he's a big thing and he's he he was on there and I she blocked me because I called I know he blocked me because I called her out on her low calorie recipe book the calories and it was about 1400 calories and what I see out there is a lot of people a lot of coaches who actually don't understand hormones who don't understand physiology who don't understand nutrition are using menopause as a marketing tool and what they're saying is you know oh you can't do the things in menopause in menopause that you used to do now we know that there might be some energy dips there's going to be some hormonal fluctuations but the tenets of great nutrition don't change in whatever area of your life in era of your life and I that's why I stopped talking about menopause I just want to talk about women who want to make the second half of their life better and all these menopause diets and all of this you know oh you shouldn't be doing that exercise if you're a menopause what are you crazy you're you're diminishing the women by doing that and it it drives me mad.

SPEAKER_03

So I've talked about menopause I still I've talked about you know you know I was I was nervous there for a second about what you were going to say but I'm actually right on board with you with that because menopause is being marketed as some because for decades and decades and decades women have not talked about this they you know when when we all went through puberty we all talked about our periods we all talked about what we were going through when we were pregnant we were all talking about what that was like and and but we but then we don't talk about menopause. So it's this it's been this traditionally secret suffer in silence um mysterious horrible thing this specter and so now now that the marketers have gotten a hold of it they use that mystery they use that secrecy they use that to make it seem like this condition that all of a sudden you lose all control over your body your body betrays you nothing works anymore you have to do everything completely differently and it's like physiology doesn't change and you and I have talked about this the other the other you know word that seems to be sort of cycling out of favor right now is metabolism. Oh god and that your metabolism just goes for a shit in menopause no it doesn't no it doesn't it does not the research is clear your metabolism stays essentially the same from the time you're 19 until you're in your mid-60s the same and people don't want to believe that they're like no no well I gained all this weight yeah but that's not because your metabolism slowed down it's because you're drinking more is because you're sitting around more is because you're not right like yes maybe you're gaining weight in midlife but it's largely lifestyle it has nothing to do with your metabolism and and the marketers using that using menopause as a way to tell women forget everything you've ever heard because everything's different now you can't everything things that worked for you when you were 30 aren't gonna work anymore and women go what the fuck now what do I do well luckily these people also have the solution and it's in a bottle yeah you yeah you you talk about um Mary Haver and I every time I see a happy mammoth ad I don't know if you've seen these no I've not seen that they're the they're the worst they're the worst oh they have a hormone quiz find out what your hormone type is find out what this is this is this these are the ads that tell you you know if you walk too fast or too much you're gonna gain belly fat blah blah blah right and then and then they they they sell the supplements and it like wipes out every every symptom of menopause within 28 days fuck all the way off you shared um a post and you had a rant and it was beautiful rant about fasting by body type yes I was by age fasting by age that's it yeah but and it's funny because they're doing it to men now.

SPEAKER_00

So the same adverts coming up for guys and you just got me thinking about Dr.

SPEAKER_03

Mindy Pell's have you heard of her yes so this is the she blocked you too didn't she no no I I managed to find a way back I just okay but she she went on a a podcast and said that intermittent fasting raised testosterone in men by 3000% yeah no no no no but the problem is you have men you have men like Dana White who like I'm sorry is he is he a physiologist is he a nutrition he's nothing and and the the latest thing now is the 72 hour fasts for men to raise their testosterone to drop body fat it's funny when women do it it's an eating disorder but when men do it it's super masculine what the no no no no see here ah this is the thing now I'm gonna have to call you out on that one I'm sorry all right you do it under the guise of a water fast ah you can do up to 96 hours and it's okay but if you have disordered eating that's different right so different the difference is the vagina that's the difference yeah it's that's the what's the difference between a water fast and an eating disorder well the vagina that's it that's the difference it depends you see because with Dr. Mindy Pell's you see the thing is if you it depends on where you are in your cycle will determine the type of fast that you do right so well I think I think the funniest one in the rant that I did about fasting by age was the the um the zero and 24 like you just never eat ever again like you you fast for 24 hours and eat for zero and you're like oh okay isn't that called dying like I don't like you just after 65 you just don't eat ever again you just put yourself out on an ice floe and just and just drift out into nothingness wait for a seal to eat you like it's it's the dumbest shit I've ever heard and it's like does anybody even like look at this look at the like the infographics are the funniest if you actually look at it and read what it says it's just like this is the dumbest shit ever but for Dana White to come out and be giving health advice is so hilarious to me I can't even with this guy this is the power of celebrity isn't it I mean we put celebrities on a pedestal so they can literally say anything they want if they can sing well if they've got money they can literally you know do anything and it's really funny right so the other day I was speaking to a woman who was oh but Greg you know if I don't eat my metabolism is going to slow down so this is why I'm not losing weight so I'm in starvation mode so calm down take a breath for anyone watching Alicia's try trying not to in uh you know uh combust right here um so I said okay you're old enough to remember Band aid right you know do they know this do you remember that she said yeah I said that was for starving children and women of course but if you see the videos of them they look very skeletal right there's no muscle there's no fat what do you think was happening to them and I think it's because we forget we forget that these things happen we forget that there was famine in India that destroyed the lives of millions we forget there's famine so therefore it's not in our faces so that means I now market the fact that you're in starvation mode and that's what's making you gain weight because the body's trying to protect you but surely the body would want to be able to fuel your brain and your heart and stuff I I don't I it doesn't make sense like your heart but yet the body's trying to hold on to it make it make sense it it makes it makes zero sense it makes zero sense the the one thing if if somebody wants to talk about um hyperphagy or uh uh hyper hyperphagia if you want to talk about that okay we can have a conversation about that where you've over restricted and now your your brain goes okay let's slam our faces down into as much food as we can possibly find if you want to talk about starvation mode in that context fine then I'll have a conversation with you that when you over restrict you're going to overeat and people forget that they've overeaten and they go it's because I'm not eating enough that's why yeah that's what's triggering your binge and when you over restrict over too much time hyperphagia is going to take over and it is an uncontrollable appetite drive it's a physiological drive to eat to protect you that's what our bodies do.

SPEAKER_00

Ah but you see there's because there's guilt in the binge you see so therefore people say well I've already eaten lettuce and broccoli for a whole week I'm not losing weight And then when you question more, you have that conversation eventually little bits. Oh, yeah, I did eat out that one night. Okay, cool. And then before you know it, you're like, listen, you're on about 4,000 calories a day. You need to wind up back.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, right. That's not starvation. You know, that's no.

SPEAKER_00

But this is what has happened in the world, and I'm just gonna be very honest. I know that many women will be triggered by the words diet and calories.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

But what happens is marketers play on that trauma because that's what marketing is finding the enemy to then sell you something else. The same thing by a different name. That's all that's all that happens.

SPEAKER_03

100%. Yep. Create a create a problem, sell them the solution.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03

That's all that is. And when and once you realize that, um, and that's why that's why you and I are so valuable to our clients, because we will give them the real shit. We don't have an investment in selling them bullshit. Because you know, if we do that and they don't get the results, then right, then we're finished.

SPEAKER_00

And brief. So I mean, even today on Facebook, I saw a woman, there was an advert come through about um hit no weight loss. So this woman has said she brought the program and she was doing it, but she hadn't lost any weight.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

So I commented and said, Well, what else have you been doing outside this hit no weight loss? She said nothing. And I was like, Well, maybe that's the problem.

SPEAKER_03

Like you're not super popular on Facebook, are you? No.

SPEAKER_00

What it is is that we are truth tellers, and it's it's very easy to try and get sucked into play in the popularity game, which is what a lot of these influencers do. Which is why, like you say, with our clients, I love my clients because they they're they're bored of the BS, they're bored of the bullshit. Yes, they want to know what to do, and once I tell them, they go and do it. So some track calories, some don't, but they all understand how energy balance works. Right. Exactly.

unknown

Done.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and and and this is you know, this is something that I I know we we wanted to make the second half of this a little bit more hopeful now that our rants are all done.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so are we done?

SPEAKER_03

Are we done with the rants?

SPEAKER_00

I think what I need to do is we need to part them and now move into part two, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it is into looking forward, right? Looking forward. And uh, I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about how um, and even at this conference that I was at, they talked about the average lifespan of a fitness influencer is about 18 months. And then they they just they burn out because they just run out of bullshit to say. And so the good news for you and for me and for other truth tellers and people that actually give a shit about their clients, um, and making sustainable, healthy, positive change is that it's not we are gonna be the ones who are left. And I think in 2024 and beyond, people are getting hip to this bullshit, this you know, creating this fear and then selling you the solution and looking at, you know, does this even make sense? And starting to look for people. Hey, I've seen this Greg Feeron guy, he's been around for years, this Angela Schmidt chick, she's been around for years, and the message is consistent, it never wavers, it never pivots, it never goes to that place. And I, you know, one of the messages that I sent you this week was, you know, someone that I've followed for quite a while and been like, yeah, you know what? I I like that, I like that, I like that. And then all of a sudden they make this left turn and you go, oh no. And you go, and and this is uh, but I think, you know, this next stage in in the space is going to be for those of us that have not wavered from the real shit. And I think that's good news, not just for us, but for the people that we work with, for them to know that we're not going to bait and switch on them, that we're not going to take them in the wrong direction. And that feels good when someone comes to you because they trust you, they've seen you for weeks or months or years and been like, this is, I'm ready to make a change now, and this is who I want to work with. And and those are the clients that do the best, that know who I am, know what I'm about, know what they're getting, and work the process, fall in love with it, notice the changes that aren't necessarily about getting smaller all the time. Sometimes it's about getting stronger, sometimes it's about um changing your composition, sometimes it's about changing your mindset, sometimes it's about fixing your sleep, sometimes it's about getting rid of the things that don't work in your life. And that is super, super rewarding to see people making incredible shifts and changes in their lives that they're gonna take with them for the next what four or five decades? And that that is that is incredible work and incredible things that we're putting out into the world. And it feels good to be moving forward in that way. Like it's you know, when people, you know, when my clients text me and and tell me something that they've achieved for the first time or something they've realized for the first time, and you're like, yeah, like that it's there's nothing like that.

SPEAKER_00

You just I've just had so many thoughts as you were going into that because we're both martial artists.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, we are.

SPEAKER_00

And I'm a part-time martial artist, I I don't practice as much as I should do anymore. However, I can still do all of my forms that I've learned 20, 30 years ago. People go, oh, but Greg, how did you remember that? Because I practiced it regularly. Same for you with BJJ, you know, Brazilian jiu-jitsu for those of you listening. So Alicia will throw you to the ground and turn your body into a pretzel if you mess with her. Um scary, huh? Again, you have to rehearse those movements again and again before they become automatic. So actually, what we're trying to do, and if you go to work with Alicia, work with myself, we're trying to build a skill so that your life and the way you want to live becomes effortless. We give you the ability to give yourself true love, true self-love. I love that.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. Um Schwarzenegger.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_03

I I love his insights because he's just he's done it all, right? Like I don't know if you there's a three-part documentary on him on Netflix, and it's three parts because the first part is um his bodybuilding career, which was incredibly impressive. Just some some kid in Graz just with a dream, right? And like, and worrying his parents with a bunch of posters of oiled up men on his walls, right? The second part is his incredible film career, right? His movie career, acting career. And then the third part is his political career in the United States, and it's just and his his wisdom about you know making so much of your daily routine automatic that it's it's not about motivation, it's not about waiting to be motivated, it's not about any of that. Motivation is bullshit. I'm not motivated to go to jujitsu class, I'm not motivated to go to the gym, it's just what I do because I know that it'll make my life better. And it does. It makes my day better, it makes my mood better, makes my sleep better, makes everything better. And so, you know, it's not about gearing yourself up to do any of those things. It's like, no, this is just what you do. This is what you do, and the more that we can instill that in people and to learn to enjoy that and not be like, I'm not motivated, and having that internal dialogue with yourself, like, no, shut that shit down. You're just get in the car, bitch. Get in the car, just do it, shoes on, yeah, do it, you know. Um, but I I I love his I love his insight into, you know, it's not about motivation, it's about momentum.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

And there's nobody, nobody does discipline like Arnold. Nobody.

SPEAKER_00

And he still trains every day.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he's in his what mid-70s?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. But it's because and this is a really big insight. I've I you just made me really think about something that's really, really important. Many women I hear will say, I hate the gym. And I want to just I and I get it because the gym is is potentially somewhere where it's scary, there's people who are doing better than you who know what they're doing, you don't know what you're doing. But here's the thing, and this is the one thing I will leave you with after this little bit of a rant of a preach. The gym isn't a building. The gym is your body. And when you start to accept it, because you can do the squat in your front room, or you can do the squat in another building, you can do it in a field, you can do it at a running track, you can do it while you're waiting in the queue at the post office. The gym is your body. I love that because the weights don't those move themselves, you move yourself. So when you start to do this thing about I hate my body, what you're saying is I hate how I move and my ability to move. So that's I just want to say to the ladies listening, and I'm sure you embody this. It's don't hate the gym. The gym, gym, the the actual building we we know is a gym is an amazing place, and you will transform your life by going regularly. However, the gym is you, it's your body that does the squats, and it doesn't matter whether you go to another building, whether you do it in your front room, that's the gym. And when you start to love the you're on fire.

SPEAKER_03

You're so right about that. I love that. And and actually, when you were talking about the building, like I was thinking about the jujitsu gym too, right? It's like it's not the building, it's the place where you do your work, you do that work, you do that learning. And all you need, you know, usually when when women will say to me, I'm not motivated or I don't like the gym, it's because they lack clarity of what they need to do, they lack a plan of what they need to do, and um, they lack accountability. And so as coaches, that's what we give them. We give them that clarity, we provide that accountability. And so now they have a plan when they go in and they can feel confident knowing that what they need to do. Because most of most when people are procrastinating and putting things off, it's because they're not clear about what they're supposed to do. When they have confidence of this is all I need to do, I just need to do this thing. Great. So do the thing. And you go, it's it's it's more about I'm afraid because I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know if I'm gonna do the wrong thing. I just so so it's it's the the best way not to do the wrong thing is to not do anything. And I I totally agree with you. Like I, you know, it doesn't matter where you do the thing, it doesn't matter where you make that make that change, you know, have that learning. But my jujitsu gym is a place that I've been going to for over a decade for it's it's been a complete vehicle for self-development. And that's what going to the gym is. It's not just about picking shit up and putting it down again, it's a vehicle to develop your entire life. And once people see it that way and realize this is where I go to transform my entire fucking life. It makes it makes that a lot more attractive. And especially when you have a plan going in and you know what you're supposed to do that day, it's amazing how many people will say, Yeah, I don't really know what to do. So like I go to the gym and I don't know, I pick this up, and then I do a little bit of, and then I I do some sit-ups, and then I don't know what else to do, so I just leave. And you're like, Well, no wonder you hate the gym. It's just a big confusing, clanking, grunting building of people. So I I love that that the gym is you. I think that's so great. I think that's so great. And when you when you realize that it's it's you, I I'm gonna I gotta write that one down. That's like that's gonna be like my new mantra.

SPEAKER_00

The gym is you, bitch. The gym is you. Oh yeah, and then the second part really is like you just said, we try to separate the brain from the body. Nope. Brain is in the body, constantly talking to every part of you. So this is this is the thing we we move mindset over here, we m move physical health over here. No, it's health. Because if you want to feel better, get up and move. I've seen people in fact as of this book, I know someone who today who was really struggling in their work today, just all over the place, did a session, cried in the middle of the session, and then came back and then finished the session and was like, Yeah, I feel better. Because you're talking to your brain, you're saying, I can do hard things, I can do things despite how I feel. And that's where excellence comes in, right? We talked about Rihanna. I'm sure there were days when she felt like she didn't want to go and practice her singing, she didn't want to re-record that that um that verse of a song because it didn't sound quite right, but she still did it.

SPEAKER_03

How about not wanting to practice her Super Bowl dance while seven months pregnant? Like, I don't want to do that shit. Look at her. Iconic.

SPEAKER_00

But the world is really strange, you know. People will say to us, Oh, but you and Alyssia, you know, you're you're health freaks. Surely the the thing you want to be the most freakish about is your health. Because without it, 100% you can't enjoy life, you can't grow your business, you can't have great relationships. If you haven't got a great relationship with sit with self, how can you do all the other stuff? And I think the world has made people feel weak and disempowered. I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I that that's so powerful what you just said. That how how can you how do you expect to crush your life in any other aspect if you feel like shit and you're dragging your ass through your day? Like you talked about, you know, having having a rough day and getting a a bout of exercise in, and it makes everything magically better. I feel the same way about a good night's sleep. It's amazing how many problems, how many things get a lot smaller or get so much more manageable when you've had a good night's sleep. You know, and how many people are walking around chronically sleep deprived, wondering why they can't get out of their bad mood or why they can't solve their problems or why they can't make their lives better. You're fucking exhausted.

SPEAKER_00

It's my hormones.

SPEAKER_03

My metabolism's too slow.

SPEAKER_00

That's it, yeah. Metabolism, it's because I'm starving. But we're we're starving ourselves of the wrong things. You you said it earlier. Like, I really want people who listen to this podcast to go and indulge in the things that are gonna make you better. Your body composition, how you eat, how you have quiet time. Um if anyone wants to hear it, there's a guy called Paul Check. And he was ridiculed in the fitness industry many years ago by not being so evidence-based, but he's a little bit quirky. He goes into some very deep stuff, you know, shadow work and stuff. But he has this thing called Dr. Happy, Dr. Quiet, Dr. Movement, um, and Dr. Doctor Quiet, Dr. Happy, Doctor Diet, Doctor Movement, Doctor Happy. But there's four anyway, four quadrants. And what he says is if you don't have happiness in one of these areas, it's gonna affect the other three. And it's so true. If you don't have happiness, there's a good chance that you won't be able to have quiet. If you don't have quiet, you won't want to have the diet down. If you don't want to have if you don't have the diet down, the movement's gonna be worse.

SPEAKER_03

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Interesting. Interesting. So um something something I would like to um say to people to carry into the new year is, and this is something that I hear from a lot of my clients, is either thinking or beating themselves up for thinking that it's too late for them to change. Because you and I both work with women that are over 40 and thinking it's too late for me, I'm too far gone. And I want to put this forward because this is something, this is kind of a personal thing that I've been very, very excited about. So when my kids were small, I worked out in my garage for 15 years. And, you know, as we all found out over COVID, you know, home fitness is better than no fitness. Um, but there are limitations to it. And I think um sometimes um you get comfortable in the in the things that you're doing at home. And it was good. It was good for me. It worked for it kept me consistent over those years when my kids were small and I had a lot of responsibilities and um a very busy life. And now my children are both in their 20s and both moved out. And so um in the spring of 2022, I decided to go back to the gym, to the commercial gyms. I'd never I hadn't been to a gym in 15 years. And I thought, you know, this will be this will be a nice way to, you know, kind of reignite my my passion for lifting and and looking at how much it's changed and and and being, I was a real gym rat in the early 90s, right? Like I was I used to compete and stuff like that. So um, and but I was and I was thinking, you know, this is the because I'm in my 50s now. I need to just maintain, like I don't think, I don't know how much capacity I would have to change my physique at by at this time. And Greg, I have to tell you, it's now the end of 2023, and there's been a huge change in my physique going back to the gym and learning new things and um learning about the latest research about splits and intensity and what works for hypertrophy, and you know, the discarding some of the old shit about you know, this many this rep range for strength, this rep range for hypertrophy, this rep range for endurance. Nope, it's all good. And and the changes that I've seen in my own physique, and you know as well as I do, that once you get to a certain point, um, the changes are more incremental and much harder to get. When you're a beginner, the changes are huge and amazing and fairly quick. But as you get to, you know, the better shape you're in, the harder it is to see a difference. And I have to tell you, I am shocked at what the changes I've been able to achieve and the muscle I've been able to put on at 52. And so my message is to everyone out there who's thinking you're too old to start, you're too old to get better. Absolutely not. The capacity, the for change, the capacity for improvement, the trainability that is that still exists in your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. I don't know if I know you know who Alan Aragon is. I don't know if you know who his wife is, Jenna Aragon. She started training her parents in their 80s, and they've gone from being able To goblet squat, barely goblet squat a 15-pound dumbbell to like 150-pound deficit squats. It's unreal. Never lifted a day in their lives until they were in their 70s and 80s. And so if it's one message that I wanted to leave with everybody, is that it is not too late for you. Don't beat yourself up for not starting before now. Don't beat yourself up for what you didn't know before now. Start now. You'll be shocked at where you can get to in a year, in five years, in 10 years, in 20 years, and the impact that that's going to make on your life and your aging process and your health in the immediate and in the long term is remarkable. So I just want to leave people with that, with that hope, that that positivity, that knowledge that it is not too late for you. You can make remarkable change and and have dramatic effects on your health. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

That message there is just perfect. Like, I don't even like talking about weight loss anymore. I'm gonna be honest, I don't like talking about it. I ref I don't want to talk about it anymore. Because it's actually about what you can do, what you can achieve. As you said, you know, the research is clear, the evidence empirically is there. You strength train throughout your life, you will be in less pain, you have less health problems. So if you know, and like I'm saying to the ladies I work with who all have a business, if you have a business, you want that to grow, then your health needs to grow with it. Absolutely. The quality of your life is about the quality of your actions. And if you don't use it, you lose it.

SPEAKER_03

Muscle is, you know, this is something that I heard at the at the at the conference, and I I loved it. We're not overfat, we're under muscled.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yes.

unknown

Dr.

SPEAKER_00

Gabriel Lyons.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, absolutely. And the muscle is the longevity tissue. Muscle is going to make your life longer, better, healthier. Like the things that they're learning now, like the thing that blew my mind, um, and this wasn't from the conference, this was uh from a summit earlier in the year. They're starting to learn the role that lactate plays in the brain, that is a protective byproduct of muscle work that protects the brain, it it increases neuroplasticity. They're starting to look at its role in preventing dementia and Alzheimer's, some of the most heartbreaking conditions of aging. It's not a normal part of aging. And and the more we realize that, that it's you know, the stronger that you are and the more muscle you can build throughout your lifetime, the better off you're gonna be. And you're right. I don't like talking about weight loss either. I don't, it's it's basically irrelevant at this point. How strong can you get? How what can you do? And you know, I I I'm gonna wrap it up kind of the way I opened it. That was the message, the overwhelming message that I would give my students that were 15, 16, 17, 18. Stop focusing on what your body looks like and focus on what it can do. And how it looks is just a side effect of what you are able to do and what you're what you're capable of. And it's the same thing with my clients, it's the same thing with women in their 40s and 50s and 60s, it's about what you can do.

SPEAKER_00

The body is just a representation, the representation of how you live your life. Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. This has been like the most epic podcast ever. I feel like we could go on and on and on and on and on. We could, you know. But yeah, I I I love this conversation, and I want as many people to hear this message on repeat until they get it and take action. So now Go Foller, Alicia. Um she's awesome, she has the best rants too. Um also turn you into a pretzel, but it's been such a pleasure having you come into my community as well over this last year and just been an awesome friend. So just want to say thank you.

SPEAKER_03

I feel the same, I feel the same about you, my friend, and thank you for bringing me into your world and for my three peat. I'm super stoked about that. And you're right, we could talk all day about all this stuff, and uh sometimes we do talk all day. But um, I'm I was so pleased to come back and have this conversation with you and and wrap up 23 2023 properly and um with some with some hope and some and some positivity and optimism for 2024. It's amazing. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

There is one thing that we always do together though, right? So you've got to take off your hoodie, Missy. Oh shit. Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_03

I don't want to make it look crazy, so I'm just gonna step out of the frame for a second.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So just for the people who are listening to the podcast as opposed to seeing this on YouTube, umish is getting the guns out.

SPEAKER_03

All right. Suns out, guns out.

SPEAKER_00

That's why I had to keep moving because always about the guns. I'm hoping that mine can can compete. So there you go. You ready? Go first. There we go. Okay, three, one, two, three, go. There you go.

unknown

Woo!

SPEAKER_00

Check out the shape on that. Oh, you know what? I can't even compete with that one. Yeah, I got some triceps.

SPEAKER_03

Not bad, not bad, not bad. Yeah, that's always the best part.

SPEAKER_00

That's always the best part, right? But that's that's just a reflection of the work you do for yourself without compromising other parts of your life, and that's the key. Makes your life better.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. And if you listen to this, share this episode with women who want to make positive changes in their life and go follow Alyssia. I will make sure all of her buttons and links and stuff are all in the show notes. And I'll see you on the next episode. Bye bye. Bye bye.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.