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Category Archives for "health"

Learn the secret language of the body with Jennifer Mann and Karden Rabin

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Introduction

On episode 650 of the 40+ Fitness Podcast, we meet Jennifer Mann and Karden Rabin and discuss their book, The Secret Language of the Body.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by AquaTru. Today, you can receive 20% off AquaTru purifiers. Go to aquatru.com and enter the code 40PLUS at checkout.

Episode Notes

Importance of Checking In with Your Body

– Emphasizing the significance of aligning health and fitness goals with the body's needs

– Encouraging activities such as receiving massage, yin yoga, and breath work workshops for energy replenishment

– Rediscovering happiness through childhood memories and hobbies to revive joy and pleasure

Understanding the Vagus Nerve and Its Role in the Body

– Definition and significance of the vagus nerve as the 10th cranial nerve

– Description of the nerve's pathway from the brain stem to vital organs

– Control of vital functions such as heart rate regulation and digestive tract contraction

– Role in regulating the parasympathetic response for rest, recovery, and digestion

– Impact of chronic stress on the vagus nerve and overall nervous system function

– Connection to heart rate variability (HRV) and overall wellness

Tools and Strategies for Nervous System Health and Stress Management

– The brain's resistance to change and reliance on habit and repetition

– Importance of awareness, interruption, and redesign of brain responses for habit changes

– Techniques to activate the vagus nerve for stress management

– Introduction of the 3 circles exercise for addressing stressful situations

– Encouragement to engage with the body's secret language for significant life changes

Personal Experiences, Strategies, and Practical Tips

– Sharing of Allan's experience with burnout and the importance of pursuing joy in everyday activities

– Allan's emphasis on meeting basic needs for overall well-being and nervous system health

– Tools to interrupt and redesign internal struggles and negative self-talk

– Practical tips for managing stress, such as physical activities and HRV monitoring

Conclusion and Additional Resources

– Information on Jennifer Mann and Karden Rabin's book and programs

– Recommendation of a book for managing stress and promoting well-being

– Reminder to subscribe, leave a rating, and preview the next episode on the podcast

Music by Dave Gerhart

Patreons

The following listeners have sponsored this show by pledging on our Patreon Page:

– Anne Lynch– Ken McQuade– Leigh Tanner
– Eliza Lamb– John Dachauer– Tim Alexander

Thank you!

Another episode you may enjoy

May 28, 2024

Three reasons we fail to reach our health and fitness goals (part 3)

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Episode Notes

On episode 644 of the 40+ Fitness Podcast, we round out the final reason we fail at our health and fitness goals.

Hello, and welcome to episode 644. We've been talking about the three reasons we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals and what you can do about it. Since I've been traveling, I've been breaking these up into 3 different episodes. Today, we're gonna get into the 3rd episode with third reason why we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals. You can go back to episode 642 to listen to the first one, and 643 to listen to the second one. All of these work together in a series to give you the three reasons.

One of the core reasons we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals is that we just don't want it bad enough. And I I know that's hard to hear. It's like, of course, I want it. Yeah. I know. Of course, you want it. And that may sound a little harsh for me to say it. But if you really think about it, it's true.

So I could ask you the question, and and I know the answer I'm gonna get, but just say…

What would you not do for your family? What would you not do for your family?

And I'm pretty sure that right now you're thinking, Oh, I'll I'll do anything for my family. I'd do anything for my family.

And then that leads me to ask, well, would you do what you need to do to get healthy and fit? And now you make sense, doesn't it? If you want to be there for your family, if you want to help your family, you're going to do what's necessary for your family.

You can do everything you can for your family. And that includes and must include taking care of yourself. So it's harsh, but that's one of the core reasons we don't. We want other things more than we want our health and fitness. It's it's just a solid fact. Okay.

And and there's reasons why we don't do that, and I'll get into it. So the first one is, when I the way I just said that, you know, we don't typically tie our health and fitness to what it means to our family. Or we have, but we don't remind ourselves about it often enough. I think when I said that, would you do anything for your family? Your short answer was yes. But if you sat there and realized that your health and fitness directly impacts your family, and will significantly impact your family as you get older, doesn't that change the math? So I want you to think in terms of this.

What what could we miss if we were to cut our life short 5, 10, 15 years? How much is going on in our lives with grandkids and everything else in the world? How many how much more joy and love would we have in our lives if we lived an additional high quality 15 years?

Now what would we miss if we weren't able to take care of ourselves for 5, 10, 15 years? What kind of burden does that put on our family? I mean, everybody I've ever talked to that said they had to put had to put their parents into a home, it was it was one of the most devastating things they had to experience. That point where they felt they couldn't take care of their own parents, and their parents couldn't take care of themselves.

I'll take it further, and I'll say, how different could our relationships be if we were able to participate in our families' lives and not just be a spectator? And by that, I mean crawling on the ground with your grandkids, running through and taking care of them at the zoo, keeping up with a family member that that needs to be taken care of, and being able to lift them, help them, carry them, get them moving, do the things for them that need to be done.

And, yes, keep up with yourself. All the things you enjoy doing. Okay? Now, I don't know about you, but I do want to live a long, healthy, productive life. And I want to help the people around me, including my family.

So it's critical that you tie your own health and fitness to what it means to your family so you will care more. Okay? Now the second one is we're drawn to easy. Humans are drawn to easy. So we're wired to find the simplest way to get something done. We our body does not want to burn a whole lot of extra energy. So if we can do something easy, we're always gonna take the easy route. And that doesn't mean you're lazy. It's just how we're wired.

It keeps us alive. It keeps makes things easier. Making them easier means we're we're using less energy. But that takes a big toll on our health and fitness. Because all the things that have gone on to make life easier for us means that we're we're doing less walking. There's less manual labor. We have more access to calories and food than ever in the history of man, and you probably have more food right now in your refrigerator than someone would typically have available to them for months before. And it's all kept. It's refrigerated. It's preserved and it's fine. And then, you know, we accept things as they are rather than looking for ways to improve.

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The third thing that gets in the way of us caring enough is that we seek patterns. Human beings seek patterns. If we find something that works, and gives us what we want, then then we keep doing it. So we eat the doughnut. It gives us a surge of dopamine.

It tells us that we're there. Perfect. I'll do that. Getting out in the hot sun and and working out or doing some yard work or doing something, we have to hire somebody to do that. Right?

I don't want to sweat. And so as a result of seeking patterns, we found that it's very easy to develop bad habits. But it's really harder to develop the good habits because the good habits don't have the payday. Eating a salad for lunch is not gonna give you the dopamine hit of of eating 3 bagels for breakfast. It's not going to give you the same dopamine hit as having a couple of, donuts, and so it's sometimes easier for us to develop the bad habits than it is for us to develop the good habits. And again, it's all about patterns, but our body has a reward system. And if we get the pattern right, our reward system peaks, and and that's when we get the most out of it. Now the 4th reason that we really don't care enough is that humans seek acceptance. Okay? Now we do want to look good and be accepted by those around us, but we also want to be accepted in general. So we may adopt some unhealthy behaviors because that's what's normal.

Nearly half of the people in the United States are obese. So what that means is it is practically normal to be obese. Okay. Alcohol use is completely normalized. In fact, if you were to go out with your friends to dinner and not drink, they would probably ask you about it. And so seeking that acceptance, we don't wanna stand out. We don't want to look weird. We don't want to be called out on stuff. And so we kind of gravitate a little bit more toward doing these things even though we not they're not the best thing for us. And the other thing is we we feel that asking for help is a signal that we're weak.

Now I want to share something with you as a special hint. It's the exact opposite.

Only strong people ask for help.

The number five reason that we, really just don't care enough, to do this stuff is that we, humans often create false narrative of themselves. Okay? And so we can, make excuses why we can't do something. And those excuses become our narrative. So a couple of examples I can think about that is someone will say, well, I I wanna I wanna do something, but I I can't run anymore because of my knees.

Or I get this a lot. I can't afford healthy food. You know, mac and cheese is cheaper than a steak. Of course, it is. It's got a lot steak has a lot more nutrition in it. So it's not just about the calories. And then I get this one. I'm not young anymore, so I can't x. Okay. So anything I want a client to do, and in many cases, they could talk themselves out of it if they have a narrative that they're injured, or they can't do this, or they can't afford that. They're going to find an excuse.

Again, we're really, really good about having this false narrative that creates excuses. Now the problem is the narrative might not be completely false. Okay? And that's why the narratives are so strong because there are bits of truth in there, usually.

So we may have to make a conscious effort to find a solution around it. Meaning, I might actually have an issue with my knees, and maybe running isn't the best thing for me to do. But is there something I can do? Like maybe the elliptical, or maybe I can ride a bike, and that doesn't hurt my knees. So if there is some truth to it, there is an injury.

And obviously, you know, buying all of your food is as fresh and wonderful as it could be, you know, grass fed, grass finished, all that stuff. That can get pretty expensive, so you've got to try to find solutions. Okay? Now we're drawn to easy, as I mentioned in number 2 above, but we need to get it done.

There's a point where you just have to say, okay, I've got to do something. I've got to find a solution. I've got to work my way through this. So, you know, the core of it here, and I'll just summarize a little bit, is that if you want your life to be what it's supposed to be, you have to want to change.

You have to really want this. You have to have a deep, deep, deep why. As, I recently had Funk, Roberts on, you know, I'm gonna have Funk Roberts on, I think, next week. One of the things he says is your why should make you cry. I mean, it's that deep. It this should be something that you just say, there's there's no other answer. This is do or die. And so if you can get to where you care more about your health and fitness than you do about the other stuff.

The false narratives. The easy. The not sweating. The all the stuff. You can get past that, then you're gonna get there. So you have to address this stuff head on. You have to get to your emotional why, and then when you want to reach your health and fitness goals more than you want to stay where you are, you're going to make it happen.

So now I'm going to put a post in our Facebook group. Go to the group at 40plusfitnesspodcast.com/group, and I'm gonna have the links to all 3 of the episodes. So if you haven't listened to one of them, you can go back and listen to that one. But, beyond that, I wanna hear your comments on this. So did I hit a nerve somewhere in there? Is there some things in here that you saw and says, jeez, maybe that's why I keep failing at this stuff. Maybe that's why this is so hard for me. I want us to have a deeper conversation there, and let's figure out what's holding you back, because we we have to change something to change something. And if you want this bad enough, like we've talked about here today, then let's go make it happen. Go to 40plusfitnesspodcast.comforward/group.

I'd love to see you there, and let's have a deeper conversation about what's going on with you so I can help you break free of this. And then, yes, you can get on to those other two episodes, and you can figure out what you need to to fix those things. This is this is the big one. I saved the biggest for last. You have to have an emotional why. You have to want it more than you want to stay the way you are. There's a lot in our way, but the why drives you through it. So if you don't care enough, you won't do it.

I think you care enough. So let's go have the conversation at the Facebook group.


Music by Dave Gerhart

Patreons

The following listeners have sponsored this show by pledging on our Patreon Page:

– Anne Lynch– Ken McQuade– Leigh Tanner
– Eliza Lamb– John Dachauer– Tim Alexander

Thank you!

Another episode you may enjoy

May 21, 2024

Three reasons we fail to reach our health and fitness goals (part 2)

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Episode Notes

On episode 643 of the 40 Plus Fitness podcast, we discussed the second of the three primary reasons why we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals and what to do about it.

Hello, and welcome to episode 643. Today, we're gonna continue the conversation we were having about the three reasons we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals and, of course, what you can do about it. Again, I'm traveling, so I don't have a ton of time, but I can get you the second reason today. First reason was last week. 3rd reason will be next week. So one of the core reasons we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals is we let life get

in the way, And I'm sure you've experienced this. I often call I call them detours. Okay? So because they're fairly common, but I call them detours, because we have a path. We have somewhere we're going, particularly if, like last week, we did what we were supposed to do. We we have a direction. We have something we're up to. But then every once in a while, we take those this off ramp, and we're no longer in pursuit of our health or fitness goals. We're we're off track. We're not off the road.

Okay? And there's times when that's important, and there's times when it's not. It's times when it's planned, like, we know we're gonna take a detour, detour, like I'm on this cruise right now. Or it can be an unplanned one where something happens, and you're stuck. Okay?

So I am going to talk about planned detours first. And so as this episode's going live, okay, I should probably be in Venice right now, okay, with my wife, Tammy. We were on a 12 day cruise before this, and now we went to then we went to Florence, and now we're we should be, as this goes live in Italy. And so as you imagine, traveling for nearly a month, I am not on track entirely. My normal life is not there. So this is a pretty epic detour to be gone traveling for an entire month. But the good thing about a planned detour is that you can prepare yourself ahead of time to make the most of it. Now there are times, I'll tell you, when you take a planned detour, just just go.

Just go enjoy yourself, and be 100% off. Okay? But there are other times, like, you know, taking a whole month off. That's that's pretty extreme. So, you know, I I wanna try to stay on track. So my plan going into my detour was that I I wanna do a few things to stay on track. I'm still going to enjoy myself, but I'm not completely off. But there will be times that you want to be completely off, and that's cool. That's an important part of life, too.

So here's some things that I've done to prepare myself for this trip. I looked at the gym that was available to me on the cruise ship. I looked at gyms that were available to me in Florence and, Venice. Okay. The one on the cruise ship is pretty awesome. So, again, I'll be getting some lifting done. I promise you that.

Now, obviously, we're gonna be going on we're going on excursions. We're doing various things, as we, as a tourist, often do. So I'm probably going to get plenty of steps. But on the cruise ship, they also have a track. So either way, I should have no trouble getting in as many steps as I want to set as a goal for myself during this period of time. Again, a little different than what I would normally do. It's not my normal beach walk. But it is it is the opportunity to get my steps in.

Maybe even get more steps in than I would have otherwise. Okay?

So I can do the research to know what's there. And so I'm going to have what I need to get this done. I just need to really push myself to stay on it. Now since I have what I need to pretty much keep my lifting program going and to maybe even walk more, I have a pretty I had I had a pretty solid plan coming into this this period of time, this detour. Now the second part of a detour is you have to plan your way back onto the road, onto the highway, the on ramp, if you will. And so when I get back, I wanna have some things in place that are gonna help me be more successful.

Okay? So I'll probably still be lifting. It'll be different equipment than I'm used to. I'll still be doing a lot of steps, but it won't be my normal walk. So when I get back, I just need to make sure that I've scheduled the time to do what I need to do, And I'm actually considering hiring a coach that will basically one of us will write my program. I'll either hire a coach to write my program and coach me, or I'll write my program, and I'll hire a coach to hold me accountable. But either way, I want a coach to hold me accountable and push me a little bit harder.

Accountability is a really important aspect for success, and you really should have a coach helping you.

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So in summary, when you have a planned detour, this time that you're going to be away is not going to be normal. You need that plan for what you're going to do for that detour so that you stay generally on track. You can plan to be completely off, or you can plan to be partially off, or you can plan to be fully on. You can make that decision based on your life circumstances. And then you also need a plan for when you return. Okay? So if you will go out there and make sure that you have in place the things you need, then you can make it happen. So certain strategies and tactics, like having time blocked out on my calendar in between the excursions so that I can get my workouts done, having time on my calendar and reaching out to a coach before I get back. I'll have 1 hired ready to go when I get back.

So all of these different things require a bit of planning on the front and the end of both of them. And, again, that's we we go back and you think about what we talked about. And number 1, that makes complete sense. When you have a good plan, you do the things that need to be done. So you set yourself up for success when you have a planned detour. Now, unplanned detours can be

a bit harder, but they're basically a very similar thing. A lot of times, though, people will have an unplanned detour. Something happens in their life. It could be a family issue, an injury, an illness. Just something happens, and they're like, oh, life got in the way, and they quit right there. Okay. And you don't want to do that. You want to make sure that you look at this as an opportunity to learn, and an opportunity to push yourself just a little bit harder to be a little bit more diligent, to be a little bit better self managed. Okay? So the unplanned detour is similar to the planned detour. It's just usually you'll have less time ahead of time to know it's happening, and you'll have probably less freedom of choice. Okay? Because things are what they are. So if you come into an unplanned detour, you might find, okay. I've got to go to a family member's house for this or that. I wasn't planning on doing that. So now I've got to start and quickly try to do the research.

Okay. I don't have access to my gym. What gym will I have access to? K. I won't have access to the food I usually eat. What food will I have access to? So if you're staying in a city that you don't have access to a kitchen, obviously, you can't do grocery shopping and cooking for yourself. You're gonna be somewhat maybe reliant on other people or restaurants or whatnot for those things. So looking around, what are some of the menu items that are available in the various restaurants? Is there food delivery apps and people that basically I can go through and make sure that I'm getting what I need? Maybe this is a time when I am able to cook, but, you know, doing the grocery shopping, getting all prepared, I don't have as much time. So I contact one of those delivery services that delivers the fresh food already cut, already measured, already ready.

You just warm it up or you cook put it together, cook it per per their instructions, and you have a a full well done healthy meal. So there are gonna be some choices. You just have to make those decisions a little bit quicker, and you may have to spend a little bit more money than you would normally spend. But it just means that you have to make adaptations to yourself to make sure you're still on track as much as possible.

And like a planned detour, you have to plan your way back onto the on ramp once the situation passes. Now, again, this is also a little harder because you don't necessarily know everything as far as when things are gonna get back to normal or if they will get back to normal. But the process is pretty much the same. You basically have your plan. You know what you want to do, and then you basically make sure you execute on that plan. Now there is one additional thing, that you need to do, whether you're on a planned or unplanned detour. And this is this is maybe the hardest part of all of this, is that you you do have to reset your expectations. So if you went into your your journey here, and you wanted to lose £20 in, say, 2 months, and now you've had to go spend 4 weeks at a family member's house taking care of a loved one, well, the things you were going to do aren't necessarily going to get done. So you might have to give yourself a little bit of wiggle room, a little bit of grace, a little bit of kindness, and just say, my pace is going to be a little bit slower, or it will be a good bit slower, but I'm still going to be moving forward. I'm still going to do something. I'm still going to make progress. And so maybe you had thought, I'm going to do that resistance training twice a week, and I'm gonna walk for half an hour 4 times a week. And now you're sitting there saying, well, you know, since I've got to do these things, I I can't necessarily get all of 6 of those workouts in. I might have to say, okay.

One good resistance training and 2 longer walks, 1 hour walks. And if that's all I can do, that's all I can do. I'm still gonna watch what I'm eating. I'm still gonna do those other things. But if I wanna do this, I I'm just gonna be moving slower. So I probably won't get there in the 2 months. Maybe it's gonna take me 3, maybe longer. But I understand that that's where I am, so I can still feel good that I'm making some progress.

Because some progress is better than none. And remember, this is where most people quit. And so if you're gonna let life get in the way, that's how you're gonna live the rest of your life. Because life is always in the way. And for you to reach your health and fitness goals, sometimes you just have to buck up and push through. There are better ways, because you can plan through these processes of knowing there's a detour, and knowing what it means, and being realistic, but still doing the work that you can with what you have, where you are. That's the best approach. So that's the second core reason why people fail at our health and fitness goals is that we we let life get in the way, and I think I've given you some tools today for you to not do that going forward.

So a week from today, we'll be talking about, the third reason why we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals. If you enjoyed today's show, take a moment to subscribe so you don't miss the next one. And if you would, please leave us a rating and a review on your podcast player of choice.

Music by Dave Gerhart

Patreons

The following listeners have sponsored this show by pledging on our Patreon Page:

– Anne Lynch– Ken McQuade– Leigh Tanner
– Eliza Lamb– John Dachauer– Tim Alexander

Thank you!

Another episode you may enjoy

May 14, 2024

Three reasons we fail to reach our health and fitness goals (part 1)

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Episode Notes

On episode 642 of the 40 Plus Fitness podcast, we discussed the first of 3 primary reasons why we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals and what you can do about it.

Hello, and welcome to episode 642 of the 40 plus fitness podcast. Today, we're gonna start talking about the three reasons why we fail at our health and fitness goals, and then what we can do about it. But because I'm traveling during this month with my wife, it's our 10 year anniversary, I really can only get into the first one. We'll get into the other 2 in the next two episodes, so stay tuned for those. So one of the core reasons why we fail at reaching our health and fitness goals is that we don't have a plan, or we don't have a good plan. So when I'm talking to potential clients, I'm often having the same conversation over and over, and the conversation goes like this.

I say, what are your goals?

And they say, I need to lose some weight.

I ask, how much weight do you need to lose? They respond,

I don't know, maybe 20 lbs.

I ask, why 20 lbs?

They answer, that's when my jeans fit me better.

And then I ask, how are you going to get there?

And she answers, I'm eating healthier. I'm going to start walking after work with my sister.

And then I follow-up with a question, is that something that will work for you?

She answers, yes. That's what I did last time I lost 20 lbs.

I say, so you've already lost 20 lbs, and you need to lose 20 more.

And the answer, well, no. I gained back that 20 lbs when the weather turned cold last November.

So do you see the problem? Well, actually there's several. Okay.

So the first one is that as they came into this conversation, they're looking they really didn't have a clear vision or outcome of what they wanted. How much is some weight? What is some weight? It was just this vague necklace thing. And even when I dove into it, and it was 20 lbs, it was sort of maybe 20 lbs. It was maybe 20 lbs. Okay? And it was based on how jeans used to fit her. So it's not a really emotional deep thing. It's just, she's, you know, she needs to lose maybe 20 lbs. But here's the thing, she's already lost and regained that same 20 lbs, and she's probably been doing that for much, if not all of her life. Okay. The next thing that's pretty clear here is she really doesn't have clear actions. She's going to eat healthier.

Well, what does that mean to you? Because it probably means something very different to me than it might mean to you, than it might mean to her. So what is healthier? And so she's got this nebulous idea that she's gonna eat healthier, and she's gonna do some walking with her sister. I don't know how far her sister can walk, how fast. So maybe this is a good idea. Maybe it's not, but it's not clear. And then the final bit is this is this is just not sustainable. Another November is coming right around the corner, so she just gonna quit when it gets cold, and then everything else that can go on. So, you know, there's these high level things that you see, but there's there's more in there that might not be quite apparent.

So the first thing is her goals are not specific. She doesn't have a specific idea of what she wants, and so her goals are a little bit soft. How will she really know that she's moving toward it? Because she doesn't really have a solid thing. She also these goals aren't necessarily measurable. Sure. She can step on the scale and see that she's lost a couple pounds over the last few weeks, but then she could easily step on the scale tomorrow and see that she's gained one of those pounds back. And so by not being something that she can act on, then it's really hard to measure this because these things are generally out of our control. Now, this goal of losing 20 lbs might be sustainable, in the short run. So she might lose the weight, but what happens in November? What happens if her sister stops walking with her? You know, will she stop? Will she keep going? Will she get there? So it might be attainable. I'm just not sure. And then the next bit is her goals are not necessarily relevant because losing weight doesn't really mean a whole lot to her.

It's just about wearing a certain pair of jeans. And unless there's something big coming up, what's it relevant to? Does she want to be able to wear those jeans to a class reunion? Is it something else going on? But the way she said this so far, it's just arbitrary or sort of arbitrary. Her goals are not time bound. So she hasn't said she needs to lose wants to lose the £20 over the next 2 months, or does she wanna lose it over the next 2 years? We really don't know, and some people may even think lose it over the next 2 weeks, which probably isn't attainable. So she she doesn't have really a time bound on what she needs to do or wants to do. And then while she has some vague idea of actions that she's going to do to get there, this outcome is really outside of her control. And, therefore, there's no real way to tell if these actions are gonna be significant enough or sufficient enough to really help her do what she wants to do. And so, you know, again, there's all these different things.

But really, there's one core thing that I think is also very, very important here. Her goals are probably not written down. Now, science shows us that if we write down our goal, we are way more likely, like, 6 times more likely to get it done than if we just keep it stuck in our head. And so it's very, very important when you decide you do want to accomplish something to write it down. And it's even better when you take the time to share that with someone who holds you accountable, like a coach. Feeling stuck? Do you struggle with discipline and willpower? Imagine waking up each morning feeling energized and ready. Ready to conquer your fitness goals? Ready to take on the day with unstoppable energy? How? With a coach and a team by your side. At 40 Plus Fitness, we understand the challenges of losing weight and keeping fit as you age.

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Now there's more to a plan than just written goals, obviously. But at the very least, you need written goals so that you know whether you're on track or not. Now to help you write your goals, I'd like to share a free resource with you. If you'll go to 40plusfitness.com/goal, that's 40plusfitness.com/goal,

I have a free worksheet there that will walk you through setting goals. I call it the 40+ Ditness, A SMART Goals Worksheet. You just go in there. You just put in your email address, and and it's yours. It'll get emailed right to you as a link. So go to 40plusfitness.com/goal. But I wanna talk about this this worksheet a little bit so you kinda know what we're talking here. And this is all the things that we're missing effectively from her plan.

Okay. And a smart goal is basically the a stands for the first a starts for action. So action action based, meaning we are going to measure action. So if she said, okay. I want to have a healthier diet, which means I need more vegetables. And so she comes to the conclusion that she needs she wants to have 2 or 3 she wants to have 3 servings of vegetables every day. So basically at least one serving of vegetables with each meal. So she can say that she can say in her goal, okay, my action goal is to eat vegetables.

She can say specifically because she wants to eat at least x number of servings per day. Okay.

She can make it measurable. So if she has, though, that number, so be it 3 or 5 or whatever goal she sets, that's measurable. She can sit down during the day and little tick marks on a thing or write it down somewhere, and she can literally see that she's had that many servings today. Now it's attainable if she has access to vegetables, which most of us do, and she's willing to eat them. You know, again, say saying you're going to eat something and then not liking it, you're really asking for fail there. But it could be attainable because she can say, okay. I'm gonna eat 5 servings of vegetables every day, and then she has plenty of vegetables, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, and fresh vegetables in her house. And so she can easily prepare those and have those.

And it's relevant because we know if we change our diet and we eat more whole food, we're very likely to lose some weight. We get away from the junk. We start eating whole food. That is a healthier diet, and therefore, yes. It's relevant to the weight loss. It's relevant to health goals, anything else we want. We know if we eat more vegetables, we're gonna look and feel better. And then it's time bound, every day.

Now she could say every day for a month. She could say every day. However, she's doing it's generally time bound. I have I have I have 24 hours in my day. I need to have 5 servings of vegetables. There. Measurable. So if you go to 40plusfitness.com/goal, you'll be able to get that worksheet and work through your goals together.

And then what you can do then is use that those that worksheet to come through and formulate. Okay. What do I want? I wanna lose weight. I wanna I wanna look and feel better. I wanna be stronger. And then you can just make copies of that worksheet, and you can say, okay. To lose weight, what do I need to do? I need to eat whole food. I need to move more.

So that's 2 goals. Okay. So the eat whole food, like I just did with the vegetables. You could say I wanna move more, and that can be, I'm going to walk at least 30 minutes, 4 days a week. And so, yeah, if your sister doesn't show up, you still can do 4 days a week. You're just doing some of them on your own or with someone else. But you can say, I'm gonna walk at least 30 minutes, 4 days per week. And that's a very good smart goal, a smart goal, because the action is walking, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. All right there. Okay? And then once you've got those goals right now, because also said you want to get stronger, so you're probably gonna have to do some resistance training. So saying you're gonna do resistance training twice a week, that's a goal. And so now you have these three goals that you just set for yourself that are a part of your overall plan.

Now, doing your own plan can be difficult, particularly the first time you do it. So, again, if this is something you need help for, I spoke about it earlier, but, yes, I am launching a new program that's predominantly built around accountability. You should check it out, 40plusfitness.com forward slash list, and you can get on the waiting list for that. I'll message you. I'll get in touch with you. We'll have we'll have a conversation about see if it's the right fit for you, but it is out there, and it will be the probably the most affordable way you could train with me ever. So, and particularly since it has a 1 on 1 component. So if you'll reach out to me there, 40plusfitness.comforward/list, you can find out some details about that.

But that covers the first one of these, why we fail at our health and fitness goals. I hope you'll tune in next week and hear the second one. If you enjoyed today's show, take a moment to subscribe so you don't miss the next one. And if you would, please leave us a rating and review on your podcast player of choice. Thank you.

Music by Dave Gerhart

Patreons

The following listeners have sponsored this show by pledging on our Patreon Page:

– Anne Lynch– Ken McQuade– Leigh Tanner
– Eliza Lamb– John Dachauer– Tim Alexander

Thank you!

Another episode you may enjoy

May 7, 2024

Managing menopause with Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Apple Google Spotify Overcast Youtube

Introduction

On episode 641 of the 40+ Fitness Podcast, we meet Dr. Mary Claire Haver and discuss her book, The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and Facts.

Episode Notes

https://amzn.to/44wyNLf

https://amzn.to/44wyNLf

Music by Dave Gerhart

Patreons

The following listeners have sponsored this show by pledging on our Patreon Page:

– Anne Lynch– Ken McQuade– Leigh Tanner
– Eliza Lamb– John Dachauer– Tim Alexander

Thank you!

Another episode you may enjoy

Ditch the diet adopt a foodframe with Risa Groux

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Introduction

On episode 639 of the 40+ Fitness Podcast, we meet Risa Groux and discuss her book, Foodframe: Diet is a Four-Letter Word.

Episode Notes

Introduction to Risa Groux and her Book Food Frame: Diet is a 4-Letter Word

– Risa Groux's perspective on healthy eating as a customized “eating lifestyle” rather than a “diet”

– The shortcomings of traditional diets and the need for a holistic approach to wellness

– Introduction to functional nutrition based on prevention, root cause analysis, interconnected body systems, and data-driven diagnostics

– Discussion on thyroid health and the complexity of thyroid function

Mindset and Nutritional Essential for Ultimate Health

– The importance of mindset for motivation and driving desire for rewards

– The essential components of quality nutrition: protein, fat, and fiber

Lifestyle Factors for Well-Being

– Emphasizing lifestyle factors such as movement, adequate sleep, stress reduction, unplugging, finding happiness, laughter, nature, and connecting with people for overall well-being

Risa Groux's Foodframe Methodology

– Introduction to the six foodframes: autoimmune protocol, Low lectin, Low fodmap, keto, paleo, and vegan, and the specific dietary restrictions and benefits tailored to different health conditions

– Discussion on individual efforts to support thyroid health, including dietary and lifestyle changes

Genetic Testing and Adequate Nutrition

– The use of genetic testing to determine dietary suitability, particularly for the keto diet

– Emphasizing the importance of real, non-processed foods and eating a lot of plants

Strategies and Tactics for Achieving and Maintaining Wellness

– Risa Groux's three suggested strategies or tactics to achieve and maintain wellness

Stool Testing and RGN Detox Program

– Discussion on Risa Groux's personal experience with finding the root cause of health issues through a stool test

– The significance and implications of stool testing on overall health

– Explanation of the RGN detox program for gentle liver detoxification and wellness, not based on starvation diet

Misconceptions About Detox and Cleanse Methods

– Addressing misconceptions about detox and cleanse methods

– The significance of adopting a dietary lifestyle change for wellness beyond weight loss

You can purchase Risa's Book, Foodframe on Amazon.

Music by Dave Gerhart

Patreons

The following listeners have sponsored this show by pledging on our Patreon Page:

– Anne Lynch– Ken McQuade– Leigh Tanner
– Eliza Lamb– John Dachauer– Tim Alexander

Thank you!

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