Useful Links

• Shakeology
• Akasha Naturals

About Guest

• Monica Daniel
• Kylee Wall
• Mike Nichols

Transcript

Zack Arnold: We are here today with three of our Fitness in Post test group members. This is the end of our third week, and I am joined by Kylee Wall, Mike J. Nichols, and Monica Daniels. So, hello, test group members.

Kylee Peña: Hello, hello.

Zack Arnold: How is everybody doing this fine evening?

Monica Daniel: Tired?

Kylee Peña: Yeah, tired

Monica Daniel: As usual. Mentally exhausted. That is

Zack Arnold: What we are trying to fix. That’s what this program is all about. And how are you doing, mr. Nichols?

Mike Nichols: I’m good. The heat’s not friendly, but I’m doing okay.

Zack Arnold: So the agenda tonight is incredibly simple. Basically, what I want to do is I want to talk through the first three weeks of the program because somebody may be listening to this, having just listened to the end of week zero and the beginning of the program 15 minutes ago. They just listened to that podcast, and what I really want to get a sense of is where you guys are after three weeks. And I know that that’s going to vary between the three of you, and that’s by design. I want to see different stages of success, and I want to talk about how we can improve all of three of them. So somebody that’s listening, if they decide that they’re in week three as well, they can get inspiration and get tips and get ideas on how to improve what they’re doing. So, just going in Skype order. Let’s just go ahead and start with Kylee and just give me a general overview of where you are so far.

Kylee Peña: Hmm. Okay. Well, I’m on. I think I’m starting week three of my Couch to 5k program. I think I am. This last week kind of sucked for me because it was really rainy here, and I just had so much stuff to do, so I didn’t get out to run as much. Excuses, excuses, and I also felt like crap some of the week. But I went back out today, and it was good. But the good news is that I’ve been running and my pace is a lot faster than the last time I did it, which is very encouraging. So I think I’m doing okay. Getting back into it hasn’t been as hard as it could be, but then you know work hits and it’s challenging. But it’s okay. My my step average has been pretty good considering I don’t have anywhere to walk when I’m at work.

Zack Arnold: Right, right. Just if if anybody’s picking up this podcast and they either didn’t listen to the introductory one or they listened to it a few weeks ago, just give me a a brief overview again of kind of what your general program is that you’re trying to follow.

Kylee Peña: The main part of my general program is incremental interval training to kind of get you from mostly walking three miles to mostly running for three miles. There’s an app that guides me to like kind of do intervals for walking and running. So I’ve been doing that, and I’m on week three of it. And I think it’s a nine or 12 week program.

Zack Arnold: So looking at where you were when we did the first podcast, and looking at where you are now, just as far as the way you feel, give me an honest assessment, and it doesn’t have to be all bells and whistles. And I’m fantastic. Let’s just get down to the nitty gritty, and just this is how I’m feeling after three weeks of getting moving after being sedentary for a while. I

Kylee Peña: Would say, on average, I feel a lot better because I’m making more conscious choices. Because when you’re exercising like actively and kind of watching what you eat, you’re not you’re making better choices because you don’t want to negate like all those good choices. So naturally, I’m kind of feeling better at work and stuff. The running has been kind of hard at times. I never had shin splints before, but I’ve been kind of getting them now because of the hills and kind of pushing myself more and further, so I’ve been kind of working around that. But otherwise, generally a net positive effect so far.

Zack Arnold: And how was it after the first week? Because you were pretty much coming from a point, if I remember correctly, of being essentially pretty sedentary and not having any regular exercise. Correct?

Kylee Peña: Right. Yeah, I hadn’t really exercised a whole lot this winter.

Zack Arnold: And what did what did you go through the very first week? Because that that to me is a lot of times all it takes to break somebody’s back and give up and not even try. Because the first week can sometimes be pretty tough.

Kylee Peña: Yeah, the first week we just have we have so many stupid snacks at work, and it’s like kind of getting used to being like, okay, I’m gonna get away from mostly getting into that. It was just kind of an adjustment period of having to consciously make that choice, and it’s getting more of autopilot now. And then as far as running and just getting outside and walking at all, same kind of thing where you kind of have to like make the decision. It’s not like an automatic. It’s not habit yet, so it was a little bit difficult to kind of get going on it and get back into the routine. But after a few times, it kind of got a little easier.

Zack Arnold: Do you feel that being a part of the program and having the the Fitbit and having the the DigiFit website is all that mentally helping you kind of like find that motivation because a couple of other members that I’ve talked to that are not on the call have said that you know it’s it’s been a little bit tough going at first, but then they think to themselves, oh wait, well if I don’t put in a workout or I don’t walk enough, then I have this whole group that I’m accountable to. So are you experiencing that at all?

Kylee Peña: Oh yeah, definitely. Like I’ll be at work and I’m like I’m just gonna go like pay. Because I don’t want to be in like in live place. I want to I want to post workouts and stuff. Like I I’m really competitive about this too, and I like the support and everything and how everyone’s friendly. But I also want to beat all of you. Nice.

Zack Arnold: I love that attitude. Friendly competition.

Kylee Peña: Yeah, it’s it’s really been motivating to have this little bracelet on that tells me like the little lights, like how I’m doing. Because if I only have one, like last weekend I didn’t feel well, so I was just kind of sitting around and I looked at my steps at the end of the day, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, that’s horrible! I hope nobody sees it. There’s like a couple 100.

Zack Arnold: There were only 12 of us that saw it, so don’t worry about it.

Kylee Peña: The rest of the

Zack Arnold: World doesn’t know, except for the people that are listening to this, which is hopefully tons of you. So, all right. Well, I have a couple other things that I’m sure we can add to that, but I want to move on to mr. Nichols, and I want to see how you’re doing. I already know how you’re doing, but I want the audience to know how you’re doing.

Mike Nichols: Well, for one thing, you you you told me to make sure I mentioned this. It seems that the week we started was the week I got busier than ever, and and that I had been wearing this Fitbit thing as I think around the same time as Monica when we were at NAB, and all through that, everything had been great. And then I had to change shirts for a meeting, and I somehow knocked it off and lost it. So I had to replace it, and because it is a weird little fastener at the bottom, and I guess I didn’t have it in all the way, I was able to snag it on something, and I lost it. And I remember how depressing that was. Telling you, I was like, two days I haven’t had this on, and like all the steps I’m doing, I’m not getting logged. It just kills you. It’s it. It’s weird how you get so intense. Just like what Kylee said, it’s like I’m losing those. Somebody’s got to beat me, and then I leave to go to a gym. That’s kind of how I was doing instead of doing mostly not at home. When I traveled elsewhere, I did not have my heart rate banned, and so I was like going through several days just doing the exercises. But I, of course, it wasn’t logging onto the DigiFit because I didn’t have the heart rate monitor, and so I was bummed about that. But on a regular basis, I do cardio every day, whether it shows it or not. And the shakeology is something that you’ve kind of turned me on to, and as with everything, you get a little suspect of really it’s going to have that kind of results, and and I am kind of amazed that I have to remind myself sometimes, wow, I went a long time without craving something to eat, and it is that afternoon terrible. I want chips and you know things like that when you’re working, and I can’t believe how much it sort of passes through. I don’t know what it’s doing. It’s amazing, so I do dig

Zack Arnold: It. Yeah, it’s it’s something that I was skeptical about, like everybody else’s at first, especially because the price is not. It’s not cheap. It’s not like some bargain basement protein powder that you can get at Rouse for $15 and if it works, great, and if it doesn’t, whatever. Like the stuff is not cheap, but it is is is so valuable. It’s somewhat expensive, but it’s valuable in that it works so well. I actually have another editor friend of mine that’s on the the ABC show that I’m on right now, and he just got you know got wind of the the test program because several members of the test program are in the office with me, and we were talking about Shakeology, and he just kind of sat down with me. He’s like, “Yeah, so I just been trying to figure out what to do. Like, I’m just wiped out all day long, and just trying to find a way to, you know, make it work. And you know, what kind of suggestions do you have? I hear you guys talking, and I’m like, let me just give you a couple packets of the stuff, see what you think. Like, I’m not trying to push it. I’m not going to pressure you at all. And he came back to me after one of them, and he’s like, “I’m buying this stuff. I’m like, really? He’s like, I cannot believe how much better I felt the rest of the afternoon after just one of them. And he said after three, he had a much larger benefit. And then when he ordered it, there was a period of a few days where he didn’t have it, and he said that he very clearly felt the difference, and was like, “Wow! Now I see what I felt like before I was using it, and now my body is starting to say, ‘Hey, wait a second! I know what it feels like to have nutrients. I want those back. So, for me to experience it myself is one thing. To see a lot of other people experiencing the same thing is very rewarding because it just tells me that it’s not just me. Like the product is working for people and it’s making a big difference.

Mike Nichols: Zack, what’s your favorite one?

Zack Arnold: Taste wise, I love the strawberry, but I use the vanilla the vast majority just because you can mix it with anything. It’s such a neutral flavor.

Mike Nichols: The strawberries the one I thought had the best taste. Oh

Zack Arnold: Yeah, like the first time I had it, I’m like, this cannot be healthy. Like this tastes way too damn good to be healthy.

Mike Nichols: But I’ve drank lots of just plain protein powders, and they’re foul, and I do them with water. Yeah. So I did the chocolate shakeology, and I know everybody was like, “Ah, this doesn’t taste good. I went, “This tastes incredible. Yeah, compares

Zack Arnold: Compared to most of the crap on the market. It’s amazing because I’ve probably done at least 10 or 15 different types, and they’re just they’re horrendous, and you just can’t stick with them on a regular basis.

Mike Nichols: It’s painful to drink all of. It’s like a really bad medicine.

Zack Arnold: But as long as we’re discussing that, I know that you’re using it as well, Monica. So why don’t you just give me an update of how it’s working for you now that you’ve been on it for a few weeks?

Monica Daniel: Well, my son tries to steal my Shakeology now because he thinks it. A bubbly milkshake, but I’m actually having my husband take it with me because you know he he needs to get a little bit in better shape too, and so it also helps kind of support me. And you know he’s doing it with me, so he agreed to to take it with me. And I I really like it because I’m not one of those people who really enjoys going out eating. Like I eat because I need to eat. I’ve been known to almost pass out before in the past. I’ve only done that a couple times because I forgot to eat, and I like pretty bland foods. So to be able to just like make that shake really quick and my little baby bullet to froth it up and just drink it as I’m doing something else is really ideal for me. I kind of want to just drink it for all my meals, even even though that’s bad.

Zack Arnold: It’s and it’s so so tempting to do that.

Monica Daniel: I just don’t have time. I never I have never liked cooking, and so it makes it much easier in the middle of the day. I I try to have it for lunch. If I don’t have time to eat probably in the morning, I’ll make it in the morning, then try to have real food for lunch. But I really try to have it right in the middle of the day, usually when I’m busy trying to get other stuff done. So it’s really helped a lot.

Zack Arnold: I actually had that experience just tonight before this podcast. I was at you know my job today, and I got pulled into a color session that I thought was going to be just after lunch. Pop into the color suite, spend a little time, check out a couple things. They didn’t really have any food. They didn’t have the only snacks they had were like pop chips and like bad stuff. And I just wasn’t going to succumb to that because I’ve worked too hard to just you know like fall off the wagon. And I went from 1o’clock when I had lunch to getting home at 740-five I literally didn’t have anything. I had no snacks, no food whatsoever. And I came home and I’m like, “Wow, I have like 10 minutes before I have to get on this podcast, which is not enough time to do anything but warm up a microwave meal. And I’ve cut those out during training because they’re high in sodium. I’m like, “Screw it! I’m just gonna make a shakeology. So I put powder in and did the you know the almond milk and a couple other things and some fruit. Bam! I feel great right now. Like I, I don’t feel like I’ve gone the last eight hours without food. It’s 830 on a Friday, where a couple of months ago I would have just passed out on the couch, completely useless, like just that mind numbing sitting in front of the TV. And right now I feel like I could run five miles. So I just I cannot emphasize enough how much the stuff works, and the reason that I emphasize it for this program is because I know how hard it is to do anything nutritious that’s fast with what we do for a living. It’s just impossible, and this is the one thing that you can literally do in two minutes. That’s it. So that that’s the reason why I emphasize it so heavily. And I would not be emphasizing it at all if I wasn’t seeing the results that I was from the test group, but I’m I’m really excited about that. So Kylee, those those samples that you have in the mail, you need to start popping them. I think you’re going to notice a difference.

Kylee Peña: I’m going to this weekend, or maybe starting on Monday. I’ll try one.

Mike Nichols: And like you said, I tended to notice the first day, not consciously. When I thought about it the next day, I was like, wow, I did go the whole that whole long time without craving, like I norm. I noticed it right away.

Zack Arnold: Yeah, it happens pretty fast.

Monica Daniel: I I mean, I first tried Shakeology. I stole some of your stash Zack for NAB.

Zack Arnold: Right,

Monica Daniel: And I can’t believe I got through those really long days. I really didn’t eat that. I had some rich dinners because everyone kept inviting me out to dinner. So it’s like okay, well, I’ll eat something nice then. But like in the middle of the day, when I’m running back and forth doing everything I have to do at NAB, that Shakeology is what I had for lunch, and that was pretty much it. That’s all I had: Shakeology and water, because that’s all I had time for. And I didn’t want to buy the crap food at the convention center and wait in those lines, and it got me through the entire day, and for the first time in a long time, I’m like, “Oh yeah, this is what it feels like to be a normal person and not a slug, because I had felt so bad for so long.

Zack Arnold: Right,

Monica Daniel: It’s like I had forgotten what it felt like to have just like a normal level of energy.

Zack Arnold: Right. Well, I’m I’m starting to become more convinced as we do this test group. That if there really is only one thing that you go to the website and say, you know what, I don’t have time for the program. I don’t want to get a Fitbit. I don’t want to look up all this other stuff. I don’t want to learn about this or that. Like just the Shakeology is going to make a difference. It’s going to change your baseline for how you feel and probably give you enough motivation to be like, you know what? Maybe I am going to start trying this because now I have the energy to do it. So to me, it’s kind of like the the gateway to to get you further down down the line and get more into the program. So, so speaking of programs, let’s go back to our original question and go to Monica. I want to know how your progress has been the first three weeks.

Monica Daniel: Okay, I kind of want to break it down into like exercise versus my diet because I’m having you guys make it sound like it’s so easy, Mike and Kylee. God damn you! I’m actually having a really hard time, but not in a bad way. It’s just difficult because my schedule is never the same two days in a row. My kids, you know, throw. All sorts of fun, fun schedule changes at the last minute. Plus, I have random work hours that I’ve been working lately because I’m not committed to one show. So I kind of just take shifts when I could get them, and so my schedule’s all over the place. And I never know when I’m going to be at work, when I’m going to be at home, and has to take care of the kids. So I have been going to the gym when I’m not at work because I like the focus and I could just kind of zone out with my headphones on. And what I’ve been doing is because in the past, whenever I’ve tried to start working out, I work out too hard the first time. I end up with a cold for two weeks and then I don’t continue it because I’m afraid I’m going to relapse because my immune system was not great, and so I’m like, okay, I need to take it slow and steady. So I’m starting on the treadmill for my cardio, and I literally get up to. It’s very easy for me to get up to like the anaerobic level when you look in the digi fit when when I’m still walking, like my cardio’s so bad. So I’ve literally been maintaining like the what is it? The like that endurance level on the chart. I forgot what the range of that is.

Zack Arnold: Yeah, that that’s probably the aerobic level. I think that’s level three in the heart rate chart.

Monica Daniel: Yeah, so that I could easily get to that in a like going 3.6 with no elevation on the treadmill walking, and when I’m really tired, I have to go all the way down to 3.0 speed when I’m really tired, and that’s just that’s how fast my heart rate goes up, and I I don’t think that’s good. It makes me feel a little pathetic, but it it just made me aware of how badly out of shape I was. My cardio’s never been great, and that kind of just painted the picture of how bad it was. So I’ve just kind of continued with that and seeing how I’m feeling to before I push it. I did try running like quick interval, literally jogging for like 30 seconds, and it like made me shoot up to like the top of the anaerobic really fast, and it took me a little bit to get my heart rate back down, and I I just don’t feel like I’m ready to really push to anaerobic yet, right? Considering I get so winded so quickly, so I’ve been just trying to do the treadmill. I haven’t been able to make it any more yoga classes because I like yoga. Or every time I try to do like the Power 90, my kids decide they want Mama instead of Daddy.

Zack Arnold: Ah,

Monica Daniel: That that actually happened last night. I was like, okay, my husband has the kids. I’m gonna go do my Power 90 because I don’t have to. I didn’t have time to go to the gym today. He’s taking care of them. As soon as I’m popping the DVD in, my kids come downstairs and it’s like already 10 o’clock at night.

Zack Arnold: Wow!

Monica Daniel: And they will not go back upstairs unless I go up there with them. So it makes it difficult, which is why if you look at my workouts, they’re kind of like maybe three or four times a week I’m able to manage

Zack Arnold: It, right?

Monica Daniel: Just because of like all those factors. But I really try to get them in, and I’ve been when I go to the gym, I haven’t had a chance to do the the sculpting. What’s it called? Sculpting something on Power 90.

Zack Arnold: Sweating. Sweat and Sculpt. I actually I don’t remember. I haven’t used. I think that’s it. I think it’s like

Monica Daniel: It’s it’s with the resistance band. So I haven’t had a chance to use that. But I talked to one of the trainers at 24 Hour Fitness. I’m like, okay, what’s good for me? I’m I’m what because they have like a million machines in 24 Hour Fitness. I’m like, which machine should I use? Because I found on some machines I’m short, so my body just doesn’t fit in these machines. And he’s like, okay, just use this one row of machines in our 10 rows of machines. I’m like, okay, great, that’s what I’ll do. And so I’ve been doing all the various exercises on those, I’ve done it a couple times, and I’m literally on like the lowest weight possible. Which on some of those machines is like 20 pounds, some of them are like 50 pounds, but whatever is the lowest weight, that’s what I’m at. So I’m just I just do like reps of three sets of like 10 or 12, depending on how weak the muscle

Zack Arnold: Is, right?

Monica Daniel: Because I just I don’t want to hurt myself, so I’ve been just trying to squeeze in those different things and change it up for my body to see like what I can do, what’s harder for me as I go. So I’ve it’s been a bit of a challenge for me, but I’m still you know working working towards doing it and like doing more when I can.

Zack Arnold: Sure, and what what I can really hear, which is encouraging, is that you’re having trouble finding the time to make it work. But it doesn’t sound like you’re discouraged and like, oh well, you know, maybe I’m just gonna do not gonna do it, and maybe this isn’t working. Like I really sense a lot of enthusiasm coming from you. Like I really want to make this work, and that to me, is a huge, huge step. So what that’s telling me is that you have to work around obstacles, but you’re still focused on trying to meet that objective of getting where you want to go. So now the question is just how do we solve those issues? So it doesn’t sound like you have a motivation problem because that’s usually one of the bigger issues, and I think that the accountability helps with that, but. I just think that you had a lot of your own motivations from when we had initially spoke about this. So I could be wrong, but it sounds like the motivation is still there. Correct?

Monica Daniel: Yes.

Zack Arnold: So that being the case, a couple of suggestions that I would have for you. First of all, when you if you’re going to find time to go to the gym, it sounds like either your kids aren’t with you or they go to that gorgeous play area that you posted on Facebook. Yeah. Right.

Monica Daniel: Yeah. Actually, a lot of times when I well pick them up from day because when I’m working, I’ll like I have to take my son from you know school to daycare and I’m like chauffeuring them around everywhere. They’ll actually say when I pick them up, “Hey, can you go work out so we could go to the gym playground? I’m like,

Zack Arnold: Which I love,

Monica Daniel: And so that really helps me because you know part of the problem is you know, parent guilt. It’s like, oh, I really need to work out, but I only have this hour to see my kids before we need to come to bed. And they’re they’re actually they want me to go work out. I call it I call it Mama’s big playground. Will they go to their kid playground? Nice. And they’re like super happy. They actually tell me to leave. They’re like, okay, go mama, go go work out. I’m like, okay. There

Zack Arnold: Goes the guilt.

Monica Daniel: So that’s actually really helped. Really just helped. And even if I think I even posted on Facebook once, like I had already worked out, and I was like, “Well, the kids want to go to the gym playground, so I’m just going to go. And I can’t remember. I think Adam warned me against like, “Hey, don’t do too many workouts at once. And now I’m like, “You know what? I’m just going to probably just do slow walking on the treadmill and stretch because that was great. That’s good recovery. Tired already. I’m like, no, that’s that’s what I’m gonna do because I’m tired and I didn’t really have time to stretch before.

Zack Arnold: Well, the the other recommendation that I have for you, especially since you’re fairly out of shape and you’re trying to get back into it, rather than try and like cherry pick different things here and there, one thing that you can do to kind of like quote unquote hack your situation is if you and you have the technology to be able to do this, take your Power 90 DVDs, rip them to an iPad, and take the iPad and set it on a bench or a stool, and try and do it at the gym. That’s actually something that I’ve done before, like when I’ve traveled, you know, been on a family vacation or gone to a hotel for a meeting or whatever, like I will have it on my iPad and I can do the same workout somewhere else because it really doesn’t require anything but like one band. But I think that based on your fitness level, I don’t think that any of the stuff you’re doing is wrong. But I think having the structure to it is going to help you get further a lot faster as far as like getting your car to you up and strengthening your heart. I think that’s something to at least try that could help get you into that program because I really do believe after working with these programs for years that you get a lot more results much much faster than just kind of piddling around at the gym and doing that machine and doing this machine and you know doing some cardio here and there, like they’re just so targeted and so scientifically developed to work efficiently and fast that you may want to try it. Just a thought. That’s like I said, it’s something that I’ve done in the past that’s made a big difference for me.

Monica Daniel: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I I do want to do them at home. It’s the kids are the obstacle right now. Like just sometimes it’s I we’re really trying to get them to bed before 10, but they absolutely refuse. They just will not. They just let them sleep too long at daycare. That’s what I’m convinced of. Their naps are way too long.

Zack Arnold: Right.

Monica Daniel: So I’m I’m still trying to to work on it. But I mean the other part of it too, and I did post this question on Facebook. My eating, I feel like my eating generally has gotten a lot better. I’m eating more vegetables. I’ve been craving a lot of protein. I do occasionally have my sweets, but it’s not like every day like it used to be. It’s maybe like once a week, and but I feel like just trying to figure out when to eat before I work out because usually trying to fit the workout in, it’s sometimes it’s just like at some point before today ends, it’s gonna happen, but I don’t know when that block of time will be sometimes, and so I don’t eat at the proper time beforehand. I mean that’s that’s kind of a a big problem I’m having, and also just like afterwards, usually I’ll squeeze the workout in, and then I have to go do something for the kids, and so it’s not like I could go home and like create the perfect recovery meal for me because I’m like rushing back and forth.

Zack Arnold: So the the suggestion that I would have for you as far as ways that you can kind of not worry about that problem of oh I don’t know when I’m going to work out which means I don’t know when to eat and I don’t know what what to eat before. I know that I’ve mentioned this to you guys before on Facebook, but I want the the people listening to this podcast to know about the product Vital Fuel, which is a completely natural product that’s sold by Akasha Naturals, and there’s a link on the site to find it, and I’m also going to put a link in the show notes, but this is basically just a powder. It’s not a protein powder. It’s kind of like taking Gatorade beforehand, but it’s the antithesis of Gatorade because that’s just filled with nothing but sugar and all kinds of nasty stuff that will give you energy for a short burst and then you’ll completely crash. But vital fuel is something that, especially like for me. If I work a long day and I don’t have time to fit in dinner, or I get home late, or I even get home early and I don’t have time to make something, you don’t want to eat right before your workout because then you’re asking your system to digest, which means that it’s taking resources away from being able to put it into the rest of your body and exercise at an optimal level. But the vital fuel for me, if I’ve gone six or seven hours without food, and I’m like, you know what? I want to work out 15 minutes from now, and I don’t want to eat. The vital fuel has completely changed the way that I exercise, and it’s it’s really inexpensive too. It’s like $45 or something, and it lasts for a couple of months.

Monica Daniel: Actually, I think it’s 50 because I did look it up once you posted it. I was like, cool. That’s why I asked you. I was like, is that available in stores? Yeah, no, it’s not. But it’s

Zack Arnold: I cannot tell you, and I would not push something or talk about it if it wasn’t something I use myself and wasn’t amazing. But this stuff has completely changed the way that I exercise, and I mean completely. Like I’ve experimented with so many different powders and sports drinks and gels, and you know, like you can do these caffeine gel cubes that Clif Bar makes, and I’ve done all that stuff, and all of it just kind of has that residual effect of just basically taking huge gobfuls of sugar and putting them in your system at once. But this is completely different, where you just feel energized and you feel ready to get into it. There’s no caffeine, and afterwards, it doesn’t affect your sleep. It doesn’t affect your energy. It just really gets your body ready to go, and it lasts forever. Like you don’t have to put Shakeology size scoops in. They’re like teaspoon scoops that you put in eight ounces of water. You take a quick drink, and you’re ready to go. So I really, really advocate that heavily, especially with your situation where you just take a little bit of it and you are just ready to move. So that’s that’s one way that you can kind of get that burst of energy and motivation if you need it because your your schedule is sporadic.

Kylee Peña: I need to get some of that because I I tend to run after work when it’s been six hours since lunch and I don’t want to eat dinner before I go

Zack Arnold: Exactly and that’s something that you definitely don’t want to do is eat a heavy dinner like a meal right before you go out and run. But once you get yourself to the point where you’re not completely depending on carbs and glucose and sugar to get all of your energy, and Shakeology can help with that. Once you get to that point, you don’t need to have eaten a big meal beforehand or load up on a bunch of sugar to go out for a run. That’s something that I’ve been finding a lot. Is that I used to really depend on food and just having a bunch of sugar in my system and having bananas or whatever. And then as I’ve gotten away from that, and it’s something I’m going to get into a little bit more detail in later podcasts and on the website, I’ve transferred pretty much to. I don’t know if anybody here has heard the term ketogenic? It basically means that your body is learning to burn ketones instead of glucose for energy, which means that you’re training your body to burn fat, so you become a fat burner, and that means having an extremely low number of carbohydrates in your system. And I’m not at the threshold where I’m ketogenic, but I’m fairly close at this point. And what that does is it makes it so you don’t require food and glucose and sugar every few hours, and by doing that transition, I’ve gotten to the point where I can have a really hard exercise session when I haven’t eaten for seven hours. All I need is the vital fuel, and I’m ready to go. So it’s it’s a product that I only found a couple of months ago. I know Akasha Naturals because the the person that developed the whole program and the the doctor that runs it has been my personal doctor for like the last eight or nine years, so I completely trust him implicitly, and I just cannot advocate it enough. But I’ll shut up about it because you guys have all heard me push

Monica Daniel: It. I I did want to say besides all my challenges and making it sound so dire, it’s not as dire as it sounds. I swear, you know. I overall I do feel better. I haven’t slept this well in a really, really long time. My husband says I’m just like a rock. He cannot wake me up at night anymore. And I used to be a really light sleeper, and I just I sleep really well. And it actually feels good to be sore. I remember that feeling when I was younger. So I’m feeling better overall. It’s just like the challenge of trying to navigate my schedule and kids and doing everything properly, so I don’t hurt myself or do anything that’s bad for my health.

Zack Arnold: Right. Yeah, I can understand that. So let’s. I want to jump back to Mike for a second, just because I feel like the poor guy’s been left out of the conversation for a little while, and I don’t want you to get lonely over there. So you had mentioned that you’re doing cardio every single day. Yeah. Now let me ask you what type of cardio you’re doing.

Mike Nichols: Elliptical.

Zack Arnold: You’re doing the elliptical.

Mike Nichols: Yeah, 30 minutes.

Zack Arnold: Okay. Now why do it every day? I’m curious what your your theory is behind that.

Mike Nichols: I think that when I just started doing it. I came up with a way, like I use it as a place to watch TV, and so that’s kind of like, hey, if I want to watch TV, I do it at the gym,

Zack Arnold: Right?

Mike Nichols: So that just kind of became the instrument for me doing that.

Zack Arnold: Okay, now what what level of intensity are you doing it?

Mike Nichols: I guess my heart rate falls into the 130 Eight 147 category.

Zack Arnold: So you’re going fairly intense. You’re not like pushing yourself, but you’re not lollygangging it either.

Mike Nichols: Yeah, it’s usually stayed up. And then I also three days a week I do the the weight training, and that’s usually about 90 minutes, sometimes almost two hours.

Zack Arnold: Right. Okay.

Mike Nichols: That, as you can see, my spikes are really high, and my heart rate will be really high for bursts.

Zack Arnold: Okay. Now, based on your schedule, how are you able to fit that in? Because one thing that I really want to try and get people acclimated to is that we all work in the same industry, and there is a way to fit this stuff in. So I want to understand different people’s strategies to make this work for them. Because you’re a working editor.

Mike Nichols: Yeah, I think that the hardest part was is when we started it. That’s where I sort of out of I got denied that a lot of that week, and I think that Thursday I went through and I did three workouts in one day, and you’re like, “Whoa, slow down! I said, “No, I’m trying to catch up. But I was racing from the office to get there before like the gym closed, so I could get that in, and it was. I imagine if I was doing it like that every day, it would be incredibly difficult.

Zack Arnold: Well, not only that, but you’re actually gonna your results are gonna move a lot slower, and you may even move backwards. And that’s the reason that I wanted to bring this up is that even though intuitively, based on everything that we’ve learned and been told for years and years about you know burning off calories and eating less calories, I have a post on this that’s on the blog called “Making Sense of Calories In Versus Calories Out, so you can learn more just kind of about the basic myth that’s out there that we’ve all been told for the last you know 30 or 40 years. But there’s also a concept called chronic cardio, and it. I don’t think that you’re in that realm yet. But one recommendation that I would make for you, which is probably actually a recommendation you might like, is try and take at least one day a week where you don’t do anything, and that may just be not by choice because you end up working. But falling into a trap of actually doing the same cardio every single day is something that your body will become adapted to, and you actually will not see results going forwards, and there’s a lot of medical research that backs this. But the idea is that you become adapted to it, and what your body does is it says, you know what, I’m just going to eat more or crave more the next day because I know that today again I’m going to burn this many calories. So you end up balancing out, and you actually don’t end up making a lot of progress. So my two suggestions for you would be number one, try and take one day where you don’t do anything, and then another one of your cardio’s. Rather than it being the same type of elliptical, I would try to find some form of really high intensity interval training. But there’s an acronym. It’s called HIT, basically HIT training, H I I T, because a lot of studies show that doing short bursts of really intense activity is a much more efficient way to get your metabolism moving much faster. And the other thing that happens is, for example, if you’re on the elliptical for 45 minutes and you burn, let’s say 450 calories, just to round it out at 10 calories a minute, right?

Mike Nichols: Yeah, that’s about right.

Zack Arnold: So if you burn those 450 calories, you are burning those essentially during that run, and then you step off the elliptical, and then you basically go about your day, and you’re burning the number of calories of the activity that you’re putting out. When you do high intensity interval training, and what that can mean is sprints, it can mean plyometric training, whatever it is, because your body’s going so intensely, but for a short period of time, it actually spikes your metabolism, which means that you’re burning a lot more calories for up to like the next day after that workout. So it’s actually a much more efficient way to exercise and do cardio for less time, but get a lot more benefit. The other thing too is that you can get burned out doing the same thing every single day. Where and if it’s a way for you to watch TV, that’s not a bad thing to get that kind of activity. But what can happen is you can plateau, and all of a sudden you’re going to be doing this for the next two and a half months, and then week 12 is going to come along. You’re going to be like, “Well, wait a second, where’s this progress going? You know, so you definitely want to vary it up, and I know that on the last podcast you’d said that you were interested in trying out one of the the Beachbody products, and those definitely have a lot of those options. And if it’s something that doesn’t work for people, great, it doesn’t work for you, and do your own thing. I just what I’m trying to do is give out information that I’ve gotten from all the research that I’ve been doing for years that can help people that are doing what we’re doing. Because me coming and saying, well, you know what, you should really be running a marathon. Well, screw that. We don’t have the hours to go out and train for a marathon. But the hours that you do have, especially because we have such little time, I’m trying to find ways to maximize that amount of time. And high intensity interval training has made that jump for me. Where when I had a gym membership and I didn’t have it for that long because I’ve just never been in gym person, and I talk about that on the last show. But I was just kind of jumping on the elliptical for 40-five minutes or an hour, and then doing the weight training for a couple days a week, and I just wasn’t getting anywhere. Basically, what was happening is that I wasn’t getting fatter and I wasn’t getting more out of shape, but I wasn’t waking up. Being like, wow, this is making a huge, profound difference in the way that I look, and the way that I feel, and the way that I’m thinking. Like, it wasn’t transformational; it was just maintenance. It was I’m not getting worse. But when I started introducing the high intensity interval training, that’s when it was like, oh my god, I am becoming a completely different person. So it’s it’s something that I highly highly recommend, and I know that you’ve been really intense with your workouts and keeping up with it. And if I mean, if I had to call it today, based on the numbers that we have, if you’re not number one, you’re number two. So that was one of the reasons I wanted you on this specific call because you’ve really made good progress and been pushing. What I what I don’t want to see happen, and I’m not saying it’s going to. I just want to make sure that all of a sudden you don’t plateau, and you’re like, “Well, wait a second, I’m not moving forwards. So I just I don’t want you to get stuck in that trap that happens to a lot of people, including me, of just getting in the same routine at the gym because you’re going to plateau after between four and six weeks, and then you’re like, “Wait a second, I’m not seeing any difference.

Zack Arnold: I’m not losing anything off my waistline, you know I’m not getting any kind of any more definition than I would be because you’re probably getting into kind of a rut basically, and that’s something that the Beachbody products are just genius at is making sure that you’re always varying your workout and you’re like I did a workout last night. I’ve been doing it for months. I’m sore because it’s a different workout in the way that they vary the order and the types and the way that they use balance. So they have so many different variations that you just never stop getting sore, which means that you’re still tearing muscle fibers and you’re still rebuilding them stronger, and you just keep moving forwards. So that it’s one reason that I really, really advocate it. Not for everybody, but I feel like for the stuff that you’re doing, it might be something that’s beneficial to look into.

Mike Nichols: Yeah, because you you’ve already been doing all this stuff for a while.

Zack Arnold: Yeah, and I I did the stuff that you’re doing now. I did that, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. And everybody has their own preferred program, so I’m not trying to say hey this works for me, so it has to work for everybody else because I don’t believe that at all. But based on the kind of stuff that you’re doing and the stuff that you’ve mentioned to me that you’re interested in getting as far as your results, it just seems like you’re the kind of personality type that it might really, really benefit. And there are programs that literally you can do in 25 minutes a day, and they will kick your ass. And those 25 minutes, you’re going to get three times the calorie burn for the rest of the day than you would if you did 40-five minutes at a steady pace on an elliptical. So it actually has longer-term gains for putting in less effort or more effort, but in a shorter period of time.

Mike Nichols: Sure.

Zack Arnold: So what I’m going to do when I’m done with my program, because right now my schedule is really relaxed and I’m at the end of a TV season and we’re wrapping it up and I don’t have long days, so my workouts are between 60 and 70-five minutes, and then I do like a four-hour training regimen every Sunday. But when I get into my next job, all that’s going to go away and it’s going to change. And a big thing about this program that I really try to push is adaptability. And if if you take the all-or-nothing approach, like I’m going to do P 90x every day for 90 days, and I’m not going to miss a workout, and then you miss three workouts in a row, and you’re like, ah, screw it, I give up, I can’t do this. I’ve done that before. I’ve made that mistake because I wasn’t adapting to my schedule. So now what I’m thinking is, all right, well I know that hopefully come the next month or two, I’ll actually find another job, and when I get that job, I’m going to be back in dailies, and I’m going to be buried and working 12 hours a day, so I need to adapt to something that works better for me and my schedule. So I’m going to try out one of their like 25 minute high intensity programs, and I know that I need less than half an hour a day. So that that’s that’s one thing that I like about all their programs is there’s so many different levels as far as beginner, intermediate, expert, as far as the amount of time, like they have 10 minute exercises, like I use those. I have the 10 minute trainers, and if it’s like, oh, you know what, I’m only gonna have 10 minutes today. I just throw it in and I’m done. Like it’s super super easy, and I don’t think it’s the kind of thing that you do the 10 minute trainer exercises. You’re not gonna have amazing before and after pictures, but you’re gonna maintain, and you’re still gonna have energy, and you’re still gonna function. And at the end of the day, this program isn’t about having amazing pictures at the end of 90 days. It’s about saying, “Oh my God, I’m more efficient in front of my desk, and I’m focused, and I’m more relaxed in my client sessions. Like that’s what it’s really about, and why it’s tailored specifically for this group. Because if anybody has ever worked with a grumpy editor, they know how much fun that is, right? I mean, we’ve all been there, where you’re just grumpy and like you don’t want to take the note, you don’t even want to turn around and talk to the client. Like, we’ve all been there, and what I’m trying to do is help people get through that. And I’m hoping that some of these these tools are going to do that because I know that they work for me. Like my my days are so much easier and more pleasant and more fun because I just feel better.

Monica Daniel: You will never get me to admit to being a grumpy editor.

Zack Arnold: Oh my god! I don’t know if I believe that, but trust me, I’ve I’ve been one of the worst grumpy editors ever. It’s been a long time, but it’s something that I will cop to and say that when I was in my mid to late 20s, man, I could be a moody. Moody bitch, man, and that was because I was in poor health. Like I just wasn’t taking care of myself. I wasn’t sleeping right. I wasn’t exercising, and I was eating crap. And that affects everything. So that’s when I really decided that if I was gonna if I was gonna make it forward in this industry, I had to find a way to work around that. And that’s kind of where this quest started to figure out how to get my health better because it was going to make my profession better and you know was going to be better for my career. So, you know this this isn’t just about looking good on the beach this summer. It’s about being better at what you do every single day.

Mike Nichols: Truthfully, the one time it was a dare. Me and another guy. Every time we had to render, it would be like you got to do 10 push-ups.

Zack Arnold: No shit, I love that. That’s cool. So

Mike Nichols: You could do it like when you’re somewhere else. You call it rendering 10 push-ups.

Zack Arnold: Nice. I don’t have to

Kylee Peña: Render all that much.

Zack Arnold: Yeah. See, that’s the thing as an editor now with everything real time. Yeah. Like there’s there’s no rendering now. However, you really want to get fit. Use Final Cut Seven, right? Because all your dissolves, all your picture-in-picture whatever. Like, dude, you’d be busting out 500 a day.

Mike Nichols: Yeah,

Kylee Peña: That’s a great reason to stick with it.

Zack Arnold: So, Kylee, you’ve been been quiet. I want to bring you back in. Tell me how your your 100 push up challenge is going.

Kylee Peña: You know, it’s going okay. If I can do 20, then I’ll be good. Yeah, you

Zack Arnold: Said that was going to be your goal at the end of the program, right?

Kylee Peña: Mm-hmm.

Zack Arnold: And where are you now, if you don’t mind me asking?

Kylee Peña: Like two-ish.

Zack Arnold: Now when when you’re doing it, are you just doing all or nothing on your hands and on your toes, or are you doing them on your knees as well?

Kylee Peña: No, I’m doing the modified because I think it’s better to do something like that than just not do it at all.

Zack Arnold: Well, then you just you just took my whole pitch

Mike Nichols: Away

Zack Arnold: Because you’re you’re already doing no no that’s great. I’m glad you’re doing that, but

Kylee Peña: Yes, but

Zack Arnold: I was I was gonna suggest that that a lot of times what happens, and I’ve made the same mistake where they propose an exercise, whether it’s a push up or a pull up or whatever it is, and you try to bust one out, and you’re like, oh my god, I cannot do this. Well, screw it, I’m just not gonna do it. But the difference between doing half of a really bad full push-up or doing 10 push-ups on your knees is incredible. Like the way to get through and build further and further and further is to modify to what you can do. It just needs to be a little bit uncomfortable. So you know, if if you can only do two real push-ups, but you can get to 10 or 15 on your knees, you’re going to get to the point where you’re going to move forwards, but if you’re only trying to kill yourself doing one or two real push-ups, you’re not going to get anywhere. But it sounds like you already know that.

Kylee Peña: Yeah, yeah, I can do I can do two real ones, and then I think I’m up to like I don’t I don’t know. It’s hard to say because you only do a couple at a time, and you stop for a few seconds. So I’m up to like six or seven, maybe eight with the knees. But yeah, I figured it would be better to do something because it hurts, so it must be working.

Zack Arnold: Right.

Kylee Peña: Yeah, I think the whole modification thing is important. I I did yoga for a long time, and I still do it sometimes, but not as often here. But and that’s a big part of where I learned modifications. Like do it as best you can, and then after you do it for a while, you’ll you’ll get to the point where you can move forward, and that actually applies to all fitness. Like running, I run really. I used to run really really slow, and you know it still works. You build up to it. I think that’s where a lot of people stumble, is just trying to go full on right away. Yeah,

Zack Arnold: Yeah. The the all or nothing approach is really just a recipe for failure, not just in fitness, but in dieting too. But what I want to do at the end of each of the calls that I have with my test group is I want to turn it around to you guys and see if you have questions or concerns that you have that you want to bring to me and see if I can answer them before we go.

Mike Nichols: Well, you kind of answered mine, and that is falling into that rut of maybe just doing maintenance or maintaining or managing versus actually getting more results,

Zack Arnold: Right? And for some people, the maintenance is their goal. It’s like I just don’t want to get more out of shape. I don’t want to gain weight. Maintenance is fine. That’s a goal. If that is your only goal, there’s no problem with that at all. But the sense that I got from you is that you wanted to get way beyond maintenance. That you were really into this, and you wanted to push further. And I just think that long term, the path that you’re going down is more going to be a path of maintenance than it’s going to be a path of transformation.

Mike Nichols: Yes.

Zack Arnold: The two things that’ll happen are number one, your body will adapt, and number two, you’ll get bored. For me, I get bored very easily if I’m doing the same thing all the time.

Mike Nichols: Sure. Yeah.

Zack Arnold: So then you’re just like, eh, I don’t really want to work out today because it’s not fun, you know. But when you have workouts that are actually fun, even though they’re just completely kicking your ass, you look forward to them, and it does become habit. Because one thing you you had said, Kylee, that struck a chord with me is you said, well, I’m not really in a habit yet, and that’s one thing that at week three, if there are other people listening to this podcast and they’re timing it with their workout program by week three, you’re kind of ready to jump ship, and your brain has not said, “Ooh, I’m ready and I want to jump in. So just be ready to know that you’re going to have to push yourself probably at least past the first month, if not more, before you get to the point where you say. Whoa! Like I want to exercise tonight, and it just becomes a part of who you are. And if you miss it, you start to feel bad. You’re like, oh man, I can’t believe I missed my workout today. That doesn’t come overnight. And the other thing that doesn’t come overnight are results. That’s something that’s really frustrating, and it’s a rut that I’ve gotten into, where you kill yourself, you kill yourself, you go the first month, you do everything, and then you step on the scale, or you look at yourself in the mirror, and you’re like, “I don’t look any different, and I don’t weigh any different. So why am I doing this? So you have to realize that you’re really not going to see really visible results for a while. It’s probably going to take five or six weeks, and then all of a sudden you can look at a before picture, which is why I think those pictures are so important. And you’re like, oh wait a second! I am starting to see a difference, and that’s when things change in your brain, and that’s when the motivation comes-just the self motivation to want to do it, as opposed to feeling like you have to-and that’s when it becomes habit.

Kylee Peña: I’ve experienced that in the past, so I’m holding out like,

Zack Arnold: Yeah, it takes a while, but that’s another reason why I feel that the community aspect of this is so important, because honestly, after three weeks of what you’ve done so far in your schedule, if you were completely on your own, you didn’t have the podcast, didn’t have the group, didn’t have the leaderboard. What are the odds that you’d still be pushing towards whatever goal you’d set three weeks ago?

Kylee Peña: I don’t know. Mine aren’t good. 50-50 right now. I’m just with you know work and stuff.

Zack Arnold: Right, exactly. And I feel like this accountability really raises those chances a lot. And it sounds like it has for you, Monica. That’s why this is so important to me. That I’m I’m trying to create this community of like-minded people in our industry that can see that we’re all struggling with the same issue. So I’m glad to see that that that aspect of it is working and it’s keeping you guys in it. Because I know the first three weeks suck. I hate the first. For me, it’s almost like the first six to eight weeks, but that’s because my programs are really intense and they never give you the time to just take a breather and be like, “Oh, this is actually working. And then when I hit the eight week mark, I am just off to the races and like ready to bounce off walls. And I’m on week 10 right now, and I literally just I don’t know what to do with all the energy that I have between changing my diet and exercising. And it’s I haven’t felt this good since I was in high school. So and that’s good because I have a Spartan race in three weeks. So I’m hoping that I’m going to be ready for that. So does anybody else have any questions?

Monica Daniel: Anyone else? Feel free to chime in, and it’s it’s something I knew I was going to have a problem with. You know, I’m I’m pretty like petite, and so like the minimum, I pretty much the calories all the programs recommend are like the minimum calories that I should be eating, which is like 1200 calories a day. So what happens is I I don’t get very hungry, so when I do and with all the like lower calorie foods I’ve been eating because I’ve tried to eat a lot more vegetables and a lot less pizza though I did have pizza tonight for dinner because it’s Friday you know I it’s hard getting the numbers up because I get full on really low calorie foods that are healthy, and then now with the exercising, you know, I have to try to eat more food, and I just don’t really have the space to eat it, and I’m not sure what to do about that because then I’m worried about like I mentioned on the Facebook group, like I had this like cold feeling that it was hard for me to shake until I ate, and you said that might be because my metabolism is slowing down too much, and I don’t want to accidentally put my body in starvation mode. But it’s like there is just not enough room in my belly to eat more food to try to get the calories up. It’s like trying to figure it out. I’m like, ah, what do I do? I just don’t want to like eat a bunch of bread,

Zack Arnold: Right? No, no. Please do not go and eat a bunch of bread. Like I don’t know what’s available. Well, I’m going to avoid completely jumping on a soapbox because, as as my test group knows, I’ve already written a blog post about this. Like I had mentioned earlier about calories in versus calories out, and the first statement I will make that I am 100 confident in whether or not I am a professional in this industry. Do not worry about eating the minimum number of calories because it is complete bullshit and it is bad for your health. And you should stop listening to that number because 1200 calories a day for just about anybody is unhealthy, and you will never ever be able to sustain it long term. It’s just not going to happen. What you need to do, and the reason why I advocate MyFitnessPal, is not about the calories in versus calories out. It’s about the composition of the foods you’re eating and the nutrient density. Which means that when you look at that little pie chart and it says that 85% of your diet is from carbohydrates, that’s a bad sign. That’s unhealthy, and that means that you need to find a way to balance your diet better, and you need to get more healthy fats and more proteins into it. But what you don’t want to do is starve yourself, because what will actually happen is your body will adapt, you will slow your metabolism down, and your stomach will shrink, and that’s why you don’t feel like you can eat enough to sustain because you’re full. So what I. Suggest is that you slowly start increasing the calories of each of your meals, but more importantly, you need to eat more often. Because what’ll happen, especially when you’re busy, is you might eat a really big breakfast or a really big dinner when you get home, or a big lunch, but you don’t really eat throughout the day. So what’s happening is that your metabolism isn’t having time to just find a rhythm. So you’ll eat a whole bunch of food in the morning. Your insulin will spike. Then you don’t eat a lot of food until maybe even lunchtime, or you even skip your lunch. Then your blood sugar plummets. You get really tired. You know the afternoon is a mess, like it is for most people. And then all of a sudden you eat a really big meal at dinner, and then your insulin spikes again. You have all this blood rushing to your digestion, and your system’s out of whack. So my two suggestions are: number one, eat more, a little bit more at each meal, not a lot, but eat a little bit more, and it should be either health, it should be healthy fats or proteins. Don’t say, “Well, I need more, I need more calories, so I’m going to have four pieces of bread, or I’m going to have whatever.

Monica Daniel: Well, no, I don’t do that, and it sounds like you’re

Zack Arnold: Smart enough to do that already?

Monica Daniel: No, I don’t do that.

Zack Arnold: And then the second thing is try to eat every three hours, smaller meals but more often. That’s going to help balance out your metabolism. You’re going to actually start burning more calories, and your stomach will expand just a little bit, so you don’t feel uncomfortable eating a little bit more. But what I don’t want people to do is be afraid of eating food because as long as it’s not garbage and it’s not sugar and it’s not processed, if you’re eating healthy foods, you’re not going to gain weight because you’re eating. There’s so much information out there now that just completely disproves the myth that if you eat 2000 calories but you burn 2500 with exercise, you’re going to lose weight. It’s complete and total. I stand behind it completely. So my fitness pal, I ignore calories in versus calories out. I don’t even use it. I use it to understand the composition of my food, and I can say, “Oh, I haven’t had enough potassium today, or “Oh, you know what? I’ve eaten a few too many grams of carbohydrates, and I need to eat more grams of protein tomorrow. So that’s where it’s so useful. But when it says 1,200 calorie minimum, it’s just not healthy, and it will never work. And that’s why people yo-yo diet because they starve themselves, they lose a bunch of weight, but then their body has to get itself back to its normal set point, so it starts eating again, and you gain the weight back. So the idea is to find things that are healthy long term, and nobody long term is going to eat a 1,200 calorie a day diet and be happy and feel satisfied and have that be their long term lifestyle. So just eliminate that from your thinking right now, just gone. So just eat what you need to feel good and feel satisfied, but do it with healthy foods, vegetables and like low sugar fruits and proteins and healthy fats like avocados and almonds and nuts, and I’m gonna. I have a list of foods from the Akasha Center that basically it’s like a list of you know foods you can eat as much as you want, and it’s going to be healthy and foods to eliminate completely. And they also have a list like that on the Bulletproof Executive Diet, which I’m a big fan of, and also a couple of other diets that are similar. But the idea is just stop worrying about how much and worry about the quality. So those are the two suggestions I have to try and solve that problem for you.

Monica Daniel: Okay, and I have to say, ever since that avocado thread on the Facebook group, I’ve like, okay, I’m I’m eating more avocado, and I’ve been eating a lot more avocados because I love avocados. Yes, it’s one of the five healthiest

Zack Arnold: Fruits foods on the planet. It’s a fruit actually, which most people don’t know. So an avocado is a fruit. If you didn’t haven’t heard, but it’s it’s one of the five healthiest foods on the planet as far as just providing what your body needs and just people say, oh well, it’s high in calories because it’s fattening. Trust me, it’s the good kind of fat. It’s the fat that your brain needs to function and that your body needs, so you know, get yourself at least half an avocado in per day, and you’re just going to be a happier person. So it’s a really good thing to add to a smoothie too, because it makes it really nice and creamy.

Kylee Peña: So I was just looking at my Fitness Pal nutrition pie charts for the last week, and I ate a shit ton of carbs this week. So that’s probably why I felt like crap and had a hard time exercising, so I’ll change that next week.

Zack Arnold: See, but the great thing about that is that had you not been tracking it, you would just be like, “Oh, I don’t feel very good and I don’t want to exercise. But now you can say, “Hey, this is probably connected to why I don’t feel good. So if I change it, then I can feel better and I’ll get more energy to exercise. So that’s why I’m such an advocate of doing it for at least 30 days, and I know you’ve done it for longer. But I don’t advocate calorie counting long term, but I really advocate it to understand portion control, nutrient density, the composition of the food, and then once you start to rework it and rebalance it, it’s great. Like I did a few 30 and 60 day calorie tracking experiments over the last few years, and now that I’ve done that, I’ve just kind of tweaked my diet to the point where I’ll do it for like one day or even for one meal just to understand it, and it just it completely changes everything. I mean, I’m going to talk a lot more in further podcasts about other aspects that are going to help improve. Just the overall way that you feel, because a lot of people think, “Oh, well, if I just eat better, I’ll be fine, or “If I just exercise more, I’ll be fine. But those are two components. The other two being quality of sleep, and the fourth being stress.

Monica Daniel: Oh, on on that note, I actually I want to bring up something. Was it last week? Sometime last week, I was feeling pretty run down after exercising three days in a row for the first time in years, and I was like, I had, I just feel like I, I’m, my body’s burnt; it needs to rest. And so I was like, screw it, I’m going to get a 90-minute deep tissue. And after that, I just felt renewed. It helps so much. It’s like I was like, what is happening? My body just does not want to move. It just couldn’t take exercising so much.

Zack Arnold: Yep, for so

Monica Daniel: Long without it, and that just helped me so much.

Zack Arnold: Those two decisions that you made were exactly the right ones. The first one being your body saying, “Oh my God, I’m so over it. I don’t want to do anything today. That’s probably because you shouldn’t do anything that day, and that’s something that’s really hard when you’re trying to stick religiously to a plan, and it’s even an issue that I have. And I push myself and push myself and stick to the plan and stick to the plan. And guess what happened to me? I got bronchitis, and I missed 10 workouts in a row because I could barely breathe. So it’s still a lesson that I’m learning. But recovery is immensely important, and it’s also important to listen when your body says I’ve had enough. You need to give it time to recover, and you’re actually going to be better because you gave yourself that recovery time. And then the second thing you did, which was getting a deep tissue massage, is immensely, immensely important if you’re going to get into exercise long term. And it’s something that I’ve probably done once a month for the last 10 years at least. And it’s something that I literally just can’t live without, and it’s not the kind of massage where they’re slowly doing this and that, and they have the music playing. It’s like they’re taking their elbow and they are dingy into your hamstring and into your forearms, and like I will literally scream, like I’m screaming, but it’s such a release and a good detox. It’s amazing.

Monica Daniel: It’s the worst, actually, because of distress and sitting at the desk, and I have like some shoulder issues and carpal tunnel issues on my shoulders and upper back. Like I’m, I’m practically crying, and all my masseuse says is just like just deep breath.

Zack Arnold: Yep, you just breathe through it.

Monica Daniel: Not ease up on me.

Zack Arnold: And the other thing that I can recommend too, I don’t know if you have one of these or not, but for people that are saying, “Oh, I don’t have time to go to a masseuse, or I don’t want to spend the money every month, get a foam roller because you can do a lot of those same deep tissue pressure points on a foam roller. It’s something that I do probably three, four days a week at least, and I cannot express enough what a difference it makes just in general mobility and lack of stiffness and lack of soreness, and those are cheap. So I think what I’ll actually do, I’ll put a link to the the two different foam rollers that I have. I’ll put those in the show notes. So if anybody’s interested, just go ahead and look in the show notes, and I’ll have a link to foam rollers. But it’s a really good way to to kind of get that deep tissue myofascial release in your muscles without having to spend the money to go to a masseuse, especially if it’s something that you’re uncomfortable with, because not everybody’s comfortable with that process. So,

Mike Nichols: My last question was: Is the Power 90 fitting for the replacement for what you were suggesting for me?

Zack Arnold: I definitely. I mean, Power 90 would be fitting. I’m not sure that it’s right for you specifically, just based on your level of fitness now and kind of the goals that you want to get to, I don’t think it would be enough for you. I could be wrong. I mean, I’ve never actually been to the gym with you, so like you could be lifting weights that are two pounds. I have no idea. I’m assuming you’re not. No. But that being the case, Power 90 is really good to get you over the hump and get you started. But it’s something that for me, when I was really out of shape, I used it for four weeks, and it got me to a point where I felt comfortable enough to do something harder, and it got me over that hump. And I was like, “All right, I’m ready to go. I’ve got the energy. I’m not a sore. So that was the big difference maker, and that was kind of the gateway. But if it’s if you really want to do like a full fledged program, get into it, make a transformation. I think you’re probably a step past Power 90. Personally, yeah. I mean, my suggestions for you would either be-I know you said you already have P 90x

Mike Nichols: Yeah, I had it. I could do half of it.

Zack Arnold: Well, but when was the last time you tried

Mike Nichols: It? It was a couple years ago.

Zack Arnold: See, now with with where you’re going now, I think you have enough basis and foundation that you could probably start it, and it’s still going to completely kick the shit out of you. But you’re at a point where you can probably take it and move forwards. I could be wrong, but based on the numbers that you’re putting up now, I think you could probably handle P90X. But if it’s a huge time commitment, it’s the only thing that everybody complained about with it that even I didn’t like, and they fixed that with P90X two and P90X three. P90X two is only five days a week. It’s between 45 minutes and an hour per workout, whereas all the P 90x workouts are over an hour and it’s six friggin’ days a week. So it’s brutal. So P 90 x2 I actually find easier as far as time management, but it’s more difficult in that they’re more. Difficult moves, and that doesn’t mean you have to be like. It’s not like saying, “Oh, you’re benching 180 instead of 150. It’s not that kind of difficult. It’s more really utilizing all these balancing muscles and connective muscles that you didn’t even really know you had. Where you’re like, “How the hell am I supposed to stand in this position and lift the weight over my head, like there’s a lot of like, for example, I’m sure you’ve done bicep curls where you just stand and you know you have weights in each hand and you just curl them up, right?

Mike Nichols: Yeah,

Zack Arnold: They do that, but you’re standing on one foot. That it’s that kind of stuff where you have less weight, but you have to learn to balance. And now you’re working your core and working your legs and working every part of your body instead of just your biceps, I see. So it’s really a whole body program. I love it. I love P 90 x2 way more than I like the first one. It’s a great workout program, but it’s really big commitment. And they just came out with P 90 x3 which they actually have a really good deal on right now. And that’s only 30 minutes.

Mike Nichols: Excellent. Thank you.

Zack Arnold: But it sounds like so far I’m very pleased and encouraged that that you guys are really motivated and really getting into this. And whether or not there are setbacks, that’s completely normal. But the important thing is not doing great out of the gate. The important thing is building long-term habits for sustainable health. And it sounds like you guys are on the road to do that. So I’m very excited about that.

Episode Credits

This episode was edited by Kristin Martin (@KristinCMartin), show notes were written by Matt Christensen (@mchristensen), and the show was executive produced by Kanen Flowers (@iamkanen). We are a member of the THAT STUDIO podcast network.