Speaker 1: Why is it so hard to get real answers about
Speaker 1: your health? If you've been told that everything looks fine,
Speaker 1: but you know that something is off, we're not imagining it.
Speaker 1: That's why I created Vitality three sixty to help you
Speaker 1: better understand what's going on inside your body so that
Speaker 1: you can take the targeted action needed. With a functional
Speaker 1: health approach plus testing, we go beyond the guesswork to
Speaker 1: uncover the root causes of your symptoms. I've teamed up
Speaker 1: with Doctysmina, an incredible integrative GP, and together we will
Speaker 1: help you decode your body's signals and answer questions like
Speaker 1: why am I always exhausted? What's really causing my stubborn weight?
Speaker 1: Am I inflamed? Insulin resistant? Or maybe missing key nutrients?
Speaker 1: Because when you understand your body better, you can transform
Speaker 1: your health. Visit v three sixty dot health or check
Speaker 1: out the show notes for more. This is Healthy Her
Speaker 1: with Amelia Phillips and welcome to this month's Ask Me
Speaker 1: Anything episode. These are episodes where I get to answer
Speaker 1: you're burning questions that you've sent me in over email
Speaker 1: or over Instagram. I've got a real range of questions
Speaker 1: from you today from beating sugar addiction, to fast quick
Speaker 1: ways to reduce inflammation, all the way into the question
Speaker 1: around getting stronger in the gym. So I've got the
Speaker 1: whole gamut today. But before I dive into these questions,
Speaker 1: a little bit of a life update from me.
Speaker 2: It's actually been.
Speaker 1: A really good month for me. I'm feeling really good.
Speaker 1: I've got lots of energy at the moment, which is
Speaker 1: such a great feeling, feeling good physically. I've got no
Speaker 1: injuries or ailments or niggles at the moment. My energy
Speaker 1: levels are surprisingly good considering I've been burning the candle
Speaker 1: at both ends with the writing of my book and
Speaker 1: just running a few extra workshops this last month. And
Speaker 1: I was thinking about why I'm feeling so good, and
Speaker 1: I think one of the reasons is I've been really
Speaker 1: happy with this new approach to the year where I've
Speaker 1: been using the school term as what I'm called a sprint,
Speaker 1: and then the school holidays as a little bit of
Speaker 1: a d load and just a chance to catch my breath.
Speaker 1: And so as I record this, we're just at the
Speaker 1: end of that ten week school term sprint, and I
Speaker 1: thought i'd be limping to the finish line but I'm
Speaker 1: actually feeling really good, and part of it is knowing
Speaker 1: that I've got this little break coming up, and it's
Speaker 1: not a huge break. I'm still going to be working,
Speaker 1: but it's just taking the heat off. I guess I'll
Speaker 1: go easier on my training not having to get the
Speaker 1: kids out the door every morning. Few activities are slowing down,
Speaker 1: So I definitely think one of the reasons why I'm
Speaker 1: feeling so good is I'm feeling a bit more organized,
Speaker 1: and I think that's really helped. Then another couple of
Speaker 1: little tweaks I've made that I think has really impacted
Speaker 1: my energy levels in a good way is that I
Speaker 1: have been training really consistently now for ten weeks after
Speaker 1: having a little bit of a patchy summer. I've been
Speaker 1: back taking my creatine religiously, my protein, hitting my protein
Speaker 1: goals as well, and just eating, you know, pretty well
Speaker 1: throughout the term for me. And so I think the
Speaker 1: combination of feeling like my fitness my strength has improved,
Speaker 1: feeling like my nutrition quality has increased a little bit.
Speaker 2: Plus these extra tweaks with the.
Speaker 1: Createin, I really think they are all adding up. And
Speaker 1: I've been managing my workload and time as best as
Speaker 1: I can when you are a super busy person. So
Speaker 1: I think the combination of that little bit of life organization,
Speaker 1: but just with these tweaks in my training and my
Speaker 1: diet and this consistency, it's amazing the impact that makes.
Speaker 1: And I guess that's why I wanted to share that
Speaker 1: with you, because it's not that it was one thing,
Speaker 1: but it was rather all these little habits combined throughout
Speaker 1: the last ten weeks. That's really making me feel like
Speaker 1: I've got the energy to get through.
Speaker 2: My whole week, my big weeks.
Speaker 1: Now. I remember last year there were days where I
Speaker 1: felt like I couldn't even make it through Tuesday, let
Speaker 1: alone the whole week. And it's such a horrible feeling
Speaker 1: to wake up and just think, oh my goodness, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I can even get through today, let
Speaker 1: alone the week. So a learning I'd love to pass
Speaker 1: on to you in my little story here is don't
Speaker 1: underestimate the compounding effects of combining a few simple healthy
Speaker 1: habits and then feeling what those results are on your
Speaker 1: energy level. You know, do not underestimate the impact of
Speaker 1: these small, little tweaks and just what a difference it makes.
Speaker 2: Particularly I want to.
Speaker 1: Stress, and I don't feel like we hear this enough
Speaker 1: around the improvement in physical fitness and strength. I guess
Speaker 1: let me put it to you in a slightly different way.
Speaker 1: Are you right now today fitter than you were in January?
Speaker 1: Are you stronger than you were in January? Because I am,
Speaker 1: I'd say I'd probably be about five to ten percent
Speaker 1: fitter and stronger. And so if the answer is yes,
Speaker 1: even by just a small little amount, you are probably
Speaker 1: feeling more energetic as a result. For me, you know,
Speaker 1: I just added in one extra thirty to forty five
Speaker 1: minute strength training session. It's kind of not a hard session.
Speaker 1: I'm just doing it by myself. I'm doing it at
Speaker 1: my own pace, and I've really noticed the impact on
Speaker 1: my strength of just that extra session. It's not like
Speaker 1: I'm busting a gut or anything. So for you, it
Speaker 1: might be around fitness. For example, it might be incorporating
Speaker 1: a fast finish at the end of your regular cardio session.
Speaker 1: You might go out for a walk or a little jog,
Speaker 1: or you might do a class, but you might just
Speaker 1: pick two to five minutes at the end to just
Speaker 1: go that little bit harder, just to boost your fitness.
Speaker 1: A couple of percentage points, and if you do that,
Speaker 1: even just once a week, then you'll find that at
Speaker 1: the end of that ten week sprint, you will be
Speaker 1: a lot fitter, and it will really impact your energy
Speaker 1: levels in a good way. I'm not perfect by any means, too.
Speaker 1: Areas I really need to work on are my sleep
Speaker 1: and also my book writing. Doctor Esmina and I are
Speaker 1: tad behind where we need to be for our book,
Speaker 1: which is we're so excited about, but I think both
Speaker 1: of us underestimated how challenging and time consuming and energy.
Speaker 2: Sucking a book is to write.
Speaker 1: So our deadline is looming and I am feeling the
Speaker 1: pressure of that, and as a result, my sleep hours
Speaker 1: have been averaging six or under pretty much every day
Speaker 1: except for a sleeping day on the weekend. It's starting
Speaker 1: with a six or below my total sleep hours, which
Speaker 1: is not a good thing. I can happily easily sleep
Speaker 1: for eight hours, so clearly my body needs that extra
Speaker 1: few hours, and I am trying not to fall into
Speaker 1: that age old trap of oh, when the book's done,
Speaker 1: then I'll sleep more. I feel like, surely I can
Speaker 1: do better than that. Even a couple of extra nights
Speaker 1: a week. So I'm really going to try to focus
Speaker 1: on getting more sleep, particularly now that Daylight Saving and
Speaker 1: Sydney has finished, and I feel like we're just getting
Speaker 1: into that hibernation season. I've got even more reason to
Speaker 1: I'll report back next month. Ask me next month, meals,
Speaker 1: how's your sleep going?
Speaker 2: All right? Well, look enough about me.
Speaker 1: Let's dive into these great questions that we got sent through,
Speaker 1: starting with Mandy Lee, who sent me this over DM
Speaker 1: over Instagram.
Speaker 2: Help. I'm addicted to sugar.
Speaker 1: I cannot go a day without something sweet and don't
Speaker 1: know how to tame the monster.
Speaker 2: Any advice. Well, hello, one sugar addict to another.
Speaker 1: I think if you've been listening to this podcast for
Speaker 1: a while, you will know that I have also had
Speaker 1: to tame my sugar monster over the years, and I
Speaker 1: was able to do it. I wouldn't say that I'm
Speaker 1: completely sugar free. I did not quit sugar, but it
Speaker 1: definitely doesn't have a hold over me how it used to.
Speaker 2: So I'm going to be really practical with this. Mandy.
Speaker 1: I'm just going to dive straight into some practical strategies
Speaker 1: because willpower alone, I'm going to tell you, is not
Speaker 1: going to work. So just sitting there going all right,
Speaker 1: that's it, no more sugar. I'm just going to clear
Speaker 1: it out of the house and just stop eating sugar.
Speaker 1: It just doesn't work. Do you need some will power?
Speaker 1: But the harder it feels to quit the sugar or
Speaker 1: to stop eating the sugar, the more likely you are
Speaker 1: to cave. And so the hardest thing you can possibly
Speaker 1: do is literally just go all right, you know, kneel
Speaker 1: my mouth, I'm just stopping all sugar. Okay, that's really
Speaker 1: really hard, and I find I'd tried that a few
Speaker 1: times and you just end up caving at some point.
Speaker 1: So what I'm going to suggest you do is basically
Speaker 1: kind of two key strategies here. One is to remove
Speaker 1: the situation, and two is to dive into some really
Speaker 1: good swaps. So let me unpack both of those super quickly.
Speaker 1: So by removing the situation, what I mean by that is,
Speaker 1: let's pick the worst time of the day, because let's
Speaker 1: not look at your whole eating day as one big event.
Speaker 1: Let's break it down when are you actually craving and
Speaker 1: caving into the sugar. For most of us, most of us,
Speaker 1: it's after dinner, it's at night, like that late night snacking.
Speaker 1: And the second really common time is that slump, that
Speaker 1: afternoon slum. So rather than going I've got to change
Speaker 1: my whole diet, let's just pick one of those that
Speaker 1: you're really going to nail, and then you might need
Speaker 1: to move on to the other one. Okay, so let's
Speaker 1: starting with the after dinner. For me, the couch represented comfort, reward, relaxation,
Speaker 1: nourishment in a sugary way. And so for me, when
Speaker 1: I sat on that couch after the kids were in bed,
Speaker 1: it was very, very hard to not have something indulgent
Speaker 1: and sugary, even though my husband could sit there and
Speaker 1: eat an apple. So I had to remove the situation.
Speaker 1: So what I did. I knew seven days a week
Speaker 1: it was impossible to not sit on the couch seven
Speaker 1: days a week after dinner.
Speaker 2: So what I.
Speaker 1: Did was I made a pact with myself that Monday, Tuesday,
Speaker 1: Wednesday nights, I was not going to watch TV after
Speaker 1: the kids went to bed. I was going to go
Speaker 1: straight to my room and I set up a whole
Speaker 1: new nighttime ritual that involved a bath and you know,
Speaker 1: romatherapy and bath salts and you know, just a lovely
Speaker 1: book and journally. I just packed in a few things
Speaker 1: that I found enjoyable and that felt nourishing. That went
Speaker 1: food that was really powerful for me. I did not crave.
Speaker 1: Maybe in the first week or two I had a
Speaker 1: little think about food, but I really didn't crave anything
Speaker 1: once I was in that bedroom. So then I gave
Speaker 1: myself the option to have something sweet on those other
Speaker 1: nights Thursday through Sunday. Now what happened was, after a
Speaker 1: few weeks of doing that, I actually ended up loving
Speaker 1: my bedtime ritual so much more that it extended to
Speaker 1: a Thursday night and I've kept that going for a
Speaker 1: few years now. This is just like my new normal
Speaker 1: now and it serves me and I sleep better will
Speaker 1: usually but been writing doing some book writing instead. But
Speaker 1: at least I'm not down on that couch. So that's
Speaker 1: what I mean about removing the situation. Take the afternoon slump.
Speaker 1: That can be harder because maybe you're at work or
Speaker 1: you're at a desk and you're in a bit of
Speaker 1: a habit, so the afternoon slump. If you can't can't
Speaker 1: remove the situation, I mean, you can do things like
Speaker 1: I'm going to go for a walking meeting or instead
Speaker 1: of sitting right down. After eating, I'm going to go
Speaker 1: for a walk around the block and just kind of
Speaker 1: delay while that craving's there. But what I also then
Speaker 1: want to come to is the second strategy, which is
Speaker 1: having really good appropriate swaps. For me, just going from
Speaker 1: craving sugar to eating carrot sticks or a salad or
Speaker 1: an apple, even a sweet fruit just doesn't cut it.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to throw a couple of swaps that
Speaker 1: are satisfying for that sweet tooth but are not nearly
Speaker 1: as bad as your sneak as bar or whatever it
Speaker 1: is you're going for.
Speaker 2: So, first of all, dark chocolate. This is where dark
Speaker 2: chocolate is a.
Speaker 1: Hero, So seventy percent or darker because it's a lot
Speaker 1: harder to overeat dark chocolate. I mean, you can do it,
Speaker 1: but for most of us, just a couple of squares suffices.
Speaker 1: So I love dark chocolate covered nuts, you know, dark
Speaker 1: chocolate covered almonds or academias are my favorite. So what
Speaker 1: I will often do after lunch is I will make
Speaker 1: a bowl of just a handful of berries and a
Speaker 1: couple two if I'm feeling really bad, three, but usually
Speaker 1: it's only two dark chocolate covered nuts in that.
Speaker 2: And also I love.
Speaker 1: My collagen hot chocolate, which I make with the brand Chief.
Speaker 1: They do a great collagen hot chocolate. I just have
Speaker 1: it with boiling water in a splash of milk. So
Speaker 1: that's my little afternoon treat, and that is good for you.
Speaker 1: Dark chocolate's got antioxidants in it. It satisfies my craving.
Speaker 1: I'm getting some of the healthy fats from the nuts
Speaker 1: as well. The other great one cheer overnight puddings. So
Speaker 1: where I will often make a batch, well, I'll batch
Speaker 1: up maybe three or four glasses, so just drinking glasses
Speaker 1: where I put a little cheer pudding with some coconut
Speaker 1: flakes and very healthy and you know, I'll batch it up.
Speaker 1: I'll do on a Monday night. I might do three
Speaker 1: or four of them, and then I've got those as
Speaker 1: a bit of a treat, either in the afternoon or
Speaker 1: after dinner. So having a couple of really healthy swaps
Speaker 1: that will still satisfy that sweet craving but aren't nearly
Speaker 1: as bad. Try to keep them under that two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty calorie mark. Is if weight loss is a
Speaker 1: goal for you, and just a little bit of intention
Speaker 1: in the early days to set up what those couple
Speaker 1: of snacks are so they're my two main I guess strategy,
Speaker 1: So remove yourself from the situation and then find some
Speaker 1: good swaps. A couple of other things I just want
Speaker 1: to mention is starting your day with a savory breakfast
Speaker 1: and just not getting on that sugar roller coaster is
Speaker 1: an overall good prevention strategy. The other one is really
Speaker 1: prioritizing protein and low fat dairy. The reason why I
Speaker 1: say low fat dairy is if weight management is a
Speaker 1: goal for you, you've got to be careful if you're starting
Speaker 1: to add a bit more dairy into your diet, and
Speaker 1: you'll find that the calories can add up over time.
Speaker 1: So you know, low fat Greek yogurt, cottage cheese for example.
Speaker 1: I'm really actually enjoying the high protein, low fat milk
Speaker 1: at the moment because it really does taste like full
Speaker 1: fat milk, so it's got that lovely, rich flavor. But
Speaker 1: you'll find if you haven't been having enough protein and
Speaker 1: then you add that extra bit of protein into your meals,
Speaker 1: you feel full.
Speaker 2: For so long.
Speaker 1: So that's a really great tip so that you're not
Speaker 1: actually feeling hungry. And then my final tip is around
Speaker 1: setting a weekly intention and rewarding yourself. It sounds so childish,
Speaker 1: but it really really works. When I first started on
Speaker 1: my quest to beating my sugar addiction, I was a
Speaker 1: bit like you, Mandy.
Speaker 2: I was just like so over it.
Speaker 1: I was just come on, I got to tame this monster.
Speaker 1: I set myself a weekly intention. I popped it on
Speaker 1: a post it note on my computer screen, and I
Speaker 1: rewarded myself. I was like, this week, you know my intention,
Speaker 1: This week I will not have dessert Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday night.
Speaker 1: And then at the end of the week I would
Speaker 1: reward myself with just something really little, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it was a breakfast out that felt a bit indulgent
Speaker 1: or even just a chi late that I just represented
Speaker 1: a reward for me, and you feel good about yourself,
Speaker 1: and that positive reinforcement really does make a difference.
Speaker 2: So there you go, Mandy. I hope that helps. I
Speaker 2: really do.
Speaker 1: But remove yourself from the situation, find your good swaps
Speaker 1: and just tackle one area first after dinner or afternoon.
Speaker 1: And the same goes for you know, sugary drinks as well.
Speaker 1: So if you're trying to get off your coke or
Speaker 1: your v drink or whatever.
Speaker 2: It is and trying to be healthier, but the same
Speaker 2: thing applies.
Speaker 1: Why is it so hard to get real answers about
Speaker 1: your health? If you've been told that everything looks fine,
Speaker 1: but you know that something is off, well, you're not
Speaker 1: imagining it. That's why I created Vitality three point sixty
Speaker 1: to help you better understand what's going on inside your body.
Speaker 1: You can take the targeted action needed. With a functional
Speaker 1: health approach plus testing, we go beyond the guesswork to
Speaker 1: uncover the root causes of your symptoms. I've teamed up
Speaker 1: with Dot Diasmina, an incredible integrative GP, and together we
Speaker 1: will help you decode your body's signals and answer questions
Speaker 1: like why am I always exhausted? What's really causing my
Speaker 1: stubborn weight? Am I inflamed? Insulin resistant? Or maybe missing
Speaker 1: key nutrients? Because when you understand your body better, you
Speaker 1: can transform your health. Visit v three sixty dot Health
Speaker 1: or check out the show notes for more. Question number
Speaker 1: two Simone bartlem Over email, I've been told I have
Speaker 1: chronic inflammation and I feel it stiff, puffy.
Speaker 2: I'm also a super busy mum.
Speaker 1: So what are some real life ways to get on
Speaker 1: top of this, Bearing in mind I'm tired and over
Speaker 1: it all on, Simone.
Speaker 2: I am hearing you fatter.
Speaker 1: It's the last thing you want to hear, Like, come on,
Speaker 1: i don't want to hear about this inflammation.
Speaker 2: I've got too many other things going on. But you're
Speaker 2: feeling it.
Speaker 1: And look, it's kind of good that you're feeling it,
Speaker 1: because inflammation can be silent. You can have simmering inflammation
Speaker 1: and not even know it. So at least you are
Speaker 1: actually aware of it. But I am sorry to hear
Speaker 1: that you do have chronic inflammation. Well, actually, Simone, I
Speaker 1: do have some good news for you. The great thing
Speaker 1: about inflammation and why I do like working with people
Speaker 1: that do have inflammation is it responds really quickly, so
Speaker 1: unlike the scales or cholesterole or some of the other
Speaker 1: markers we work really hard to improve. I love inflammation
Speaker 1: because I see results really fast, often faster than scales
Speaker 1: and faster than other metrics. So that's a hopeful message
Speaker 1: for you. But to keep it simple today, I'm just
Speaker 1: going to folks on two key principles when it comes
Speaker 1: to lowering your inflammation, and the first one is to
Speaker 1: remove the pro inflammatory triggers, and the second one is
Speaker 1: to dial up your anti inflammatory foods. So it's super simple.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to go into great detail. There's a
Speaker 1: whole workshop in this, but let's just focus on these
Speaker 1: two because these two are the best bang for your buck.
Speaker 1: So starting with the first one, which is to remove
Speaker 1: the pro inflammatory triggers. Sometimes if this is all you do,
Speaker 1: it makes a big difference. And for today and those triggers,
Speaker 1: I'm going to focus on food. So the biggest trigger
Speaker 1: are your ultra processed foods.
Speaker 2: And probably straight.
Speaker 1: Away you're thinking about junk food, KFC, machas, you know, takeout,
Speaker 1: But it's not just junk food. There's lots of sneaky
Speaker 1: ultra processed foods that are mass as healthy foods, and
Speaker 1: breakfast cereals, lots of those really highly refined carbohydrate breakfast
Speaker 1: fit cereals are a great exactmp of that. So think
Speaker 1: about those refined carbohydrates. So these are your white breads,
Speaker 1: your white pastas, musely bars where you can't see the
Speaker 1: bits in them, chips, banana bread muffins, you know, shop
Speaker 1: bought muffins, all of those foods, biscuits, they're all containing
Speaker 1: highly refined carbohydrates that, particularly in a perimen of poresal
Speaker 1: gut that will trigger these things called pro inflammatory cider kinds,
Speaker 1: which then kind of has a cascading effect.
Speaker 2: So ultra processed foods.
Speaker 1: Another way to look at what are ultra processed foods
Speaker 1: are basically anything that's got a shelf life for more
Speaker 1: than a year or two is ultra processed. Except for
Speaker 1: maybe canned foods. The rest of them that you see
Speaker 1: on the shelf, those ones that just sit on a
Speaker 1: shelf in the middle of the aisle of the supermarket,
Speaker 1: most of those ultra process So just trying to look
Speaker 1: at your shopping trolley and just reduce those as much
Speaker 1: as you possibly can. That's removed your pro inflammatory triggers.
Speaker 1: Alcohol is another one. Look, it depends where you're at.
Speaker 1: If you don't want to give up alcohol, can you
Speaker 1: at least halve your intake. Any reduction is great, But
Speaker 1: if you are on a mission to really lower that inflammation,
Speaker 1: I'd love to see alcohol down to a complete minimum. Interestingly,
Speaker 1: you're not going to hear me say remove dairy, and
Speaker 1: you're not going to hear me say remove caffeine. So
Speaker 1: unless you have a diagnosed dairy intolerance or you're absolutely
Speaker 1: sure that dairy doesn't agree with you. Dairy is not
Speaker 1: pro inflammatory for a lot of people, so don't think
Speaker 1: that you have to remove dairy from your diet unless
Speaker 1: you have a really clear, strong reason for caffeine as well.
Speaker 1: A lot of people think, oh, amerely, I'm being so healthy,
Speaker 1: I've stopped drinking caffeine. Look, the research shows that one
Speaker 1: to three cups per day can in some cases have
Speaker 1: an anti inflammatory effect. My only advice would be just
Speaker 1: remember the researcher's cups of coffee are probably a lot
Speaker 1: smaller than ours, and they're probably also looking particularly at
Speaker 1: the caffeine content, not necessarily the milk. If you're having
Speaker 1: a lot of highly processed milks, highly refined plant milks,
Speaker 1: that might have some other additives in them that can
Speaker 1: make a difference.
Speaker 2: But yeah, one to three cups of coffee a day.
Speaker 2: Try to wait an hour after.
Speaker 1: You wake up before you have your coffee so your
Speaker 1: natural wake up hormones can do their beautiful thing.
Speaker 2: And try to stop.
Speaker 1: Drinking your coffee by lunch time so that it's out
Speaker 1: of your system by bedtime. So that's the removing of
Speaker 1: the pro inflammatory triggers. And then the second element is
Speaker 1: dialing up of your anti inflammatory foods, so you're replacing
Speaker 1: some of those pro inflammatory foods with basically whole foods,
Speaker 1: and most whole foods have some sort of anti inflammatory effect.
Speaker 1: But if I'm going to really drill down on some
Speaker 1: heavy hitters, I will say that your dark purples and
Speaker 1: blue fruits and veggies are really powerful. They're pat with polyphenols,
Speaker 1: they're pat with anti inflammatory compounds. So think beetroot, think berries,
Speaker 1: think plums. Think greens as well, particularly your cruciferous vegetables.
Speaker 2: So if you ever see.
Speaker 1: Brussels sprouts on the menu when you're out, please order them.
Speaker 1: Broccoli cauliflower as well, but all the greens are great.
Speaker 2: Olive oil is fantastic.
Speaker 1: If weight is a goal for you, just don't be
Speaker 1: too heavy with your olive oil pouring. But olive oils
Speaker 1: anti inflammatory. And then of course you've got the beautiful
Speaker 1: herbs and spices ginger, garlic, turmeric, and dark chocolate. We
Speaker 1: come back to you, my sweet sweet friend. A little
Speaker 1: bit of dark chocolate seventy percent or higher is great
Speaker 1: as well. And then maybe one more thing before we
Speaker 1: move on to the next question Simone when it comes
Speaker 1: to reducing inflammation is we do have to talk about
Speaker 1: body fat, so visceral fat, which is the fat that's
Speaker 1: marbled around your organs. The belly fat, not the fat
Speaker 1: that you can squeeze and pick up and jiggle, but
Speaker 1: the fat that's marbled around your organs is very pro inflammatory.
Speaker 1: And so if you've noticed that you've gained a little
Speaker 1: bit of extra body fat, particularly around your belly, that
Speaker 1: is probably driving up your inflammation levels. So just even
Speaker 1: a modest weight loss and particularly around that middle, will
Speaker 1: reduce those inflammatory markers. So you don't have to go
Speaker 1: on this massive crash diet or anything like that, but
Speaker 1: you'll probably find by removing those pro inflammatory ultra process
Speaker 1: foods and replacing them with the anti inflammatory foods, we're
Speaker 1: going to see the body fat start to come down. Anyway,
Speaker 1: but that is definitely something to think about if you
Speaker 1: are carrying a bit of extra fat around the middle.
Speaker 1: So I hope that helps, Simone, and don't be disheartened,
Speaker 1: because it is really responsive. The body does not want
Speaker 1: to be in a state of inflammation, so if we
Speaker 1: give it the right inputs, then it will restore balance.
Speaker 1: And I've seen some amazing numbers.
Speaker 2: Come right down.
Speaker 1: And our final question for today comes from Susie Gledhill. Hi, Susie,
Speaker 1: I'm lifting weights in the gym. Go me, go you, Susie.
Speaker 1: What are the ideal sets and reps if I want
Speaker 1: to get stronger? Oh?
Speaker 2: I'm so happy for you, Susie.
Speaker 1: I am loving the messaging out there in the zeitgeist
Speaker 1: at the moment, and I am seeing lots more ladies
Speaker 1: in the weights room, which just makes my heart sing.
Speaker 2: And great question, And I guess I wish I could
Speaker 2: give you, like a really clear answer.
Speaker 1: This is exactly what the research says, but without boring
Speaker 1: you to tears with all the research sum up, I'm
Speaker 1: going to tell you that really there's a lot of
Speaker 1: wiggle room when it comes to sets and reps and
Speaker 1: getting stronger. So I'm going to start by saying, if
Speaker 1: you've got a sets and reps range that you feel
Speaker 1: really comfortable with, and it sits within.
Speaker 2: What I'm about to tell you, just go with that.
Speaker 1: Because everyone's got a little bit of a different take
Speaker 1: on this. Some people love less reps and much heavier weights.
Speaker 1: Other people love lots more reps and a lighter weight
Speaker 1: because they're a little bit unconfident in lifting something heavy
Speaker 1: or they're inexperienced. But I'll tell you the parameters. So basically,
Speaker 1: when it comes to repetitions, so counting how many reps
Speaker 1: I'm doing a bicep curl as I'm sitting here talking
Speaker 1: to you now, so it might be a squad, it
Speaker 1: might be a dead lift, how many reps you're going
Speaker 1: to do. So basically, between four to twelve reps for
Speaker 1: the majority of people is a really good regular range.
Speaker 1: I'm going to have some of my really advanced trainers
Speaker 1: going what about one and one to four rep maximums?
Speaker 1: But we're just talking about your intermediate exercises, intermediate to
Speaker 1: advance exercises that are just having general strength training workouts
Speaker 1: wanting to get stronger that four to twelve reps. There's
Speaker 1: lots of research that any of those ranges are great.
Speaker 1: And the set ranges is two to four sets, and
Speaker 1: again there's arguments to say why sometimes as short as
Speaker 1: two sets can actually be better. But then if you're
Speaker 1: doing two sets of an exercise, you might want to
Speaker 1: do multiple different exercises for that body part.
Speaker 2: So say legs as.
Speaker 1: An example, say that you only like doing two sets
Speaker 1: because you get really bored. You would then have to
Speaker 1: move on to another leg exercise, So you might do
Speaker 1: squats for two sets, then you might move on to
Speaker 1: leg press or leg extension for two sets. Two sets
Speaker 1: would not be enough for just one body part, and
Speaker 1: then moving on, say from legs to upper body, you
Speaker 1: would need to do multiple exercises. So I hope that
Speaker 1: makes sense. So two to four sets per exercise, four
Speaker 1: to twelve reps per set, and then you want to
Speaker 1: be in the gym for the thirty minutes to an
Speaker 1: hour max. Can you want to be doing that two
Speaker 1: to four times a week?
Speaker 2: You will get great results if you do that.
Speaker 1: Okay, But let me now make this clear of for
Speaker 1: you and tell you what I love to do. Okay,
Speaker 1: So if you are wanting to get stronger, we have
Speaker 1: this concept called progressive overload, which means that over time
Speaker 1: where progressively adding load, whether that be in weights or
Speaker 1: in reps, and so that over the days, weeks, and months,
Speaker 1: you are progressively increasing that load and you are getting stronger. Now,
Speaker 1: a way I love to do this, Susie, and I'd
Speaker 1: love you to try it and report back is pyramid sets.
Speaker 1: I love pyramid sets for ladies and particularly for my
Speaker 1: intermediate ladies because it's very confidence boosting. So how I
Speaker 1: do a pyramid set is I do four sets of
Speaker 1: the one exercise. So let's pick squat. So I want
Speaker 1: you to imagine a barbell squat, so you've got the
Speaker 1: bar across the back of your shoulders. You're maybe on
Speaker 1: the squat rack. So set number one, you're going to
Speaker 1: do twelve reps at a weight whatever weight is comfortable.
Speaker 1: We call it three reps in reserve, so meaning you
Speaker 1: could push out twelve reps and you might be able
Speaker 1: to do three more, but after that you'd be pretty
Speaker 1: much getting to your max.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: So set number one of this pyramid set of squats,
Speaker 1: you're going to do twelve reps. Then in your you know,
Speaker 1: one one to two minute break, you're going to add
Speaker 1: some load on, so you're going to make the weight
Speaker 1: a bit heavier. And then set number two, instead of
Speaker 1: twelve reps, you're going to do ten reps. And then
Speaker 1: set number three you're going to add a little bit
Speaker 1: more load. Again, this is your heaviest set, and instead
Speaker 1: of doing eight reps, you're going to do six reps. Okay,
Speaker 1: And so that's the pyramid. But then what we're going
Speaker 1: to do for set number four is we're going to
Speaker 1: drop the weights back to the same weight as set
Speaker 1: number one, and you're going to go back to twelve reps. Okay,
Speaker 1: so set one is twelve reps, Set two is eight
Speaker 1: reps but heavier. Set three is six reps but heaviest,
Speaker 1: and Set four is light back to twelve reps. And
Speaker 1: what you'll find is when you get to that lightweight
Speaker 1: on your final fourth set, you'll go, oh my god.
Speaker 2: The first few reps, this just feels so light.
Speaker 1: But then because you're fatigued, as you get to kind
Speaker 1: of Rep six to eight, that's when you're really starting
Speaker 1: to feel the burn and that's where you get that
Speaker 1: adaptation in your muscles. So I love a pyramid set.
Speaker 1: And the other reason why I love it is you
Speaker 1: get used to a heavier weight. So the next time
Speaker 1: you're on that squat rack again for another workout, you're
Speaker 1: starting twelve weight might actually be that heavier weight, and
Speaker 1: so you're getting used to these heavier weights, and slowly,
Speaker 1: over the weeks, every week you can kind of just
Speaker 1: keep stepping up the ranks, which I find really confident boosting,
Speaker 1: And the other reason I love it is because the
Speaker 1: final set you're back down to that lightweight.
Speaker 2: It's a bit better for.
Speaker 1: Injury prevention because you're more fatigued in the final set.
Speaker 1: It's nicer that you're on a lighter weight. So pyramid sets,
Speaker 1: I'm a huge fan. Give them a go. But anywhere
Speaker 1: between two to four sets of an exercise, four to
Speaker 1: twelve reps, you're in the gym for thirty to an hour,
Speaker 1: you are cooking with gas.
Speaker 2: There you have it.
Speaker 1: I love those questions today, really good ones, and I
Speaker 1: feel like going in doing some pyramid sets after talking
Speaker 1: about them all. But I've got some great episodes coming
Speaker 1: up on Healthy Her this month. We've got Mel Brown,
Speaker 1: who is from Mel Brown Money, and she talks all
Speaker 1: about financial stress and also the dilemma of do I
Speaker 1: work for someone or do I start my own business.
Speaker 1: It's such an interesting question that I hear out there.
Speaker 2: Quite a lot.
Speaker 1: I've also got the beautiful, incredible Lane Beachley coming on
Speaker 1: and gosh, that was such a powerful interview, and she's
Speaker 1: going to be talking to us about how to feel
Speaker 1: more motivated to do the hard things like pyramid sets
Speaker 1: or quitting sugar, So look out for those episodes dropping
Speaker 1: every week, and I cannot wait to be back in
Speaker 1: the booth very very soon. Why is it so hard
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