Speaker 1: Sugar is everywhere. I definitely struggle with it. I've got
Speaker 1: a massive sweet tooth. I'm happy to put my hand
Speaker 1: up own that be honest about it. But I'm hoping
Speaker 1: that our incredible next guest can not only help me,
Speaker 1: but they can help you too as we talk about
Speaker 1: sugar addiction and some really simple, practical, real tips on
Speaker 1: how we can reduce a sugar intake. Then I've got
Speaker 1: a few questions that have come into the Woodlife inbox
Speaker 1: that I want to answer. And there's a real theme
Speaker 1: today around exercise options and what to choose for you.
Speaker 2: I've been doing some eight week challenges and I'm wondering
Speaker 2: if I should give the challenges a rest and just
Speaker 2: maybe look at my long term fitness and health goals.
Speaker 3: I'd like to know if it's better to do a
Speaker 3: variety of types of workout.
Speaker 4: I have been loving doing pilates, but I think I
Speaker 4: am starting to hit a bit of a plateau with it.
Speaker 4: I was just wondering how I stay engaged again with
Speaker 4: it and keep pushing myself.
Speaker 1: So I'll be getting to those questions later on in
Speaker 1: the show. Remember if you have any questions at all
Speaker 1: and fitness motivation, wellness, nutrition. Don't hesitate to send me
Speaker 1: a voice message to the wood Life in box. There's
Speaker 1: a little link in the show notes. That's what this
Speaker 1: podcast is all about. Real questions from real people about
Speaker 1: real life. This is the wood Life. I'm Sam Wood.
Speaker 1: Let's get into it with sugar. So I'm going to
Speaker 1: kick things off by first of all saying I am
Speaker 1: addicted to sugar and it's probably not a great endorsement
Speaker 1: coming from me, but honesty and transparency is key. And
Speaker 1: our next guest is the incredible will Live Caplin. So
Speaker 1: Live is a holistic nutritionist who is focused on sharing delicious,
Speaker 1: sugar free, and gut healthy recipes. Welcome to the wood Life.
Speaker 1: How are you.
Speaker 5: I'm good, Thanks for having me, Sam so Live.
Speaker 1: Why do you think sugar has been so demonized in
Speaker 1: our society, particularly in more recent times. What actually is
Speaker 1: the biggest concern with consuming sugar?
Speaker 5: I mean, I don't think demonizing is the answer. Like
Speaker 5: I always say to everyone, it's about what you can have.
Speaker 5: Thing with sugar is that generally products that are containing
Speaker 5: a lot of processed sugar. I mean, what do you
Speaker 5: think of It's lullies, it's junk, it's ice, creams. It's
Speaker 5: you know, even those musli bars and sort of even
Speaker 5: products that are marketed as healthy and sure none of
Speaker 5: those are really that supportive of our health. Having them
Speaker 5: every now and then is absolutely fine. It's not going
Speaker 5: to harm you if you can get to that stage,
Speaker 5: or you can have it just every now and then
Speaker 5: when you feel like it as opposed to an every
Speaker 5: day addiction thing. But you know, this contributes to our diets.
Speaker 5: And we know now, I mean everyone knows now that
Speaker 5: your diet affects everything. It emanates out to every aspect
Speaker 5: of your life. So it is your risk of diseases obesity,
Speaker 5: heart disease, diabetes. It's also puts you at a greater
Speaker 5: risk of mental health conditions, depression and anxiety. It emanates
Speaker 5: out to everywhere, whether you eat well or don't eat well,
Speaker 5: and it's part of a whole circle of health. It's
Speaker 5: your diet, it's your thoughts, it's your you know, mental
Speaker 5: health practices. So it is important that we eat well
Speaker 5: and eating well, we can't deny that it is having
Speaker 5: less process sugary products.
Speaker 1: I think that's a really important reminder for people that
Speaker 1: if you are consuming process sugars in almost every meal
Speaker 1: of your life, every single day, which so many of
Speaker 1: us do. Whether we are aware of it or are
Speaker 1: prepared to admit it or not, then we are really
Speaker 1: having a need to impact on both have physical and
Speaker 1: mental health. And I think that's really important to cover upon.
Speaker 1: I would love to know live from you. Why do
Speaker 1: you think sugar addiction or perhaps sugar reliance is so
Speaker 1: bad in this country in other Western countries.
Speaker 5: I mean, sugar is naturally addictive, and like you said before,
Speaker 5: it's just everywhere we turn. Yeah, so you know, it's
Speaker 5: at the service station, it's at the supermarket, you know.
Speaker 5: And I know you've got little ones and they it's
Speaker 5: right at their eye level. It's the first thing they see,
Speaker 5: and they're all beautiful, colorful and really enticing. And I
Speaker 5: think anyone with little ones knows how unbelievably enticing sugar is.
Speaker 5: Like it's just you become obsessed with it the second
Speaker 5: you kind of get a little bit of a taste
Speaker 5: of it. And you know that's not just for little ones,
Speaker 5: it continues all the way into adulthood. What I see,
Speaker 5: and I'm sure you've seen a lot with the people
Speaker 5: in your programs, is that people feel really guilty and
Speaker 5: they're like, Oh, I said I wasn't gonna eat it,
Speaker 5: and I did. And that's sort of why try and
Speaker 5: educate on things that I do, because it's not totally
Speaker 5: it's not your willpower that's the problem. And so we
Speaker 5: can remove the guilt because that affects everyone. And it's
Speaker 5: just because sugar is naturally addictive and it's everywhere you
Speaker 5: turn that you've got to really work on the source
Speaker 5: to be able to say no to those things and
Speaker 5: to be able to look at the marketing and go
Speaker 5: no thanks, you know, So you don't need to sort
Speaker 5: of feel bad about yourself because that's also a cycle
Speaker 5: we don't want to get into, because then how do
Speaker 5: we emotionally support ourselves. We eat sugar because of the
Speaker 5: dopamine release makes us feel good.
Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit more about what does happen
Speaker 1: do You mentioned dopamine release before, and I'd love you
Speaker 1: to maybe dive a little bit deeper into that. What
Speaker 1: happens to our bodies when we consume sugar and why
Speaker 1: do we like it so much?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's because of that dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter, right,
Speaker 5: that's the one that makes us feel good. Basically, it's
Speaker 5: like the feel good like, oh that felt good, you know,
Speaker 5: and we know that when we indulge in something really
Speaker 5: delicious and indulgent. Yeah, yeah, you know, and it's not
Speaker 5: a bad thing at all. It can be good and bad.
Speaker 5: It's the same thing that happens when you have sex,
Speaker 5: when you have social interaction, we get that feel good
Speaker 5: don't mean feeling. Unfortunately, it's also what happens in drug addictions.
Speaker 5: You know. That's a part of the mechanism behind a
Speaker 5: drug addiction as well. So what happens is we get
Speaker 5: this don't mean release, and then our body kind of learns.
Speaker 5: So that's how we get that feel good feeling and
Speaker 5: we crave that, and so that's sort of where a
Speaker 5: partly where a craving comes from.
Speaker 1: So it's sort of two fold, isn't it. It's enticing
Speaker 1: an addictive from a marketing perspective, you know, the bright colors,
Speaker 1: the positioning, it's everywhere. You know, we can't escape it,
Speaker 1: you know, and as a parent, I couldn't agree with
Speaker 1: you more. But then the actual taste of it or
Speaker 1: what it does to our body and it sort of
Speaker 1: you know, hits our lips or it hits our tongue
Speaker 1: or whatever way we consume it, it becomes addictive again.
Speaker 1: So if you may or may not know this, but
Speaker 1: we have our wood Life listeners ringing to our podcast
Speaker 1: with real time questions, and Louise has actually sent us
Speaker 1: a question in the last hour that is specific about sugar.
Speaker 1: So rather than me answering it, I'd love to handle
Speaker 1: this one to you because I'm sure you're going to
Speaker 1: be able to give her some wonderful advice.
Speaker 6: Hey, Sam, it's lou After every meal, not so much breakfast,
Speaker 6: but definitely lunch. Even if I've had a really nutritious lunch,
Speaker 6: I always crave something sweet. I don't obviously always have
Speaker 6: something sweet after every meal. But is that actually real?
Speaker 6: Because I think a few of us have that craving
Speaker 6: after a meal. Something sweet could be anything a little
Speaker 6: bit of chocolate. So I'm just wondering if that is
Speaker 6: actually real? Was it just my imagination? Thanks?
Speaker 1: Sam, liv Do you have some advice for Louise that
Speaker 1: can help?
Speaker 5: Yeah, and it's it's not in her imagination.
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, that's important.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And that's why I talk about like this sort
Speaker 5: of physiological side of these addictive or cravings because it
Speaker 5: really isn't all in our heads, which is why when
Speaker 5: it comes to addressing them, we've got to start at
Speaker 5: the source instead of just trying to band aid over solutions.
Speaker 5: By the time you've got the craving, it's kind of
Speaker 5: too late because those are those like patterns. We're kind
Speaker 5: of on autopilot. By the time we're craving something and
Speaker 5: we want it, we're almost not that in control of
Speaker 5: what we're doing. So it's coming back to how do
Speaker 5: we stop that from happening in the first place, And
Speaker 5: that's I think the biggest difference, you know, rather than
Speaker 5: starting the conversation at how can we deal with the craving,
Speaker 5: because a lot of people go, oh, go for a
Speaker 5: walk or do this, and it's just we know that
Speaker 5: that's not like the most helpful advice because it maybe
Speaker 5: sometimes works, but the best way is to stop the
Speaker 5: craving in the first place. So when it comes to sugar,
Speaker 5: a big one there is to focus on the food
Speaker 5: that you are eating. So it's not just about reducing sugar.
Speaker 5: It's about filling your plate with really beautiful, good quality
Speaker 5: fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, good quality proteins, whether they're
Speaker 5: animal or plant based, those things first will keep us full.
Speaker 5: So if we're fuller and we're more satisfied, we are
Speaker 5: going to crave less sugar. It's what you're eating to
Speaker 5: start with, but it's also how you're thinking when you
Speaker 5: do go for a grocery shop. Like take a second
Speaker 5: to come back to the present moment, because that's a
Speaker 5: lot of the time where these cravings come from. Is
Speaker 5: we're distracted, or we're trying to like pacify an emotion,
Speaker 5: or we're just living all up here in like what's
Speaker 5: going on and ow to do list and everything, And
Speaker 5: it's really when you take a second to be like heay,
Speaker 5: like what do I actually want in this moment? Most
Speaker 5: of the time, especially for everyone listening here, because they're
Speaker 5: already interested in their health because you know they've chosen
Speaker 5: to listen to this episode of the podcast, like you
Speaker 5: do want to eat things that nourish your body and
Speaker 5: make you feel good anyway, and so it's like tuning
Speaker 5: into that sort of inner fire. And when you do it,
Speaker 5: sometimes it is just a matter of like taking a
Speaker 5: few deep breaths and like wh okay, like what do
Speaker 5: I really want? And generally you make a better choice
Speaker 5: anyway because you're not distracted, you're or operating from habit
Speaker 5: or emotion. So the secret starts in the head. Then
Speaker 5: we come to like what we're eating, like I said,
Speaker 5: focusing what you can have, and then the actual food,
Speaker 5: which is funny enough, like the last step, but it
Speaker 5: can be really simple, like nutrition can be very like
Speaker 5: all the information that's out there is so contradicting and
Speaker 5: confusing and everyone's saying a different thing, but it really
Speaker 5: can be simple when you forget about all the crazy
Speaker 5: rules and you know, it's just eat real food. I
Speaker 5: like to eat food which is like as close to
Speaker 5: the earth as possible. And my thing is I'm always like,
Speaker 5: if there is a food that does not have a
Speaker 5: marketing team behind it, it's probably a good food to eat.
Speaker 5: When you think of fruits, vegetables, like plain grains, leg rooms, meats,
Speaker 5: all those things, rather than all like the processed and
Speaker 5: packaged stuff, because that's got a whole team of people
Speaker 5: screaming at you. It's good and free, it's healthy, it's
Speaker 5: sugar free, and and really it's the silent foods around
Speaker 5: the outskirts of the supermarket that are what really is
Speaker 5: going to serve us and nourish us.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Even that's a great tip in itself. Isn't it
Speaker 1: a shop around the outside of the supermarket? Someone said
Speaker 1: that to me once and it was a real penny
Speaker 1: drop moment for me, that you're getting sucked into those
Speaker 1: inside aisles. You're probably not doing yourself too much of
Speaker 1: a service. You mentioned he keeps saying coming back to
Speaker 1: the source, which I absolutely love. And as you were talking,
Speaker 1: my brain sort of went to a place of you know,
Speaker 1: all day, every day, we've got these fork in the
Speaker 1: road moments, and it really does come down to do
Speaker 1: you cave to the instant gratification or do you And
Speaker 1: I even like the way he said, stop, pause, take
Speaker 1: a deep breath, because life is hectic. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: never not in a hurry when I'm in the supermarket.
Speaker 1: So what are some health foods in inverted commas that
Speaker 1: you think we should be a little bit more wary of.
Speaker 5: It's a great question. And I always say, like, if
Speaker 5: I'm going to eat sugar, I want it to be
Speaker 5: like a white chocolate cheesecake. I don't want to pablic
Speaker 5: a musali, but.
Speaker 1: Are going to do it? Do it? Properly. I like it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, okay, And that's where I see a lot of
Speaker 5: the problem comes from, is that, you know, people are
Speaker 5: doing the best they can. They're making a choice that
Speaker 5: they think is healthy, or that the packet says it's healthy.
Speaker 5: But what happens a lot of the time is then
Speaker 5: all throughout the day, they're just eating these little bits
Speaker 5: of sugar, sugar, sugar, because it's added sugar in everything,
Speaker 5: and by the time they get to the end of
Speaker 5: the day and they do want to indulge, it's this
Speaker 5: compounding effect. They've already had pretty solid chunk of sugar
Speaker 5: and they're going to have more. I think musli bars
Speaker 5: and granola bars is probably my worst la.
Speaker 1: I make it myself.
Speaker 5: That's good, that's fine, then yeah, but the bars especially
Speaker 5: because I've got to use like some kind of sweetener
Speaker 5: or something to bind it.
Speaker 1: Together, mulcilfiers and yeah, and also.
Speaker 5: Keep it shelf stable for you know, ten years flavored
Speaker 5: yogurts and also like a lot of those generally say
Speaker 5: fat free, and that's another sort of lie, not that
Speaker 5: it's not fat free, but that that's healthy just because
Speaker 5: it says fat free, because really it's pumped with sugar
Speaker 5: to kind of counteract that taste and get the same mouthfeel,
Speaker 5: or just to be satisfying. So sure, nothing wrong with
Speaker 5: full fat yoget pretty much any like sweet Even some
Speaker 5: of the more healthy like bliss balls and date bars
Speaker 5: and things still you know, not great options. There's still
Speaker 5: quite a lot of sugar.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought those up, actually, because I feel
Speaker 1: like they're the modern day music bar. I feel like,
Speaker 1: as a kid, you know, Mum used to put the
Speaker 1: Apricot crunchy musicy bar in my lunchbox and I bloody
Speaker 1: love them, and you know, I may as well have
Speaker 1: been eating and Jerry rab really I mean a bit healthier,
Speaker 1: but not not that much from a sugar content, but
Speaker 1: I love them, and I always had in my head
Speaker 1: that it was a really healthy snack, and Mum probably
Speaker 1: did too, to be honest, you know, it was thirty
Speaker 1: years ago. What about diet drinks and artificial sweetness and
Speaker 1: you know, diet coke versus like, what's your take on
Speaker 1: all of that.
Speaker 5: It depends what we're talking about, like the diet cokes
Speaker 5: of the world and all those things like that. There
Speaker 5: are no from me, not that coke is a yes
Speaker 5: from me for a number of reasons, and the first
Speaker 5: one is, you know, if I come back to my philosophy,
Speaker 5: which is eating food that's as close to the earth
Speaker 5: as possible and as natural as possible, diet coke obviously
Speaker 5: is far away from that caliber of food. So that's
Speaker 5: the one thing. The second thing is, when it comes
Speaker 5: to sugar addiction, one of the biggest problems is just
Speaker 5: swapping out sugar for other sweet things.
Speaker 1: So it actually doesn't solve the problem.
Speaker 5: It doesn't solve the problem. It just it's sort of
Speaker 5: a band aid solution. And while that may have less
Speaker 5: glucose in it, which is the kind of sugar that
Speaker 5: our body recognizes, which is good, it doesn't actually help
Speaker 5: us with getting to that stage where we talked about
Speaker 5: at the beginning, which is peacefully actually no thanks, I'm
Speaker 5: not going to have that donut, the dit coke. I
Speaker 5: think all those artificial sweetness just perpetuates that like need
Speaker 5: for sweetness, and those are really sweet though. It is
Speaker 5: like when you're eating cold food and fruit, for example,
Speaker 5: which is sort of us sugar and nature's sweet dessert. Yes,
Speaker 5: like an apple is really really sweet, but when you
Speaker 5: compare it to a diet coke. It's not sweet because
Speaker 5: they're so unbelievably overly sweet, those diet products.
Speaker 1: So I think that's a fascinating point too, because you know,
Speaker 1: I've gone on health kicks before. I'm typically good most
Speaker 1: of the time, but every now and then I'll really
Speaker 1: ramp things up and be much better, particularly with my food.
Speaker 1: My training is pretty consistent, but with my food, and
Speaker 1: I always find the first week pretty hard, pretty hard
Speaker 1: to get over that hump, and I miss things. But
Speaker 1: it just it's amazing, and this is a really important message,
Speaker 1: I think for everybody that might be struggling with it.
Speaker 1: It's amazing how much easier it gets. Like I promise you,
Speaker 1: it gets easier, you know, and you eventually get to
Speaker 1: the point, like you say, live where your palette genuinely changes.
Speaker 1: This is where your recipe. I mean, I've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of your recipes are just brilliant, well rounded, nutritionally
Speaker 1: balanced meals. But you also are quite famous for your
Speaker 1: deliciously sweet treats that are made of natural ingredients that
Speaker 1: I guess give people the same experience from a taste
Speaker 1: bud perspective, but it's full of natural ingredients. So what
Speaker 1: are some swaps. Let's finish by leaving our listeners some
Speaker 1: good swaps live with stuff that perhaps if you're eating X,
Speaker 1: try swapping it with Y and you'll feel like the
Speaker 1: void has been really adequately filled. But you're not. Your
Speaker 1: life doesn't end and you're not having a complete meltdown.
Speaker 1: Let's go with that.
Speaker 5: Sure, I definitely always think set yourself up with success.
Speaker 5: Don't make it hard of yourself than already is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and a lot of us do.
Speaker 5: And this might surprise people, but dark chocolate, if it's
Speaker 5: eighty five percent or above, because that is really really
Speaker 5: low in sugar. There's a touch in there, but it's
Speaker 5: you know, and if anyone who eats a lot of
Speaker 5: sugar tastes out, they'll say it's quite bitter. But that's
Speaker 5: the test when it comes to like, have you gotten
Speaker 5: over that sugar that accustomed to sweetness? Is that that
Speaker 5: chocolate in the beginning tastes really bitter and at the end,
Speaker 5: when you've gotten over that after like three weeks, like
Speaker 5: you said, it tastes so sweet and indulgent. You don't
Speaker 5: need to give up on things that are delicious, you know,
Speaker 5: and things that are kind of indulgent and have that
Speaker 5: mouth feel, even like a full fat coconut yogurt with
Speaker 5: nut butter on top. Cinnamon is a naturally sweet spice.
Speaker 5: It also helps us regulate our blood sugar. So that's
Speaker 5: one that I like to have. And in the beginning
Speaker 5: that might seem like what do you mean? You know,
Speaker 5: that's like when when you're a kid and you ask
Speaker 5: for a treat and your mum says, have fruit, and
Speaker 5: it's like the worst thing that she could ever said.
Speaker 5: I know that a lot of people, I'm just like
Speaker 5: you have, like, you know, have some yogurt with nut
Speaker 5: butter and cinnamon. People like, but that's not a dessert,
Speaker 5: But slowly it gives you that treat feel. A few
Speaker 5: other things I like pepmint and licorice tea just because
Speaker 5: it's a good good for digestive system and it's naturally sweet.
Speaker 5: These all little things that you can just keep going
Speaker 5: and even like make a delicious sort of hot like
Speaker 5: a basically hot chocolate with cacao and some hot milk
Speaker 5: whatever you like, maybe a little bit of stevia or
Speaker 5: something to add that sweetness, and just it's almost more
Speaker 5: about having a moment of indulgence than it is about
Speaker 5: what you're eating. And I got a moment of pleasure,
Speaker 5: you know, after all, like a lot of sugar for
Speaker 5: a lot of people is pleasure, and eating for a
Speaker 5: lot of people is pleasure, and you don't need to
Speaker 5: give that up. You Actually you want to feel good
Speaker 5: when you're eating.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you should have a healthy relationship with FOD. I
Speaker 1: couldn't agree with you more. The reason I love that
Speaker 1: you've given those for is they're all perfect for posting,
Speaker 1: and I think that's where people struggle with the most.
Speaker 1: I think they're really really good tips. And of course
Speaker 1: the other one is to check out all of your
Speaker 1: amazing recipes. What's your Instagram handle for people to go
Speaker 1: and find some of your delicious recipes live.
Speaker 5: I've got a million recipes to try. There's no shortage
Speaker 5: of sugar free and gut friendly recipes, that's for sure.
Speaker 5: So my Instagram is liv dot kap l.
Speaker 1: An so live dot ca plan some brilliant tips there.
Speaker 1: I think so many of us do struggle with sugar,
Speaker 1: and it's not necessarily about cutting it out of your
Speaker 1: diet or together or you're eating out together. It's just
Speaker 1: making some simple changes that we consume less, and I
Speaker 1: think not only today did we get some practical advice
Speaker 1: on how to do that, but I think we also
Speaker 1: understand it a little bit more, which is again a
Speaker 1: really important step into making some better choices. So thanks
Speaker 1: so much for coming on the Woodline.
Speaker 5: Thanks Sam, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1: So, I honestly can't recommend enough that everybody goes and
Speaker 1: checks out Lives recipes. They really are first class. We're
Speaker 1: moving from food to fitness because next I am going
Speaker 1: to answer your exercise questions. So now it's my favorite
Speaker 1: time because it's the time that I get to answer
Speaker 1: your questions. And this week I've handpicked some wonderful questions
Speaker 1: from Woodlife listeners all about exercise because I think it
Speaker 1: gets to this time of year, it's getting a little
Speaker 1: bit colder, looking for different indoor workout options, and we're
Speaker 1: not really sure what's the right option for us, what
Speaker 1: we should try. So hopefully these questions help stimulate you
Speaker 1: to try something new. And our first question is from
Speaker 1: Riley Rose.
Speaker 2: Hey, Sam, I've been doing some eight week challenges and
Speaker 2: I was really good at them a few years ago,
Speaker 2: and I really liked them, and I really enjoyed them,
Speaker 2: but the last couple that I've done, I've found that
Speaker 2: I've put a lot of pressure on myself and then
Speaker 2: I actually just end up falling off the wagon big
Speaker 2: time in like the second week, and I'm wondering if
Speaker 2: I should give the challenges a rest and just maybe
Speaker 2: look at my long term fitness and health goals.
Speaker 1: Thanks Riley Rose. What a poignant question for the world
Speaker 1: that we live in today with eight week challenges everywhere. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm a big advocate of eight week challenges because I
Speaker 1: run them, so I'm not throwing them under the bus
Speaker 1: by any stretch. But they have their place, and they
Speaker 1: work for some people at some times, and it feels
Speaker 1: to me like you have already worked out that they
Speaker 1: were really really good for kickstarting, but they're not necessarily
Speaker 1: the best plan from a sustainability perspective. And the reason
Speaker 1: for that is people struggle to change gears when it
Speaker 1: comes to getting into shape. So many of us have
Speaker 1: this all or nothing personality where if we're on, we're on,
Speaker 1: and if we're off, we are off, and that contributes
Speaker 1: heavily to weight loss and weight gain and the yo
Speaker 1: yo dieting and we're up and we're down, and we're
Speaker 1: on and we're off, and it's not really how we
Speaker 1: want to live. So I don't mind challenges if you
Speaker 1: have the capability to then change gears, because you might
Speaker 1: be in fifth gear on a challenge, you're a nine
Speaker 1: out of ten with your food, you're a nine out
Speaker 1: of ten with your workouts. But if the alternative or
Speaker 1: the burnout or the next phase for you is now
Speaker 1: I just need a complete break or you drop the ball,
Speaker 1: or you feel crappy about yourself. If you're not doing
Speaker 1: things at a nine or a ten out of ten,
Speaker 1: then that's not the answer for you. Whereas if you
Speaker 1: do have the capability to drop gears to a fourth
Speaker 1: gear or a third gear, and it might be your
Speaker 1: exercise and your food, then go to a seven out
Speaker 1: of ten. You're still drinking the water, you're still getting
Speaker 1: your steps up, but you don't feel like you're having
Speaker 1: to turn your life upside down and do these hour
Speaker 1: workouts every single day or anything like that, or feel
Speaker 1: bad about yourself if you have a not so healthy
Speaker 1: meal or miss a workout, then then challenges can be
Speaker 1: really good because they can be a great sort of
Speaker 1: uplift in motivation and accountability and community and results. But
Speaker 1: let's not worry about where we want to be in
Speaker 1: eight weeks. Let's worry about what we want to be
Speaker 1: in twelve months. And that's not to say that your
Speaker 1: goal is a twelve month goal, but you need to
Speaker 1: honestly answer the question, I'm going to be better off
Speaker 1: doing four eight week challenges where I can reduce to
Speaker 1: a seven out of ten in between those eight week challenges,
Speaker 1: and then in a twelve months I'm going to be
Speaker 1: in a really good place. Or if the reality for
Speaker 1: you is in between eight week challenges, you're a zero
Speaker 1: at a ten and you drop the ball altogether and
Speaker 1: you just can't do anything because you're physically and emotionally
Speaker 1: and psychologically exhausted for hanging on by your fingernails for
Speaker 1: eight weeks, and therefore you're probably going to undo almost
Speaker 1: all of the progress that you made in that eight
Speaker 1: weeks within the four weeks between these challenges. Don't do
Speaker 1: challenges because you're fat. You're going to be far better
Speaker 1: off just trying to find a sustainable seven out of
Speaker 1: ten all of the time where we enjoy life, and
Speaker 1: really that's where we all want to get to. But
Speaker 1: if you're just starting out, or you feel like you've
Speaker 1: got a lot of weight to lose or a lot
Speaker 1: of work to do, and you feel like that motivation
Speaker 1: factor that a challenge absolutely categorically does bring. Then I
Speaker 1: give them the thumbs up, but they're not a forever solution.
Speaker 1: Our next exercise question is coming from Michelle Hi.
Speaker 3: Sam, I'd like to know if it's better to do
Speaker 3: a variety of types of workouts like a pilates one day,
Speaker 3: the hit and a walk, or if we should try
Speaker 3: and be more consistent with the type of workouts we do.
Speaker 1: Thank you, look, Michelle, I totally believe that variety is
Speaker 1: the spice of life, and when it comes to workouts,
Speaker 1: it's a critical component to keep things stimulating and not
Speaker 1: let you get bored. And you also have to understand
Speaker 1: that different workouts do different things. You know, Pilates is
Speaker 1: great for the core muscles and your posture, and yoga's
Speaker 1: great for your mobility and flexibility, and then running is
Speaker 1: great for your heart and your cardio and strength training
Speaker 1: is great for your muscles and your bones. So you
Speaker 1: do want to make sure you're sort of covering all bases.
Speaker 1: You know, if you just run every single day. You're
Speaker 1: going to become a very good runner, and you're probably
Speaker 1: going to have a really strong heart cardiovascula. You're going
Speaker 1: to be really good, but you might not have great
Speaker 1: upper body strength, or you might not have great ability,
Speaker 1: or you might be praying to getting injured because you're
Speaker 1: doing too much of the same thing. So it's always
Speaker 1: a balance here between shaking things up a little bit.
Speaker 1: If nothing changes, nothing changes, and your body will not
Speaker 1: get the same kind of results if you're just doing
Speaker 1: the same thing over and over again. So variety is
Speaker 1: really good from that perspective. It's also really good because
Speaker 1: it stops you getting bored and it keeps things interesting.
Speaker 1: But you have to enjoy it. And so by that
Speaker 1: I mean if you love running and you despise all
Speaker 1: other types of exercise, and I don't mean to sit
Speaker 1: on the fence on this, well, then you might actually
Speaker 1: be better off running predominantly, not only, but predominantly. I'd
Speaker 1: be great to add one other thing in there, just
Speaker 1: to balance things out a little bit. From a low
Speaker 1: impact sort of stretching perspective, perhaps I think yoga and
Speaker 1: running would be a nice combination, But the reality is
Speaker 1: you want to do a mixture, and you've got to
Speaker 1: get some strength training in there. Now, when I say
Speaker 1: strength training, that's resistance training, So that's anything against a
Speaker 1: resistance So pilates is a form of resistance training. Yoga
Speaker 1: is a form of resistance training, using your body weight,
Speaker 1: going to the gym, whatever, they're all forms of resistance training.
Speaker 1: Don't think of resistance training as weight training where you've
Speaker 1: got to lift big, heavy weights, because it's absolutely not that.
Speaker 1: But you do need to make sure that you're looking
Speaker 1: after your heart, you're looking after your muscles, and you're
Speaker 1: looking after your posture. And if you feel like you're
Speaker 1: ticking all three of those boxes and you're enjoying all
Speaker 1: of those options, then you're on to a winner. Our
Speaker 1: next question is from Anna.
Speaker 4: Hi Sam, it's Anna from Melbourne. I have been loving
Speaker 4: doing pilates like twice a week for the past couple
Speaker 4: of months. It's been really challenging, but I think I
Speaker 4: am starting to hit a bit of a plateau with it.
Speaker 4: I was just wondering how I stay engaged again with
Speaker 4: it and keep pushing myself but also still have fun. Thanks.
Speaker 1: So Anna's question is kind of a follow on from
Speaker 1: the last question. And that is you know, if nothing changes,
Speaker 1: nothing changes. And first of all, it's great self awareness
Speaker 1: to see that plateau happening so quickly, because so many don't.
Speaker 1: They do the same workout or the same circuit for
Speaker 1: years and they got wonderful results for the first twelve weeks,
Speaker 1: and they're not much has happened since. So it's definitely
Speaker 1: a good idea to shake things up. There's a myriad
Speaker 1: of ways to do this. Do you change the level
Speaker 1: tick that would be a great place to start. Do
Speaker 1: you change the instructor within the same place, the same
Speaker 1: studio absolutely, or like they say, it changes as a holiday.
Speaker 1: Do you go somewhere else? Now? I know lots of
Speaker 1: my friends, whether it yoga or pilates or whatever it is,
Speaker 1: they go to a new studio and it's a complete revelation.
Speaker 1: They were in a rut, they were plateauing, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, their joy and their love for that
Speaker 1: particular activity is back to like it was on day one.
Speaker 1: They're meeting you people. It's great from a social stimulation perspective,
Speaker 1: it's more challenging. It's a different environment. The light's different,
Speaker 1: the colors different, the music's different, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: it's like they've rediscovered what they loved about that particular
Speaker 1: practice all over again. So I absolutely say get yourself
Speaker 1: out there, try different places, meet different people, and let
Speaker 1: me know how you go. As always, this podcast doesn't
Speaker 1: exist without the wonderful wood Life Lessons sending in their questions,
Speaker 1: so please please please check out the link in the
Speaker 1: show notes and send through any questions that you have.
Speaker 1: Today was really in my wheelhouse talking about nutrition and exercise,
Speaker 1: and I've loved every bit of it and I'll see
Speaker 1: soon