Coach's Corner With Justin and Ethan
Welcome to "Coach's Corner with Justin and Ethan," where your health and fitness journey gets a simplified makeover! Join Justin and Ethan, two seasoned coaches with a combined 30 years of experience, as they navigate the labyrinth of health and fitness, unraveling myths from facts to guide you towards success.
In each episode, we dive headfirst into the vast world of well-being, shedding light on weight loss, dissecting diet fads, exploring diverse workout styles, and fine-tuning the often overlooked aspect of mindset. Our mission is to demystify the complexities surrounding health, making your journey not only effective but enjoyable.
Get ready for a lively and informative conversation that feels like a chat with your favorite fitness buddies. Justin and Ethan draw upon their extensive experience, sharing real-life stories from working with thousands of clients. No stone is left unturned as they break down what really works and what's just another fitness fad.
Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or a beginner taking the first steps toward a healthier lifestyle, "Coache's Corner" is your go-to source for practical insights, debunking myths, and embracing the joy of the journey. Tune in for a fun and engaging exploration of the truth behind health and fitness, and let Justin and Ethan be your trusted guides to a healthier, happier you!
Coach's Corner With Justin and Ethan
Making Health a Priority Now, Not Later
Ever caught yourself saying, "I'll start my health journey when things settle down," only to find that perfect moment never comes? This episode is for you. We break down the "when then fallacy" and share actionable steps to start your fitness journey today. Inspired by Seneca, we emphasize that life's challenges are constant, and the best time to kickstart your health is now. Hear Ethan's personal story as he moves from a complex supplementation routine to adopting simple, effective habits that genuinely improve his quality of life.
Our discussion takes you through the emotional complexities tied to food and how it often serves as a coping mechanism. Learn how to recognize these patterns and shift towards healthier choices without feeling overwhelmed. We also explore the balance between effort and reward, stressing that fitness should be an enjoyable part of your daily life, not a sacrifice. Whether it's a 10-minute workout or choosing healthier fast-food options, small steps can lead to significant, sustainable changes.
Finally, we delve into the concept of the minimum effective health commitment, advocating for consistency across all aspects of health—exercise, nutrition, hydration, and sleep. Hear a heartwarming anecdote about a long-term client who, despite excelling in physical activity, faces challenges with nutritional adjustments. We wrap up by discussing how to balance quality of life with discipline, sharing stories of friends and elite athletes who find their own ways to stay motivated. Join us, and let’s make health and fitness a sustainable, enjoyable part of your life.
to episode 24 of coaches corner. Uh, today we're gonna do something a little bit different. Yeah, I mean like talking about numbers and facts and figures we miss, about talking more about how to make health and weight loss and fitness your own and, I think, just giving better perspective on having a growth mindset so that you can be consistent, because sometimes when we're fixed in our thinking of like it has to be one way or the other, we tend to quit or we get discouraged or we compare ourselves, and so today we're going to be a little different. Just more of a conversation on some anecdotes that I feel like might be helpful for you. But I'm Justin Scolard and I'm Ethan Wolfe and man 24 already. That's crazy, that's amazing. I love it. Almost a quarter of a hundred here. We're almost a quarter of a hundred, quarter of a hundred, that's pretty solid, so all right.
Speaker 1:So, ethan, yes, when it comes to your own health journey, what are some things that you have just realized that you just can't keep up with, even though maybe at one point they were a big staple in your life and a big part of your? You know your fitness. But then you know, as you get older, we all realize that we have to decide how we're going to allocate our time, and I think that with fitness, it just comes to like, okay, we can't do everything, so what can we do in order to get us as close as possible to our idea of health for ourselves? Oh, that's a good question.
Speaker 2:Let's see. You know, I think I used to be much bigger into supplementation and adaptogens and mushrooms and wild herbs and I do think that they can really help and really be beneficial. But it can be a lot to juggle and keep up with and keep buying and just you know the the list grows on and on. It's easy to get to like taking like 30, 40 capsules in the morning, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Cause it's like they all make so much sense and they do You're like, oh, I should incorporate this, I should incorporate this.
Speaker 1:And then, like you said, next thing, you know you whole medicine cabinet, yeah, and so I think that's something I've let go of a little bit on on the journey, just because it's a lot. I remember like back in like the continuum days, you know, like when we were like 25 and it was like that book healing with whole foods, and it was like I wasn't as concerned with like the the science around everything. It was just kind of more like influenced by people around me, including you, not in a bad way, but just like, oh okay, I should do this now, I should do this now.
Speaker 1:And I remember like at one point my nutrition protocol was just absurd. I mean, I was like juicing, which is a nightmare if you've ever juiced. It's like you got all this pulp everywhere and you got to clean it out every time. It's just like time commitment, yeah, all to get like this much juice of like your beets and your carrots and you're like drink it, but it took 45 minutes to make the damn glove cup. I remember like just going down that I think to your what you're trying to get at here, and like all the different supplements and all the different things. You just kind of get to the point where it's like, okay, you know what, like I'm sure they all have an amazing effect on your body, but like, what are the 20 of things that I can do that are going to get me 80 of the results that I'm after? Yeah, and I think that's sort of the theme of today?
Speaker 2:right, I think so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, quality of life for individuals, I think, will vary in terms of just an effort to reward ratio, I think, is kind of how I see it Definitely, and most things that are good in life don't come without some type of hard work, and so I think complacency or not doing anything in the guise of it being easy and therefore making life easier, isn't the answer, but that I think sometimes it's not that less is more, but that that some minimal effective doses of things or some commitment to a couple of things might mean that your quality of life is improved from what you're pursuing and that that's good for you and you're happy Totally and you're taking care of yourself in some component, but you're letting go of some of the staunch protocols or just some of the things that you might know you should do.
Speaker 2:That might mean that much more improvement in X, y, z, but that maybe you just don't have room for it, maybe your time is already so strapped, maybe it's just so unappealing to you that to integrate that would just make the quality of your life go down a little bit, make you a little less happy, versus just like, okay, what? What are the things I can commit to and what are the things that are going to have a positive benefit on my health and lifestyle as a whole, and and these are good enough that I can stick to them and then actually get the rewards.
Speaker 1:It's such an important takeaway because I feel like people have this idea that if they like, work, like fitness means eating food you don't like. It means exercising in a way that's going to make you feel terrible. It means getting up at five o'clock, it means doing all these things that are like so so much sacrifice. Yes, that it prevents people from starting, when the reality is the exact opposite is true, because it's the difference between, like, having a growth mindset and having a fixed mindset. Yeah, and when you have more of a growth mindset, it's more of like okay. Well, fitness is not a binary, it's a continuum, and so it's not a good or bad. Should I, shouldn't I? But how much? And I think a good way to look at this is, like everyone's heard of we got to walk 10,000 steps a day. Everyone's heard to track your macros. Everyone's heard you got to have, like you know, 10 to 20 sets per muscle group per week.
Speaker 1:Right, three times and there's all these like hard training yeah there's all these like hard rules that I feel like people like they take as the end all be all and then they just go.
Speaker 1:I, I can't do that like, like like I work 12 hour shifts or I. I just I have kids, I just can't go and do all these things, and so then they don't do it. But the reality is is that it's not a binary, it's not a oh, if you don't, if you don't do that, you might as well even do it. It's a well then, what can I do? And I think, when you can just shift your mind into that creative sort of exploratory mindset of okay, okay, well, what's the spirit of this? The spirit of it is to get outside and walk, and maybe there's like a health benefit that happens when we cross this 10,000 step, but that doesn't mean that 5,000 steps is worthless, right, but there's no benefit, right, steps is worthless, right, but there's no benefit, right. Maybe an hour of you know um weights three times a week there, there's like some real quantifiable, quantifiable benefit to that. That doesn't mean like a 20 minute at home resistance band or light dumbbell workout. It means nothing, right. Or even just once a week in the gym.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a full session. I mean right, it still stacks if you keep doing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah and there's still benefit to it and it to it and it's you know, it's like even like with food, like if you're drinking soda like diet soda might be a better choice, maybe a sparkling, flavored, sparkling water would be a good choice, maybe just drinking water would be a better choice. But there is like a spectrum there that it doesn't have to be like oh, I drink energy drinks and soda all day, but now I just can only drink water and that's the only right, what I'll consume. It's like there are, there are different steps that you can take, and I think any moving of the needle in what would be determined the better direction is going to have an impact if you keep up with it.
Speaker 1:Totally, totally. I mean I cannot say many times I get on calls people and they're just like it's just. It's called the when then fallacy. Have you heard of the when then fallacy? Yes so when I have more time, yes, then I'll. When my kids get healthy yeah, when I have more money, then I'll start investing this project at work is over, then I'll start working out again, but it's just uh.
Speaker 1:Seneca has a quote that says the one thing all fools have in common is waiting to start, because it's this idea that, for whatever reason, you think that right now is busy but later it's going to be better. What I've observed and having done this now for fucking almost 20 years actually legit, legit 20 years is that, wherever you're at right now, until you're retired or unless you've, like, won the lottery and you're just like independently wealthy, you don't have to work and you don't have any kids. But most people, wherever you are right now, you're 25, you're 30, you're 35, you're 40, you're 45. You think the future is going to be easier, but this is the easiest it'll ever be for you Right here, right now. This moment, right now, as difficult as it is, is the easiest. It's going to be Until you're a senior citizen and retired and maybe life's a little bit easier. But you know, you think, because you have toddlers right now, that it's hard. Well, wait until they're, you know, 13 and you catch them smoking pot and sneaking out and stealing your car, right, you know all that shit, right, and so it's just this, it's just understanding that it was.
Speaker 1:It wasn't easy for you five years ago. It's not easy for you now, right, and it's not going to be easy for you in five years from now. No, and it's just. It's just what? Let's lower the barrier of entry. So what can we do now? Is it a 10 minute? You know push-up and squat workout, right, and that might. It's very easy to be like. What's the point? Well, the point is, you started. The point is you, you, you, you hit, you got the dopamine firing, you did something. Absolutely. You're in momentum now and that's what matters.
Speaker 2:Yep and also, just like that is still going to have metabolic effects, it's still going to you know, strengthen your tissues and have a positive aspect on your actual physiology too. Even if it's something as simple as just 10 minutes of squats and push-ups, yep, if you do that two times a week for half a year, you're going to be that much better off for it for sure, if that's all you ever did, you'd be that much better off for it, for sure you know so it's.
Speaker 2:It is interesting and I think you know the. The idea is so often overwhelming, especially with like food. I think food is really so entangled in your emotions, it's culture, it's history, it's coping mechanisms.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, it's emotional yeah it's so many things and it's it's often the reprieve that people get so much from the hardship of life. You know, the we are, our brain is almost always going to release some positive chemicals. For eating something that's tasty, it's just an inevitability and I think people often lean into that because it's almost like a drug in a way, that it's like there's this guaranteed reward mechanism that you know is going to happen certain times of the day. You know people like, oh, what am I going to eat? People don't necessarily plan. I see it all the time. It's like and I've, I've, I know I've fallen into it. You know, especially kind of end of covid I remember. You know you get caught in that like uber eat loop, and thankfully I had the finances to do it. I mean, I think I still foolish, but it's like this game of like oh, what am I going to?
Speaker 1:eat today. Oh, and they got you. It's almost like social media for food. It's like you want to go back on and see what your favorite restaurants are up to Exactly. Yeah, it's 100%.
Speaker 2:You're like, ooh, what am I in the mood for. You're like, ooh, I could do this, some type of planning of what you're going to eat. It's this open, this blank slate that can just tantalize the senses Like, oh, maybe I want some chicken or some salmon or tacos sound good, and even if you're cooking it at home, it's totally fine. It's this kind of exciting thing that has yet to happen in the future that you know is going to be a rewarding experience.
Speaker 1:It's just that reward, and humans just want to reward themselves after something hard. But the problem is that what we interpret as hard is subjective, yes, and so we might just have a tough meeting at work, like oh that's it.
Speaker 1:I can't take it anymore. I need to order food, I can't make dinner, I'm stressed, but then, like, your stress threshold just keeps getting lowered and lowered because you continue to capitulate to that stress. And so now you interpret everything as stress, because really it's not even that you're interpreting as stress, it's just you're using that as an excuse to then justify rewarding yourself, yes, and you just want more and more of the reward and less and less of the of the tolerance of stress yeah, less of the tolerance of stress.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly, um, yeah, and and the and. The thing with, like, ordering food and and takeout is that I think people start to label themselves, they start to, they start to identify as who they are. Well, I'm not the kind of guy I don't cook I don't cook.
Speaker 2:I'm not the kind of guy who's gonna hear that all the time.
Speaker 1:I don't I just don't cook?
Speaker 2:I don't know, it's not for me.
Speaker 1:You're like oh okay, yeah, well, who are you then? You know like, so it's like well, but, but you're not.
Speaker 1:Most likely, whoever you and I have conversations with, they're not coming to us because they're so happy with their life, right, they usually come to us because they need help and they're not happy with the way things are going and then, so then, to like identify as these people who do this and not that, it's like you have just audibly verbalized the exact constraint that you're setting on yourself to why you're not who you want to be.
Speaker 2:But yeah, by putting yourself in the box, there's no room to maneuver now. Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2:And I think, and it goes back to like even if you are somebody that's not going to cook and you're going to do Uber Eats, then make better choices when you order food. That's one example of it being a continuum Like heaven forbid. You know, I was like I worked with a guy and he absolutely wasn't going to cook. Just he worked in finance and had a family and just between how busy his days were and his personality and just everything at hand, the patterning so deep of every single meal being uber eats that it just was very clear like that pivot wasn't going to happen. But then I would like look at his uber eats history and it's like jack in the box. Yeah, it's like come on bro and like straight, just like lowest denominator quality fast food.
Speaker 1:It's like it's like you have options. It doesn't have to be like okay, you're either fucking like Chef Boyardee in the kitchen or you're having to eat a burger and fries. It's like no, no, you want the burger and fries. Yes, yes, you wanted that.
Speaker 2:Right, whereas like Tender Greens, which is kind of like a farm-to-table themed, simple, like meat vegetable plate, comes with a little crostini on the side. I'm like ordering from Tender Greens is going to be so much healthier for you. Totally, I'm not saying go and cook right now, but let's move the needle a little bit in the right direction so that you're just making better food choices.
Speaker 1:I get it if this is how it's going to be, or don't fucking go on uber eats and just go and get like at like factor or whatever the other, like meal delivery services that have your calories and you can go like, okay, I'm going to go more of a macro focus, like, uh, you know, calorie, high protein, whatever, whatever, like there are so many options that that are not just simply ordering whatever's most convenient. Like you can take it one step further, I don't know, it's just so common. Like you can take it one step further, I don't know, it's just so common.
Speaker 2:It is. Yeah, well, it's always part of the spectrum, because maybe if that person starts making better food choices, then they might switch over to a meal delivery service that has some macros listed. Again, it's those little incremental steps, and I think one of the things that I remember we were talking about it is that the decision has to be sustainable. Yep, because consistency is the number one most important thing. Whether it's a little 10 minute workout or just a simple better food choice or just drinking diet soda instead of regular soda, that the consistency is what matters.
Speaker 1:And so if you don't make a decision that's within your realm of ability to stick with, then it's, it doesn't matter, it's all for loss anyway it's like all these and I think there's like this people get people know that they're, that their health is not what they want it right, and they're feeling insecure and depressed and desperate. And so these extreme programs are appealing because people always, I just see, like reset, yeah, and so like the 75 hard, or even like the whole 30, which is essentially just like fodmap, like low fodmap, yeah, incredibly difficult, like no, like nobody can do that for more than just like the 30 days or whatever, but they, but they continue to jump into these things because they keep thinking that they need to like, as if there's just some reset button like you're, oh, you know, wire, wi-fi router or something you can just like reset everything. It's like no, because what did that experience teach you?
Speaker 1:maybe some constraint, maybe some discipline maybe, but most of those people they whatever weight they lose. Statistically that's just doesn't. If, statistically, the obesity rate was going down, then that might hold true, but the fact is is that most people do these things lose 10, 20 pounds and then gain 30 back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like the five days of bone broth, Because it's like they don't want to do. Just the stuff that is there's almost like people they want to believe there's something more to it. No, there has to be more to it. It's got to be this thing that I'm not seeing. Well, it's like. No, the thing you're not seeing is the three things that are mundane, monotonous and boring, that you already know. You don't need to find anything else out, you just need to do the things you already know. You need to go out there for your walk every day, you need to get a pack of resistance bands and you need to just go through a 15 minute full body workout a few times a week. You need to just think about what you're going to buy the grocery store and go there with intention and just set yourself up for success.
Speaker 1:That's it yeah, but it's like no, there needs to be something different that I'm missing, and it's like you want to believe that, but the reality is is that it's it's. The thing you're missing is just the consistency of the basics yeah, 100 and I think.
Speaker 2:But it is a thing of that. I think people think fitness, for example, and exercise looks a certain way right. So, okay, everybody knows cardio is good for you. We did a whole episode on it, if you don't know, but you know I think I saw another fitness like influencer or just a fitness person kind of talk about cardiovascular exercise as these kind of forks and it's just like you know, unless you're training for something specific, do you enjoy the activity? And if you don't enjoy the activity, then they should find something that you enjoy. So their example was like how many people are really going to enjoy going into a gym? You're not necessarily an athlete, you're just somebody who's looking to include some more activity.
Speaker 2:Go into a gym and sit on a treadmill or sit on a stationary bike inside of a fluorescent gym three times a week. It's going to be probably not that fun. Or like sit on a rower, whereas like if you actually got a bicycle and rode a bike around outside, you probably would enjoy that that much more totally, and that enjoyment most likely will lead to an increase of adherence or you just continuing to keep it going. And so I think that it's like so often fitness or the way that the path forward is kind of put into this like narrow lane, when really there are a lot more options.
Speaker 2:Like you know, you played volleyball. You know that was fun, right, the reason you did it and you're getting so much good activity versus like maybe, like going for a run is like a living hell to you and you just don't enjoy it whatsoever. And so the likelihood of you sticking to running and when you just really don't like it is going to be very, very small. And if you do commit to it, it's kind of like pulling teeth. And that's where I think, like, quality of life in one hand is going up because you're going to be healthier, you'll have more energy, you'll get all the benefits of doing cardiovascular exercise. But, like, is your quality of life going up or down in terms of a lived experience?
Speaker 1:and is there like a you know, is like the sand in the hourglass, ticking down to where you, in the back of your mind, know that you're not going to do this for the rest of your life.
Speaker 2:Just yeah, you know or if you are the kind of person that has a discipline that you're just like making your life miserable just because this is what you're supposed to do, versus if they went and played some volleyball or got a bike and rode around outside or just did something else. And so I think there is a component where there are many intricate ways to move towards just being improved and that, no doubt, if you were to just go and hit the treadmill three times a week in the gym, that would be great and you'd get the benefits, but that might not be the path forward for you, and I think finding the thing that you'll adhere to, that is a step forward or a step moving the needle on that spectrum, is going to be the most important thing, even if it's not conventionally what a trainer would say you should do, or you know, you know, it's like no doubt like counting your.
Speaker 2:It's like a good example for me would be like counting your macros is the ultimate way to control your body composition and be in control of your food, keeping your health and aesthetics in check.
Speaker 2:But cooking your own food, I think, is going to be such a huge step in the right direction Totally.
Speaker 2:And I think, like the difference is that if somebody was like, oh, I'm just going to cook my own food and make good, healthy choices, like generally just good home-cooked food, not necessarily like mac and cheese and I don't know, you know within reason, but not count their macros, Like to me that's going to be such a huge step on the needle that if they never counted their macros but for the rest of their life they made single ingredient, for the most part home cooked meals that tasted good, Like I'd be, like you know what Good to go, Totally you know. And so it's like on paper, counting your macros might be the absolute best mastery way of forward. But if that's just not in your wheelhouse but cooking your own food is for the rest of your life, then like you know what Good is for the rest of your life, then like you know what good on you for at least that much and so I think sometimes there is always going to be like a pinnacle, but that finding just some way up the mountain.
Speaker 1:So to speak and understand that there is. There is a trade-off. You know, like I think that it's unrealistic for you to always want to do things that are inherently hard. Right, I think that, like, you can't just be like, oh well, you know, I just inherently don't like cooking food and moving my body. So just, you know, there needs to be something where you have to realize that like, hey, you don't have to want to do it, you don't have to want to do it. You don't have to want to brush your teeth, but you probably should. You don't have to want to pay your taxes, but you probably should, probably should.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know like there are things as an adult that we have to do, when we have to do them, whether we feel like it or not. Yeah, and we just need to look at health as okay, fine, what's the minimum effective dose with movement and nutrition that we can start at? You don't have to want to do it, but you also understand, because you're a self-respecting adult, that you have to do something that they're doing nothing has a negative.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so you know, like, like, for, take me, like, uh, I am very, very good at, for all intents and purposes, a very moderate, intense weightlifting session four or five days a week, right here behind the cameras there's actually a little squat rack and that's what I can commit to, right? You know, like I can't do 20 sets per muscle group per week. Everything will fucking hurt if I do that, even though sports science says I probably should, especially because I'm a skinnier guy, right?
Speaker 2:to maximize.
Speaker 1:I just can't, I'm gonna do it my elbows hurt, my wrists hurt, shoulders hurt. I just can't right. I can get outside and I can walk with my dogs for 30 minutes two times a week. I can commit to that yeah would a run be good?
Speaker 1:would some other form of cardio be good? Yeah, but you know what? That's what I know I can do, and the thing about it is like nothing matters if you're not consistent. Yeah, and so you have to lower the bar, the barrier of entry. What's the minimum effective dose of exercise and nutrition you can commit to forever, because there's no going back?
Speaker 1:yeah, there's no going back, yeah and then instead of looking at is like, oh well, I should do this, I should do that. It's like what if you committed to being perfectly average on all things? So maybe you're. You know, instead of being like an a plus on exercise but then like a fucking f on nutrition, right, what if you were just a c plus across the board hydration, sleep, nutrition, exercise. You had a glass of wine here and there, you, you, um, maybe you skipped a workout every so often, but you were, for the most part, 70 percent. Yeah, seven out of ten times you were on. I'd put money on that person probably living a very long and healthy life.
Speaker 2:That question, yeah I yeah, I mean, you know, when we were talking about this kind of pre-show. There's a client that I've had for 13 years now and we both know him. I think we consider him a friend at this point, without naming names, Not my friend. Well, you know.
Speaker 2:I'll name this person, but you know it's interesting, because he loves tennis. So he plays hours of tennis every week. He's just that's his thing. He just is in love with it. He is out there sweating and grinding. You know he used to train three times a week with me. Now he trains once a week with me just because of life and he's got a kid and he, you know, he is familiar with the kitchen. He's still in a catering company. He loves to cook as well and he likes to have some wine and have a drink here and there, but he will not.
Speaker 2:So many times I've talked to him about his nutrition because he's committing so much to his body. In a sense, he's putting so much work and effort, especially to a sport where he wants to perform. He's in leagues, he's in tournaments, he does the thing. It's all recreational but he's all about it. And so so often I've talked to him about increasing protein intake or just doing some form of macro, because I know it would increase his performance and I know it would help with his body composition. And he's by no means like overweight, but he's got a little chub sack, you know he's, he's, he's well, he's well developed like he's, he's got great muscular development and he's well-developed, like he's got great muscular development and he's just got a little belly.
Speaker 2:You know you wouldn't look at him and be like, oh that guy's overweight by any means. But for how much he exercises he's not chiseled by any means either. And you know I've just kind of stopped barking up the tree because he's not going to do it. He's just not going to do it. At this point I've just come to know that he's not going to do his macros, he's not going to make a concerted effort to get this many grams of protein, even if it would benefit his obsession and interest and hobby of tennis and all of this kind of stuff. He's just not going to do it. But at the same time he's out there moving his body, he cooks all of his own food. He loves it.
Speaker 2:And he makes delicious meals Like oh, I like this baked shrimp dish. Or he's like oh, I've perfected my chicken breast recipe, you know. And so he's. He's doing enough good things where I'm like you know what you're actually going to be. Okay, you're going to live a long, healthy life, right, you know you're making your own food and like for him.
Speaker 2:I think he knows himself he's old enough, at least in the mid 40s, that to do macros is just he's going to make him miserable, he's's just not gonna enjoy it, no matter how much of a benefit. That's just who he is. He knows himself, and I think he knows that he's making enough good decisions that he will do those forever and that he doesn't necessarily need to do macros and it is, and it is like for benefit right, even if there's room for benefit, and if he was eating like shit, like he hates eating like shit.
Speaker 2:He hates garbagey foods, you know. So he's got his finger on the pulse enough to know that he's making fairly good decisions most of the time. But he doesn't want to give up his wine here and there he doesn't, and that I think for him like that's, like out of that line of quality, of his perceived quality of life right, yeah, and that's, and that's the the thing it's like.
Speaker 1:Where is the crossroad between, like, optimization, yes, quality of life, meet right, because you know we all idolize people who have optimized their life, yeah, but when you actually get to know them, it's kind of like no fun zone. It's like in bed by 8 PM. You know they don't, so it's like they're. They're fun to like watch, right, but you know not, that's not going to be for everybody yeah.
Speaker 2:The sacrifice it takes. I mean, you know, I think people look at like a bodybuilder and they're just like. I mean not, you know, most people would say they don't want to be as big of a bodybuilder. But bodybuilders and people that are that jacked are definitely like oh shit, it's their whole life?
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it is there. Everything. Every waking moment, every minute is like the time they wake up.
Speaker 2:The ounces of water they drink, the exact grams of proteins, carbs and fats, the supplementation, the steroids, the training sessions, tracking everything, waking up whenever they have to, to spend the two hours in the gym every day, like it is so much sacrifice. And I think that there comes a point like that you know it might be for some people. Some people might have a personality where, like, high levels of discipline and rigidity come easily to them and maybe they will reap the rewards of moving towards that discipline and the optimization. And some people are also so obsessed with a certain sport hobby accolade that they are willing to do whatever it takes to be the best at it. And that's just that's life, that is. People are like that right, like the, to be a Olympic athlete will require a tremendous amount of sacrifice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like like there's a reason why Kobe Bryant was Kobe Bryant and Jordan was Jordan. And yeah, you know that quarterback's name. What's his name? Who won everything? I forget already, brady. Brady yeah, when you're the 1%, like they are the sports version of the bodybuilder we just described, where everything is dialed in and measured and tracked and improved on, and so you know, I think it's, think it's important to like okay, that's one on the spectrum.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's like that's like the sterilized like, yeah, like hospital bed.
Speaker 1:You know, everything is calculated and measured and it's no fun, it's one form of hard right and on the other end, you have to understand that like it's I think there this is actually a law of thermodynamics is that everything tends toward entropy. Yeah, so everything tends towards entropy. Case in point let's say that, um, you let some dishes accumulate in the sink. So then now when you bring your next plate in and there's already five or six dishes in there, you're probably just what's one more? Right, I'll just do it. I'll just, I'll just do them all at once. But later and then next, you know, you have an entire sink full of dirty dishes, versus, like, if you just got the routine of putting in the dishwasher every time and just watching, you know. So, like, and the same can be true for our life that like, well, well, I mean, I'm already eating Jack in the Box, you know every single day. So what's wrong with eating McDonald's for dinner now?
Speaker 1:So, everything kind of like tends when we don't interfere, meaning that, like as humans we don't manage things to an extent, they will all tend towards entropy and destruction, all tend towards entropy and destruction. So we have to do, then, is we have to understand this tendency and look at our lives as a project and realize that, like, well, maybe we're not going to be on the squeaky clean, like sterile side of the spectrum, but other end of the spectrum is entropy. We know that because it's a law of thermodynamics and so no one defies physics, and so we have to kind of back into what part of that spectrum we feel comfortable with. Yeah, how much entropy or do we want to allow into our lives? And then, at what point do we? Does our life get too sterile where we go? This doesn't feel authentic to me, and that's our equilibrium. Yeah, that's the middle but we have.
Speaker 1:But but that does require a little attention. It does require some self-reflection and some self-awareness and like okay, here are my tendencies, I can't ignore these anymore. These are my patterns and habits that I have that I need to address and then you can figure out if that's, I can do a walk every day. I can cook my own recipes. I can limit my my dinners out to just once a week. Yeah, okay, now we're. Now we're kind of in this self-management space where we're in a little bit more control but we're allowing the occasional indulgence in to have a quality of life.
Speaker 2:But there is a little bit of a trade-off too, and I think that's the, that's the idea 100 because the quality of life on the other end of the spectrum is going to be even lower, right like they're all towards the sterilization other end of the spectrum is going to be even lower right Like towards the sterilization optimization end of the spectrum. There might be for most people a point where you're just like this isn't fun and I don't like this.
Speaker 2:And therefore your actual enjoyment of your day-to-day goes down. But at the same time you know it's easy to kind of fall into comfort and perceive comfort as like oh's all good, but it's. It's gonna come and bite you in the ass in one way or another. You know being having having metabolic disease, for example. You know acquiring diabetes or not being able to put your own shoes on because you're so overweight or you try to play catch the consequence of 30 years of being very comfortable.
Speaker 2:Yes, there has to be like. I think there's no question that some of the things that require some form of discipline and some form of the effort will have a reward. You know, if you start going on walks like, you're going to feel better, you're going to have more energy. There are so many benefits to including some form of exercise in your life for your just overall, like vitality. I would say that without any form of discipline, you're going to miss out on a tremendous amount of quality of life, and it's it's going to take a little little grit, it's going to take a little little uncomfortable decisions, but there is so much to gain from those decisions and so it can't be that like oh well, I just don't like doing this and so therefore I won't.
Speaker 2:I think it is. It's we're in that middle ground somewhere for you, and I think that every time you kind of click a notch up and choose something and integrate a hard decision, you're that much closer to maybe making another hard decision that would have that much more benefit for you. Choose your heart right. Choose your heart Exactly Right. It's like all the examples of it's hard to be fat, right. It's like all the all the examples if it's hard to be fat, it's hard to watch what you eat, it's hard to be broke, it's hard to save money, you know, it's hard to have honest, vulnerable conversations with your partner.
Speaker 1:It's hard to have a shitty relationship again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly right so, yeah, it's, it's, it's delayed gratification. Yes, practicing a little restraint in the moment in order to achieve a long-term goal and outcome in the future. Right, yeah, so, yeah. So I think that's the big takeaway is that, like you know, find your path. Yes, I stole the words out of my mouth. I was going to say find your path. Find you know, like, figure out what's going to work for you. And maybe the CrossFit gym at 6am just ain't your vibe, it ain't on. Yeah, maybe getting a set of adjustable dumbbells and some bands and a bench at home and like, kind of like, letting that little be your project. Like I love that idea.
Speaker 2:If, in 20 okay, I'm gonna do three 20 minute workouts a week. Yeah, that's great cool. Yeah, that's amazing. Online yoga from the end, from the say, you know, from your home, with just a mat and just right streaming.
Speaker 1:You know, but I can maybe I'm not gonna track my macros, but I can definitely commit streaming, you know. But I can. Maybe I'm not going to track my macros, but I can definitely commit to you know, making single ingredient recipes at home, right do?
Speaker 1:you use my hand as general measurements to just make sure my portions are every every meal has a veggie and a starch and a lean protein. You don't even have to track your macros. You're going to probably see phenomenal results just from that. So, like it's that, it's what. Where are you at? You understand that there is a little bit of a trade-off, but you don't want to be squeaky clean, sterile, fully optimized. Uh, you know, professional athlete. So where, where do you fall in that spectrum? And that's going to be a process of iterations and discovery. Yep, but that is the, that is the work, that is the way. All right, guys. Well, that was episode 24 of Coach's Corner. That was a fun one. A little bit more theoretical there, but I love these conversations and we'll catch you all next time. Peace out, peace.