Strength Renewed

00:19
Hey Jess, how are you? Hi Nikki, I'm fantastic. I'm always good when I get to chat with you. I know, ditto. And whatever, now you've got our Aviator Nation top on. I do not have that color. I have that style. And I'm not sure if you're aware, but the creator of Aviator Nation, she started off by hand sewing those stripes on. Did you know that? Oh my God, I have a whole new appreciation for these stripes. Amazing, right? Amazing. It's also like so interesting

00:49
where people get the initial idea. You know what I mean? Like, I'm going to grab, I'm going to start a business and I'm going to like put these cool stripes on and how the whole stripe then became this like thing that everybody, you know, gravitated to, right? Yeah. And who was your, who did you first see Aviator Nation on that you then thought, I want to get that too. Mine was Jill. My God, that's so great. I love that you asked me that question.

01:18
I get my haircut at this super cute with the super cute stylist who owns a boutique and I was actually doing a photo shoot and I tried on this aviator nation like top I'll wear it on the next call. Yeah, do do. Okay, right. And because you love it. And every time I know that we're going to talk I think about you and this brand.

01:41
And in funny ways, I sort of see our podcast strength renewed with an Aviator Nation-esque, you know, like energy about it, right? It speaks to me. But I, so she just had me like, you know, wear it for our, for our, for this photo shoot. And so that's kind of like how I got wind of it. And I just thought it was cute. You know, I probably saw like all of us on social media too. Yeah, nice one. And I...

02:08
I similarly thought it was really cute when Jill was wearing like a sweatshirt and I'm like, it is such a great sweatshirt. And then I Googled it and she had a crop on and she does crops so well. And I'm not as confident, I think, to wear a crop the way that she would. But I saw that it had a full length one. I'm like, I'm so there. And then that started my love affair with Aviator Nation. And I love it.

02:35
Well, I think you should feel like 100% comfortable wearing crops because you got a wonderful, you got those.

02:46
banging arms right there. I'm watching you flex. I feel like I need to like, you know, go eat some more protein for dinner tonight or some shit. I'm like, yes, Mickey, I see your arms tonight. Well, and like normally, it is hot in here today. It is one of those, like last time that we recorded was only a few days ago. Yeah, I figured that it was because you don't normally wear a tank top. No, no, I know. Anyway, Jess, I'm excited to sort of...

03:10
get the ball rolling, we've done our sort of intros, people are a little bit more familiar with our backgrounds, which is cool. And I think more importantly, there's sort of anyone that's followed us on social media who has seen our Instagram lives and just knows how connected we are. I think just really wanna hear more about how we think on certain topics, I think, you know, like we've got some listening questions, which we are.

03:36
intending to answer as this podcast progresses. And of course, we'll be asking for more. But one thing that's been on our minds lately, and this is why I'm super excited to talk about it, is like the messaging on social media. And I think we may have talked about this either on the last podcast or the one before, and just our overall opinion on sort of state of the nation, as it were.

04:00
I think, well, I love that because I think it's probably one of the most important topics, even as you were asking me about 88er Nation. I'm like, well, it's definitely my friend who told me about it, but then it's also watching, you know, everybody, all the influencers and like seeing what they're wearing and like, you know, we just kind of become hooked onto it. I hate to say it, but you look at your phones and you're like, oh my God, that's a lot of hours and a lot of minutes that I'm scrolling on this thing. So I think that, you know, I'm certainly not a hypocrite. We operate professionally.

04:29
on social media and I think there's definitely a place for it and I'm appreciative of the place for it. I think that when you start talking about things like health and preventative health and wellness, it's really, really hard to not feel like you are just inundated with messaging that quite frankly just might not serve your overall health. It's one thing to like be inundated with sweatshirts. I'm here for it. You know what I mean? Or like fucking joggers. Like give me all the clothes. Like...

04:58
I can pick and choose and whatever, but I think when it comes to health, we all know that it is the fundamental thing of everything. Do you know what I mean? And so we're just more susceptible. I feel like it literally kind of feels, it does, it kind of feels like a kid in a candy store. You can't help but want to consume as much as you can. It's like going to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, right? Like I just want to drink all that chocolate milk and eat all those like candies and gum drops and whatever.

05:26
That's the way that it feels. And I think at some point it is, in all honesty, just hurting our health more than it could ever help. Yeah, and it's interesting you say that because what I think has happened over the last few years is that there are people in this space that are there for women's health and their original target markets were quite different. So you've got the Mindy Peltz, who is, has questionable,

05:57
background and qualifications and information, I think, you know, like I don't buy everything she says. I don't think that her protocol was necessarily based in science. I'm not suggesting it doesn't work for some women, but I just know that it's, you know, it's not maybe as rigorous as what I would expect. And she is like talking to women of around our age, but quite a different demographic, but still women of our age. And then you've got the likes of

06:27
Stacey Sims, who originally was targeting an athletic woman, but has shifted her focus to women in perimenopause and beyond, into menopause and beyond. And they're really two different messages. And maybe initially they were targeting two different audiences, but just how much, but it's just such a blend now, because now they are just targeting any woman on social media. And that's not, I don't think it's an intentional thing.

06:56
but they're messages for one type of woman, but everyone's getting confused as to who that is, because the information is everywhere. And I think that's where a lot of confusion lies, because you get experts saying completely different things, and then you're just left going, I don't even know what to do now. So it's almost like paralysis by analysis or information overload. I totally agree. I don't know the answer to the information overload. I think too many health professionals are doing exactly what you're talking about.

07:27
They started one way and then they're pivoting to wherever the attention is and stuff like that. Then what's happening is then you're getting a round table, right? Like all of these different people. That way, if you put a bunch of doctors at a table together, you're going to get 20 doctors together, you're going to get 20 different answers. I just think that people have to do... I guess the thing that we always hope to provide

07:57
like bite-sized solutions to these kind of more like complex problems because I don't want people to walk away anytime you and I are sitting at the table, right, with them walking away feeling more overwhelmed and more confused than when they came to our table, Mickey and Justin's table, right? I want them to like at least have a couple of things that they can walk away that are just like sturdy, we'll call it that, pieces of information because I think because they're getting

08:26
shot at from so many different ways. It's hard to know what to believe. And so I would say just you have to kind of do your own research. You have to remember that you're your own body. Like I think we all of a sudden throw ourselves right into this category. Well, if it happened to all these people, it's definitely going to happen to me. Or, you know, if they're having this response, believe it or not, not everyone that goes through perimenopause and menopause has the, you know, wants to die. Like it's not the worst experience. Like there are actually ways to.

08:56
to get to the other side of it, if you will, feeling healthy and happy and not raging against the machine and with the 100 pounds they've gained and miserable. So I don't know, don't you think like, isn't there at some point, stick with maybe two professionals or three versus 300? Because I just think you're not taking, you've almost like removed your experience from the situation. Yeah.

09:25
Yeah, absolutely. And I always think about evidence from a from sort of three different prongs. And you've got evidence from science. So what does science tell us about a particular problem? Or a condition? And that's science from randomized control trials, which tell us a little bit about cause and effect, but don't necessarily tell us what's what's in real life. And then I've got that clinical experience. So I've got the end.

09:52
the information I gather from people in front of me. And then I've got all of these case studies and case series as you'll have Jess with your clients, whereby even if you try to translate that science into some actionable strategies for your client, they're going to respond differently, even if they seem like they should respond the same. And then also you've got the evolutionary sort of underpinning, you know, like, what is it that we've been designed? How have we...

10:22
over hundreds of thousands of years been designed to be impacted by sort of the environment and the foods that we eat and things like that, which of course, that doesn't translate into moving back into a cave and getting rid of electricity. But it sort of can inform a little bit about maybe some, you know, how do we live in this modern world using some of these evolutionary principles.

10:47
And I like that. That's a nice concept. Yeah, it's nice, isn't it? And Chris Kresser, he was the one that I sort of heard that from first. And he's like just this wealth of information. And, and I think if you get a few trusted voices that might have that sort of interpretation of that sort of blending that triangular sort of blend, I think that can read, I don't know, I feel like that should be helpful for people to, you know, examine where the person they're listening to, like, what is their background? What are their

11:15
Credentials and what are their philosophies and do they align with what makes sense to you to you? I think you just said that perfectly repeat that one more time Just that last piece right there. Do you remember it? Yeah, just that you know, yeah do that last thing Yeah, does it make sense to you? Simply philosophies that yeah the practices of the professionals that are out there It does do their practices make sense like I think you just throw logic

11:42
completely out of this, you know what I mean? And we are making decisions completely on emotion. And remember, you can't, it's like doing randomized workouts, random workouts, right? You're creating a bunch of different workouts you see. I can't tell you how many clients of mine are like, well, I just was scrolling and I just found rando workouts when I was on Instagram or YouTube, and I just put them together and I did them. Now, okay, great, you moved, awesome. Yeah.

12:11
Okay, that's awesome. Great. I will actually say that's great. But random workouts are probably not a great strategy for any period of time, right? And they're definitely not going to keep you consistently training. So I look for two things. What resonates for you? Who do you just respond to? And then honestly, what is, and is that practice something that you can do consistently? Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

12:41
like really, and then I always go back to what you and I, and I know there are so many other pieces to this, but friends to build muscle, which is what Mickey and I, and to build connections. You must be really mindful of your protein intake. You must be concerned with what you're eating on a day to day basis. You can't check yourself out of that. And you need to just understand that.

13:09
resistance training and all of the different forms have to be part of your day in and day out lifestyle. It is not something that you can move in and out of and expect that that will do you any good. So I always come back to the pillars like you talked about, and then I come back to the practices. Can I be consistent with these practices? And are these professionals people that resonate for me? And then in all honesty,

13:37
let the 92,000 other influencers talk about and pivot on whatever they want to pivot on, but I've chosen to follow these two or three or whatever it is. But I would really suggest that you're not paying attention to too many more than that because I think it's just the natural tendency to want to over consume and then you underact. You over consume, you underact. I love that Jess. And you also...

14:07
can catastrophize what you're going through, I think. You know, when you see flashing neon signs of menopally, of gut problems, low cortisol, high cortisol, you know, raging hormones, all of these things. And suddenly you're like, these are all of my problems. And do I really need to now do a 21 day gut reset, then do like a, I don't know, like a 10 day silent retreat and then.

14:37
I don't know, aqua aerobics or whatever it is to then get myself into a position to then start these other sort of lifetime habits. And I don't mean to, I'm not sure how this is gonna sound, but I'll just say it is that we all have our unique circumstances, absolutely. And we can't dismiss them, but actually take comfort from the fact that we're all just normal humans doing normal things. And your experience while unique to you might not be as good.

15:06
catastrophic is what it might seem at the time. And so when we feel like things are in a really bad space and we are catastrophizing, we're much more likely to then go to an extreme solution. Whereas if we can sort of take stock and appreciate that actually, I might not be that different from these other people, then maybe you'll look for a more sustainable approach. I don't know.

15:36
I think it is, I think we are totally on the same page with this. I think, or the easiest way to put this in a bite-sized nugget is less is just more. Right? I think sometimes we hear the bright shiny words, you know, metabolic reset or a Menno belly or whatever other hormonal things. Like, marketing is very savvy that way. Like they know exactly what we're, what's going to sort of.

16:05
elicit and I always think like ultimately it's it's it elicits a little bit of fear which find some fears good because it kind of creates change but I think what's happening because we have 24 7 access to quite frankly too much information that's not even really serving us so yeah I always say just because it's there doesn't mean that you need to use it right just because it's available to you so perhaps you

16:31
Do your research and because these are really important things to research, you decide the coaches and the best practices that work well for you. And here's what I would recommend. I think Mickey and I both stand together on this. Practice it. Practice it for eight or 10 or 12 weeks and drum roll. See how you feel, right? Yeah, nice. You've been implementing these practices. Just stop and how do you feel? Not how one of these other people are telling you how you should feel. Yeah. You just really don't.

17:01
listen to our bodies and we also think that something should, there's that word, be something other than what it is. And most of the time it's just repeatedly doing these action steps consistently. I cannot say that word enough. I think you cannot change a habit, a thought process or a physical one if you are not consistently doing your best to change it. And it should happen over time and slowly.

17:31
many people and how many workouts and how many things you're just letting enter into your space and just listen to Mickey and I. Yeah. There you go. Absolutely. Yeah. And also- I mean, I do. I got your voice reverberating in my head all the time. I always know that I picked the right person to partner up with because your voice is almost equally as loud as mine. So that's a good sign. Oh, amazing. So we're like peas in a pod, Jess. We are peas in a stinking pod, but it's good. I mean, I really value what you-

18:01
you know, bring to the table and it makes sense to me. It's logical and it doesn't ever come from a place of judgment, it just comes from a sheer place of practicality. So, you know, I do hear your voice when I'm making decisions nutritionally, like, you know, do you need to have the peanut butter cup, Jess, but just make sure that you had like, you know, a little cottage cheese before that, right? Like it's just about these sort of, there's a lot of decisions that you make in the course of the day. So make sure that the voice in your head is.

18:27
is one that you connect with, truly. Yeah, 100%. And don't underestimate the power of those little small changes, right? And my friend Darren, and Darren Ellis, he's an amazing functional coach as well, and I know some listeners will be really familiar with him. He always says, whatever you think you wanna start with, start less. Do less than what you think you can take on board. Because even though, you know, of course when I see those memes and they've got, ignore everything else and just do these eight,

18:56
eight different things, in my head I'm still like, that's still eight things. That's eight things. However, I know. I'm like, how come we're not doing the two thing a day philosophy, right? Yes. However, what I do think though is that even if you start with two things, what will happen is they'll become your anchor behaviors and other things in your life will change because of those two things. And so instead of feeling like as I would when I feel overwhelmed by saying that I need to do all of these things.

19:26
Instead just go right, if I do two of these things, then your energy will have shifted, your thought process will shift, your confidence will build, and then other things in your life sort of allow for more space to adopt more of these habits. And they may even happen sort of without you realizing. You know, you go to bed earlier because you know you've got that gym workout in the morning, or you are...

19:53
you're out seeing that sunset in the evening time because you're out for a walk because that's what your exercise is for the day. You know, like, so you're able to sort of build on what you, on the foundation that you sort of start with. But if you start small, then you'll gain confidence as you go. I totally agree. Like I said, the only way action happens is just repeated, you know, small steps over time.

20:20
But I really mean it, it really is important to find voices that feel supportive to you, that don't elicit shame or fear. A little fire under your butt is fine, but I think that so much of social media is built in a fear-based state. They kind of want you to be pumping out high levels of cortisol. They want you to constantly feel like...

20:46
you are not enough and you need more and you need to be doing this. And I just, I would just love people to, to, to, to turn the volume down just a little bit in that area and to really find coaches that feel like that voice feels, feels nourishing to them and that it's a voice that they can hear in their head that's helping them change the habit. Slow over time, pick two coaches that you feel you connect with that what their, their

21:15
algorithm, their plan for you feels like something that you can do and it's sustainable and that you like them. You want to like the people that you work with and that you want to be able to have a relationship because part of all of this too is just compatibility. Connecting. Compatibility to a person and compatibility to a plan. Yeah, 100%. I wonder, I don't know what you think, Jess, like, you know, this is like the stuff that I see on social media and that people who would be listening to this sees like...

21:44
I wonder how much of it is just in our little bubble. Are we like 0.001% of the population on Instagram and this is why, even this is what we see all of the time. Are other people exposed to it too? What do you think? They might be a lot more like, they might be like online shopping. Might go back to the original thing. They might literally be spending and consuming their energy on interior design or clothing. Like.

22:11
Yes, 100%. We are probably getting what we are clicking and liking. I mean, these algorithms are designed, they're very purposeful, right? We are literally getting inundated. If I have to see another Menno belly again, I'm going to fall off my chair. I get it, people. I get it. They want you to basically know that when you hit menopause, you are going to get a belly. That's unfortunate that that's the message. That's the only freaking message that seems to be like...

22:39
front and center. And I know that not everybody out there is trying to say that message, but like, yes, we're getting that. Now, granted, you and I are like health specialists. Like this is what we do. So we spend, you know, 90% of our time buying, you know, not buying, but consuming this part of the web, the internet. Do you know what I mean? And then the other part, we buy a couple of sweatshirts.

23:04
But the rest of it is really like, actually I love a good food site. I'm also there for that too. I'm like, I could be a food influencer some days. I'm like, God, I love that salad. It looks so good. Or that fucking parfait or whatever. But like in general, I would say that yeah, we're getting hit with that. And then it is kind of up to you and I to disseminate the information so that we can come back to our audience and go, okay, you don't really need that. We would focus more here. So that's my hope is that.

23:32
People can go, you know what, I don't really need all that. And also like for three seconds, when you see the 11th Menno Belly or whatever like cortisol or metabolic reset or all this stuff, I want to know how you feel. Stop and go like, how do you feel when you're reading that or watching that? How does your body feel? I ask my kids this all the time. I'm like, how does it make you feel? And then you go, I don't like it. Or maybe you do. And if you do, great. Then consume Menno Belly until you're like blue in the face. That's awesome.

24:02
I don't particularly care for it. I don't like anything that makes me feel and I'm very sensitive to that stuff. And I think that the people that are attracted to like us as coaches might be sensitive to it too. And I just want to give you solutions about how you can feel better in your body and your health right now. Right? And I think some of that stuff is, they're not really interested in that. They want you to kind of buy the package and move on. It's very transactional to them. Yeah, yeah. 100%. Awesome, Jess. Well,

24:31
I like that and I think others are going to resonate with that as well. I hope it does. Just blesses more everybody. If any of your coaches that speak to you, maybe stop scrolling after four minutes, take a break, turn it off. Oh, nice one. Turn it back on again. I mean, just practice hacks. That's what I do because it's the only way that I'm going to be able to function properly. Yeah. Nice one. Yeah.

25:01
I better want to snack of course. Okay, all right, let's draw a line. Great to talk to you, Jiz. See you next time. Always good to talk to you, bye.