23. Sustainable Fitness and Lifestyle Changes for Longevity

Ever wondered how to strike a balance between your fitness goals and the hustle of life? Imagine having a roadmap to sustainable fitness, a training method that not only fits into your busy schedule but also promotes longevity! Our conversation with fitness expert Laz Josephides will leave you with that and much more.

During our enightning chat, Laz dissects the concept of training for health versus training for performance, revealing why low intensity exercises hold the key to overall health and longevity. He shares valuable insights on how to realistically incorporate physical activity into our life, starting with as little as two gym sessions a week. But it’s not all about the sweat and burn! Laz emphasizes the crucial role nutrition plays in our health. He discusses the importance of portion control, balanced diets, and how you can enjoy your favorite treats without sabotaging your fitness journey. He warns against the dangers of adopting an all-or-nothing approach to nutrition, instead championing small, sustainable changes for lasting wellness.

We end our conversation with a look at the challenges of managing treats, the importance of prioritizing sleep, and finding that elusive balance between fitness and life's demands. Laz underlines how understanding the 'why' behind the change can fuel your motivation, and provides fresh perspectives on building healthy habits. Buckle up for an enlightening discussion on fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle changes that prioritize longevity. Tune in, soak up the wisdom, and start your journey towards a healthier, more sustainable fitness lifestyle.

Resources mentioned in episode:
Matt Walker-Book: Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams
Peter Attia- Book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

About Laz Josephides /Coach Laz

Laz Josephides was born and raised in Melbourne Australia. He finished school in Limassol, Cyprus.  He studied BSc Sports Science Brunel University London and MSc Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation University of Melbourne.

He has always been heavily involved in sports and fitness with dreams of working within elite sports. He has transitioned into training general population and specialised personal training with a client based approach, which focuses on the individuals own specific wants and needs rather than a cookie cutter, one size fits all plan. His recent focus has been on using exercise specifically targeted towards improving healthspan and lifespan.

 https://www.instagram.com/coach.laz/

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Look for me. I think I'm really focused recently on the idea of training for longevity, so that's what I've been really focused on recently, but just general training and how to focus more on individual wants and needs.

Speaker 2 0:25

Yeah, So, starting right off the bat, welcome, Lars Josephides. I'm so excited to have you here so we can chat about what you do and how you help people with their fitness goals and longevity goals, which is what's going to be the focus of today. So welcome again and thank you for being here.

Speaker 1 0:46

Thanks.

Speaker 2 0:48

So, lars, i want to start with, you've been exercising for a while and I'm sure you had some different beliefs when you first started exercising as a young exercise not that you're not young anymore, but as maybe a novice exerciser And now you've had some hindsight of experience behind you, right. So, looking back, what are the things that you have had to learn through this experience and that you've had to really reevaluate and challenge for yourself?

Speaker 1 1:13

So growing up I loved sports. I knew from very young that my career would be involved in sports. Okay, as most young boys you know, i grew up wanting to be a professional athlete. I realized, you know, in my early teens I'm probably not going to get to that level, but I knew that I wanted to be involved in sports. So my focus was a bit more in having a career in coaching, with the dream of being a fitness coach and a professional sports team. But my focus was always on high performance, being very athletic. Always in school I was one of the better athletes in most sports So I was always looking for high performance and that carried through even in my early 20s, where my focus was on pushing myself hard, whether with weights in the gym or running or football anything.

Speaker 1 2:17

It was always about high intensity. You know I'm training. As I got a bit older and as my career path changed a little bit, i got involved in more of general population training, corporate training, corporate health and fitness and stuff, and I started to see that there's a they're two different things. So training for performance and training for health are very different. And it got me, got me thinking a little bit.

Speaker 1 2:57

You know that the majority of people fall into the training for health rather than training for performance And sometimes they can be misled into thinking that they need to train like an athlete and that kind of pushes them off. But the reality is, yes, you need to push yourself at times, but the majority of training for health It's it's very different to you know that high intensity athlete style training Probably the best thing to do for overall health is low intensity cardiovascular training. So the most yeah, like just going for a walk, that is probably the entry level And I mean for most people, if they can walk for 30 minutes every day, you know that will make a huge change to their to their health And unfortunately a lot of people don't even do that.

Speaker 2 3:58

Yeah, i think why. Because we myself I've been there so many times thinking it's all or nothing approach to exercise.

Speaker 1 4:06

And if I'm not?

Speaker 2 4:06

doing this hectic there's, the results are not going to come. So what would you advise? What advice would you give to someone who does want to start and they have this mentality of all or nothing? You've really touched on it, but what other things could they start to do? I agree.

Speaker 1 4:20

I think most people have this all or nothing idea And usually the all approach. You know they're looking at their week and is saying, okay, i need to train five, six, seven days a week. I need to train hard every day. They sum up the motivation to begin. They'll go to the gym, they'll start training.

Speaker 2 4:44

You know they'll get their new Post, the selfies. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 4:48

They'll go and get a protein shake, the powder you know, keep it in the cupboard, start drinking it for the first few days. They'll go buy some new shoes or something And then at one point you know, it kind of falls apart. And I think the best approach for people to try to do is start small. I have so many clients that you know they've made huge changes with only training two times a week.

Speaker 2 5:15

Two times a week. Well, that's refreshing.

Speaker 1 5:18

Because it's generally quite low intensity. The idea is you should start low, but you always progressively overload.

Speaker 2 5:30

Okay.

Speaker 1 5:31

But, you know, with a small amount, like I mean, i get people to increase week by week by, you know, two to five percent of their overall training load in terms of weights or intensity. So it's just small, step by step approach. But for someone who's training, doing no training at all, to suddenly training two hours a week, you know, over one week nothing changes. Over one month something starts to happen. Over a year, that's where you know, the changes start to happen. So I think, advising people to, you know, start slow, don't aim for the stars. And you know, you know, think that you're going to completely transform your life.

Speaker 1 6:20

Because I think what happens to most people, the reason that they're not training, is because their life is filled with so many other things. There's work, especially people who have families. They struggle to find the time. And then you know, you need to understand the other person that you know they might, they might be at work all day. They come home, they have, you know, two hours, three hours at home to maybe spend with their kids before they have to go to bed. You know, are they going to sacrifice those three hours and spend an hour at the gym plus half an hour going, coming getting ready to shower And only having that hour and a half at home.

Speaker 1 7:00

I think most people say no And then they will prefer to just stay at home, maybe watch some TV, and then they fall into kind of some unhealthy seven tree habits. Yeah, so if you can look at it in advance and you can kind of see your week and say, okay, i'm not going to do that five times a week, but I'll do it two times, i think that can be a very positive and healthy approach to training.

Speaker 2 7:27

Yeah, and especially if you're given the reassurance from your trainer that that's all you need. I've got you, you just show up and I'm going to fill in the rest for you. Just follow my. I think that, as a listener myself, would make me feel way better about showing up for that than just this blind program that I'm doing intensely five days a week, trying by myself.

Speaker 1 7:46

Absolutely.

Speaker 2 7:48

So that that's really reassuring. I think, like you talked about the cookie cutter approach to fitness and doing something different to that. So what are the areas you focus on when you create a plan for someone who seeks help? What are you looking for?

Speaker 1 8:02

You really mentioned some of it like lifestyle and Yeah so I usually have a have a sit down with people who who are looking to start training. Yeah, their first point of contact is is a first step. It means they're reaching out, they're looking for some assistance. They've probably tried things in the past That haven't, they haven't been able to keep consistent and they're looking for something a little bit different. So that first approach is is very important, and then I'll usually have a small discussion with them and I'll try find out. You know why is it important?

Speaker 2 8:39

No, why.

Long-Term Commitment to Training

Speaker 1 8:41

It's. You know I need to know why it's important. If you're gonna come and you're just gonna say, look, you know, i've just got a bit of extra belly fat. I want that to drop off, that's, that's fine. But I mean, realistically, if that's all that you want, you're not gonna. It's very difficult to make the change, to really See a long-term commitment to it. It comes more when you know. Unfortunately, it comes at a time when people you know they're in a bit of Having a few problems. So it might be that with their health They might have gone. They've done some blood tests. They're blood pressure is high. They're their blood glucose is high. They might reach the stage of being pre-diabetic. They've noticed that they've gained so much weight and you know they're worried. It could. It could be for another reason that maybe you know someone's getting married soon and that they really, you know.

Speaker 1 9:38

They need to have to look good for their wedding day. So that why is is very important. If someone has an important reason, they're much more likely to stick to it. But I think that most people should Kind of look. Look at training as a priority before it becomes an urgency. And this is one of the problems we have in today's. You know society, we've got too many things going on and you won't really address The issue unless it's actually a problem.

Speaker 2 10:20

Yeah, so it sounds.

Speaker 1 10:20

Yeah, Yeah, so someone who might come in when saying you know, i've got a little bit of extra belly fat that I want to lose. That's probably the best time to start. Yeah but it's probably the least likely that they will stay committed for a long time.

Speaker 2 10:36

So the anything you can do to intensify their. Why, in that moment, do you ever try to go deeper with that a little bit? and maybe, since you know, yeah.

Speaker 1 10:45

I think most people the best, the best motivator is seeing results.

Speaker 2 10:52

Yeah, and see, and yeah.

Speaker 1 10:55

If, if someone you know, they start training and they can stay committed for at least two months and they see some changes, I think most people they don't want to go back. Yeah especially if the training is something that they believe that they can sustain.

Speaker 1 11:12

Yeah so one thing I usually tell my clients is if you're gonna make any changes any, any changes to your habits, you're gonna start training, i say to them, or you're gonna start to make changes to your diet or whatever? also say to them look at your plan and be 100% realistic with yourself. Is that something that I can commit to and Sustain for? the next three to five years.

Speaker 2 11:39

Yes, not even months, if there is any doubt if there is any doubt, you're probably overreaching.

Speaker 1 11:44

Okay.

Speaker 1 11:45

So that's why I say to people start small And see how that goes. And then you know after a couple of months, you know maybe you've been coming in two times a week and you feel you want you want to train three times a week, or you feel you want to do something extra. Then ask yourself that question again. You know I'm training two times a week. Now Can I realistically add in a third session for the next two, three, four, five years? If the answer is straight away yes, then absolutely go for it. Like that.

Speaker 2 12:13

That's very different actually, because you're building on strengths rather than on the other side. You're building on strengths rather than starting from weaknesses. Right, And you're getting real like what can I really do instead of this overreaching?

Speaker 1 12:25

So I think, yeah, go on, yeah, no, no, finish, finish You. Um, look, i think A lot of people they They get very motivated up. You know one stage They will start their training, they'll get motivated, they'll get super hyped, but that motivation dies off And you need to have the discipline to keep it up And I think Everything is is fine. You can add in the training sessions You can make changes to your habit. You can make these chill, these healthy, healthy habit And changes to your lifestyle.

Speaker 1 13:02

But when You know the shit hits a fan, you know something is gonna go on. You know in your life, your luck, things happen in your life stress, you're gonna have problems in your relationship at work. You know it could just be family issues, it could be problems with you know, financial issues, there could be so many things going on. And when that all piles up, how important is training to you then? So if you're only committing to, let's say, two times a week or three times a week, it's easier for you to hold on to that. If you're forcing yourself to go five times a week, you're training hard, you're sweating, you feel like you're gonna die absolutely every session. That's probably one of the first things you're gonna give up.

Speaker 2 13:48

Absolutely yeah, and you also, like you said, you're gonna move, that you're gonna lose that motivations other than you Asking them to be real with their program. How else do you support them with a mental mindset, because I know that that's way more important in many aspects, like when you start losing your will, even if you've seen a few results and now it's become a bit mundane. Do you support them even more in that way?

Speaker 1 14:13

Yeah, i think, look, different people have different motivations, let's say, and some people work really well, of praise. And they're very you know any kind of criticism will really damage their yeah, while other people sometimes they need a bit of that criticism, you know, just like a shake up and you've got to play around and test that.

Speaker 2 14:41

Because they have. You know, you know, you don't. I think I always start.

Speaker 1 14:45

You know you have to praise people in the beginning And you have to praise their efforts to come in. You know if, if they're making that step, it's a big change and you need to understand that. Look, before I used to think it's very simple. You go to the gym, you train. It's an hour, it's not hard. You exercise more, you eat a little bit less. It's it's simple on paper, it is so basic, but in reality it's so complex and you need to understand everyone's you know personal point of view on that. So you've got to praise them in the beginning. You've got to encourage them. You know, when they do something well, you've got to really, you know, let them know that. You know that they're doing well. You know if someone's making that change, it's probably not because they enjoy doing it, but you can help them to enjoy it and I think that's that's important. So what are the biggest doubts they come to you with In terms of they come?

Speaker 2 15:51

to you and there's okay, they want to start, but I've tried everything before.

Speaker 1 15:56

What are the doubts to their?

Speaker 2 15:56

voice in that first session with you. I think some of the doubts are mainly when I tell them you know, start with the first session with you.

Speaker 1 16:05

I think some of the doubts are mainly when I tell them you know, start with less, because, yeah, when they reach out, they're expecting me to tell them every day.

Speaker 2 16:16

Drill Sergeant.

Speaker 1 16:18

And you know I'll tell them something like two times a week and they're thinking, oh, is that enough? And in the beginning, absolutely At a later stage, you'll eventually, you eventually should add a little bit more. So I think that's probably one of the biggest you know things that people see. Another one You know a lot of people believe that there's something wrong with their body their metabolism.

Speaker 1 16:51

You know, and there are some cases where that could be true, but I think most people don't have an issue with that. It's just that they're. They've fallen into some unhealthy habits as part of their lifestyle and they're not even aware of it.

Speaker 2 17:10

What are some of the ones they're not aware of? that you need to point out, because we could all be on these.

Speaker 1 17:15

Yeah, i think. Look in terms of physical inactivity, most people, if they're not purposefully training, they're not moving much, especially in Cyprus, i mean in in the rest of Europe. You know, people walk to the train station, people walk to the bus, they walk if they're two blocks away. You know, in Cyprus people look to park their car right outside the front door and if they don't find the parking there, they'll keep driving around until Until someone.

Speaker 2 17:46

You know moves or they'll just put it up on the pavement.

Speaker 1 17:53

So I think we're very physically inactive in terms of our day-to-day life. So you can't just look at your one hour of training. Even if you train every day. If you're training one hour But you're basically not moving at all in the whole day, you're still living a pretty unhealthy lifestyle. Wow, that would be quite surprising for people to hear like training every day, but not moving in your life?

Speaker 1 18:27

Yeah, so when you turn, when you look, at your, your, your daily calories, your daily calorie caloric expenditure. Let's say there's, there's different Things. So there's your, your, your BMR, your base, your basal metabolic rate. So that's you know basically how many calories you burn just to be alive. If you lay in bed all day, you'll burn that. That's the majority of your calories. Then there's the thermogenic effect of food, so when you actually eat through digestion, you need to burn some calories. There's your physical activity And then there's what's called need, so your non-exercise activity.

Speaker 1 19:10

That plays a big role. So if you're doing anywhere between 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, you're walking up two, three, four flights of stairs that's gonna play a big role in the amount of calories you're burning throughout the day. If that's very low, maybe you are training for that one hour but you're missing out on a lot of the rest of the. Okay, you're sleeping for eight hours, but you've still got 15, 16 hours a day where you could be just being a little bit more active. So it's just small things like if you have a dog, take your dog, that's healthy. Go for a walk with your kids down to the beach or something, even if it's just choosing to take the stairs. If you're going up one or two flights, take the stairs. Most people, when they have an office job, get up, just move around every two hours or something, so you're not sitting there for six hours at one time, and it's just becoming more conscious of it.

Speaker 2 20:20

we need to move right. So, even if it's parking your car a little bit further down the road, Exactly. So putting this in our routine. That's really helpful information. So what are the biggest mythbusters for exercise that you would like to bust right here and now? if you're a worser person, people can start making these mistakes. If you could just wave a magic wand and everyone would stop doing them. Tell us what these are first.

Training for Long-Term Health

Speaker 1 20:43

For me. I think that the idea that high intensity exercise is the only effective way to train. I think I used to think that, but I think lower intensity exercise is probably going to be better for your long-term health. This is what I've started to focus a lot more on is training for your long-term health, so training for longevity. And that's quite hard to do because people think more about now or this summer how am I going to look? rather than thinking how healthy am I going to be in my 70s and 80s?

Speaker 1 21:28

If you ask anyone, how healthy do you want to be at that, no one even thinks about that. But when you start to think that in today's world most people they will live well into their 80s, you need to start thinking about how functional, how healthy do you want to be at that age. And it's almost too late to start thinking about that in your last quarter of life. You need to start thinking about it in your second and third quarter of life. So maybe when you're young you've got a bit more energy and stuff, but when people are in their 30s, 40s, even their 50s, they need to start thinking about it before it becomes an urgency.

Speaker 2 22:17

Yeah, there's a dip for sure Energy, everything, motivation. So what are some of the things they could start with again? Like pull on jeviti, not so much for just exercise. Now, like, what are the things?

Speaker 1 22:31

So the best predictor of longevity is actually your VO2 max. Your VO2 max is your volume of oxygen uptake, so the amount of oxygen your body can absorb and utilize throughout high intensity exercise. It's basically your fitness the best predictor of your fitness levels. The thing with VO2 max is after the age of about, let's say, 40, it declines naturally by about 1% per year. So you can almost predict what your fitness levels will be like well into your last decade of life, if you can observe where you are now.

Speaker 2 23:27

Wow.

Speaker 1 23:28

If you can identify your VO2 max here.

Speaker 2 23:30

And if you stay doing the same things you're doing now without making any changes?

Speaker 1 23:34

Exactly, and the reality is that for most people that's you know they could see them. if you draw that out, most people will struggle to walk up a flight of stairs because they will not have the fitness level to do that. But if you start, if you increase your VO2 max let's say in your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, you will, you can definitely increase that and then the decline will, you know, start at a higher point. So I think it's very important to prioritize cardiovascular fitness levels early on in life.

Speaker 2 24:16

Does that not have to include running? Yes, you said walking, but some people Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 24:24

So this is where your fitness training zones come into play. So a lot of people who have if they've got a fitness watch like a Garmin or a Polar or something, it will tell them you know when they're in zone one, two, three, four and five. A big myth that I believe is that people feel that they should always be in that zone three, zone four, so that upper to middle intensity training. But a lot of the research shows that people should be focusing a lot more in zone two. Zone two is quite a low intensity effort level. The best way to have an idea that you're in zone two is if you can sustain a conversation, but you feel it's not as easy as this conversation we're having now.

Speaker 1 25:18

So you can breathe and movements like a fast walk, exactly If you're on the phone, the other person can tell that you're exercising, but you can sustain a conversation.

Speaker 2 25:30

That's true.

Speaker 1 25:31

Okay so.

Speaker 2 25:33

Or they can do something else.

Speaker 1 25:36

So yeah, but you need to accumulate quite a lot of time in that zone. So, I usually say that you need to be looking at. About 75 to 80 percent of your total training volume should be in zone two.

Speaker 2 25:51

Oh wow, that much is great.

Speaker 1 25:55

Yeah, and then the remaining 15, 20 percent should be up in zone five, so right in the higher intensity stuff. So you should miss, or you should try to skip that threshold zone where you feel that you're pushing yourself to your limit but you can just about sustain it, that where most people kind of feel that comfort to feel that they're doing something but they're not pushing themselves to feel like they're going to die.

Speaker 2 26:29

You're saying we should do that more than in this percentage, but there should be some of that in our routine. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 26:37

So that's why I said about 80 percent to 20 percent. So 80 percent in more like a zone two training and 20 percent in like a much higher intensity thing, If you're exercising on your own.

Speaker 2 26:50

what would those kinds of exercises be?

Speaker 1 26:53

Yep, so for most people, most people will be in zone two if they take a brisk walk.

Speaker 2 26:59

Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 27:00

Okay, yep, just go for a brisk walk and keep it up for 30 to 45 minutes. That would definitely be your zone two. To get up to your high intensity, that could involve maybe one session a week of doing something like three minutes to four minutes of If they're gonna, if they're gonna run, try to run, or maybe three, four minutes walk up a really steep hill.

Speaker 2 27:40

So you can include that in your walk and then challenge yourself.

Speaker 1 27:43

Yep, you can say, let's say, if you're gonna start walking three times a week, two times a week, just go very slow, a brisk, a brisk walk for 45 minutes and then, one time in the week, know somewhere, let's just say where there's a hill, there's, there's some, a big flight of stairs, go up those stairs, walk back down, to four to five sets of that and Then you've kind of got that good 80 20 balance. So it's more more of a polarized training approach where you've got a lot of the training in a lower intensity and a small amount in Very high intensity.

Nutrition and Portion Control Guidance

Speaker 2 28:17

That's really helpful, very useful, for sure. Anybody who's listening who feels like it has to be all or nothing, that's really gonna make a change, i think. So let us know. Of course, you talk about some nutrition, right. When someone's exercising, you can't out work a bad diet, as we've all heard. Yeah, what, what, go to what? what's your advice on nutrition, like when it comes to what meals to eat before a workout, or even just generally What you help people with when it comes to nutrition?

Speaker 1 28:47

I think for most people, they have no idea That their diet Contains so many calories. And that's the biggest issue and It could I mean you could ask someone you know How many? how many cookies did you eat? How many chocolate bars did you eat?

Speaker 2 29:08

They're not gonna tell you the truth. You know that right.

Speaker 1 29:10

But it might not even be that they don't tell you the truth. It might be that they actually don't know because, if I ask you now how many glasses of water did you drink yesterday? Would you know the answer to that?

Speaker 2 29:20

only because I've become more conscious of drinking water. So I've tried to go about two and a half liters, but no, on a normal day, when I'm not thinking about it, i wouldn't be able to tell you exactly, and I think for a lot of people, some of the foods that they eat, they it's like drinking water, that it's just.

Speaker 1 29:37

Yeah like robotic. They don't even think about and they're not aware, and you know So then the issue comes when people get this awareness of what's going on. They try to eat healthy And they try to make changes, but you know, it could be something like they'll take a salad as an option, but then they're not taking into account the sources and everything that are going to the salad, and sometimes The salads have a lot more calories than the burger?

Speaker 1 30:10

Oh wow, And you know it's it's difficult for people Because they don't know this, this information, and it ends hard. So I think again with nutrition. I don't really give people nutrition plans, but I just give them some guidance and I tell them take it Step by step, step by step.

Speaker 1 30:31

I Don't like the all-or-nothing approach to nutrition either, you know a lot of people think that they have to remove Everything that tastes good and just stick to, you know, boiled chicken, rice and broccoli for the rest of their life. That's not true. You know that. That's not true at all. I think it's just about portion control. That is mostly portion right.

Speaker 2 30:54

Some portion control is like key in terms of your meals. I.

Speaker 1 30:59

Think so? Yeah, because a lot of people they can, you know, overeat and they could overeat the things that are higher in calories. Hmm, generally, if you're eating more Fiber and more protein, you're gonna feel more full. So That's what I Kind of recommend to people, you know eat more lean protein and more fiber. So eat more, let's say, meats and vegetables, and That's gonna make you feel a little bit more full, so you won't really feel hungry. You might still get cravings, but you probably won't feel as hungry, and The especially the protein, will have less Depending on how it's cooked and what it's served with, but it's gonna probably have less calories.

Speaker 1 31:51

So, yeah, you know, people think that carbs are bad and you know, there's all these new things It's. It's not that carbs are bad, it's that we just generally overeat carbs.

Speaker 2 32:00

Yeah, we do, because they're so good and yeah, but what? what so when you have your carbs, you were saying, like have it with your protein in that meal together, is it?

Speaker 1 32:09

yeah, i don't see a problem, yeah, and would you also not finish first?

Speaker 1 32:14

Yeah, you think, yeah, i think Again when it comes to nutrition.

Speaker 1 32:18

I think for most people I mean I'm sure you've heard this before that I say that you know 90 to 95 percent of diets don't work And when they, based off the measurements that they don't work after you know period of six months or a year, you know they will definitely work in the beginning, but once you get off the diet everything falls apart.

Speaker 1 32:36

So I think it's more about and I think a lot of nutritionists now that they're looking more to Help the individual with their, their food choices, just to implement that into their lifestyle, because I think most people, on a weekly basis, there's about five to ten foods that they eat And that's it. Like they might throw in a couple from, you know, but I think there's probably about five to ten You know dishes that they eat pretty much every day And just how can you make small changes to them to make them maybe A healthier option? or how can you just control the balance, maybe, of the macro nutrients, so the protein to the carbs, to the fat, or maybe just even controlling the portion size of that.

Speaker 2 33:25

Yeah, so you also said that you said you don't believe in cutting out food groups and having not having treats. So what? how would you advise someone who is training and doing following your advice? because we love our treats? What's the best way to include that in without, like, compromising all our efforts?

Speaker 1 33:44

So I absolutely love ice cream. I'm the I I love ice cream.

Speaker 2 33:49

And I.

Speaker 1 33:52

There was a stage I was eating ice cream pretty much every day. Okay, there was one stage where I did overdo it. So, you know, having almost like a Full Ben and Jerry's every night, you know that that was, that was a bit too much, but you know, it's just, it's just about, you know, have having the control And knowing that. You know, okay, maybe I won't have The treat every single day, but you know, yeah, friday night, friday night, you know, you know you've come home from work.

Speaker 1 34:26

You put the kids to bed, you can have, you know, a dessert or something. Or on the on the weekend, you know you go out with the family. You go out for a lunch or a dinner. You know you can have for sure. But I think a lot of people fall into the trap of thinking they need a lot of.

Speaker 1 34:39

Small sweets or small rewards after every meal. That obviously is you know, I can't control it right. If it's, would it be okay if you stayed small after the meal Okay, so one thing I've noticed is And I'm sure a lot of people if they think about it, they'll notice as well.

Speaker 1 35:00

If you have a treat after lunch today, If you have a treat after lunch today, I'm pretty sure tomorrow after lunch you're going to be craving a sweet. And if you have it tomorrow after lunch, by the third day that craving is going to be a little bit strong. And if you have a sweet or a treat or whatever it is, every day at around the same time, or a month or two months. You're definitely going to be searching for that.

Speaker 2 35:33

Yeah, that's so true, and.

Speaker 1 35:35

I think the same thing happens in reverse. So if you're able to cut that out for three to four days, the fifth day is going to be easier. The first two, three days are going to be tough, absolutely. They're going to be tough because it's kind of like a reward system. You get this big shoot, big spike of your blood glucose. You know it's like a dopamine reward And you know it feels good. But then what eventually happens is you'll get that, that crash in the blood sugar as well. But you know, if you're having it, and especially if it's timed around the same time, it's just going to become a routine and a habit And it's about making a small change to that habit. So I think, rather than having a little Kit Kat, let's say every day with your you know afternoon coffee, go Monday to Friday without and, you know, have a nice you know dessert after you know on something that you know you'll feel that you're actually rewarding yourself for.

Speaker 2 36:36

Well, the chunky Kit Kat at the weekend, rather than the little measly pieces You know, have a you know, go out, get a nice.

Speaker 1 36:42

You know cake, you know crepe and something you know for sure. You know there's nothing wrong with it.

Speaker 2 36:48

Yeah, yeah, that's the thing, i think, the minute you start feeling that you, you know, this is no no go territory, you wanted more anyway.

Speaker 2 36:55

I mean it's done it time and time again, so it's great that we're allowed to have it. So how do you some strategies or ideas for staying motivated? So you've started with last, let's say, with whatever exercise program, and you know you've gotten your why now want to keep going with this? I want to see the results. I've seen some results, but I'm sorry, you know, some things have happened in life and I can't, you know, stay on as much. What are some things that I can do to remind myself to basically just keep going with this? because you say motivation doesn't last.

Speaker 1 37:26

Yeah. So I think the quicker you get it out of your head that you're going to rely on motivation, the better it's got It's got. You've got to put it as a priority as part of your day, and I like to use the example of brushing your teeth. I don't know anyone who, you know, enjoys brushing their teeth. I don't know anyone who looks forward to brushing their teeth. But you know you brush your teeth in the morning and the night and you do it for you know to, first of all, so you have clean teeth, your breath doesn't smell and that you don't have any problems needing to visit the dentist in two, three, four, five years, because if you don't brush your teeth tomorrow, you won't get a cavity straight away.

Speaker 1 38:12

It's the accumulation of time and it's similar with the training. So you've got to prioritize your training the moment you make the commitment and the moment you can say to yourself yes, i can do this for the next three to five years. It's a priority, like brushing your teeth. That's brilliant. And there might be times where you know you don't brush your teeth. Let's say you fall asleep, you know you wake up and you forget.

Speaker 1 38:35

I don't know something's happened, and there might be days as well where you know you you miss a training because something's come up, but what you just do is you just prioritize the next time that you're not going to miss it.

Speaker 2 38:48

Yeah, don't make that. Then you have it like the missing it, then you have it now.

Speaker 1 38:51

Exactly, yeah. So I think, make the commitment, understand that you're doing it, for you're investing in your own health, your own future. And yet I like the example of you know, comparing it to brushing your teeth.

Speaker 2 39:10

Yeah, that's brilliant. Actually, that's what's going to stick for me. And how important is sleep Just important in sleep, with this whole process, there's a lot of health benefits. Sleep and breathing, yeah.

Speaker 1 39:22

So sleep, i think, is the most important thing, The most important I always get people. One of the first questions I ask them is how they sleep, and I will prioritize their sleep quality well over how much they're training.

Speaker 2 39:47

Why.

Speaker 1 39:53

So I used to be able to. You know sleepless nights go out a couple of hours. Sleep, continue my day, train, no problem, Stay up late to do assignments. You know not sleep at all, that's fine. And you know you feel bad in the morning. You know you might have an extra coffee or something. You just keep going. I listened to this podcast about six years ago and then I read this book by Matthew Walker Why We Sleep, and that absolutely changed all my views on it.

Speaker 1 40:27

Really, and you know, matthew Walker, yeah the book's called Why We Sleep.

Speaker 2 40:32

I don't even know.

Speaker 1 40:32

Show notes yeah, why are we sleeping? Absolutely, absolutely Okay. And it just starts with the simple thing that, you know, every animal basically spends a third of their day asleep and there's no real scientific understanding why, apart from you know some recovery. And then there was something he said that there's I think there's one day a year where the number of heart attacks increase by about 25% worldwide.

Speaker 2 41:11

One day a year.

Speaker 1 41:12

There's one day and it's daylight savings when we lose an hour of sleep And that was like such a shock to me, thinking how can one hour of sleep have such a drastic effect? And it happens obviously more in people with health conditions and you know all the health-loving stuff.

Speaker 2 41:31

Yeah, not to make everyone worry now. Yeah, exactly, yeah, Yeah, yeah exactly.

Speaker 1 41:36

But if you think it can have that much, if one hour can have such a big change to people who are with you, know at high risk you know you need to start thinking about what are you doing day to day, because it definitely makes a difference And if I know someone's had a very poor sleep, if they've slept three or four hours and I push them hard in the training, that's not going to do them any benefit.

Speaker 1 42:02

Right no, it's just they're coming in under-recovered. They're not going to be able to push themselves to the limit that I'm asking for, so they're going to have to overreach a lot. It's going to make them more tired And if they, you know, again get another bad sleep, you know they're just falling into this trap. And there's a big link between you know, sleep, nutrition and training. They're key. I mean, they're the three pillars that you know people need to focus on. But I focus a lot more on training, but then I prioritize sleep even above nutrition.

Speaker 2 42:41

Above nutrition. that's all I think a lot of people can be surprised to hear that.

Speaker 1 42:45

Yeah, and you know we've been brought up thinking. you know you know sleep when you're dead and you know different stuff like this. But no, i think you have to prioritize And I know it's hard for people to get eight hours, but you know you have to prioritize. You know at least getting seven hours And it has to be consistent. And then you know there's a lot of on YouTube and podcasts and stuff. Now there's not a lot of neuroscientists like even the Hooberman Hooberman.

Speaker 2 43:16

I love it.

Speaker 1 43:18

Yeah, and he talks about the importance of, you know, waking up at the same time, getting sunlight in your eyes at the same time. Because we've got this circadian rhythm, we've got an actual body clock and the body clock is set to 24 hours And it resets every day when you wake up. So if you wake up every day at a certain time, let's say if you wake up every day at seven o'clock and you go to bed those three nights at I don't know 11 o'clock, by the fourth day you're probably gonna wake up at seven o'clock without an alarm. You're gonna start this routine. Your body knows And you see it a lot with small children.

Speaker 2 43:59

Yeah.

Speaker 1 44:00

You know, with the kids, you know, it's just that we've as we get older we snooze it away. We snooze it away, we completely destroy our habits and our routines. But if you see, with young kids, young kids you know if they don't sleep at the time that they need to sleep, or if they don't eat at the time that they need to eat you know, all hell breaks loose.

Speaker 1 44:22

Yes, That's so true, but it's the same with us. It's just that we've learned to maybe deal with it a little bit differently. But we need to remember that. You know, we are still like we're just bigger children. So then it comes to the effects on you know eating, and when you have a low, if you have a poor sleep at night, you're probably gonna wake up with higher cravings And you'll be craving higher calorie foods without even thinking about it. And I'll ask everyone who listens just remember the next time you have a really bad sleep, just try to note down the foods that you eat. You will probably grab an extra chocolate bar or something or take something extra to eat because you're craving this higher calorie foods. And it's got to do with your hormone levels of ghrelin and I forgot the other one. But yeah, matt Walker talks all about this And, like when I started hearing this, i was just thinking, wow, that's crazy.

Speaker 2 45:29

Also, rihanna Huffington started with this. She wrote Thrive with and a lot of focus on sleep being as one of the most important areas, but I'm glad. I was like a lot more researched now and a lot more you know information about it now. So cool. So, before we wrap up, i just wanted to ask you if people listening could just take away one thing from this whole conversation or make one small habit change. What would you like that one thing to be, if nothing else?

Physical Fitness and Longevity Importance

Speaker 1 46:03

Prioritize your health and fitness as early as possible. So I'll tell you a statistic that might be a bit shocking, but the single most effective intervention that you can do to improve your longevity is exercise, more than any drug, more than anything else that you can do. You can check all the studies, all the research. it is the single most effective thing. So it's the positive effects of being physically fit are stronger than the negative effects of smoking.

Speaker 2 46:50

Let's repeat that again The positive effects of being physically fit Yeah, stronger than negative. Outweigh the negative effects of smoking, of smoking.

Speaker 1 47:01

So if you're a smoker you're probably two to three times at higher risk of all cause mortality. So premature death from any cause cancer, heart attack, anything else, anything like that If you are in the top 2.5% of VO2 max what I mentioned before you reduce your risk of all cause mortality, any kind of premature death, by up to five times. So I'm not encouraging smoking in any way.

Speaker 2 47:38

No, I was gonna go buy cigarettes.

Speaker 1 47:40

No, i'm not encouraging smoking in any way, but someone who smokes but is extremely fit is probably gonna have a higher life expectancy than someone who does nothing at all. So and to get your VO2 max high, as I mentioned before, it declines by about 1% per decade after the age of about 40. So the quicker you start and the quicker you prioritize your health and fitness, the better off you're gonna be. And one little exercise that I've used before and I got it off. I don't know if you've heard of Peter Atea.

Speaker 2 48:31

No.

Speaker 1 48:32

He's recently released this book called Outlive, and it's amazing, this guy he really got me into the idea of longevity and training for longevity about five, six years ago as well. And he gives people this exercise where he tells them to imagine their last decade of life. Let's say it could be 80 to 90, 85 to 95, whatever. Choose 10 physical tasks that you want to be able to sustain within that last decade. So I'll ask you now just give me a few.

Speaker 2 49:10

Okay. so I wouldn't be able to get up and down from the like lift myself up and down from the floor. So sometimes, even now when I'm sitting on the floor, it's hard to get up. So that would be nice What else Unassisted. Unassisted. Yes, because 10, right. To be able to have.

Speaker 1 49:28

Give me three.

Speaker 2 49:29

Okay to be able to move and exercise without too many. No aches and pains right.

Speaker 1 49:34

To be flexible To move, let's say to move. to move how far, for how long?

Speaker 2 49:39

To be able to walk Like what I do now is I try and walk about 6,000 steps every second day, right.

Speaker 1 49:47

Okay.

Speaker 2 49:47

Maybe to keep that up and maybe better, even better than that Maybe with low standards.

Speaker 1 49:51

So 6,000 steps at the age of 85, let's say Yes, maybe more. Okay, good, good, okay, yeah.

Speaker 2 49:58

Yeah, to build that up a bit yeah.

Speaker 1 50:00

And let's say those 6,000 steps. You wanna do them in one go.

Speaker 2 50:05

Yeah, like in a walk session to be able to do that.

Speaker 1 50:09

So 6,000 steps. Let's say that will be how long? About 45 minutes of walking? let's say, yeah, yeah, okay, so at 85, you would wanna walk for 45 minutes nonstop.

Speaker 2 50:24

Without falling apart, yeah, good. And to be able to do some yoga, to be able to do yoga poses at that age.

Speaker 1 50:33

Good, okay. So like if you can kind of think about these things that you wanna be able to do in your later stages of life. It's good to be ambitious and stuff and have those challenges, but then you need to look at the reality. So if you're losing your physical fitness by 1% per year, you also lose muscle mass after the age of 40 by about 1% per year and muscle strength. And another big risk of people over the age of 65, if they have a fall, their risk of death is really high, even if they don't die the first.

Speaker 1 51:12

If someone breaks their hip, i think they have a life expectancy of about three to four years after breaking their hip. So And if you look at this stuff and you try to address it early on and you say you know what I want to do 6,000 steps when I'm 85, 90. I want to be able to walk for 45 minutes nonstop. You need to be physically fit to be doing much more than that now And you need to keep it up. You have to keep it up And you need to look at yourself And whatever it is that you're trying to implement into your training, be realistic and ask yourself can I do this for 3 to 5 years? Can I do this for 10 years? Can I do it for 20 years? You know when everything goes wrong, when you know having problems at work and this and that will I still prioritize training as I am brushing my teeth.

Speaker 2 52:11

Yeah, i found the best thing that has helped me because I also struggled start, stop exercise the whole time. But what's been sustained for the last year now is waking up early before the day starts and putting the work in 100% Like you said that brushing the teeth action, so that it just I'm not saying it happens every day, but there's at least a 5 times a week now consistency, And it's been the longest I've ever kept to anything.

Speaker 1 52:34

Yeah.

Speaker 2 52:35

So this is a, this is a plus in my eyes And I want to obviously keep that going, but it's putting it into the routine, like you said, where it's not something I eventually get to or when it's way to feel like it. I'm like it's. you know it's part of the routine, so yeah there's a lot to say for what you said. So final quote, or what motivates you or someone you admire, something you want to share about a quote like that?

Speaker 1 52:59

There was one I was discussing with one of my clients yesterday. We were talking about.

Prioritizing Fitness and Healthy Living

Speaker 1 53:04

It's a little bit off topic, but we were talking about athletes and training and, like the Netflix documentary of Michael Jordan, the Last Dance, which I absolutely love that And we're talking about, like, talent versus you know hard work, and I always used to believe that you know, the talented athlete always wins. And then I started to change and I started to think that you know the hard work wins. But then I think I'm at the point now where I don't know who said it was some famous quotes, i think it's basketball coach. He said What was it? again, it was hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. So like and you could, you can use this into just general fitness and healthy. I mean, you could be at this stage, you could be in the bottom 2.5% of health and fitness. And I just said that if you want to increase your longevity by five times, you know you need to be in the top 2.5%. Let's just say you don't have the talent, you're not there.

Speaker 2 54:14

Yeah, never been an athlete, never, you know, been in team sport, whatever, Exactly.

Speaker 1 54:19

But I mean, if you start working hard, if you put it in, if you prioritize your training and you start doing something about it, you know you're going to make those improvements. And the same thing of those people who feel that. You know, i was an athlete when I was young. I was fit. You know I used to be able to do that. It doesn't matter what you used to be able to do. What are you doing?

Speaker 2 54:40

now. That's a wonderful way to end. Thank you very much for your time and your insights and your brilliant, brilliant information.

Speaker 1 54:50

So it's been a pleasure. It was good. Thank you very much.