Integrating Fitness and Nutrition into a Busy Life

Speaker 1: 0:08

Welcome to Auto Care On Air, a candid podcast for a curious industry. I'm Jackie Lutz, Content Director at the Auto Care Association, and this is Carpool Conversations, where we collaborate on today's most relevant power skills. We are all headed in the same direction, so let's get there together. This episode covers how to have a healthy lifestyle amidst a very busy life and career. I am joined by my co-host, Jonathan Larson, Vice President of Standards and Digital Products at the Auto Care Association, and this episode was really his idea, so the guests were his to choose as well Jason Papillon with SPS Commerce and John Servini with Magnaflow. Both of these guests have a very impressive way to prioritize healthy diets and sufficient activity, and also the pursuit of mental strength and stability as well, while they are traveling for work and still maintaining very busy personal and family lives as well. So let's learn how they do it and what steps we can all take to work in a healthier lifestyle to our already busy schedules. Let's ride.

Speaker 1: 1:14

So we're talking about health today, and particularly how you remain healthy and live a healthy lifestyle while pursuing your career at a certain level. Right, and it's very difficult for a lot of people to do. It's all about habits. It's all about lifestyle, something we're not necessarily taught in school. So people tend to wait until they have problems right before they're like, oh, I need to prioritize my health. So that's kind of why this is a really interesting topic.

Speaker 1: 1:45

I think there's people all over the industry who some of them are like you guys who have prioritized their health. They're kind of in a good spot and they have good habits and they have all these great tips and tricks. And then there's people who maybe want to get more healthy and bring that into their lifestyle while still pursuing their career. So hopefully in this podcast we'll kind of get into some ideas on how people can get started if they're not started yet, and maybe some good ideas for people who do prioritize their health. Maybe there's some things that they're not thinking of. So, looking forward to your guys' thoughts on that.

Speaker 2: 2:17

Yeah definitely Anything from your guys' workspace. Do they promote doing some of these things for health, and is there anything specific you'd like to share, john? Is there anything that's going on in?

Speaker 4: 2:28

your workforce. Yeah, there's a lot going on. Actually. Magnaflow does a lot to support our health and wellness. So we have a couple things. We actually have a wellness coach on site where we're able to kind of meet one-on-one with her and she can give some nutrition advice, some breathing exercise techniques, all that kind of stuff to kind of help your mental well-being. And then we're actually running a 75 hard program right now at work. We've got about 20 people doing that here at Magnaflow. That's including our 80-year-old founder.

Speaker 1: 2:56

What is 75? Hard for those people that don't know.

Speaker 4: 2:58

So it's a mental toughness program and what it consists of is two 45-minute workouts a day. One of them has to be outdoors. They can't be back to back. You have to split them up, but a workout could be as simple as a walk. It's not like your weight training twice a day or anything like that and then you have to choose a diet and stick to a diet no alcohol, no cheat meals. You have to drink a gallon of water a day. You have to read 10 pages of a personal development book every day and you have to take a progress picture every single day so you can track your progress.

Speaker 1: 3:31

So is there competition? Does somebody win? Do you win something if you go through the whole thing?

Speaker 4: 3:37

You win by having stronger mental health and we're supporting each other. We want everybody to finish. Honestly, not everybody's going to finish. That's a lot to take on and try and manage with a professional career, but it's only 75 days. So you really, if you prioritize it, you can make it happen. But yeah, we're supporting each other. Everybody wants everybody to finish.

Speaker 1: 3:57

So how many people are doing it?

Speaker 4: 3:58

Roughly 20 or so. I think we've lost a couple already. We're on day like 21 right now. I think.

Speaker 1: 4:05

Okay, that's great.

Speaker 2: 4:07

So, John, he knows that I like a really good competition and I felt he sent me this list and I was like I don't know if I can do this. I could pick one of those things on the list and I might be able to do that.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Which one would you pick?

Speaker 2: 4:19

I really want to do the water, because I drink enough water a day, but I'm not measuring it from that perspective and actually working through that would be something that I would like to add. On the 10 pages, I listened to a lot of books. I feel like if I was going to do that portion of it, I didn't need to pick here's the three books or whatever that's going to be that you're going to pick up the 10 pages for each of them. So that would be that'd be my second one that I could. Probably. That one would be probably the easier one for me to do out of the whole list. But when he said an hour and a half of working out, I got three little ones. He, he has multiple little ones too, but I'm like, wow, I don't know if I can do an hour and a half. It might have to be with them if I was to do that.

Speaker 1: 4:57

Here's the thing for me I work out an hour and a half a day. That's not hard, but it's all at once, so I only have to get ready for the day once. I wouldn't want to do that twice.

Speaker 2: 5:06

Yeah, that's a good point, Because then you got to like start over. Take a shower again.

Speaker 3: 5:10

I think the challenge was when he started this out and he said 75 hard. I thought, okay, well, the workouts are probably hard and that's where it's coming from. But, holy cow, the list of things right Jason. It was like two workouts and I was good with that Water, I'm good with that, but then you started talking about reading 10 pages on top of that, you know. So the time commitment of your two workouts, plus reading your 10 pages, plus doing work, oh my gosh, and that's half your day already.

Speaker 4: 5:41

It's a lot, that's for sure, and it's funny, I think. Out of the 20 people that started, I think the hardest part has been the water. For most people, a gallon of water a day is very difficult, but your body adjusts really quick.

Speaker 3: 5:52

You'd be surprised, and then you have to account for all the times you're going to the restroom.

Speaker 1: 5:57

That goes away. Eventually it does go away.

Speaker 2: 6:00

About a week.

Speaker 1: 6:01

About a weekend?

Speaker 2: 6:02

huh, okay, yeah, so I was looking at it. Do you get the one big container? Do you get multiple smaller containers? Like, how do you tackle that portion of it? What do you do?

Speaker 4: 6:12

John. So what I have is I have a 34 ounce container, so I fill that up three times and then I fill it up to 26 ounces at the end and then that'll be my gallon. But there's a lot of people that have the full gallon jug that has the different times of the day on it that you're supposed to have the water down to.

Speaker 1: 6:27

I do what you do and I try to drink one during my workout and then I drink one before noon, one before five and then one in the evening. So if I can stick with that each day, then I get my gallon in.

Speaker 4: 6:40

I'm exactly like that. I wake up at 4.15 to work out on a work day. Wow, I have to get my 34 ounces down in my first workout and then I need my next 34 by 11 am, my next 34 by 3 pm, and then I save the 26 for my evening hike that I do.

Speaker 3: 6:56

So I used to do that and that's actually what I do now. I do that better now, but what I enjoyed the most, what was easier for me, was the big jug, Because visually I can just monitor how well I'm doing throughout the day and even if I'm getting deep in work and doing some work, I still can monitor that and maybe catch up when I'm falling behind or you know things like that.

Speaker 1: 7:20

Can you put things in the water? No, Like can you have electrolytes or something like that.

Speaker 4: 7:24

No, it's got to be plain, straight water.

Speaker 1: 7:26

I draw the line there 75 hard Well it's just one of mine has electrolytes in it, Like because I replaced my morning coffee with electrolytes. Yeah, so I don't know. It tastes so yummy. I don't know that I could let that go.

Speaker 4: 7:40

I start my day with eight ounces of salt and a squeeze of lemon in it, so that's kind of where.

Speaker 1: 7:45

I'm trying to get something, so like a natural natural way.

Speaker 2: 7:48

That's a good idea. So I do lemon and turmeric in the morning and it's it's half just room temperature water, and then I pour in a hot water on top of that so that it actually mixes the turmeric in Cause, if you don't, it just kind of sits on the top there, so it's a, and turmeric makes everything orange. It just kind of sits on the top there, so it's a, and turmeric makes everything orange, which is just like auto care.

Speaker 1: 8:06

Yeah Well, what's the hardest? What's the hardest one? What's the most challenging part of hard 75?

Speaker 4: 8:12

I mean honestly, for me it's, it's the diet, because I'm trying to put on weight.

Speaker 4: 8:21

So I'm eating 3,500 calories a day, which is a lot of food. That sounds like fun. It's fun at first, but when you try to balance it and get the right macros and all that stuff, it's a lot of work to plan that out, especially when you're traveling. So thankfully it's like the way I do. It is I'm using an app and it tracks for like eight days and then you check in like every eighth day, so it's not like you have to hit perfect every day. You have to be prepared for that, because if you just go through the day not knowing what you're going to eat for dinner and then all of a sudden you're at the cupboards trying to scrape stuff together, so do you recommend somebody who maybe doesn't have good habits today?

Speaker 1: 8:57

they don't have the lifestyle that they want should they jump right into hard?

Speaker 4: 9:06

75, or do you think that's a bit 100%? It is like a bootcamp and it will straighten you out really quick, but you have to want to do it. If you don't want to do it, you're not going to complete the challenge. So it's really something you've got to commit to yourself and it's all upstairs, it's all in your head. If you want to finish it, you're going to finish it.

Speaker 1: 9:19

So, but then, after this, after the 75 days, what's the recommendation? Do you keep those habits if you can or want to?

Speaker 4: 9:27

I mean you can for sure, but it's a lot. So to me I think some of the stuff's naturally going to fall off a little bit. But as far as like creating newer habits and stuff that aren't quite that extreme, I mean that's what it is. There is additional phases, past 75 hard, but I've never gone down that path before. But the first time I did it I didn't keep doing the exact program but I definitely made a lot of changes. That stuck with me and they're still with me today.

Speaker 1: 9:53

Okay, Interesting. So that's one way have your company introduced 75 hard.

Speaker 3: 10:00

I feel like you'd have to have good support too.

Speaker 2: 10:03

Right To really to really do it. 20 people working together from that perspective, so that's intense.

Speaker 4: 10:08

Yeah, and I think to Jason's point here, the biggest support you need is from your spouse. So my wife's actually doing it with us. But that's really important because it does take a lot of time and organization and it you're not into it and not understanding why you're doing it, it could get. It could get a bit of a a pain to deal with.

Speaker 2: 10:26

So I can imagine, yeah, so we're on site right now and for me, continuing health related things, uh, being being at a work event is hard for me from that perspective and it could it could be a challenge, cause I'm like that's not in my habits, that I'm working on at home. No problem from that perspective, jason, do you have any anything related to that? As like, is it easier for you to when you're going on a trip or is it? Is it harder for you to to get in the groove of working out?

Speaker 3: 10:53

Yeah, I think. Well, one thing that stood out to me there, jonathan, was that you're working on habits, and that's that's a good point, right. Having something that you are aligning your objectives to on a daily basis matters maybe equally as much as having support, and so, for me, if I'm traveling, I actually end up working out more when I'm traveling, and I think the reason is yeah, I think the reason for that is I don't have the other life distractions that I get when I'm at home, and and I mean, you know me, I have a big family, I have a lot of people, and all those people every day require something in some form. Sometimes two or three of them are requiring things from me for something right.

Speaker 1: 11:40

Just for some context. What's what's at home for you? Do you have kids at home? Just?

Speaker 3: 11:43

for some context. What's at home for you, Do you have?

Speaker 1: 11:46

kids at home.

Speaker 3: 12:00

Well, that's a larger question.

Speaker 1: 12:00

The answer is I have, yes, I have one at home. I have one that came back for now for a little while, and I have, let's see, six others now that are out of the house.

Speaker 3: 12:04

So older kids, more independent kids. So older kids, more independent kids. No-transcript. I'll hit the gym. I get up extra early like no problem at all. I'll hit the gym and I start my day off feeling great. But it just doesn't work for me when I'm at home to do that.

Speaker 2: 12:55

Do you have a home gym?

Speaker 3: 12:57

I do, yeah, yeah, in fact, that's one of the best things that I did. So when my son got out of Marines and was working towards getting a Navy SEAL contract, that was one of the things that I was trying to help him do is have facilities to work out, and so I put in a lot of things in a home gym, and the byproduct of that is now I just keep to continue using it and it's worked out really well for me.

Speaker 2: 13:25

It's it makes it so easy to have it accessible for me when I have time to do it, but you just don't want to do it first thing in the morning when you're at home.

Speaker 3: 13:33

I just don't want to do it first thing in the morning.

Speaker 2: 13:35

Do you want me to text you?

Speaker 3: 13:36

Yeah, I don't think that would help either. Facetime him yeah, I gotta be awake and energized, you know, and so, in fact, what I've here's another take on that what I find, I, you know, invigorating about working out is the amount of energy I get as soon as I start working out. That sustains me for at least two hours after I work out. And and it's it's been even more now that I'm older I notice it more. In fact, I even had this interesting story.

Speaker 3: 14:09

So I was working out a couple of months ago and I was lifting weights and doing I had a great workout, felt great, you know, and I was like, wow, this really feels good. And I got done and we went to dinner and was sitting down eating or something, and my watch went off, telling me that my heart rate was unusually high. Well, I have a extremely low heart rate and because I work out often, and so for it to tell me my heart rate was abnormally high, I was kind of shocked about that, right? So a few weeks later I was at the doctor, I was telling the doctor about that and he's like yeah, yeah, it sounds like you got a rush of adrenaline, and that's from working out, and that's what watch starts going off and I'm like what the oh?

Speaker 3: 15:06

I was so pumped up about doing this presentation. I got this shot of adrenaline and it was my watch was going off, telling me I was abnormally high. So it reminded me of the benefits that you get when you work out and why I get so excited and feel so good when I'm doing it. It's because of that, the byproduct of working out.

Speaker 1: 15:25

I do not get energy from working out what. I want to speak for the other people out there Because you know, especially when you I think people that start working out when they didn't it wears you out, it makes you tired. It's not like it doesn't give you that rush yet. Maybe you have to get to a certain point. But you know, I've worked out my whole life and I never feel like it gives me energy. It makes me tired. If anything, I'm burning a bunch of energy.

Speaker 3: 15:48

Could be Recovering. You're recovering.

Speaker 1: 15:50

Maybe, maybe it just isn't that way for everybody. I don't know.

Speaker 2: 15:53

I get a bolt a jolt, if you will of energy when I do it, so I'm like, ok, this, this makes sense for me. Well, I'm jealous. I have to do it in the morning, though, because I've tried in the evening, and I can come up with a thousand excuses of like, I don't have to do it today. Tomorrow is another day, I can go work out, but that whole, if I do it first thing in the morning, it's in that morning routine. I consider that that's my time, and if I can get it in that time period, it gets done.

Speaker 4: 16:24

On the bolt of energy topic. It's something that I've noticed is I have like an hour-long commute most days a week and when I'm driving home I'm usually starting to get like wore out, tired, feeling like, okay, the day's done. When I go home and I don't stop and do my hike, like I kind of get home and I'm no energy, kind of not able to interact with the kids the way I want, but when I stop and I do my 45 minute hike, it gives me that energy for the rest of the day till the kids go to bed, and it's a huge difference for me.

Speaker 1: 16:52

Do you bring your kids on your hike?

Speaker 4: 16:54

Not typically during the week, but sometimes on the weekend. Yeah, they're still a little young, but my eight year old can keep up.

Speaker 1: 17:00

How old are your kids?

Speaker 4: 17:01

Eight, how old are your kids? Eight, six and three.

Speaker 1: 17:03

Okay, yeah, I'm just wondering if people can kind of kill two birds with one stone, if you will. Yeah, Because you know people don't want to give up that kid time either in their evenings. So if you want to try to fit it in, try to get your kids involved. I know we would love to do that. My kids are two and three, so they're a little young for that.

Speaker 4: 17:19

Yeah too. So we get to kind of go out there on the soccer field a couple days a week and do practice and all that kind of stuff too. So that works out really well. Then you count that as your workout Depends. If I do it 45 minutes straight, I will yes.

Speaker 3: 17:34

Okay, but the point you're bringing up both of you are finding ways to get those extra cycles in and things that you're doing, cycles in and things that you're doing. So one thing that I just thought about when you're saying that is that I often do that as well, that I don't count it anymore because I've just been doing it for so long. But some simple things. Like my neighbors look at me, they're probably thinking what this guy's doing, but like when I'm cutting my grass, so I'll work out, and then I forget about the fact that I've just banked exercise right, my watch is recorded, but I banked exercise. And I've just banked exercise, right, my watch is recorded, but I banked exercise. And now I've got things to do and those things I start to think about ways that I'm incorporating extra cycles in there. So I cut my grass.

Speaker 2: 18:16

Now you walk behind the mower, right, yeah, and I walk behind the mower.

Speaker 3: 18:20

Yeah, I don't ride.

Speaker 2: 18:21

I walk behind the mower.

Speaker 3: 18:23

But to make it even more, I put a weighted vest on when I cut the grass, really, yeah. And so my neighbors are probably looking at me like what is this guy doing? But it matters, man, those little things that you can do to add a little extra matter, and so I try to find those little extra things that I can put in there.

Speaker 2: 18:40

I have two hills with lawn mowing, so I feel like I'm good from walking behind it Well, you can like put a little bit of weight in it. I like it. We can start off low and move up. Yeah that'd be a good idea.

Speaker 1: 18:52

Which brings up, though. I know that walking is one of the best exercises that you can do, just moving, especially after meals.

Speaker 1: 19:19

If you can, just instead of going, you know, eating your meal and then going back and sitting at your computer and working out later, little half mile loop, really quick, out front, right after I eat, just to get your body moving, just from sitting all day so yeah, that might be a misconception that like you have to do these crazy intense workouts, you know, and like maybe that's something that's intimidating to people, but you know, it really can be something as simple as walking the stairs instead of the elevators and things like that throughout your day and just make small, a lot of better, small decisions that can add up.

Speaker 3: 19:48

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 19:49

You know a good example of that.

Speaker 3: 19:52

The amount of steps that you can get in in just two miles matters, and I kind of I know this because I'll do a workout, I'll maybe run a couple of miles or something and, um, my wife's cousin, who lives in close to us, likes the frisbee golf, disc golf, so he's always coming over trying to get me to go with him and, and most often, even if I don't want to go, I end up going, because 18 holes of disc golf is a little over two miles of walking and you don't even notice it. So in my head I'm thinking okay, yeah, I'll go do that and I'll bank in even more of a workout in this day and I'll enjoy doing something with somebody else that you know wants to do this, and it's those little ways that you get to share some time. So, like taking your kids to disc golf is a good way of doing something like that or other activities that require you to walk that you may not have thought about is actually, you know, getting you good exercise and movement.

Speaker 1: 20:56

See, that's often the excuse I give myself too, when I'm at conferences and like events like this or Apex, where you're walking all day long, do I need to do another workout? You know, these are the type of excuses that will come into my head, like do I need to fit in something else? But it sounds like you guys are more like that. That wouldn't count.

Speaker 4: 21:14

I mean it's tough. I think it definitely counts kind of for getting your steps in and it's good for you, but a gym session or two during Apex week would probably not be a bad idea. Oh, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 3: 21:26

Well, I can tell you this, mine have gotten longer, and I don't know if it's because I'm enjoying myself when I'm doing it. So I'm taking my time more as I do the cycles, or as I've gotten older, I'm just taking longer to do the cycles, but they have gotten longer. So my gym sessions will go anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours, and that's a good, enjoyable gym session for me. If I have to do it in an hour, I'm not going to enjoy it as much because either I'm rushing through what my workouts and or I'm not doing enough cycles in my workouts. But an hour and a half to two hours I have enough diversity in my workout that, um, that I felt like I'm getting a lot of of a good workout in Um, and that's that's a combination of a good workout. For me would be a combination of low cardio to start and then, um, a series of uh, high impact weights that I'll do for whatever section I'm working on for that day upper body or lower body or core or whatever it's going to be and so that's kind of what the combination looks like for me generally, and I always try to get cardio in that for two reasons. One because it'll get your blood circulating and loosen up your muscles before you start doing any other heavy lifting or weight training or movements even movements.

Speaker 3: 22:58

And then, once I'm done, I try to get a session and doing some stretching of some type afterwards. Few years ago when I was coaching baseball, uh, there were some studies that came out that were suggesting that it's better to stretch after you work out. So most people like to get started with workout and they start stretching and things like that before they get going. So I don't pull something. And this study came out and said it's better for you to do a warm-up and then stretch than it would be for you to start stretching before you do it, because you want to get blood flow to those muscles, for pliability, to loosen those muscles up before you start to pull on them and stretch them. So I try to always do a stretch after I'm done. Doesn't always work, depending on how much time I have.

Speaker 4: 23:43

Yeah, I would say my gym sessions. So I too have a home gym. I have a machine called a tonal I don't know if anybody's familiar with that, but it's really cool Like personal trainer almost. So I would say. I concentrate a lot on strength and mobility, um, making sure that I can stay limber and keep moving and all that, not just putting on the muscle, and then I focus on like a specific body region every day. You know, one day it'll be the arms day, then it'll still be the chest day, shoulders, legs, all that and kind of keep moving through there. But I think mobility has become like a bigger part of my routine than what it was at first, just because I noticed that I felt like I was kind of getting stiffer as I put on more muscle and I didn't want to lose my mobility.

Speaker 1: 24:22

Yeah, that's good, Because I wonder if, like like me, I have a Peloton and I'll usually start on that for similar reasons as you, Jason, like it just warms you up, you know. But the rest of my gym equipment is really one set of adjustable dumbbells that I can do heavies and I can do. I have another one that's like light, so I guess two sets technically. But it doesn't really take a lot of equipment to be able to do those kinds of things at home, Like people might think.

Speaker 3: 24:50

And when I first started out working out at home, that's really all I had I treadmill and some dumbbells and I could. I'd strung together several different cycles and you know, in each workout that was just centered around that. There's a lot that you can do. Um, that just reinforces some of the basic movements for strength, just with that, and that's all you would need, it wasn't. It wasn't until I actually started lifting a lot heavier weight and and I actually have went a few many years ago not many, but it's probably been about seven years ago um, I decided I needed to change my thinking on my workouts and freshen it up a bit. So I got a trainer and I said, hey, this is my goal, these are my goals, and and they were all stretch goals and I said so, let's see what we can do. I want you to work with me, teach me what you know and help me see how far I can get to these goals. And I learned a lot that I wasn't thinking about that If I didn't have this trainer, I would have kept doing my same bad habits, but having this trainer, he was able to point out several things that I could shift or adjust in my workouts to make them better for me.

Speaker 3: 26:07

To make them better for me Good example I would get tendonitis in a joint and we'd switch the workout to do more lighter reps of band work. And those aren't things I would have normally just interjected into my workout. Now they're in my every workout, every workout I do. I have band work that I do in my workouts now and it does matter. Those things, little things that can help generate blood flow to your joints to help those joints, reinforce the tendons in your joints right or do work around reinforcing the tendons in your joints. Those things matter as you get older and you continue on to work out so you don't hurt or get hurt or, you know, have aches and pains while you're working out and restrict you from wanting to do it.

Speaker 4: 26:53

I think to build on that a little bit too. I do think routine's important right Like to make sure that you're doing all the same stuff, but you don't want to get into too much of a routine and always do the same moves over and over again for the next year or whatever it may be. It is important to vary your workouts and make sure that you're switching it up from time to time. It keeps it fresh, keeps you interested, and it also lets different regions of your body rest and other ones get worked.

Speaker 2: 27:19

Yeah, so I also used a trainer for probably at least four years and with using that trainer, just like the two of you just said, is that changed up the routine, because I basically went in there and one of my things that I said is I don't want to do the same thing every week and can we change that up? Can we make something new? And the other portion of it is I didn't know how to do any of this starting off, so they started me right off and I'd have to say that even the first couple weeks or sessions that we went through, I did not feel good. I didn't get that high from that. My wife she basically like, are you okay? And so did the trainer at some points it's like how about you just go sit over there?

Speaker 2: 28:01

But as you continue to build that up and you could definitely tell when I would go on a work trip and then come back and try to do the same things that I was just doing maybe a week or two weeks ago. I couldn't do that because you could see just that difference in that time period. And you were talking about apex. I was using apex as my gauge If I can just walk around apex and I feel good. And you get to the last day and you're still feeling okay. I had one year that was like that and it was like, wow, um, this working out really has helped improve where I'm at. And you can see the other people that they're like is this done yet? So like, because they're like I just need to sit down, I need to go somewhere and I'm like let's do one more day, um, and, and from that perspective, so it can be um, so that's good.

Speaker 1: 28:47

So yeah, I definitely need to have somebody helping you out and coaching as well. It really does help nutrition and specifically like what maybe your daily routines are. But also, how do you not veer too far off when you're at events like Auto Care Connect, where you're kind of fed right and you kind of get what's on your plate or you can go get your own food. So what do you guys do?

Speaker 3: 29:24

Yeah, for me, I think nutrition is one of those areas that is always evolving. For me, it's kind of changing for the same reasons that my workouts change. I don't like to get stuck in the same routine of eating the same things or thinking about it the same way, so I'm constantly thinking about how to approach it differently, differently. Where I've found, in my mind, to be the most successful is to break it down in its simplest form is sugar is horrible for you. So think about all the things that have sugar in it and slowly reserve your times that you're going to indulge in those things. So those would be things like alcohol and and, and and.

Speaker 3: 30:11

When I'm saying sugar, there are good sugars, there are bad sugars. Yeah, I get that, but the simplest form of thinking through it is sugar is bad for you. So be thinking about that when you indulge. And that means you can indulge in alcohol, but maybe don't overindulge in it and maybe not every day, right? Because if you do, that's going to add up, that's going to take away the objective that you're trying to reach. But things like bread, for example bread's good for you. Bread has sugar in it and I love bread.

Speaker 5: 30:48

Oh, I know.

Speaker 3: 30:49

I get caught up in it all the time, right, and that doesn't mean don't eat it. That just means be aware of the fact that all of these things are going to add into your nutrition cycle. That is going to take away the objectives that you're trying to go after.

Speaker 1: 31:06

So why is sugar bad for you?

Speaker 3: 31:08

Well, your body can only break down so much of the caloric intake that sugar creates and your body can only manage so much of it.

Speaker 3: 31:17

And when it can't manage the pieces that it doesn't manage, it goes to waste and that goes to gets converted into fat.

Speaker 3: 31:26

So you can either continue to work and try to process that out of your blood and there's other dynamics associated with that too, like working out only burns the things that are in your bloodstream and then you go and eat and you put things right back into your bloodstream.

Speaker 3: 31:43

So that's where the whole caloric intake and then counting your calories comes into effect, because you're trying to restrict what you're putting in in number of calories with what you're going to burn when you do your workout. And if you haven't noticed, when you work out and you're doing calorie counting right and the machine's telling you how many calories you've burned, that's minuscule compared to the amount of calories you take in when you're eating something, compared to the amount of calories you take in when you're eating something. So to the earlier points about being able to do longer workouts or having active workouts to you know, to continue your health, it matters because you're burning these calories out of your bloodstream. But then the second part to that is being very cognizant about what type of calories you're going to put in when you do eat, and that's where the nutrition is important.

Speaker 1: 32:35

I did receive some really good advice once and it was that because you know you don't realize how hard it is to burn calories and how easy it is to eat them, right, Like you can take one bite of food and basically just take off that 30 minutes you just did right. So you have to be really cognizant of what you put in your mouth. But if you do your workouts like, say, you do more strength training, which is more like building muscle which actually burns more calories after you're working out, so like, if you start bringing more strength training into your day, it does more than just burn the calories, right, it's also building muscle which is going to burn more calories long term, even at a resting state, and then also continue to burn more calories after your workout for an hour or two. So something for people to think about. If you want to take advantage of, say, you only have 30 minutes a day, maybe you do strength training.

Speaker 3: 33:25

There was a point in my workouts that when I was at my best, I felt my best where I noticed that switch kicked in and it took me a while to get there. But what it was was a combination of all three Combination of nutrition, of cardio and weight training consistently. And when I did that consistently it took about six weeks, if I remember right. I did that consistently for about six weeks and then almost immediately I noticed a switch in my metabolism and my ability to change what I was eating and it not really impact me as much. But I had to continue that cycle. It was like getting the flywheel rolling and once I got it rolling it was going to continue to keep going that way as long as I continued that cycle. But I could adjust my nutrition without the side effects of what I would have had before.

Speaker 4: 34:25

Yeah, and I think it is challenging to eat healthy when you're on the road, when you're at an event like Auto Care, connect or whatever it may be where you're not given options. A lot of times. The way I try and do it, though, is I try and be smart about what I do with the options, and when given the healthy option, you need to go with the healthy option. But the part that a lot of people struggle with and it's been a weakness of mine in the past is the dessert phase. Right, because it's like they'll come out and there's unlimited dessert. You want three pieces of cake, you can have three pieces of cake, so that's something where I really like push myself at these types of events, like Jason's saying cut the sugar, don't go with the desserts, prioritize the protein. That's kind of where I go, and everything usually works from there.

Speaker 4: 35:09

I also try and like make it a point start my day off right. Get a good breakfast. Maybe not the breakfast that's being served at the conference. Find myself a good breakfast with a lot of protein to get the day kick-started.

Speaker 2: 35:21

That's great advice.

Speaker 3: 35:22

Yeah, that's a good point. Breakfast is a good point. People tend to get in this mindset of cutting back on meals or reducing what they're eating and, instead of switching it up a little bit around, being more aware of what you're eating and when you're eating it and breakfast is a good point. Breakfast can help you kickstart your day and get you to even burn calories if you're eating the right things to fuel your body.

Speaker 2: 35:50

So today, I think it's day three. We've been eating up here at the hotel and I think that the omelet guy now knows me as like hey, vegetable omelet guy, that's me vegetable omelet guy. So I'll get two, I'll get one for my wife and one for myself and I'll put some cheese on mine here and uh, it's, it's been a good, good feature from that perspective and uh, but he, he knows me as like vegetable omelet guy. So I'm like, okay, at least I have a, I have a shtick if I will so it's a there you go worst things to be known as that's true, you've been called

Speaker 1: 36:20

worse I'm sure probably today I do think that it's very um, it's getting more and more common to hear the advice to like our regular advice as far as like how much protein you should get is changing. I don't know like or maybe it's always been that, but I've always been told you know like 20, 30 grams of protein a day. But now I'm told you're supposed to have as much, like basically your goal weight in grams, right, which is a ton of protein. So like if you're not eating protein at every single meal, to me I'm like you're wasting that meal, it's wasted calories and you need to like just pump your body with as much protein as you can. And like you'll get the other stuff kind of naturally with a meal. But like if you focus on trying to get protein heavy meals, you'll kind of hit that goal a little bit easier.

Speaker 4: 37:11

Yeah, I think that's a really good point, something that I've learned about myself here in the last couple of weeks, tracking everything that I eat. I wasn't eating enough carbs. I actually had to ramp up my carbs and carbs give you the energy that you need. So I've noticed a difference in my energy level from getting more carbs. So I think it is important, like you've got, to eat a balanced meal, like you really got to look at it. You don't want to go too heavy in protein or too heavy in carbs or too heavy in fat. You need a good balanced meal for all three meals to make sure that you hit your totals for the day. I think a lot of people would surprise themselves if they actually track for a day or two of maybe how unbalanced they actually are.

Speaker 3: 37:48

I think the challenge with that, too, is it's not one thing, right, you can't focus on, like that's very important, that balanced meal, that's important, but you also have to consider that changes or needs to be adjusted based on your activity level. Like, what else are you doing? Are you working out intensely? Then, yeah, you might need to make some adjustments in in how that balance nutrition looks. So you can't just pick one way and just do that and only do that, and then don't do a workout and be like, well, I just changed my nutrition and nothing's happening. Right, it's a combination of all of these things in balance that that helps you get there.

Speaker 4: 38:32

You guys ever seen the office episode where they're running the marathon and Michael's doing the carb load and he decides to eat all the Alfredo? Right, or he does the run?

Speaker 1: 38:40

Don't do that. It's a good life lesson.

Speaker 5: 38:43

Hi, I'm Ted Hughes, executive Director of AWDA and Senior Director of Community Engagement for the Auto Care Association. We provide our members with numerous avenues for connection and collaboration through our diverse range of committees and communities. Whether you're interested in advancing your career through the Women in Auto Care program or our vibrant Under 40 group, or simply wish to network and glean insights from fellow distributors, shops and manufacturers, we have dedicated committees and communities eager to connect with you. Learn more at autocareorg slash communities.

Speaker 1: 39:18

Can I throw you guys a curveball? So we talked about exercise, right, that's a big part of health. We talked about nutrition. So what about mental health? And I know you know, with doing 75 hard, that's kind of a huge part of it, right, the reading and things like that.

Speaker 4: 39:34

For sure. I think mental health is a it's kind of one of my whys. You know, one of the reasons that I do this is it's to keep my my head straight. I did notice like when I was younger I played a lot of sports and then I got a job and I stopped being so active. Then I had three kids, stopped being active and it started to weigh on me a little bit. I started to get a little bit of anxiety going on and what fixed it was exercise, strength training in particular. It really helps get rid of the brain fog that you get and helps you think clearly. So I really think exercise is huge for your mental health.

Speaker 1: 40:10

That's a good point.

Speaker 3: 40:11

Yeah, I think mental health is always a challenge generally in life, right, we constantly get hit with emotional issues that we have to deal with. In some multiple phases of our life that happens and it's hard to not get bogged down into that. What we're dealing with at the time, that emotional energy that we need to use to manage through it and to think about there's ways to kind of switch that light into a different direction so that you can make your way through it, depending on how intense it is at the time and what you're dealing with. Make your way through it, depending on how intense it is at the time and what you're dealing with.

Speaker 3: 40:54

Some of the best things that I did early on, what I I noticed this early on, like I'll be working away on an intense problem and just struggling to solve it and and I'll have a buddy that says dude, look, let's, let's go for a run. Man, we're missing our daily run, let's go for a run. I'm like I don't have time for a run. No, come on, and you got 30 minutes, let's go for a run. And we'll go for a run. And I can't tell you how many times this has happened in my life. We'll go for a run and I'll solve that problem. While I'm running On the run, yeah, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I know what to do and I get back and I'm done, I sit down you've let it go yeah.

Speaker 3: 41:28

And it changes the perspective, it opens your thinking. I mean it does all this stuff to just help you move through that, that that bogged down weighted area that you're in. And so so you know, I think when you you know it's a great way to to get to the point where you can support your brain thinking in a positive way. Now, getting there that barrier of saying, hey, let's go for a run and you not denying it, that's the hard part. Once you get going with it, then you're okay. But man, that first part's always really hard.

Speaker 1: 42:07

Yeah, and there's probably something too about. Maybe it gives you more confidence, like even in a business setting right, like if you just did something really hard that morning, a really hard workout, accomplish something, hit a goal. I don't know, fill in the blank If that gives you confidence in other areas of your life or, you know, teaches you other skills. You know, maybe there's something around sticking to it. You know, if something's hard, like even if it's a mental thing, are you more likely to stick with it if you do it physically?

Speaker 4: 42:36

I definitely would say I have more confidence when I'm on a workout routine than when I'm falling off my workout routine. It carries into my daily life, my work life, a hundred percent yeah.

Speaker 3: 42:46

I agree with that too. In fact, I just had this conversation with myself about this Like, well, like just now yeah no no, this has been ongoing.

Speaker 3: 42:56

This is what it sounded like. You know, dude, like you know, you feel better when you're like lifting weight and you're like meeting that challenge. Even think about those times when you were like really deep into these challenging things at work and you would take a break and go work out and you were consistently doing that. Think about how much better it was when you were dealing with those challenging things. That's the conversation I was having with myself. Fair enough, I'm still having it too, by the way, right now, because I haven't convinced myself to really get going at that same level like I used to. So that's why we have an ongoing conversation.

Speaker 1: 43:29

It's a good conversation eat awful the whole day, or does it just throw you off? Like I'm a super routine person, like I I every part of my day. I kind of that's just how I get it all done my water, my nutrition, like everything. And if something gets thrown off in the morning, I'm not good at getting back on track. I'm just kind of like, well, that's off. So now, like it's kind of like there's wires loose in my brain and a lot of sparks are flying, you know, and I, just I don't get back on track. Do you guys find that?

Speaker 4: 44:01

100%. I'm very similar to you in that aspect. I am very much a routine person. If my routine gets thrown off in the morning it usually affects my whole day. But that is one of the challenging parts about 75 hard is you can't let it throw off the rest of your day because you have to complete those other tasks. So that is something that has definitely been challenging for me is when my day gets thrown off, I've got to get it back on track.

Speaker 1: 44:23

Yeah, I'm curious how this week goes for you being at Connect this week, because that's like I kind of give myself a break when I travel and I shouldn't, but I'm like it's just not my routine. I don't know, like you never know, where's the restaurant, when are you going to be able to get to the gym you just never know and so your your routine.

Speaker 2: 44:39

If you're a routine person traveling, it is very, very difficult to stay on track I like to add a lot of buffer into my time so that I I can handle those other things and I also do the I'm on.

Speaker 2: 44:50

I can't say I'm on vacation because I'm still working, but like I'm awake, I'm away from from my regular routine and and and people want to talk and they want to be able to do stuff, and maybe I need to ask them hey, you want to go to the gym, so, and that's an opportunity. From that perspective, that's a great idea.

Speaker 3: 45:08

I think you know, creating concessions that's what happens to me is that if I have a goal for that day and I miss it, then I'm more likely to create concessions the rest of the day. But creating concessions isn't a bad thing If you have a limit to those, and you know the limit If you give yourself a buffer and you'd be like okay, I can do at least this and I'm okay, but if I go beyond that, then that's not okay anymore.

Speaker 3: 45:37

Well then, if you need to have a concession, you can do that within that, whatever that buffer is, Except you used up all your concessions.

Speaker 2: 45:44

Jonathan, I hear what you're saying, but, yes, I have used all my concessions.

Speaker 4: 45:49

Let's chat tomorrow morning on a jog right Fantastic.

Speaker 1: 45:51

So are you guys part of the 5 am club that I always hear so much about? That I am not a member of, like all the people at conferences like this that show up at the gym at 5 am.

Speaker 3: 46:01

Yeah, no, I'm a part of the 6 a 615 club. Ok, I plan to go at 6 and I end up getting there at 615.

Speaker 1: 46:08

Do you look at the other people in the gym in the morning like differently, like if you see someone you've never seen in the gym before and you're like, oh, good for them. You like think of them a little bit differently.

Speaker 3: 46:16

I don't really. What I notice in the gym is the number of people. So if I walk in and there's a lot of people, I'm usually like, whoa, wait a minute, this is active. But if I walk in and there's a few people, then I'm like, oh yeah, this is what I expected.

Speaker 4: 46:35

But I don't really notice the people, just the numbers of people. I think it's interesting too, because if you go to Apex and morning one at the gym it's pretty crowded, morning two it's a little thinner and it thins out throughout the week, so it's not necessarily day one that everybody think you could sell premium parking spots at the gym in that January time, just so that you can get in there.

Speaker 2: 46:51

New year, new me, that's right.

Speaker 1: 47:05

So if you guys each had to go around, let's go around. Let's do a round robin. One takeaway for a listener like to do something to develop a better habit in regards to health, whether it's physical, nutrition, mental. What is the most important takeaway that we think they should have?

Speaker 4: 47:25

I can go first. I think the most important thing, honestly, is you've got to find your motivation. You've got to find your why. Why do you want to be healthy? Who are you being healthy for? What can you do with your health? And I really think it all starts there. Once you know why you need to do it, you can kind of hold yourself accountable and you're doing it for a reason, or for someone else, or for yourself, or whatever it may be. In my particular case, I'm doing it for my three kids, I'm doing it for my wife, I'm doing it for myself, my own mental health and it's easy to motivate yourself when you know why you're doing. I would say that's probably my biggest takeaway and my biggest recommendation.

Speaker 1: 48:05

That's a good one.

Speaker 3: 48:05

Yeah, I think mine is make time. And and going back to that, as I was telling you guys earlier about, my family hears me saying this often, and it's usually in the context of how do you just find time to work out. I mean like, how do you just do that? And I'm like, well, because I make time in my day. It's, it's like a slot that I have in my day that has to be consumed, right, I don't just go through my day and and that becomes an afterthought. I'm, I have it planned somewhere in my day. I just need to execute on it.

Speaker 3: 48:42

It might not be the beginning of my day, might not be at the end of the day, but it's going to happen somewhere and it's one of the things that's on my task list that I have to do. So you have to make time. If you don't make time for it, if it doesn't become a thing that you're going to get focus and energy around, then you're not going to sustain it. It's just going to happen, and you're not the next day, it's not going to happen. So you have to give it something. Make time.

Speaker 1: 49:06

So I think some of the best advice that I've ever gotten was the routine thing, because if I, if I leave myself to my own devices each day, there's just too many excuses. There's too many things that happen where, like I, just don't hit the goals I have in the various health areas of my life. So I think if people can really even if they work with a trainer or a nutritionist one time and get a routine down and just get really good at following that routine and let yourself coast a little bit as long as you're following that routine, that's a really good way to get started, especially if you don't have a lot of knowledge around it. Just sticking to a routine kind of carries you, I think.

Speaker 2: 49:49

So building habits. I like where the 75 heart is going, I like being able to go to the gym, but if I can stack habits so I can do multiple things from that perspective. So I listen to a lot of books and I then I will do the dishes. So my wife appreciates that we have a clean kitchen then and I don't mind the clean kitchen either, I will tell you that but then also listening to a book from that perspective, so it takes takes care of that. If I can do that with the exercise or with health as well, from cooking or something. That's what I'm trying to do. So stack those habits and work together and see what you can do to double or triple your output from that perspective.

Speaker 4: 50:28

That's a good one too. Jonathan. You sound really interested in 75 Heart. Hey, john, how's it going? What's going on? Is there anything?

Speaker 2: 50:34

you want to tell the audience. As long as Jackie will cut this from whatever we're talking about, of course she will Wink, wink. No, I do not have anything, john. Do you have something?

Speaker 4: 50:42

Jonathan has committed to start 75 hard. I did start, I did start it and finish it. I can't promise you that part. He's going to be announcing his start date here shortly, but we're thinking sometime in mid to late June. That's an opportunity.

Speaker 1: 50:55

Good.

Speaker 4: 51:02

And we'll have to check in. Yeah, we'll have to see how it's going for you. That'll be a thing.

Speaker 1: 51:03

Jonathan loved to get a group of people to do it with him as well. So if anybody's interested, that would be fun.

Speaker 2: 51:05

Jackie, I would do it I would do it in a heartbeat Really. Yeah, 35 days. Yeah, we'd have to check in.

Speaker 1: 51:09

I do a lot of it already. It's not as big of a leap for me. No, no.

Speaker 2: 51:14

The hour and a out in the two sessions, like that's going to be the that will be the other thing I'd figure it out.

Speaker 1: 51:19

It's like, it's like a, it's a walk at your lunch.

Speaker 2: 51:21

Okay, you know, we'll figure it out.

Speaker 1: 51:22

We'll we'll talk about this.

Speaker 2: 51:23

All right, sounds good.

Speaker 1: 51:24

Well, thank you guys for being here. Really appreciate you. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Auto Care On Air. Make sure be a production of the Auto Care Association dedicated to advancing the auto care industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit autocareorg.